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Guy leaned close to Choza's ear and rapidly whispered a string of words.
Choza's expression changed several times in succession.
First, he frowned.
Then he froze in shock.
Finally, his pupils contracted violently.
He turned his head sharply and stared at Guy.
"Are you sure?"
Guy looked directly back at him and gave a heavy, firm nod.
Just once.
Choza gritted his teeth and suddenly turned toward the camp.
"Water Release squad!!"
His voice exploded like thunder across the open ground.
"All units, prepare yourselves!!"
Several dozen shinobi immediately stepped forward from the crowd.
Konoha had never possessed many Water Release users to begin with.
Compared to the seven-meter-tall Gold Dust Wave advancing from the front, they looked sparse and insignificant.
Yet every single one stepped forward.
Not one retreated.
"Lightning Release squad! Prepare!!"
Another several dozen people stepped forward.
Lightning Release users were equally scarce.
Every available one had gathered here.
"Wind Release squad! Prepare!!"
This time, more than a hundred people stepped out.
"Fire Release squad!!"
Choza roared this final command louder than all the previous ones.
"Whoosh!"
More than three hundred shinobi stepped forward at once.
Fire Release was Konoha's specialty.
They gathered densely from every direction, forming several tightly packed rows.
Choza swept his eyes over them once before turning back toward the Gold Dust Wave.
The wave was now less than two hundred meters away from the camp.
Golden dust surged forward endlessly while the earth trembled violently beneath it.
Even the air had become thick with the smell of metal and sand.
"Everyone, wait for my command."
Choza's voice was low and steady.
"Do not release your Ninjutsu too early. Do not release it too late."
"When I say release, release together."
No one spoke.
Choza slowly inhaled deeply.
Everyone stared at the approaching wave.
One hundred eighty meters.
One hundred sixty meters.
One hundred fifty meters.
The Gold Dust Wave drew closer and closer.
Its crest had already risen higher than the tallest tent in the camp.
Under the moonlight, the golden dust reflected a dark metallic sheen, like a moving mountain pressing down onto everyone's chest.
Someone swallowed nervously.
Someone's body trembled uncontrollably.
Someone clenched their Kunai so hard their knuckles turned white.
Rasa stood atop the crest of the wave with his arms folded across his chest.
He looked down at the Konoha camp beneath him.
"The shinobi of Konoha are still struggling pointlessly?"
He slowly shook his head.
"It is all futile."
The wave continued advancing.
One hundred twenty meters.
One hundred ten meters.
One hundred meters.
The ground shook even more violently now.
The wooden fence at the camp entrance began swaying from the tremors while the torches planted into the ground tilted crookedly.
Someone whispered fearfully:
"Too close... it's too close..."
No one responded.
Everyone's eyes remained fixed upon the giant wave before them.
The crest already blocked out half the sky.
Gold dust poured continuously from above, crashing onto the ground with dull booming sounds.
The powder filling the air made it difficult to breathe.
At this distance, they could already clearly see the figure standing atop the golden wave.
Rasa.
The future Fourth Kazekage candidate.
Someone unconsciously stepped backward half a step.
Another person did the same.
A Genin's Kunai slipped from his trembling fingers and clattered onto the ground.
He did not even bend down to pick it up.
His legs had already gone soft.
"It's over..."
He muttered weakly.
The person beside him did not scold him because they themselves could barely remain standing.
Sarutobi Sosuke stood beside the command platform with a face pale as paper.
His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, clearly wanting to shout for everyone to run.
But no sound came out.
His legs trembled so violently that even his pants shook.
Choza noticed all of this.
His expression darkened slightly before he suddenly leaped upward.
He landed directly atop the camp's perimeter wall.
Standing at the very front of everyone.
Like a human wall that would never collapse.
He was using this method to stabilize everyone's hearts.
And it worked immediately.
Seeing Choza standing there without retreating, countless people instantly steadied themselves.
If the sky collapsed, the taller person in front would hold it up first.
Right now, in everyone's eyes, Choza was that person.
As long as he did not fall, they would not panic.
But Choza himself had no energy left to think about any of that.
His hand remained raised high in the air.
His eyes were fixed firmly upon the giant wave.
Fixed upon the flowing gold dust atop its crest.
When the Gold Dust Wave finally closed to eighty meters away from the camp
"Water Release—Release!!"
Several dozen shinobi formed hand seals simultaneously.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
"Water Release: Water Trumpet!"
Water erupted from their mouths, palms, and bodies.
Dozens of streams instantly merged into a massive torrent that surged directly toward the Gold Dust Wave.
The water crashed into the gold dust.
There was no explosion.
No impact.
But the entire front layer of the Gold Dust Wave was completely drenched.
The water spread upward along the crest before soaking deep into the layers behind it.
The originally bright golden surface rapidly darkened into muddy yellow.
Rasa's gold dust was incredibly heavy and dense.
Every grain weighed several times more than ordinary sand.
That was both its greatest characteristic and the source of its terrifying destructive power.
But controlling such heavy material naturally required massive Chakra consumption.
Now that the gold dust had absorbed enormous amounts of water, its weight instantly multiplied several more times.
The burden on Rasa's Chakra rose sharply as well.
Yet Rasa did not even frown.
"Konoha's Water Release?"
He merely increased his Chakra output slightly.
The speed of the Gold Dust Wave slowed somewhat, but it still continued pushing forward relentlessly.
Seventy-five meters.
Sixty meters.
"Ridiculous."
Rasa stood atop the crest and looked down coldly at the Konoha shinobi beneath him.
Disdain filled his eyes.
"If this were the Hidden Mist Village's combined Water Release, perhaps I would need to take it seriously."
"But Konoha?"
He sneered softly.
The golden wave continued advancing.
Fifty meters.
Forty meters.
The Water Release had barely slowed it at all.
At that moment, Choza suddenly raised his hand once more.
"Lightning Release squad—Release!!"
Several dozen Lightning Release shinobi attacked simultaneously.
"Lightning Release: Earth Flow!"
"Lightning Release: Lightning Pillar!"
Blue electric currents erupted from their palms and spread rapidly along the ground before striking the soaked Gold Dust Wave.
The lightning exploded wildly across the wet surface.
Blue arcs raced crazily upward along the crest.
Rasa's expression remained unchanged.
A portion of the gold dust suddenly separated from the main wave and lifted him even higher.
Standing above the crackling lightning, he calmly looked down at the electric arcs dancing chaotically across the surface.
"Trying to electrocute me with Lightning Release?"
Rasa slowly shook his head.
"The shinobi of Konoha are truly naive."
He casually raised one hand.
A thin wall of gold dust formed instantly in front of him.
The lightning struck the wall and scattered harmlessly.
It could not touch him at all.
Even worse, the electricity rapidly evaporated the moisture soaked into the gold dust.
Thin steam began rising from the wave.
The gold dust became lighter again.
The speed of the Gold Dust Wave immediately increased once more.
Thirty-five meters.
Thirty meters.
Many faces inside the camp turned deathly pale.
"The moisture is evaporating... the gold dust became lighter again..."
"It's getting faster! Faster again!"
"It's over... we're really finished..."
Sarutobi Sosuke's shrill voice exploded from behind them once more.
"What kind of garbage tactic is this?!"
"You're helping Rasa reduce the weight burden instead!!"
"It can't even hurt him at all!!"
Choza ignored him completely.
His eyes remained fixed upon the rapidly approaching Gold Dust Wave.
Thirty meters.
At this distance, the wave was no longer merely advancing.
It was collapsing downward toward them.
Gold dust poured from above like a massive landslide.
The metallic powder filling the air made it painful just to keep one's eyes open.
Someone crouched down instinctively.
Someone shut their eyes tightly.
Someone muttered prayers beneath their breath.
Choza stood at the very front without moving even a single step.
His raised hand never lowered.
The Gold Dust Wave was now less than thirty meters away from him.
The massive wall of golden dust towered before him while endless waves of gold continued crashing down behind it.
The violent air pressure blew his clothes backward while the sharp gold powder stung painfully against his face.
Yet he still did not retreat.
His hand remained raised high.
Twenty meters.
"Fire Release—Release!!"
"Wind Release squad, follow immediately!!"
"Earth Release squad, prepare yourselves!!"
More than three hundred Fire Release shinobi unleashed their techniques simultaneously.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Bullet!"
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Technique!"
Fireballs.
Flame pillars.
Streams of fire.
Walls of flames.
An overwhelming sea of fire burst forth from the camp and crashed directly toward the Gold Dust Wave.
Behind them, dozens of Wind Release shinobi rapidly completed their hand seals.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm!"
Powerful winds surged forward and collided with the Fire Release.
Wind fueled fire.
The flames instantly changed from ordinary orange-red into blazing white-hot infernos.
The surrounding air twisted violently from the extreme temperature.
Everyone was already familiar with this tactic.
They had used the exact same coordinated assault during the battle against Iwagakure.
They had drilled it countless times before.
The only difference now was the added layer of Lightning Release in between.
The combined Ninjutsu was successfully released.
Yet no one's expression improved.
Instead, despair deepened even further.
Because everyone understood clearly in their hearts.
Even though the wind-enhanced flames were stronger than before...
Against the terrifying Gold Dust Wave...
It still might not be enough.
Perhaps their fate had already been decided from the very beginning.
Some people even closed their eyes in despair.
But at the exact instant the overwhelming sea of flames collided with the Gold Dust Wave
"BOOM——————!!!!!!!!"
A deafening explosion suddenly erupted above the golden wave!!!
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