"Th–This… what is going on?!"
Seeing the scene before him, Rasa felt his brain completely overload. His overwhelmingly powerful Gold Dust Great World Law had failed to harm that Uchiha in the slightest?!
Meanwhile, Orochimaru, standing beside Uchiha Ran, immediately realized what was happening. His young disciple's newly awakened Mangekyō ability was almost certainly connected to space-time manipulation.
"How fascinating… so this is the Mangekyō Sharingan!"
The look in Orochimaru's eyes as he stared at Ran slowly changed—like a snake locking onto its prey.
Ran noticed it at once.
That gaze made his skin crawl. It was revolting—creepy in a way that made his stomach churn.
"Orochimaru-sensei," Ran said calmly, suppressing his discomfort, "let's deal with Rasa first."
I'll teach him a lesson later, Ran thought. Otherwise, he'll really start getting ideas about me.
Come to think of it… Orochimaru-sensei really was dangerous. Luring young boys since childhood and all that…
So then—
"Interdimensional Space!"
This was a derived ability from Takamagahara. To enter Takamagahara, space itself had to be twisted, passing through a different dimension—and Ran had repurposed that very distortion into an offensive force.
A massive black vortex suddenly formed around Rasa.
The next instant, Rasa felt his entire body being dragged toward that spatial black hole!
"Not good!"
Rasa's pupils shrank violently. The suction force was far too powerful—so strong that even he struggled to resist it.
"Can I escape with the Body Flicker Technique…?"
Unsure, yet desperate, Rasa raised his hand with great difficulty, trying to use Shunshin to break free from the pull.
"An opening!"
Seeing Rasa struggling, Orochimaru instantly sensed his chance.
"Senra Snake Formation!"
Orochimaru dropped low, and in the next moment, countless snakes burst forth from his mouth, surging forward like a living tide.
—Holy hell!
Just glancing at that scene nearly shattered Ran's mental focus, causing the suction of the interdimensional space to weaken slightly.
Orochimaru-sensei was truly monstrous. What used to require seals and summoning had now evolved into snakes spilling straight out of his mouth…
It seemed Orochimaru's self-modifications were only growing deeper and more extreme.
Trapped within the terrifying pull of the interdimensional vortex, Rasa saw the overwhelming tide of snakes and felt true fear rise in his heart. He never imagined his enemies could be this strong—the coordination of these two abilities alone far exceeded his expectations.
Rasa had always believed himself formidable.
But Orochimaru and his subordinate were simply too ferocious.
"Damn it…!"
With a furious roar, Rasa gathered all his chakra and gold dust, pouring everything he had into resisting the pull.
But… it was useless.
The force was simply too immense. Even with everything he had, he couldn't stop himself from being dragged in.
Only by using Magnet Release to create two magnetic bodies with completely opposite polarities might he be able to escape this Uchiha's interdimensional pull!
But that required an enormous amount of chakra—and after everything he'd expended already, Rasa knew he couldn't last much longer…
His gaze shifted to Orochimaru, and he saw that the ocean of venomous snakes from Senra Snake Formation was already dangerously close.
"Magnet Release!"
As Rasa poured chakra into his technique at a frantic pace, two massive cubes appeared—one behind him, one slightly ahead to the side.
"Hm? What's this?" Orochimaru exclaimed in surprise.
In the next instant, Rasa's body seemed to gain an explosive force. He broke free from the restraints and was violently launched away, narrowly dodging Orochimaru's snake formation at the same time!
"I—I can't escape…!"
Panting heavily after forcing his way out of the battlefield, Rasa dropped to one knee. At this point, he had to admit it—Sunagakure was probably on the brink of surrender.
Those two monsters were simply too troublesome to deal with.
Taking advantage of the momentary distance created by the repulsive force, Rasa hastily formed a hand seal.
"Hang in there… this is my only chance…"
Although Sunagakure still held a numerical advantage on the main battlefield, their high-end combat power was nearly depleted. The two elders were tied down, Bunpuku was dead—could he really expect Yura to come save him now?
Even so… he had to try.
Rasa refused to give up, even knowing that escaping from a space-time ninja was extraordinarily unlikely.
"Gold Dust…"
A cloud of gold dust formed beneath Rasa's feet, lifting him into the air.
"Hah! So you're running like that now?" Orochimaru sneered coldly when he saw Rasa using gold dust as a means of escape.
"Ninjutsu—Ten Thousand Snakes Soaring Assault!"
In an instant, countless venomous snakes shot skyward, surging toward Rasa in midair.
"Damn it!"
Rasa cursed under his breath. He hadn't expected Orochimaru's snakes to be capable of aerial pursuit. The launch speed, the acceleration—most people would be completely helpless in midair against something like this.
But Rasa wasn't most people.
He crossed his arms, bent his knees slightly, and arched his body like a drawn bow. If one looked closely, they'd see enormous amounts of gold dust gathering along his arms.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Cube!"
With a thunderous shout, vast quantities of gold dust converged and assembled into a massive cube around Rasa. More and more gold dust layered over it, thickening the structure from the inside out.
When the gold dust finally stopped凝ulating, the cube had become an absolute defensive fortress. No matter how many venomous snakes slammed into it, none could break through the barrier.
"You think my Magnet Release is that simple?!"
"As long as this barrier is thick enough, even space-time ninjutsu shouldn't be able to break my Gold Dust Cube so easily… right…?"
Rasa didn't even have time to finish boasting.
With a casual application of Takamagahara, Ran effortlessly tore the Gold Dust Cube apart, ripping through space itself. Rasa's body was completely exposed before Orochimaru and Ran.
"Ah…?! Th–This…?!"
There was no time to mourn him.
In the very next moment, countless venomous snakes swallowed Rasa whole.
"What a perfect opportunity," Rasa's voice suddenly rang out. "Orochimaru… if not for you, I might not have escaped that brat's space-time ninjutsu. Gold Dust Substitution—release!"
As he softly spoke those words, Rasa raised a finger and used the last of his strength.
"Gold Dust—Pierce!"
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Seeing the gold dust spikes flying toward him, Orochimaru calmly blocked them with serpents erupting from his sleeves.
"Pointless struggles."
As the snake swarm slowly dispersed, Rasa lay sprawled on the ground, barely breathing—more air going in than coming out.
Orochimaru looked quite satisfied.
"Ran-kun, this time we truly have you to thank. Without you, capturing the Fourth Kazekage so easily would've been impossible."
"No," Ran replied quietly. "Orochimaru-sensei… I think you may have miscalculated."
"Kage-level shinobi are incredibly difficult to kill—and capturing one alive is even harder."
As Ran stared at the seemingly defeated Rasa, a faint sense of unease crept into his heart.
Something… felt off.
Lying on the ground, Rasa slowly turned his head—and flashed Orochimaru a deeply meaningful smile.