Rasa sat upright, the image of health and vigor. There was no trace of the frail, comatose state he had displayed when Chiyo had visited moments ago.
Instead, he was sharp and focused, meticulously leafing through intelligence reports from the Land of Rivers.
The news that the "Black Mist" Shiraishi had broken through the Hidden Mist's encirclement and returned to the Sand camp was a disappointment.
Rasa felt a surge of regret; he hadn't expected the brat to be so resilient, surviving a pincer attack from both Fuguki Suikazan and Juzo Biwa.
Following the disastrous ambush by the Tsuchikage at the Revelation Mountain Range, Rasa had initially been in a true coma. But as his consciousness returned, so did a paralyzing fear. This defeat was a terminal blow to his prestige as Kazekage.
With Shiraishi currently serving as an envoy to the Land of Rivers, Rasa's paranoia had reached a boiling point. If the boy continued to grow at this rate, it wouldn't be long before the Council of Elders pushed to replace Rasa with Shiraishi.
Fueled by malice, Rasa had secretly reached out to the Third Mizukage. Under the guise of a territorial dispute over the thirteen districts of the southern Land of Rivers, he had proposed a preliminary cooperation.
The price? The Hidden Mist would help the Kazekage eliminate Pakura and Shiraishi—the core strength of the Elder Faction.
Over the years, Pakura had become one of the Elders' most powerful assets, largely due to her association with Shiraishi. The Council's decision to appoint both of them as commanders on the Mist front was a warning sign Rasa could no longer ignore.
Shiraishi and Pakura must be removed.
He could deal with the old fossils on the Council later, but these two were gaining too much influence within the village. That was the primary reason Rasa had finally snapped.
Baki, well aware of the Kazekage's dark intentions, stood by as a loyal confidant.
He continued the briefing: "The next wave of Mist reinforcements will arrive soon. They plan to circle around and flank Pakura's headquarters, but the west coast defense line..."
The west coast was currently garrisoned by the Arakawa family. Rasa hadn't informed Arakawa Akita of his plan, but for the Mist to sneak behind Pakura, they needed a clear path through his sector.
"Send a secret order to the Arakawa clan," Rasa commanded, his face emotionless under the moonlight. "Tell them we've received intel of an imminent Mist invasion on the southern coastline. Order their main force to redeploy there immediately."
By hollowing out the west coast, Rasa was setting the stage for a massacre—a "death feast" prepared specifically for Shiraishi and his mentor.
To protect his throne, Rasa would not sit idly by. The boy had grown too fast, far exceeding his darkest estimates.
Within the Forest of Asura, the physical sparring between Shiraishi and Asura had continued for days. Through constant repetition and failure, Shiraishi's understanding of the blade was evolving.
Unlike his brother Indra, Asura's "Way of the Shinobi" was one of accumulation. What seemed like simple, mundane basics in the early stages would eventually bloom into terrifying power. Asura didn't teach Shiraishi specific high-level secret arts or the Sage Body; he focused on building a foundation so solid that Shiraishi would eventually be able to forge his own path.
Asura sensed that the power system Shiraishi possessed was as complex and vast as the Ninshu his father had once created. Though Shiraishi had yet to unify his disparate abilities, Asura believed this young man was the key to changing a future calamity.
Even though his grandmother, Kaguya, had been sealed for a millennium, the rift between himself and his brother—along with a lingering, ominous chakra he had sensed long ago—convinced Asura that a dark force was still moving in the shadows.
He could feel the world becoming saturated with negative emotions and chakra. One day, someone would weaponize that darkness.
Guiding Shiraishi was Asura's bet on the future.
Shiraishi, for his part, was deeply conflicted. He worried for Pakura, but he knew that if he didn't finish this training, he would never be strong enough to break the barriers of this place.
Moreover, he genuinely cherished Asura's guidance. To be taught by the second son of the Sage of Six Paths, the ancestor of the Senju and Uzumaki, was a rare and precious opportunity.
His fighting style was changing. In the past, Shiraishi relied on observation and calculation—judging an opponent's move before reacting. Now, he was learning to move on pure instinct.
Action preceding intent. He was eliminating the delay between thought and execution.
However, Asura's swordsmanship was on an even higher plane—a level of "wholeness" where no openings existed. Every time Shiraishi attacked, he was suppressed with effortless grace.
Between the chakra extraction and the sword drills, Shiraishi's growth was immense. He also took the time to process the four cards he had received from Asura.
Combined with his previous collection, he had a massive library of skills, though he chose to focus only on those that complemented his current path.
One card in particular caught his eye: the Blue-quality Quicksand Hell.
As the name suggested, it was a sand manipulation technique. Having trained in the Hidden Sand's traditional styles, Shiraishi could easily compare the two.
While the base effect was similar to standard Sand Control, Quicksand Hell had far superior adaptability. It could terraform non-desert environments into shifting sands at an incredible speed.
Surprisingly, his proficiency with the card started at over 70%, likely due to his existing mastery over sand.
As Shiraishi performed the hand signs, the ground within three meters instantly transformed into a churning, swirling vortex of grit. As the Quicksand Hell activated, his Sand Gathering Art triggered automatically, beginning to rapidly replenish his chakra reserves.
"Automatic activation?" Shiraishi muttered in surprise.
Asura, watching from the sidelines, smiled. "That is the benefit of a solid foundation. Your body will instinctively adjust, releasing the techniques that are most beneficial to you in the moment."
Then, the sand began to change.
The grit took on a brilliant, shimmering silver luster. Shiraishi's Treasure Gathering Art—his unique affinity for silver—had fused with the technique, creating a specialized Silver Quicksand Hell.
It was a new form of Magnet Release.
Unlike the Gold Dust used by Rasa or the Iron Sand of the Third Kazekage, this silver Magnet Release allowed Shiraishi to control the inherent magnetism within all metals. In theory, this was the ultimate evolution of the Magnet Style.
He wasn't just moving magnetized sand; he was commanding the magnetic forces within the physical world itself.
Through Asura's fundamental guidance, Shiraishi had naturally integrated the Treasure Gathering Art, Quicksand Hell, and Sand Gathering Art into a single, cohesive "Super State."
"The mastery of jutsu," Asura remarked, "is not about how many you know, but how freely you can wield and adapt them."
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