Is Pakura dead?
Hayashi was not certain, but judging from the information he had, her previous ninjutsu had already been her strongest technique. After being struck head on by the Water Severing Wave, even if Pakura had survived, she would likely have little strength left to continue fighting.
Hayashi considered finishing her off, but just as he was about to move, he abruptly stopped.
Thick steam drifted through the battlefield, blurring everything in sight. However, Hayashi was in Sage Mode. His heightened perception extended far beyond normal vision, allowing him to sense everything within range. Through that awareness, he clearly felt someone rushing toward him.
He remained where he stood.
At the instant the attack came, he twisted his body slightly and avoided Rasa's sneak strike with effortless precision. In the same motion, he thrust out both arms and clamped down with tremendous force.
The body in his grasp instantly crumbled into sand.
"...Still not learning your lesson."
Hayashi shook his head. In the next moment, he vanished with the Body Flicker Technique and reappeared silently behind Rasa.
With the Sharingan, he could easily discern the Sand Clone. Combined with his Sage Mode perception, locking onto Rasa's true position was effortless. Using clones to distract him was nothing more than a waste of chakra.
Hayashi raised his right hand, shaping it like a blade, ready to knock Rasa unconscious.
Then his expression shifted slightly.
Rasa reacted as if he had eyes on the back of his head. Golden dust surged upward, instantly wrapping around him like a cocoon.
Hayashi understood at once. Rasa had likely positioned a Sand Eye nearby to track him through the smoke.
"Rasengan."
A sphere of blue chakra formed in Hayashi's palm and slammed into the golden shell. The impact produced only a thin crack, which repaired itself almost immediately. The gold dust was far denser and sturdier than ordinary sand.
The ground shifted. A massive hand of gold dust rose and attempted to seize him. Its speed, however, was far too slow to catch him.
Rasa's face darkened. Fighting in the desert should have given him overwhelming advantage. Yet he could not gain the upper hand at all.
Was the difference between them truly this vast?
He had sparred many times with the Third Kazekage and never felt such an insurmountable gap.
Gritting his teeth, Rasa formed another hand seal. His breathing grew uneven.
"Gold Dust Wave!"
The golden mass surrounding Hayashi collapsed downward like a tidal surge.
A thunderous roar echoed as the battlefield transformed into a swirling vortex. Waves of sand rose layer upon layer, crashing toward Hayashi from every direction.
The Gold Dust Storm howled violently, scattering the lingering smoke. Nearby Sunagakure and Konohagakure shinobi were swept up before they could retreat.
Those caught inside had no chance to resist. Countless particles of gold dust spun like microscopic blades, piercing through flesh and leaving bodies riddled with bloody holes.
Within the raging storm, Hayashi erected a chakra barrier. The relentless impacts created endless ripples across its surface.
At the center, he remained calm.
Having fought the Third Kazekage multiple times, he was already familiar with the properties of Magnet Release. In the past, he might have summoned the Rashomon to defend himself. Now, he chose differently.
The Sage Mode chakra stored within his scrolls was limited. Using three scrolls allowed him to unleash two S rank techniques before the energy would be depleted and Sage Mode would end.
Water Severing Wave had already been used once.
He had one more opportunity.
Hayashi raised his right hand. Chakra rotated rapidly in his palm, condensing into a dense, humming sphere.
Outside the storm, Rasa gasped for breath. That technique had drained nearly all his chakra. In his current state, even a Konoha jonin could severely wound him within a few exchanges.
A sharp, piercing sound suddenly reached his ears from within the storm.
"Ding... ding..."
Rasa frowned. It resembled Chidori, yet something felt different.
The vibration intensified, reaching a frequency that made his scalp prickle. But the storm was too dense for him to see inside.
The buzzing grew louder.
Then, abruptly, the chaotic storm stalled.
A deafening explosion followed. Blue chakra mixed with white light burst outward from a single point within the golden tempest.
"Sage Art: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
The compressed sphere detonated, releasing countless microscopic wind blades that shredded the gold dust into even finer particles.
"What kind of technique is that?" Rasa shouted in disbelief.
A figure shot out from the rupture in the storm. As Hayashi emerged, the entire Gold Dust Storm trembled violently before exploding apart, dissolving into a harmless rain of golden powder.
Rasa stared at Hayashi, who stood before him completely unscathed. His pupils contracted, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
Even in the desert, where his Magnet Release should have been at its peak, he was utterly outmatched.
"Is this where I die?" Rasa wondered.
Seeing the despair in Rasa's eyes, Hayashi gave a small nod of satisfaction.
He stepped forward, seized Rasa's arm, and snapped his left arm cleanly.
During the Second Shinobi World War, he had severed Rasa's right arm. This time, it was the left.
Rasa collapsed to the ground, clutching the ruined limb in agony.
Hayashi considered killing him but decided against it. As the Third Kazekage's disciple, Rasa would fetch a significant ransom as a prisoner.
Just then, the air shifted.
Hayashi twisted aside, narrowly avoiding a sudden strike.
Karyura lunged again, a kunai gripped tightly in her hand, moving with desperate speed.
"Run, leave me!" Rasa shouted, his despair replaced by fierce urgency.
But Karyura ignored him and attacked even more frantically.
Hayashi blocked her strikes with controlled movements, careful not to kill her. He was not interested in unnecessary casualties.
In that brief clash, Pakura suddenly appeared, blood covering her body. She manipulated Karyura's puppet, firing an iron wire that wrapped around Rasa and dragged him away.
Hayashi clicked his tongue and prepared to strike Rasa down.
At that instant, Karyura cast a genjutsu.
Hayashi's Sharingan spun, instantly reflecting the illusion back at her.
Within the genjutsu space, Karyura found herself bound to a tree, completely immobilized.
"You still dare use genjutsu against me. You have already seen the difference between us."
He released the technique and returned to reality, then delivered a precise chop to Karyura's neck, knocking her unconscious.
When he looked up again, Rasa had already been pulled to a safer distance.
Hayashi exhaled and chose not to pursue further. Instead, he turned and charged toward the distant battlefield.
This war, after all, belonged to Konoha.