Suddenly, the sand dome that had protected Roran from the combined ninjutsu began to disperse into the air, the sand as if guided by an invisible force, cascading back down to settle beneath each section of the wall.
But this time, the volume of sand had clearly increased. The piled-up dunes now reached halfway up the height of the walls.
For shinobi, such a height made leaping over them even easier.
Yet none of the Kumogakure forces made a move. Because on the western rampart, a tall, earthen-yellow tower of sand had emerged.
At the very top of the tower stood a towering figure, though no one had seen when he appeared.
The Third Raikage narrowed his eyes.
He saw a man, nearly three meters tall by rough estimate, wearing a sand-colored suit. His slicked-back black hair was neatly combed, and a long black coat fluttered behind him in the wind.
Such an enormous physique was something the Third Raikage and the others hadn't just never seen—they'd never even heard of anything like it.
But more than anything else, it was the aura of the man.
He was simply standing there—yet the moment that subtle gaze swept across them, an uncontrollable chill crept into their hearts, and fear involuntarily flickered in their eyes.
Even the Third Raikage tensed up, because he felt an overwhelming sense of unease emanating from the man.
It was incredible.
After all, not even when facing a fully manifested Eight-Tails had he felt fear.
"Kuahahahaha—!"
At that moment, the man atop the sand tower suddenly burst into laughter for no apparent reason. The sound was drawn out, magnetic, and incredibly strange.
"Pass down the order. Prepare to retreat back to the homeland—we can't stay here any longer."
The Third Raikage seized the opportunity while the man laughed to quietly issue orders to Dodai.
He had already realized—this man was not the Third Kazekage. As a Kage himself, even if he hadn't met the others in person, he had at least seen portraits of the other four Kage.
But this individual could control sand. That meant he was almost certainly a powerful shinobi from Sunagakure.
And this was, after all, Wind Country territory. Rasa was probably on his way here already. No matter how he looked at it, remaining here any longer would be too dangerous for their side.
Meanwhile—
Inside Rōran, when Uzui Tengen and the others saw the figure atop the sand tower and remembered the towering sand surge from earlier, they immediately recognized the man's identity.
"Whew—so it's Lieutenant General Crocodile. That's a relief. This means our first mission for Umigakure is essentially complete."
Uzui Tengen let out a deep breath.
He also silently gave the World Government high praise in his heart. For a desert like Wind Country, sending Crocodile was the perfect choice.
Probably more reliable than sending some of the Generals.
At the same time—
The brief laughter ceased.
High above, Crocodile casually lit a cigar for himself, then looked down with a mocking gaze at the Kumogakure forces retreating in waves toward the southern sea.
"You came all this way—did you really think leaving would be that easy? You might as well all stay~"
As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his jewel-covered right hand, crouched slightly, and slammed his palm onto the sand tower beneath him.
A subtle ripple pulsed outward from his hand.
Moments later—
The distant Kumogakure shinobi began to feel it: the vast layers of sand beneath them… were beginning to tremble faintly.
"Quicksand!!!"
Suddenly, a piercing scream rang out from within the Kumogakure ranks.
Someone had been the first to notice the sand beneath their feet softening, and their legs were already starting to sink.
One scream set off a chain reaction.
Dozens of Kumogakure shinobi immediately leapt into the air—but to their shock, the gravel below surged upward like yellow serpents made of sand, lashing onto their legs and dragging them down.
"Ah! What the hell is this?!"
"Cut them off!"
Some of the more quick-witted shinobi attempted to sever the 'sand serpents' with the kunai in their hands, but even more tendrils shot up and coiled around their arms as well.
"Use Lightning Release!"
A jōnin shouted the command to those around him while coating his kunai in Lightning Release chakra.
[Swoosh—]
The kunai, crackling with arcs of lightning, whistled through the air and drove deep into the quicksand below.
In that instant—
Blue lightning crackled and spread outward in a shower of sparks.
But then came a shocking sight for all the Kumogakure shinobi attempting the same maneuver.
Nothing happened.
"Huh?"
"How is that even possible?!"
Everyone stood frozen in disbelief. The idea that Lightning Release counters Earth Release was practically a law in the shinobi world—so why wasn't it working now?
As a result—
Aside from a lucky few, most of the shinobi were quickly overwhelmed by the growing mass of 'sand serpents' and dragged into the quicksand below.
However, it didn't seem that the enemy was aiming for a massacre.
The sand only buried their bodies up to the shoulders, so their lives weren't in immediate danger.
Moreover, the sand beneath them had begun to harden. It was no longer soft quicksand, and those who had been caught found themselves completely immobilized.
The scene looked like a vast desert had sprouted countless heads and necks protruding from the dunes.
Densely packed—an awe-inspiring sight.
"Keep running! Get the intel back to the village!!!"
As Dodai and the others stood at a loss, a thunderous roar suddenly echoed from the rear—Third Raikage himself.
And with that—
The Raikage erupted once again with a surge of Lightning Release chakra. The blazing blue aura, intertwined with crackling bolts of electricity, shone like a beacon in the desert night.
Then—
Massive arcs of black lightning burst from the Third Raikage's body and coalesced in the sky above, forming a monstrous panther made entirely of shadowy electricity.
[Boom!]
The 'Black Lightning Panther' pounced forward and slammed into a stretch of unoccupied sand, shattering the ground with a blast of black current that spread like a spider's web.
And then—something miraculous happened.
Every stream of black lightning seemed to possess a will of its own, skimming past the heads wearing Kumogakure forehead protectors with millimetric precision. The sand binding them, hardened like iron, shattered around them in an instant.
And whenever the sand tried to reform, the black lightning would strike it again, scattering it.
The entire process took less than three seconds.
Yet it fully displayed the Third Raikage's masterful command over Lightning Release—his control of electrical flow was nothing short of meticulous.
Still, the range of the Black Lightning technique was only about 100 meters. It managed to save some two to three hundred Kumogakure shinobi—but the other two to three thousand, farther away, were beyond its reach.
[Fwoosh————]
Knowing full well that he couldn't save everyone this way—
The Third Raikage turned into a blinding streak of lightning and shot forward the very next second.
His target: Crocodile, standing atop the sand tower on the walls of Rōran.
"Don't you dare underestimate the Raikage's power!"
His furious roar thundered across the vast ocean of sand.
Upon witnessing this—
Dodai and the others were filled with turmoil, but they gritted their teeth until their lips bled, their eyes reddened with emotion—and without hesitation, they turned and ran at full speed toward the sea.
They couldn't let down the Third Raikage!
Run. Run like hell!
Making it back alive to Kumogakure was now their only mission. The opponent's sand manipulation range was simply too vast—far greater than what Rasa had demonstrated before.
Dodai even began to seriously doubt whether even the legendary Third Kazekage, hailed as the strongest in history, could command such power.
Could it be some old monster living in seclusion within Rōran?
It wasn't out of the question—after all, Rōran was an ancient kingdom with a history spanning over a thousand years.
He had at least heard the legends surrounding the Dragon Veins.
...
"How interesting. Charging straight at me—trying to protect your subordinates? Now that's a passionate sight."
Crocodile grinned broadly as he watched the approaching streak of lightning. Holding his cigar between his fingers, he chuckled.
The next second, the surface of the cigar turned pitch black—and with a flick of his fingers, he launched it forward.
The cigar shot out like a black blur, cutting through the air. The Third Raikage, upon seeing this, was filled with fury. He felt as if he were being grossly underestimated.
Without hesitation, he raised his hand into a knife-hand strike, aiming to pierce through both the cigar and the enemy behind it.
[Bang!]
Electricity exploded outward. The hand like a lightning spear collided head-on with the pitch-black cigar tinged with a glowing red tip in midair.
Unsurprisingly—
The cigar was instantly obliterated by the strike, a ring of mist exploding outward in the air.
But then the Third Raikage's pupils suddenly contracted.
He had felt a jolt of recoil in his palm.
What the hell?
A casually tossed cigar had carried that much power?
Before he could dwell on it further, a towering figure suddenly loomed over him like a curtain of darkness.
"So fast!"
Crocodile had already closed the distance—partially sandified and grinning wickedly. His entire right arm had transformed into flowing sand.
"Danger!"
The Third Raikage's hair, already spiked from Lightning Release chakra, now stood even more sharply on end.
He instantly dodged to the right, becoming a bolt of lightning that carved a sharp 90-degree arc through the air.
But in the very next moment, his eyes widened in shock—the crescent-shaped sand blade, its edge darkened with black sheen, had already slashed toward the very direction he had dodged.
As if it had predicted his movement.
"Again?!"
The Third Raikage was reminded of Tengen's sensory ability from earlier.
He had thought it was a unique personal trait—but now this monstrous figure on the battlefield was doing the same thing.
[Squelch——————]
A spray of hot crimson blood burst into the air. The Third Raikage stared in disbelief as a long, clean gash appeared across his body—cutting cleanly through both his 'Lightning Release Armor' and his famously tough physique.
[Whoosh——————]
[Boom!!]
In the blink of an eye, the Third Raikage was sent flying backward like a bolt from a railgun, a blue afterimage trailing behind him like a falling star.
He crashed violently into a distant sand dune, triggering an explosion of dust and rubble with a deafening roar.
"Huh. Impressive durability—looks like that cut didn't go too deep."
Crocodile murmured in surprise, eyes fixed on the billowing sand in the distance.
He'd thought he could take down his opponent in a single blow and haul him back—but clearly, he'd need to go in for a few more hits.
His Armament Haki was still lacking.
...
One kilometer away—
Rasa and the Sunagakure jōnin, who had long arrived and were observing through binoculars, stood slack-jawed.
They could hardly believe what they were seeing.
Had their village ever had someone this terrifyingly powerful?
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