Beside the oasis, a small pyramid stood.
To block Ren and the others' attacks, Rasa expended a large amount of Chakra to condense it. Although he couldn't see the outside, Rasa dared not be negligent. Besides leaving some Chakra for escape, he injected all the rest into the defense.
At this moment, directly in front of the pyramid, a small ball emitting a terrifying aura, trailing a sky full of fire, shot towards it. In the blink of an eye, it collided with the pyramid, and then, exploded with a roar!
"Alarm!"
The pyramid, which had been brilliant and splendid a second ago, instantly had a huge gap blown open. The flames behind it followed closely, directly entering the interior through the gap, surrounding the ice prison inside, and continuously scorching it.
The terrifying temperature instantly caused the ice prison and the pyramid to begin dissolving. The Sand Gold above Rasa's head melted and then fell down.
Fortunately, Rasa reacted quickly, retreating in time, barely avoiding it.
As time passed, more and more Sand Gold above his head melted, and he could only constantly dodge. Even a slight touch would be no joke.
"Damn it!"
Rasa's mood plummeted. He hadn't expected that his self-made defense would, by coincidence, become something that restrained him.
He wanted to break through, but the scorching flames around him kept burning fiercely, and with the little Chakra he had left, there was no chance at all.
Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth and looked up at the large hole that had been blown open by the Tailed Beast Ball earlier, gathering Chakra at his feet.
No matter what, being trapped here was just waiting for death. He had to get out first before thinking about anything else.
But just as he controlled the Sand Gold to lift himself out of the hole, the lightning that had been brewing in the sky suddenly appeared and struck down!
Rasa had no time to react. In an instant, his vision turned white, and the intense pain from all over his body instantly made him lose control of his Chakra, and the Sand Gold beneath his feet directly dissipated.
"Boom!"
Rasa, who had just emerged, was back inside the pyramid in the blink of an eye. The powerful impact instantly created a small crater in the sand, with lightning flashing within it.
"Phew, finally done."
Perceiving the faint Chakra within the opponent, Ren immediately let out a sigh of relief and began to exit Sage Mode.
As his face returned to normal, the thunderclouds above his head gradually dissipated, revealing the bright moon, and the pure moonlight once again poured down.
"Thank you for your hard work, Isobu Bro."
Ren leaped, landed on the ground, turned around, and nodded.
"You go over there and take a bath, rest for a while. We'll handle the rest."
"Mhm."
Isobu's eyes lit up upon hearing this. He hastily replied and then turned to crawl towards the distant oasis.
It was rare to come out, so every second had to be cherished.
For Isobu, even soaking in water was a rare enjoyment.
"Let's go, Ryufeng."
Ren called out and then ran towards the pyramid. Ryufeng, who was behind him, stopped his Ninjutsu and followed with Instantaneous Body Technique.
When the two arrived nearby, the flames inside had already extinguished, and the ice prison had melted into water. The entire interior was left with only a charred figure lying on the ground.
The two leaped in together. The figure heard the movement, slowly turned his head, and looked towards them.
"Kazekage-dono."
Ren took two steps forward, crouched down, met the other's gaze, and said softly.
"It seems we won."
Rasa's mouth slightly opened, and a weak voice sounded.
"Are you killing me to escalate the conflict between Konoha and Sunagakure, and start another war?"
In Rasa's view, the two had no reason to travel thousands of miles to the Land of Wind to assassinate him, unless they wanted to prolong the war, but that wouldn't benefit them either.
"They'd have to know we killed you first."
Ren replied while examining Rasa up and down, then understood why he had survived the lightning.
He had wrapped a layer of Sand Gold around his body, forming a full-coverage, seamless armor. No wonder he could withstand the charged strike of lightning, but that was all it could do.
"Farewell, Fourth Kazekage."
Ren didn't waste any more time. He directly shot a water needle from his mouth into the opponent's brain. After a short while, the latter lost his life, but his eyes remained open, staring fixedly at Ren.
That gaze made Ren's skin crawl, so he took out a storage scroll from his body and sealed him inside. Only then did that strange feeling disappear.
"He was a truly difficult opponent."
The two came outside and looked at the surroundings, which resembled a scene after a natural disaster. Ryufeng couldn't help but sigh.
Although Rasa's strength was weak among Kage-level ninja, he was still Kage-level no matter how weak he was.
If only Ren and Ryufeng had been here today, although they could have defeated him, they definitely wouldn't have been able to stop him from escaping.
The distance between here and the Hidden Sand Village was not close, but not far either. Dragging it out would lead to too many variables, which would be very unfavorable for them.
After all, this was the desert, the opponent's home ground. Their best approach was to end the battle quickly, adopting a lightning-fast attack strategy.
The good news was, they succeeded.
The cooperation between the two people and one beast was not particularly harmonious, just average, but it was enough to deal with Rasa.
After all, in terms of both numbers and Chakra reserves, both sides of their battle completely overwhelmed the opponent.
"Alright, Ryufeng."
Ren patted Ryufeng's shoulder, his gaze eagerly sweeping back and forth across the sandy ground.
"It's time to reap the rewards."
"Huh?"
Ryufeng was momentarily stunned, but he quickly understood the other's meaning.
"Don't forget who we were fighting."
Ren instantly appeared in front of a large pit. Looking at the Sand Gold cubes in the pit, his eyes sparkled.
The Sand Gold used in Rasa's Magnet Release was all pure gold. These Sand Gold cubes, Sand Gold spears, and so on, were all bundles of cash in Ren's eyes.
Especially that pyramid, in Ren's eyes, it was simply a mountain of gold!
Ren pulled out a pile of storage scrolls from his body and began sealing things away, while also throwing several to Ryufeng, who was standing by watching.
"Ryufeng, come pick up money!"
"..."
Looking at the storage scrolls in his hand, Ryufeng twitched his mouth, about to say something, but in the end, it turned into a helpless sigh. He could only walk into the battlefield and join the ranks of picking up money.
This battle, for Ren, was very fruitful in every aspect.
One of the reasons he didn't look for Kakuzu back then was to keep it all for himself.
Otherwise, after the battle, two people who loved money might very well fight each other again over these things.