While guarding Kurumi's rear, Yagami observed the battle between the Leaf and Sand across the sea.
All the ships anchored offshore had been incinerated; the charred wreckage of twelve vessels leaned precariously in the water.
Some of those ships even bore the crest of the Land of Wind's Daimyo.
It took over half a year to build a ship, but barely half an hour to burn one to the waterline.
The Daimyo would surely be furious. The Hidden Sand was proving too weak to protect even his most vital property.
Over at the dock warehouses, the Leaf ninja had already breached the perimeters, destroying supplies from within.
Around the warehouses, however, the fighting had reached a stalemate.
Two Sand ninja appeared beside Yagami.
They noticed the Leaf ninja before them was constantly looking around, sometimes even pausing as if distracted.
Their kunai struck the Leaf ninja repeatedly, but he was wearing iron plating beneath his flak jacket; the blades couldn't pierce through.
Sand Ninja A panted, "Don't be afraid! All ninja have weaknesses! This guy is just taking a shortcut with iron armor. I know his weakness!"
Sand Ninja B hurriedly asked, "Where is it! Tell me!"
Sand Ninja A said, "A man has to eat, drink, and go to the bathroom! I don't believe he has armor plating on his ass! Attack his most vulnerable spot!"
Sand Ninja B's expression shifted. How had he not thought of such a brilliant method?
Sand Ninja B circled behind Yagami, using the frontal interference from his partner as a distraction. He raised his kunai and thrust it violently toward Yagami's backside.
Yagami was looking over Sand Ninja A's shoulder, observing the distant battle, when he suddenly heard the sound of breaking air behind him.
He turned and realized the Sand ninja behind him was incredibly despicable!
Are you a hyena? Or the Director of the Hidden Sand Proctology Hospital?
Yagami clenched his glutes, trapping Sand Ninja B's kunai between them. Turning in a fit of humiliated rage, he slammed a fist into Sand Ninja B's head.
Yagami's fist glowed with bronze light, hard as diamond. The meager hardness of a human skull was no match for the Bronze Flash secret technique.
Disgusting. Fight if you're going to fight, kill me if you can, but how could you attack a man's most delicate area?
You filthy bastards, are you going to take responsibility if you give me hemorrhoids?
Just as things were looking up, a streak of golden light appeared from behind the docks.
As the gold light drew closer, it revealed itself to be a wave of golden sand.
Yagami was stunned. It was an old acquaintance—Rasa, the disciple of the Third Kazekage.
At the rear of the dock battlefield, Nara Shikaku saw the young Sand ninja standing with his arms crossed atop the surging waves of Gold Dust.
Two figures stepped forward beside Shikaku, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.
Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Yamashiro, and Yamanaka Inozono—the heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans—wore solemn expressions.
"Shikaku, is that...?"
Nara Shikaku replied, "The Third Kazekage's disciple, the rising star of the Hidden Sand who masters the Magnet Style: Gold Dust—Rasa."
This generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho heads stepped forward together.
Their strides were synchronized, their speed increasing.
Rasa's Gold Dust waves crashed into the dock warehouses. The Leaf ninja outside were instantly buried under the golden tide.
Mounds of blood blossomed within the gold—the remains of Leaf ninja crushed by the Gold Dust.
Akimichi Yamashiro's body suddenly expanded, and the iron staff in his hand grew massive along with his secret technique.
The staff, dozens of meters long, swept horizontally, smashing into the golden waves.
Yagami threw a kunai, killing a Sand ninja beside him, and looked up to watch the Akimichi Clan Head face off against Rasa.
The Multi-Size Giant of the Akimichi was immensely powerful. With a swing of the iron rod, he shattered the Gold Dust waves, instantly halting their advance.
Rasa himself stood upon a platform of gold, hovering in mid-air.
He stared at Akimichi Yamashiro's feet and formed hand signs.
A massive amount of Gold Dust surged up from beneath Yamashiro's feet, causing him to lose his balance and fall sideways.
A Sand ninja near Rasa suddenly jumped up, throwing an explosive tag kunai at Rasa like a traitor.
Rasa's brow furrowed slightly. This was the Yamanaka clan's secret technique.
Ino-Shika-Cho always fought as a unit.
The Gold Dust swirled, blocking the explosive tag kunai.
However, the Sand ninja was completely controlled, his attacks continuous.
Rasa showed no mercy. A spear of Gold Dust erupted from the waves, swallowing the controlled Sand ninja.
Blood sprayed under the pressure; Rasa had directly killed his own comrade who was under the influence of the Yamanaka technique.
Seeing this, the surrounding Sand ninja scrambled away.
This wasn't a battle they could participate in.
Under the moonlight, a shadow on the ground extended rapidly, lunging for Rasa's shadow.
Rasa manipulated his gold to dodge the shadow on the ground. As famous clans in the shinobi world, the intel on the Ino-Shika-Cho was nearly transparent.
Yamanaka Inozono and Nara Shikaku bought time for Akimichi Yamashiro to scramble back to his feet and once again smash the advancing gold with his staff.
In the distance, Yagami frowned. The three clan heads seemed to be locked in a stalemate with Rasa, but the weakness of Ino-Shika-Cho was too obvious.
If Akimichi Yamashiro fell, the other two would be powerless to stop the massive tide of Gold Dust.
As they fought, more and more Gold Dust accumulated on the ground—shattered by the iron staff or missing from Rasa's attacks.
The ground vibrated constantly; the Gold Dust was turning the soil beneath the surface into new gold.
Once enough Gold Dust had accumulated, Rasa formed a sign and raised his hand.
"Magnet Style: Gold Dust Imperial Funeral!"
A dozen pillars of Gold Dust erupted from the ground, forming a spiral in the air that suddenly constricted.
Akimichi Yamashiro's massive body was completely engulfed by the Gold Dust Funeral.
The gaps between the pillars grew smaller. Yagami caught a glimpse of Yamashiro's terrified face through the cracks.
One of the primary uses of Magnet Style was dealing with massive Tailed Beasts.
The Gold Dust Funeral formed a conical shape, and Rasa's open hand suddenly snapped shut.
Thump!
Even from a distance, one could hear the sound of the Gold Dust compressing and collapsing inward.
Yagami's heart skipped a beat. Was Akimichi Yamashiro going to die here?
Then, Yagami breathed a sigh of relief. Yamashiro was outside the Gold Dust Funeral.
At the final moment, Yamashiro had shrunk his body, and Shikaku's shadow had yanked him clear.
The bad news was that while most of Yamashiro's body made it out, his left arm remained trapped within the Gold Dust Funeral.
Yamashiro was decisive. Holding a kunai in his right hand, he enlarged both his hand and the blade, hacking fiercely at his left shoulder, severing bone, muscle, and flesh.
"Yamashiro!"
Nara Shikaku cried out in pain.
Shikaku's shadow continued to pull, dragging the wounded Yamashiro away.
Ninja warfare was cruel; even as the head of the Akimichi clan, one could lose an arm on the battlefield.
Yagami noted this in his mental report: Rasa has the potential to become Kazekage; the three Ino-Shika-Cho heads are not his match.
Rasa suddenly lowered his head, a splitting headache racking his mind.
Yamanaka Inozono had used his secret technique to attack Rasa's mind the moment he used the Gold Dust Funeral.
"Orderly retreat!" Nara Shikaku pointed toward the docks. "Your unit will cover the rear!"
Yagami froze. Shikaku was pointing directly at the unit he was currently in.
The Unit Leader leaped onto a gantry crane and shouted:
"We cover the rear! Follow me!"
***
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