The three Kage-level powerhouses of Sunagakure were still barely alive. The thousand sand shinobi who had been shaken into the deep crater were only injured.
In total, Sunagakure still had nearly a thousand combat-ready ninja, yet it was still useless.
They still couldn't change the outcome, the Third Great Ninja War, launched by Sunagakure, had been ended by a single punch from Garp.
After all, while thousands of Sand shinobi indeed possessed strength, the courage, conviction, and will that supported them in battle had been mercilessly crushed by Garp's iron fist.
Right now, the Sand ninja standing at the edge of the massive fist-shaped crater all wore vacant, hollow expressions, their eyes lifeless, as if their souls had been torn out.
In this state, forget having the courage to even lift a kunai, forcing them onto the battlefield would only turn them into sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
…
A sudden, abrupt set of footsteps echoed across the battlefield.
The manic, deranged laughter of Rasa was snuffed out as if that step had stomped directly on his throat, cutting him off mid-cackle.
Lying at the center of the crater, unable to move even a single finger, Rasa and the others tried to shift their eyes toward the sound.
But before they could, a shadow had already covered Rasa's body, at the same time, a figure in a black suit stepped into their vision.
Garp….
Rasa's eyes snapped open, countless emotions flashing across his twisted face.
"Ah…."
Terror, unwillingness, rage… all those tangled emotions finally erupted into a furious, hate-filled roar.
It was this man, this man who had crushed his grand ambitions, shattered his dreams and the legacy he was about to carve into Sunagakure's history.
When he was on the verge of becoming the greatest Kazekage the village had ever known, this man punched him straight down into the abyss, obliterating everything he had built.
"Why?"
"Why did you come back?"
"This isn't your era. This is Sunagakure's era. This is my era. Why did you have to return?"
His hoarse, hysterical shrieks echoed across the battlefield so quiet you could hear a needle drop.
"Are you done?"
Garp looked down at him from above, voice flat.
"You… ah, cough, cough. …. Garp, what… what are you doing?"
Rasa had just begun to bare his teeth for another roar when a cascade of gold dust suddenly poured down like a waterfall, rushing into his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
"A pathetic mongrel barking without strength… Back in the old days, I heard far too many like you. To the point it became annoying.
And frankly, your voice isn't pleasant. Compared to you, that brat Uchiha Izuna, whose limbs I snapped, screamed far better than you ever could."
Garp loosened his fingers, allowing the gold dust gathered in his palm to continue pouring onto Rasa's face.
"Garp, you…."
The moment Rasa opened his mouth, gold dust rushed in, choking him and forcing him into a fit of coughing.
"Kazekage, something like gold dust is only fit to be sold. If you don't want to sell it, then eat it."
After dumping the last of the gold dust onto Rasa, Garp brushed off his hands.
"If your goal is to humiliate me," Rasa coughed violently as he roared, "then you've succeeded. But I will never bow to you."
"Humiliate? Don't think too highly of yourself. I don't bother with meaningless things. And you? Rasa? You're not worthy of being humiliated by me.
I merely turned my words into reality."
After wiping the remaining dust from his palm, Garp lowered his head slightly. His eyes, sharp as blades, pierced directly into Rasa's.
"Back then I just confined your first Kazekage to the Land of Wind. If he would have attacked further I would have just annihilated him.
As for you, the Fourth, originally, I didn't intend to beat someone so much younger, and I even gave you a choice. But you actually told me to step aside for you.
Among all the Kazekage throughout Sunagakure's history, you're the only one who wanted to challenge me. Even your first Kazekage, Reto didn't do it.
I'll give you this, when it comes to courage, you're the strongest."
Garp withdrew his gaze and turned to walk toward the edge of the crater.
As Rasa struggled between dread and confusion, a loud thud echoed beside him. When he turned his eyes, he saw a massive pile of gold dust, nearly a full meter tall, appear beside him.
"Garp… what do you mean by this?"
Not only Rasa, Chiyo and Ebizo, both on the verge of death, paled at the sight of that mountain of gold dust.
"To let the Fourth Kazekage eat sand."
Garp's tone was calm, almost casual.
If he said the Kazekage had to eat sand, then he would eat sand.
If he said Rasa would meet the past Kazekage, then Rasa would meet them.
"You think I will let you have your way? You think I'll accept this humiliation? Yes… in front of your Fist, I am indeed as weak as an ant. But I still have the courage to die."
Rasa roared, face contorted with fury.
"Good. Since you have that courage, then after you finish eating this pile of gold dust, go meet the first Kazekage yourself.
But I won't bother escorting you."
Garp nodded lightly, then vanished and reappeared at the crater's edge.
"I am the Fourth Kazekage. I can die, but I cannot be humiliated."
Rasa bellowed at Garp's back.
But Garp didn't even spare him a glance.