Zeldris stood calmly, his expression unreadable. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips—still no sign of panic, despite the looming threat.
Across from him, Rasa had finished weaving his seals. His eyes narrowed, then shifted briefly to Gaara, who still trembled helplessly to the side.
With a flick of his hand, golden sand surged up and pulled his son behind him, shielding him from harm.
BOOM!
A massive wave of placer gold erupted from the desert floor like a tsunami of molten light, roaring toward Zeldris with overwhelming force.
Rasa's gaze bore into him as he spoke with certainty:
"It's over, boy. Your arrogance ends here."
But even as the golden sand advanced, Zeldris blinked—just once—and looked down.
His legs were bound.
Thick veins of placer gold had silently coiled around his feet, anchoring him in place.
Rasa let out a low chuckle. The sneer on his face deepened.
"While you were busy talking big, I already had you trapped," he said coldly. "Don't bother struggling. That sand won't break unless you cut off your own legs."
"In this desert… I am the law."
The golden wave surged forward, ready to engulf its prey.
But Zeldris simply looked up and smiled.
"How disappointing," he said softly, almost amused.
"You really think this can hold me?"
He clenched his fists, the air around him warping slightly. "Let me show you the difference between us."
A brilliant white light erupted from his hand—radiant, blinding, pure.
FWOOOOOM!!
The light burst outward, flooding Sunagakure in an instant. Night vanished, replaced by a searing flash as bright as noon.
"W-What?!"
Rasa staggered back, shielding his eyes from the sudden glare.
No hand seals? What kind of jutsu is this?!
Before he could make sense of it, the ground beneath their feet began to quake.
A deep rumble echoed across the village.
Buildings shuddered. Dust rose. Cracks spiderwebbed across the land.
The very earth trembled at Zeldris's power.
Rasa's eyes widened in disbelief. This kid… what kind of monster is he?
Then came the sound—a crisp, echoing crack, like glass shattering.
Zeldris moved.
He punched forward.
And everything changed.
The towering wave of placer gold that had threatened to bury him—froze in midair.
Time seemed to stop.
The golden tide, suspended unnaturally, hung motionless like a painting.
Impossible…
Rasa's breath caught.
He didn't understand it, but in that instant, something inside him screamed.
Run.
CRRRRRACK!
The frozen gold wave shattered.
Fractures exploded across its surface like shattered ice.
Zeldris's power surged outward again, and the earth beneath him erupted. Jagged ravines split the land, tearing through stone and sand alike.
All around them, buildings crumbled.
The village itself buckled.
Then—
BOOOOM!
A concentrated sphere of white-hot energy shot forward from Zeldris's palm, rocketing toward Rasa like a cannon blast.
The sand gold wave disintegrated in its path.
Everything it touched—obliterated.
Rasa's instincts kicked in. With a roar, he summoned every ounce of chakra he had, forcing the remaining gold dust to form a shield between himself and the incoming light.
It was thick. Dense. A wall of solid power.
But it didn't matter.
The moment the light hit the shield—
CRASH!!
The shield shattered like cheap glass.
The explosion's force sent Rasa flying like a ragdoll, crashing through wall after wall before finally coming to rest in a heap of rubble.
Silence followed.
The tremors ceased. The village grew quiet again—only the soft hiss of settling dust remained.
Under the moonlight, Rasa lay broken in the ruins.
Blood soaked his robes. His body trembled. His vision blurred, reduced to little more than shapes and shadows.
But even through the haze, he could see the silhouette.
That boy. Standing tall. Unscathed.
What… what are you? Rasa thought, his heart pounding with dread.
He tried to move, to rise, but nothing obeyed.
I… the Fourth Kazekage… defeated in one move?
The thought alone made his blood run cold.
And in that silence, with the light fading from his eyes, Rasa finally understood:
Zeldris hadn't been arrogant.
He'd simply been honest.
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