My Journey as Fourth Kazekage

"Why?"

On the desert sands, Madara Uchiha, who was using Yin-Yang Release to control the three Tailed Beasts, spoke in a tone full of doubt.

What puzzled him wasn't that Rasa could take on three enemies at once, but rather the technique Rasa had used, Wood Release: Wood Human Technique.

Wood Release held special significance for Madara Uchiha. It was the power that belonged to his former friend, Hashirama Senju, the only one who could stand against his eyes. Now, that power had emerged in the hands of the Kazekage from Sunagakure.

Although Madara Uchiha, who had defected from Konohagakure, held little affection for the village, seeing his friend's power appear in another shinobi village still stirred some displeasure in his heart.

"In that case..."

From beneath the mask, Madara let out a deep growl and began forming hand seals. Even for a Tailed Beast, being struck by a Tailed Beast Ball of its own creation was no trivial matter. Not to mention when the Jinchūriki were being controlled through Yin-Yang Release by Madara Uchiha. So, under Rasa's counterattack, returning force with force, the three quickly reverted to their Jinchūriki forms.

However, that state lasted only briefly. As Madara once again infused his chakra and used Yin-Yang Release to manipulate the black rods, he regained control over the Jinchūriki. In the blink of an eye, the three returned to their complete Tailed Beast forms and charged straight toward Sunagakure.

Upon seeing this, Rasa summoned his Golden Dragon Staff once more. As he focused on the charging Six Tails ahead, the corner of his eye also caught sight of the approaching Four Tails and Five Tails from behind.

"Then I'll take care of you first!"

As his words fell, Rasa hurled the Golden Dragon Staff into the sky. Under Rasa's control, the Golden Dragon Staff began to thicken and expand. Then it split into two, two into four, four into eight.

"Golden Dragon Staff: Adamantine Prison!"

The staffs fell from the sky and landed around the rampaging Six Tails. In an instant, they formed a square cage that trapped the massive beast. But just then, the Six Tails' enormous body suddenly liquefied and slipped right through the gaps of the Adamantine Prison.

That surprised Rasa. Did the Six Tails have an ability like that?

In that case, the Adamantine Prison wasn't going to be of much use.

"Then..."

Rasa clasped his hands together, and from beneath his feet, massive amounts of gold sand burst forth like a spring, surging toward the Six Tails like waves. The Six Tails abruptly halted and, from the many nostril-like holes on its face, expelled pink mist toward the incoming gold sand.

The moment the gold sand touched the pink mist, it began to corrode and dissolve.

"Oh!"

As expected, each Tailed Beast had some incredible abilities. Had it been in the past, Rasa might have been in the mood to have a little fun with them. But now,

"Sage Arts: Magnet Release: Thorn Binding Seal!"

Ever since arriving in this world, most of Rasa's opponents in battle had been massive creatures like the Tailed Beasts, and that had allowed him to accumulate plenty of experience in dealing with them.

As Rasa clasped his hands together, countless senbon made of iron sand began to form around his body, each etched with swirling violet patterns.

The materials Rasa now controlled through Sage Art energy, whether gold sand, iron sand, or ordinary sand, could be divided into two types. The first type existed naturally, like the gold sand corroded by the acidic gas emitted by the Six Tails. The second type, however, was created through Sage Art's elemental transmutation, produced entirely from senjutsu energy.

The key difference between the two was that the latter, being formed entirely from Sage Art energy, possessed a powerful chakra-absorbing effect.

Just like right now, as the countless senbon rained down from the sky toward the Six Tails, the acidic mist released by the Six Tails no longer affected these senbon. Madara Uchiha wasn't particularly surprised by this.

Not long ago, during the battle between Rasa's group and the two Jinchūriki from Iwagakure, he had personally witnessed Rasa using this technique and had seen its chakra-absorbing power.

However, what happened next made him realize he had underestimated the technique's true potency.

Based on Madara's calculations, even though the senbon could absorb chakra, it would barely make a dent against the massive reserves of a Tailed Beast. Moreover, considering the corrosive acid layered on the Six Tails' skin, the senbon would likely melt away before absorbing anything significant.

But the moment the senbon struck the Six Tails' body, Madara noticed something was off.

He saw that once they pierced into the Six Tails, these senbon began interfering with the chakra flow inside the beast, much like the black rods he created using Yin-Yang Release.

While the senbon lacked the overwhelming control power of the black rods, they had one major advantage: sheer numbers. And once even a single senbon hit its target, it disrupted the Tailed Beast's movements, making it easier for more senbon to strike.

If Madara's chakra-sensing was accurate, then the power disrupting the Tailed Beast's chakra resembled Shukaku's sealing script.

"Interesting."

For once, Madara expressed a rare voice of admiration and immediately relinquished his control over the Six Tails. He understood that he could no longer manage it.

Sure enough, just a few seconds later, the Six Tails' entire body was covered in thorny iron trees, completely immobilizing it.

And at the very moment Madara severed the chakra link with the Six Tails' Jinchūriki,

"Rrraaaagh!!!"

As a Tailed Beast, the Six Tails Giant Slug Hound finally regained consciousness and let out a furious howl toward the sky.

"Damn humans... it hurts so much!"

That enraged roar echoed throughout Sunagakure.

Everyone had shocked expressions on their faces.

A Tailed Beast... could speak?

At the same time, Rasa understood the reason behind the Six Tails' agonized wail. It was because the Jinchūriki's life force was slowly fading away.

And for a Tailed Beast, the death of the Jinchūriki also meant its own death.

Although Tailed Beasts were immortal, from that pained scream just now, Rasa could feel that, even for an immortal creature, death was an excruciating experience.

In that case…

A spark of inspiration hit Rasa. He looked at the Jinchūriki whose complete transformation was receding, slowly revealing his original body.

With a Sand Body Flicker, Rasa appeared in front of the Jinchūriki.

At a glance, he spotted the black rod embedded in the Jinchūriki's chest. He easily pulled it out, then immediately used a forbidden technique he had learned from the future version of Chiyo.

"Forbidden Technique: One's Own Life Reincarnation"