Encounter with Rasa

"Magnet Release: Iron Sand!"

The sand beneath Gu Sheng’s feet seemed to be swept up by a powerful gust of wind. In an instant, it was lifted into the air and slammed toward him.

"Danger!"

Every hair on Gu Sheng’s body stood on end. He kicked off with his right foot, producing a sonic boom as he vanished into midair.

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Waves!"

The golden sand pursued him relentlessly, rushing toward Gu Sheng, who was more than ten meters away.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Rampart!"

A high wall made of earth and sand appeared before Gu Sheng, blocking the sand rushing toward him.

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Shuriken!"

A shuriken made of gold dust took shape in the hands of the small figure that had suddenly appeared. The figure then hurled it forward. The instant the gold dust shuriken pierced the Earth Flow Rampart, the high wall collapsed into rubble.

"A Magnet Release shinobi… Rasa?"

Gu Sheng narrowed his eyes as he sized up the young shinobi opposite him, who was about as young as this body he had descended into. Konoha had already begun sending twelve-year-old shinobi to the battlefield, so Sunagakure’s situation was naturally even less optimistic.

"One Jonin and two Chunin protecting him. Rasa is highly valued!"

Gu Sheng’s Sharingan noticed the three figures beside Rasa. The Jonin was no ordinary Jonin, possessing an aura close to that of an Elite Jonin. The two Chunin, meanwhile, had strength approaching that of Jonin. This was very thorough protection.

"Let’s go~"

Gu Sheng made his decision. He had come to earn merits, not to stubbornly fight someone who would be difficult to kill and whom he could not afford to kill.

The fact that Rasa was so heavily protected showed how much the higher-ups of Sunagakure valued him. If Gu Sheng killed him, he would become a hero for the time being, but afterward, he would face endless retaliation and pursuit from Sunagakure. And what would happen when the time came for a truce?

Wasn’t Pakura of the Scorch Style a perfect example? She had been betrayed by her own village. And it would be foolish to say that Konoha could never do such a thing. Just look at his background—he was an Uchiha. Danzo was no good man.

Besides, killing Rasa would feel good for a moment, but what would happen to the story afterward? His knowledge of the future was his greatest advantage. Unless absolutely necessary, he had no intention of disrupting the plot.

"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Hand!"

Gu Sheng wanted to leave, but Rasa had no intention of letting him go so easily. All the gold dust on the ground was lifted by the wind, rising into the sky and forming a dazzling golden hand that reached toward Gu Sheng.

"Clang~"

Gu Sheng swung his blade, but not only did he feel tremendous resistance, he also failed to accomplish anything. Magnet Release had too great an advantage against metal objects.

"Boom~~"

The iron sand in midair crashed down on Gu Sheng like a tidal wave, as though it intended to crush him outright.

"Although my control over Magnet Release is insufficient and I can’t make it compress inward, with this much iron sand pressing down, that Uchiha is dead for sure. I heard the Sharingan is pretty good. Should I…?"

Rasa thought smugly, but his hands never relaxed from their seal.

"Poof~"

Just as Rasa was basking in his triumph, Gu Sheng inside the iron sand suddenly turned into a cloud of smoke and disappeared.

"A Shadow Clone? Not good!"

A sense of danger surged through Rasa’s heart. He had only just finished his hand seals and was preparing to investigate when he was ambushed.

"Slash!"

A kunai cut upward across Rasa’s tender right cheek. Although the magnetic force prevented it from seriously injuring him, it still left a bloody mark, and blood flowed from the wound.

"Damn it!"

Rasa shouted angrily and hurriedly retreated. The instant he moved away, Gu Sheng burst from the ground, the tachi in his hand reflecting silver light beneath the sun.

"You… damn it!"

Rasa covered his right cheek and shouted furiously at Gu Sheng. The few Sunagakure shinobi who had been watching from the sidelines were also preparing to act.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu~"

Gu Sheng had not been unprepared. He had already accumulated Chakra the moment he emerged. When he landed, he suddenly spewed a stream of flames toward the enemy.

"Boom~~"

Rasa’s team consisted entirely of Sunagakure’s elite. Gu Sheng’s Dragon Flame missed, causing a violent explosion the instant it struck the ground, but it also happened to scatter the Sunagakure shinobi.

"Hmph~"

Gu Sheng formed hand seals rapidly. Earth Release: Quicksand activated, and the ground beneath the two Chunin instantly turned into a field of quicksand.

"Goodbye, everyone from Sunagakure!"

Gu Sheng threw a shuriken attached to an Exploding Tag behind him, then turned and left without looking back.

"Boom~~"

A burst of fire exploded behind him, accompanied by Rasa’s furious roar.

"Why didn’t you act?!"

Rasa glared angrily at the Jonin beside him. The two Chunin had been badly injured by Gu Sheng’s Exploding Tag, and his own face had nearly been disfigured. Naturally, he wanted Gu Sheng to pay the price.

"Lord Rasa, that Uchiha should be a genius of the Uchiha. There is a Jonin accompanying him. If I had acted, I wouldn’t have been able to protect you."

The Jonin appeared extremely humble. Unlike Maki, Gaara’s later team leader, Rasa was a Direct Disciple of the Third Kazekage and held a lofty position among the Sunagakure Shinobi. At a young age, he already possessed strength close to that of a Jonin. That was the foundation of his arrogance.

"Hey! Do you know what that guy’s name is?"

Rasa looked toward the Chunin he had saved earlier.

The Sunagakure shinobi was frightened senseless. Only after a long while did he recover. "L-Lord Rasa, I think… I heard his companions call him Lord Sheng!"

"Lord Sheng? Uchiha Sheng? We’ll cross paths again."

Fighting spirit flashed in Rasa’s eyes as he left with the few shinobi.

"Lord Sheng, what happened to you?"

Nawaki and Chu Xin were clearing the battlefield. When they saw Gu Sheng hurrying over, they immediately grew tense. Gu Sheng looked rather battered, with many places on his body appearing to have been scraped by something.

"Let’s get back quickly. Sunagakure has produced another Magnet Release shinobi. We must inform Teacher Orochimaru and the others of this news as soon as possible."

Gu Sheng spoke quickly, but Chu Xin and Nawaki immediately became serious. Until now, there had only been one Magnet Release shinobi: the Third Kazekage, known as the strongest Kazekage in history. The emergence of another Magnet Release shinobi was certainly not good news for Konoha.

"All right~"

The two nodded. They gathered the forehead protectors they had collected and briefly bundled the items they had already sorted. Then the three of them quickly left the battlefield.

After Gu Sheng and the others departed, three figures appeared. One was an Uchiha with Three Tomoe, one was a Hyuga with a Byakugan, and the last was a middle-aged man who looked extremely energetic.

The three belonged to different factions, each keeping some distance from the others. The Uchiha also seemed to have some friction with the other energetic-looking shinobi—the shinobi of the Senju Clan—but at least they did not come to blows.

Although Uchiha Fugaku had not yet succeeded to the position of clan head, thanks to the arrangements his father had made before his death and the preparations his mother had made over the years, his advantage was already unshakable.

Gu Sheng’s previous near-disaster had frightened him as well, which was why he had assigned the only Jonin at his disposal to protect Gu Sheng.

The three exchanged glances and information for a while, then silently followed Gu Sheng and the others’ group.