"Is that all?! Is that truly all a Kage has to offer?!" Amidst her hysterical laughter, the girl's monstrous strength roared as she wildly swung the storm and lightning gathered in her hands.
Boom!
Layer upon layer of hardened gold dust was torn apart, revealing the furious face hidden within. Rasa bellowed, a hand formed of Chakra-infused gold dust stabbing towards Sakura.
A unique magnetic ripple spread from his palm's center, attempting to manipulate the trace metallic elements within Sakura's body.
"Die!" Rasa made a sharp pulling motion. The magnetic force formed by his Chakra detonated inside Sakura.
To his utter disbelief, Sakura merely coughed up a mouthful of blood, and the Magnet Release's control over her failed completely.
"You..." Watching the bloodied girl smile at him, a profound chill shot up Rasa's spine.
"So you had a trick like that. No wonder you became Kazekage!"
The temperature around Sakura began to climb steadily. The soil at their feet rapidly dried out and charred.
An indescribable, scorching heat caused the surrounding gold dust to melt, its internal magnetic order disrupted, breaking Rasa's Chakra-generated control over it.
"A perfect opponent who uses magnetism. Experience the power of heat I command!"
As Sakura's body temperature skyrocketed, her pink hair shifted to a blazing crimson, and her emerald eyes transformed into molten gold.
Flames ignited and surged around her. Scarlet, superheated particles scattered into the air. A radiant, hazy garment seemed to cloak her form, the escaping steam coalescing into a faint, shimmering nimbus of fire, making her look like a being of living, rose-colored flame.
[High-Temperature Mode: Blazing Warrior Form]
The storm sword, superheated by the intense energy erupting from the girl's body, slammed down towards Rasa.
Temperatures reaching thousands of degrees set the blade ablaze with white fire, distorting the very air around it.
With his gold dust neutralized by the heat, one of Sunagakure's most famed techniques was rendered useless.
But as a Kage, even deprived of his signature skill, Rasa was far from defeated.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!" He formed hand seals swiftly, his chest swelling before he spat out a highly compressed sphere of wind.
The churning storm created a vacuum between them, violently dispersing the superheated air Sakura had generated.
He immediately formed another seal, consuming vast Chakra to create a small water mirror, reflecting Sakura's thermal radiation back at her.
Then, he charged straight through the blistering heat, closing the distance.
"Right, I keep forgetting you Ninjas are masters of physics too!" A certain brawler-turned-pirate grumbled softly. But with the air itself blown away, her silent complaint went unheard.
Before her, a blade of condensed earth and rock in Rasa's hand thrust towards Sakura's heart.
Often mocked as the [Weakest Kage], this same Rasa possessed mastery in Wind, Water, Earth, and Yin Chakra Natures.
Now, casting all pride aside to target a mere Genin, he was effectively deploying Sunagakure's highest level of tactical response.
"Your potential ends here! Perish with Konoha!" Though soundless, the flames of desperate fear burned in Rasa's eyes.
Fifteen years ago, reeling from the loss of their Third Kazekage, Sunagakure had recklessly ignited the Third Great Ninja War.
The conflict cost them an entire generation of Ninja, leaving them shackled by war reparations and forced into subservience to Konoha.
Rasa feared his village's next generation would drown in the 'peace' Konoha provided, losing all will for independence.
So when Orochimaru proposed the Konoha Crush Plan, Rasa agreed almost instantly.
This old neighbor was too powerful. Even disarmed, they inspired terror. Eliminating this prodigy and their Hokage would ensure Konoha's decline!
The stone sword touched the girl's chest. Rasa's face twisted with savage triumph.
Clang!
The blade, sharpened by Wind Release and hardened by Earth Release, met Sakura's chest and produced a sharp, metallic clang.
It failed to pierce the Armament Haki-hardened skin, shattering on impact.
"Why?!"
'If gold dust failed, fine. But a Dual-Nature technique too?!'
Rasa, mind reeling, couldn't fathom a power where sheer will could warp reality itself.
"Rasa, you son of a-" The girl, subjected to a point-blank stone-shattering strike, wore a face of thunderous rage. Steam erupted from her body in waves.
The very earth trembled under the sudden, terrifying heat. Soil and stone blackened, melted, forming streams of magma.
The world shook under this power to overturn thermodynamics.
The atmosphere superheated in seconds. Moisture evaporated en masse, forming dark clouds above.
An immense storm cell surged, crushing the cloud layer, allowing fractured sunlight to pierce through briefly.
Then, the blazing inferno descended!
"Damn it! How old is she?! Is her Chakra infinite?!" Rasa cursed, dodging for his life within the fiery hellscape.
Killing her was no longer the goal. Survival was.
Water, Earth, Wind Release… any technique he used disintegrated upon contacting the overwhelming heat.
The ambient temperature kept climbing, seemingly without limit.
Out of options, Rasa knew his time was almost up.
Only one path remained.
- Run!
Without a second thought, Rasa turned and fled.
His sheer decisiveness stunned Sakura for a crucial moment, long enough for him to vanish from sight.
"Get back here!!!" Sakura roared, propelled forward by jets of flame and steam.
Having learned from the Flying Thunder God's menace, no skilled foe let Sakura mark them. With Wind Release enhancing his speed, Rasa began pulling ahead.
The outline of Konoha Village appeared in the distance. He was betting her High-Temperature Mode's destructiveness would restrict her in the village.
Understanding his plan, Sakura stopped holding back. She grabbed a large handful of shuriken, instantly melting them into a glob of molten metal in her grasp.
Armament Haki flowed through her arm, coiling around the liquid iron.
A savage, unrestrainable power gathered, ready to be unleashed.
"Fish-Man Karate: Water Shot!"
Boom!
A Mach cone erupted in the air. The released energy condensed into a near-solid line of incandescent light, searing a path through the atmosphere.
Rasa, fleeing desperately, felt a sudden dread and glanced back.
He saw a spiraling, crimson meteor shooting straight for him.
"F*ck!"