At the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Birds.
Under the scorching sun, in a cloudless sky.
Rasa, Pakura, and Michikawa stood on a floating cloud of sand high in the sky.
Their gazes were fixed downward on the Rock Desert, where the densely packed Iwagakure shinobi formed four neat formations.
Even though the distance between them was only two or three kilometers in a straight line, the sensory shinobi from Iwagakure below could not detect their presence.
First, because their current position was high in the sky. Second, after training with Sage Art energy, although Pakura and Michikawa could not replace all the chakra in their bodies with sage energy like Rasa, they could still interfere with the sensory abilities of shinobi.
"Those two must be the jinchūriki from Iwagakure!"
Pakura, being younger, had rarely fought against the two jinchūriki of Iwagakure, but Michikawa was different. During the previous Shinobi World War, he had already witnessed the power of Rōshi.
"Rōshi, the jinchūriki of the Four-Tails, is of the same generation as Ōnoki, only a few years younger. His Lava Release is extremely powerful, and his mastery over the tailed beast's power has reached the level of complete transformation."
He then looked at the other of the two Jinchuriki.
"As for Han, the jinchūriki of the Five-Tails, he is someone Iwagakure has cultivated only in recent years. Although young, he has already demonstrated the ability to fully transform during battles against Konohagakure. Besides that, he is a secret technique user, able to use an ability called Vapor Release, granting himself astonishing speed and strength."
After listening to the intel provided by Michikawa, Rasa turned his head slightly to glance at the two and asked.
"Have you chosen your opponents?"
Pakura, eager, immediately responded.
"I'll take on the Four-Tails' jinchūriki. I really want to see whose Lava Release is stronger, his or my Scorch Release!"
Michikawa, seeing this, did not argue and said calmly.
"Then I'll handle the Five-Tails."
Rasa nodded in agreement, then calculated the time and said.
"I'll give you only half an hour. If you can't finish them within that time, I'll step in personally."
"No problem!"
"Understood!"
Seeing the two agree, Rasa finally turned his gaze back downward to the dense ranks of Iwagakure shinobi, his expression darkening as he brought his hands together in a seal.
"Then, let me greet the shinobi of Iwagakure first!"
As he spoke, the three descended from the sky, with Rasa forming a seal.
"Sage Arts: Magnet Release: Flowing Sand Waterfall!"
Boom!
In an instant, the entire Gobi Desert began to tremble, the ground cracked open with fissures, and countless grains of yellow sand surged up like a tidal wave, blotting out the sun as they swept toward the Iwagakure shinobi.
At this moment, the entire Gobi Desert turned into a sea of sand.
---
"What is this!?"
The sudden assault shocked the shinobi of Iwagakure. The sand waves, like a massive tsunami darkening the sky, struck fear into the faces of many younger Iwagakure shinobi.
Fortunately, the shinobi of Iwagakure were well-prepared.
Although they had no idea where the attack was coming from, countless jōnin from Iwagakure immediately leapt to the front of their forces, facing the overwhelming sand head-on, forming hand seals one after another.
"Earth Release: Great Mud Wall!"
In an instant, towering earthen walls, resembling a never-ending Great Wall, rose to shield all the Iwagakure shinobi.
The sand wave collided with the earthen wall, producing a booming sound that made the earth tremble.
Although the sand wave was blocked, the Iwagakure shinobi grew even more tense.
"What's going on? Didn't the sensory team detect any Suna shinobi?"
"What were the vanguard troops doing?"
Fortunately, the Iwagakure forces had reacted quickly. Otherwise, if such a large-scale attack had hit them directly, the casualties would have been devastating.
Just then, an Iwagakure sensory shinobi suddenly perceived something and pointed in terror toward the top of the earthen wall.
"There... there's someone!"
!!!
All the Iwagakure shinobi immediately pulled out their kunai, staring warily in the direction the sensory shinobi indicated.
Under the glaring sunlight, at the collision point between the massive earthen wall and the sand wave, three dark figures slowly appeared before their eyes.
When the Iwagakure shinobi finally saw the faces of the three ninjas, fear crept onto their faces.
"That... that's..."
"Suna's Kazekage, Scorch Release Pakura, Magnet Release Michikawa..."
"How could this be? Wasn't the intel saying they went to the Land of Rivers?"
"So that's it... their real target was us!"
This thought flashed through the minds of all the Iwagakure shinobi, and as the commander of the unit, Rōshi naturally thought the same.
He became even more vigilant, nervously scanning the surroundings, afraid that his forces had fallen into an enemy trap.
However, just then, the sensory ninja beside him once again formed a seal, trying hard to sense the area, and spoke in confusion.
"How could this be?"
"What's happening?"
Rōshi barked angrily, furious that the sensory ninja had failed in his duties.
The sensory ninja, unable to understand it himself, replied in a panicked voice.
"Rōshi-sama, I can't sense anything! Within a ten-kilometer radius, there are still no other chakra presences!"
!!!
Rōshi's first instinct was, of course, disbelief.
But the Suna shinobi atop the massive wall gave them no more time to think.
The Scorch Release user Pakura and the Magnet Release user Michikawa had already leapt from the wall, charging directly toward the Iwagakure forces with an overwhelming aura, as if two were about to take on six thousand.
---
Mid-air.
Pakura stared coldly at the Iwagakure shinobi below, who had yet to react, and her hands moved without hesitation.
"Scorch Release: Firefly!"
In an instant, countless tiny fireballs, like glowing fireflies, appeared behind her. Like scattered dandelions, they floated gently down toward the Iwagakure shinobi.
Their slow speed and small size puzzled the Iwagakure shinobi.
These didn't seem very destructive at all. Still, they instinctively drew their kunai and hurled them at the floating fireballs.
Since the fireballs were so slow, it was easy to strike them with kunai.
However, the scene they expected — the fireballs dispersing upon impact — didn't happen. Instead, once hit, the fireballs split into two, continuing to drift down toward the Iwagakure forces.
Seeing this, a slight smile tugged at the corners of Pakura's mouth.
As the Four-Tails' jinchūriki, Rōshi immediately sensed it the moment the fireballs got close — these seemingly harmless little orbs contained terrifying amounts of heat.
"Watch out—"
But his warning came too late.
The quicker fireballs had already fallen into the densely packed formations of Iwagakure shinobi.
Any shinobi touched by the fireballs immediately let out a blood-curdling scream, their entire bodies steaming as if boiled alive, then blackening into dried corpses as if scorched.
!!!
The horrifying scene made cold sweat break out on the foreheads of all the Iwagakure shinobi. When they looked up, they saw that a mass of fireballs was continuing to rain down from the sky.
"Ah—"
The Iwagakure forces fell into chaos instantly, their screams echoing across the desert.
Meanwhile, having landed, Michikawa formed hand seals as well.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!!"