Rin knew just how powerful Ryouma was. No matter who the opponent was, she believed that as long as he was there, everything would be fine.
As for Obito, this time he uncharacteristically held his tongue. He seemed to have realized he might be a bit of a jinx. Every time he said, "We've succeeded!" something unexpected seemed to happen.
Damn it, what is the intelligence division even doing? Who is this brat? How is he this strong? Rasa cursed the intelligence division of Suna harshly in his heart. His current situation was dire.
Moreover, Rasa couldn't make sense of Ryouma's ninjutsu. That glowing chakra sphere seemed capable of instantly transforming into various elemental techniques. What kind of absurd ninjutsu was this?
It was indeed absurd.
Unlike the Burning Wind Explosion, which was a coincidence-born jutsu, the Rasengan Sphere was a technique that Ryouma had developed through immense effort.
The interior of the Rasengan consisted of chaotic, turbulent chakra, whereas the interior of the Rasengan Sphere was entirely composed of slow, clockwise-rotating chakra.
Previously, Ryouma had demonstrated numerous destructive high-power ninjutsu. However, the Rasengan Sphere was different from them; it leaned more toward functionality.
Each Rasengan Sphere contained pure, non-elemental chakra, which Ryouma could freely use as a core for his techniques, instantly transforming the sphere into a carrier for any ninjutsu he could use.
The more he developed large-scale techniques, the more he realized the limitations of the human body. He only had two hands, so at most, he could use two ninjutsu simultaneously.
If it was a combination jutsu like the Blazing Wind Blast, it would take even more time. It was like having a grand, luxurious bank but only two service windows.
With the precise chakra control granted by his Rikugan, it felt like a tremendous waste of potential.
Thus, he specifically developed the Rasengan Sphere. The recent battle vividly illustrated its advantages.
When Rasa attacked him, Ryouma simultaneously deployed a shield for defense and performed two more ninjutsu at the same time.
The seamless combo instantly defeated Rasa. This was the combat advantage of the Rasengan Sphere.
With a thought, another Rasengan Sphere flew out from behind Ryouma. In the cries of a thousand thunderbirds, it transformed into a lightning spear and pierced toward the already-exhausted Rasa with incredible speed.
Rasa tried to manipulate his gold sand to create a wall in front of him, but his body was in such poor condition that the few strands of gold sand he managed to lift fell limply to the ground.
"Damn it, gold sand, move!"
The scene now mirrored what had just happened when Rasa had used gold sand spikes to attack Tsunade.
Just as he was about to meet Pakura in the afterlife, the ground he lay on suddenly split open. A red figure emerged from below and, at the last moment, pushed him aside, narrowly saving him from the lightning spear.
The Chidori spear embedded itself in the ground, and Rasa felt as if he had just brushed against death. Just a fraction of a second later, and his head would have been pierced by that lightning spear.
The red chakra cloak, along with a single tail, made it obvious, this was Suna's jinchūriki.
This turn of events did not surprise Ryouma. When he had been teleported back by Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique, he had used his Rikugan to scan the entire area, including everything within dozens of kilometers around the camp.
Naturally, he hadn't overlooked Bunpuku, which was why he chose to approach Rasa slowly rather than using Body Flicker for close combat.
He was concerned that Bunpuku might launch a sneak attack on Rin, Tsunade, and the others while he was dealing with Rasa.
If Bunpuku had chosen to attack Tsunade and the others from behind just now, Ryouma was confident he could intercept him the moment he made a move. Though Bunpuku was portrayed as a peace-loving monk in the original story, he would not allow such narrative preconceptions to cloud his judgment.
Those bits of information could only serve as references; he would use his own eyes to assess the situation.
Ultimately, Bunpuku had chosen not to attack but instead to save Rasa.
"What do we do next?" Bunpuku, wrapped in the red chakra cloak of the tailed beast, asked Rasa.
"We need to take him down. As long as we kill him, the rest here won't be a problem."
Rasa was well aware of the precarious position Suna was in. If they failed to eliminate the Konoha ninjas here, especially Tsunade, there was no hope left for Suna. For the sake of his village, even if it meant dying here, he had to complete this mission.
With Bunpuku now intervening, Ryouma instantly used the Body Flicker to arrive at the edge of the crater left by the Rasenshuriken.
Looking down at the disheveled Rasa, he said, "Suna really went all in for this ambush."
Rasa didn't respond. In the previous battle discussions in Suna, he had strongly opposed deploying the jinchūriki. In his view, armed with a large number of explosive tags, he alone should have been enough to execute the mission.
But now it was clear he had miscalculated. The explosive tags had been effective, nearly incapacitating Konoha's frontline camp entirely.
Yet his side faced problems. Thinking back, he felt a bit annoyed. He had been defeated in a single encounter by this rising star of Konoha.
What are Konoha's kids even eating to grow ?
Upon hearing Rasa's command, Bunpuku began condensing chakra in his mouth.
"I can't let you release that." There were still many unconscious Konoha ninjas around, and Ryouma himself hadn't even used any high-powered jutsu yet.
The lightning spear embedded in the ground suddenly twisted, transforming into a massive, irregular lightning net that enveloped both Rasa and Bunpuku.
The violent electric currents disrupted the formation of the Tailed Beast Ball in Bunpuku's mouth. Since Ryouma had already anticipated Bunpuku's presence, he had, of course, prepared for this.
Two Rasengan Spheres shot out from behind him. One was deep purple.
"Grand Flame Rasengan!"
The other sphere split into countless coin-sized chakra spheres.
Bunpuku's chakra cloak rapidly expanded, and a large amount of red chakra enveloped the lightning net formed by the spear.
A string of tadpole-like symbols crawled across the net, sealing the violent lightning chakra within.
Escaping from danger, he grabbed Rasa and quickly dodged to the right, narrowly avoiding a barrage of spiral bullet-like attacks formed from countless finger bullets.
The spot where Rasa and Bunpuku had been trapped erupted into clouds of smoke due to the onslaught. Before they could catch their breath, a dark purple fireball emerged from the smoke, hurtling toward them at extreme speed.
Bunpuku realized there was no way to evade this technique and prepared to face it head-on. Massive amounts of sand surged up from the ground, enveloping both him and Rasa, forming an ever-growing protective sphere.
"Using sand to block it, so my attack can't hit the target? It's useless."
Ryouma activated his Rikugan, clearly discerning the positions of Rasa and Bunpuku inside the sand sphere.
The Grand Flame Rasengan struck the massive sand ball directly. The terrifying heat melted the sand instantly and burrowed inside effortlessly.
However, what he hadn't anticipated was that as the Grand Flame Rasengan burned through and reached the interior, the surrounding sand wriggled and filled the melted void.
Simultaneously, Bunpuku and Rasa escaped from the attack. Under Bunpuku's control, sealing marks rapidly appeared on the surface of the sphere.
Ryouma immediately felt his chakra connection to the Grand Flame Rasengan severed.
"How convenient," he mused. It wasn't his first time losing an attack to a sealing technique.
"Let us stop fighting, this is a draw," Ryouma called out.
He was reluctant to fight Shukaku's host here. Too many injured and unconscious Konoha ninjas nearby would hinder his movements.
Bunpuku heard Ryouma's offer but remained silent.
Rasa, too, wasn't swayed by Ryouma's words. Besides, there was something else.
His technique is almost finished, he thought as he observed the spiraling spheres behind Ryouma.
Initially, there were nine spiraling spheres. After continuous usage, only three remained.
Rasa also noticed a limitation in his opponent's technique: while the spheres could use various elemental ninjutsu, they seemed incapable of casting multiple instances of the same element simultaneously. Whether it was the lightning and wind earlier or the fire just now, this rule remained consistent.
Had there been two fireballs chasing them earlier, Bunpuku would have struggled far more.
Believing he had figured out Ryouma's technique, he grew confident. They just needed to endure the remaining three spheres, and victory would belong to Suna.
Ryouma couldn't hear their thoughts, but Rasa's expression revealed some clues. It seemed he was ready to celebrate prematurely, a classic Suna tradition.
"Ah…" he sighed deeply. He wasn't one to cling to outdated ideals. If the situation called for it, he would make the hard decision, even if it meant sacrificing some Konoha ninjas.
"Although I'd like to capture the One-Tail alive, I don't know any sealing techniques. Try not to die in the upcoming fight, Bunpuku," Ryouma said as he slowly drew Lostvayne.
The moment he finished speaking, his figure vanished.
In the next instant, the sound of a thousand chirping birds filled the air as Ryouma slashed at Rasa.
Dammit, his real target is me? Rasa thought as he quickly consumed numerous chakra pills and blood-replenishing pills while Bunpuku fended off Ryouma.
With some of his chakra for Magnet Release barely recovered, he attempted to attack. However, a few strands of gold dust were instantly repelled by Ryouma's Chidori Current, the wild electric arcs scattering the dust before it could even touch him.
Realizing the danger, Bunpuku manipulated the sand to form a massive hand, which struck at Ryouma from behind. But with Ryouma's Rikugan providing a full 360-degree field of vision, Bunpuku's attacks were easily anticipated.
With a thought, Ryouma fired a Rasengan Sphere imbued with dark purple flames, instantly transforming it into a massive flaming shield. The extreme heat melted the sand hand on contact.
Meanwhile, Bunpuku multitasked, using the sand to wrap around Rasa's feet and pull him out of Ryouma's blade's path.
The sound of blood splattering echoed. Ryouma's blade was too fast. Despite Bunpuku's desperate effort, he was a moment too late. Rasa's left arm was severed at the shoulder by Lostvayne.
"You're really hard to kill."
"Haha… maybe I'm just lucky," Rasa replied with a chuckle, his expression grim as he used gold dust to staunch the bleeding from his severed arm. Though he joked, he knew deep down that his end was near. Yet, he didn't mind dying here if it meant fulfilling his mission and ensuring Suna's victory.
Fueled by a resolve to sacrifice himself, Rasa forced out every last bit of chakra from his body.
Unlike Ryouma's previous life, where humans couldn't summon power from nowhere, ninjas could draw upon chakra when pushed to their limits.
Rasa controlled the gold dust, this time forming not mere strands but a massive torrent.
The golden sand surged like a reverse waterfall into the sky. With immense effort and no regard for the cost, he compressed the sand using even stronger magnetic forces, solidifying it into a colossal golden dragon.
The dragon roared before hurling itself toward Ryouma with unstoppable momentum.
This was Rasa's final attack. He didn't expect it to kill Ryouma outright but aimed to deplete his remaining chakra spheres. If Bunpuku could capitalize on the situation, there was still a chance for victory.
As grim as the odds were, Rasa knew his opponent was a monster.
"Bunpuku! You must complete the mission! Without it, Suna truly… has no future. Please!" Rasa shouted, pouring even the gold dust plugging his massive wound into the attack. Blood gushed freely from his body, staining the ground red.
He gambled everything on this strike. Even if he perished, he would stand tall before the ancestors of Suna in the afterlife.
It was only regrettable that he wouldn't be there to see the birth of his and Karura's first child.
He recalled her worried expression before he left. Rasa knew he had been a failure as a husband.
He had resolved to emerge victorious in the war so their child could grow up in peace and prosperity. To achieve that, he tirelessly mined gold for the village using his Magnet Release, barely giving himself any time to rest.
He was already a failed husband. He couldn't afford to become a failed father.
I'm sorry, Karura. If the child is a girl, let's go with the name you suggested: Temari. It's such a beautiful name…