Although Senju Haruto's original plan had been to keep Sunagakure stable and prevent them from making trouble during this critical period, that didn't mean he had to bow his head and beg them to "be merciful."
He wasn't about to shower them with resources while praying they would honor their agreement — and then just hope they wouldn't stab Konoha in the back while the Leaf and the Hidden Cloud clashed.
Even if it was called an "alliance," Haruto had no interest in that kind of relationship.
Instead, showing Sunagakure overwhelming strength — enough to make them hesitate out of sheer respect and fear — was the best option.
Everything he had said earlier had only been meant to force Rasa's hand.
And even if Rasa had chosen to remain silent, Haruto would have kept pushing — his words growing sharper and more provocative until Rasa could no longer endure.
In truth, Rasa's tolerance was actually far lower than Haruto had predicted.
Pushed into a corner, Rasa reached the breaking point.
"You're far too arrogant, brat from Konoha!"
Rasa's voice thundered, his eyes narrowing as deep, dark rings formed above his cheeks. From outside the window, a blade of shimmering gold dust floated into view, then shot forward, piercing the glass and aiming straight for Haruto.
Neither Kakashi nor Tenzo had expected Rasa to act so suddenly. Both instantly shifted into battle mode.
"Tenzo, seal the door!" Kakashi ordered without hesitation.
This wasn't just any shinobi — this was the Kazekage of Sunagakure. His attack carried the weight of the entire village.
Whether they struck back or not, within moments Sunagakure shinobi would come flooding in.
Once that happened, their position would become even more precarious.
"Understood."
Tenzo answered crisply, his hands flashing through seals before slamming to the floor. The wood beneath them cracked and split at incredible speed, thick pillars shooting upward to wedge into place and lock the Kazekage's office door shut.
"Wood Release?"
Rasa's eyes widened in disbelief. Since the First Hokage, Wood Release had been considered a lost art.
But what shocked him even more was that his golden dust blade never even reached Haruto. Another wall of golden dust had risen to block it completely.
If Tenzo's Wood Release was merely astonishing, then this scene before him sent a tidal wave crashing through his mind.
Because it meant… the boy standing before him could control the gold dust within sand the same way he could — through Magnet Release.
But that was impossible.
"Kazekage — you struck first."
Haruto's voice was low as he sent the golden sand before him rolling forward in a crushing wave.
Boom!
Completely stunned, Rasa forgot to defend himself. The force hit him head-on, flinging him straight out of his own office and through the shattered window.
Crash!
He slammed into the ground outside, still reeling, his mind unable to accept what had just happened.
And he wasn't the only one. Kakashi and Tenzo exchanged looks of equal disbelief.
From everything they knew, Haruto's signature ability was the Wood Release he had inherited from the First Hokage.
So why, in a clash with the Kazekage, was he using the man's own technique?
Before they could even ask, Haruto had already stepped onto the swirling golden sand beneath his feet and soared out after Rasa.
Both he and the Kazekage were sand-controlling shinobi — the cramped office was no place for such a fight.
Rasa quickly noticed his pursuer, his eyes narrowing as he saw Haruto riding a floating cloud of glittering gold dust.
"How are you doing this?!" Rasa demanded, rising smoothly to his feet. He drew more gold dust from the earth beneath him, lifting himself into the air until he matched Haruto's height.
Their eyes locked, the air between them crackling with tension.
"It just came naturally," Haruto replied calmly. "Your technique isn't a bloodline limit. You're simply converting highly condensed chakra into magnetic force. Once you understand the principle, it's not that hard."
He didn't wait for Rasa's reaction. The golden dust below him spun faster and faster, twisting into a tornado that surged toward the Kazekage.
"Damn it…" Rasa cursed through clenched teeth.
He didn't believe he could lose to a Leaf brat in control over gold dust — but Magnet Release was a unique art.
Unlike the five basic nature transformations, it wasn't creating something from nothing — it used the terrain itself as a weapon.
And gold dust, at its core, was still sand.
That meant Sunagakure's environment gave it limitless potential.
Even if Haruto had very little chakra, here he could raise an entire desert.
That reality made Rasa's position far worse.
He wasn't just a Magnet Release user — he was the Kazekage.
If he fought Haruto at full power, the gold dust constructs they created could engulf the village in moments, perhaps even reshape the land itself.
In other words, if Rasa wanted to defeat Haruto, he had to find a way to protect the village at the same time.
"Magnet Release — Wave of Golden Sand!"
Locking eyes with the airborne Haruto, Rasa's hands blurred through seals, summoning massive quantities of gold dust from below and sending it surging upward like a crushing tide.
In Rasa's mind, their battle could only be fought in the sky.
"Magnet Release — Golden Sand Cube!"
Using the wave as a feint, Rasa immediately chained into his next attack, compressing the gold dust into a massive, solid cube and hurling it toward Haruto like a meteor.
Rasa's attacks were nothing if not overwhelming.
"Impressive use of the terrain," Haruto noted, eyes narrowing slightly as the golden tide roared toward him.
If they were only comparing raw chakra, Rasa wasn't particularly exceptional.
His genius lay in fully exploiting the battlefield — using minimal chakra to unleash massive attacks.
"Fourth Kazekage," Haruto called out, "your skill is indeed formidable. But unfortunately for you… you've met me."
Even as he spoke, Haruto shot higher into the air, slowing Rasa's assault. At the same time, he slipped into Sage Mode, drawing on every drop of One-Tail chakra he could muster.
Rumble…!
The entire ground began to shake violently.
The Fourth Kazekage's eyes widened in alarm as he glanced around.
Was it just his imagination… or was the land itself rising beneath them?
"This guy… is he trying to lift Sunagakure into the air?!"