Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 264 Rasa: What about my huge Sunagakure Village?

The border of the Kingdom of Wind.

The vast, boundless sea of ​​sand lost its daytime heat in the dead of night, leaving only a biting cold. The moonlight, like salt frost, sprinkled on the undulating sand dunes, turning them a lifeless gray.

The howling wind whipped up sand and dust, reducing visibility to extremely low levels. The whole world seemed to consist only of the howling of the wind and sand and boundless silence.

In this harsh environment, a golden streak of light was hurtling across the sand dunes at an astonishing speed, tearing through the gale-force winds as it sped toward Sunagakure.

"Damn it, why hasn't a single message come back?"

Luo Sha knelt on one knee atop the floating clouds made of gold dust. His usually cold and composed face was now filled with an unprecedented solemnity and an unconcealable anxiety.

After learning of the potential threat from Hyuga Kumokawa of Konoha, he immediately dispatched his fastest communication ninja beast to send a warning and a message that he was returning to the village.

However, as time passed, the expected reply from the village was nowhere to be seen.

This gave rise to a strong sense of foreboding, like a venomous snake tightly coiling around Rasa's heart.

Normally, even if a village is attacked, it would be impossible for a single communication ninja beast to break through the encirclement and transmit information.

unless……

Luo Sha dared not think any further and forced himself to concentrate on controlling the gold dust, but the unease in his heart intensified like the surrounding sandstorm.

He subconsciously looked at the two corpses beside him, also supported by gold dust, already cold and stiff, covered by a thin layer of sand.

Without a doubt, these are the corpses of Maki and Yura.

Looking at the two lifeless faces, a deep pain flashed in Luo Sha's eyes.

These two are among the few elites in the new generation of Sunagakure who possess both great strength, outstanding wisdom, and unwavering will. They are the pillars of the village and the core of his hopes.

Their deaths were a devastating blow to Sunagakure, which was already suffering from a severe shortage of talent, and were enough to make Rasa's heart ache.

If possible, he would do anything to bring the body back to the village intact.

but……

Luo Sha's gaze shifted from the corpse to the seemingly endless sea of ​​sand in the distance, finally turning into a heavy and helpless sigh.

"I'm sorry, Maki, Yura."

He murmured softly, no longer maintaining the gold dust cloud that supported the two corpses.

Without the support of the gold dust, Maki and Yura's bodies fell from the sky and were cruelly swallowed by the flowing sea of ​​sand below, disappearing into the merciless grayness without leaving a trace.

His Magnet Release technique is essentially similar in principle to the Third Kazekage's manipulation of iron sand and the Cloud Village Trojans' manipulation of ninja tools; both involve magnetizing and manipulating specific substances.

However, due to differences in chakra reserves, environmental needs, and personal choices, the three embarked on drastically different paths.

Because Troy's chakra is relatively limited, he chooses to wield specially made ninja tools that are lighter and easier to control, and excels at surprise attacks and precision strikes.

The Third Kazekage's iron sand possesses both hardness and quantity advantages, combining offense and defense, and has extremely wide applicability, making it practically perfect. That's why he's known as the "Strongest Kazekage."

As for Rasa, due to the sudden death of the Third Kazekage and the vacancy of the Kazekage position, he immediately saw the dire financial situation and lack of resources in Sunagakure.

So, in order to get that position, he took a different approach and chose to manipulate gold dust, which has a higher value, but is denser, heavier, and requires far more chakra per unit of control than iron sand.

This allowed him to defeat heroes like Yekura and, with the support of the crowd, ascend to the position of the Fourth Kazekage.

However, in terms of pure speed and the wear and tear of a long-distance run, the heavy gold dust was undoubtedly at a disadvantage, so he had no choice but to abandon the burden of the two corpses.

The sand-gold cloud felt much lighter, and the pressure of Rasa's continuous chakra output decreased sharply.

"Faster! We have to go faster!"

Luo Sha practically spat out those words through clenched teeth, his voice unusually low and hoarse from the wind and sand.

He placed his palms on the surface of the slightly trembling gold dust cloud, and poured his already depleted chakra into it again without reservation!
hum!
The sand-gold cloud beneath our feet emitted a buzzing sound, its speed instantly breaking the limit once again. A trail of light even trailed behind the cloud, but it was quickly swallowed up and smoothed out by the wind and sand.

The sand dunes on both sides had long since become completely blurred and distorted, turning into flowing yellow lines that swept rapidly backward. The wind pressure almost lifted Luo Sha off the clouds.

He absorbed chakra into his feet and pinned himself firmly to the cloud.

Finally, on the distant horizon, which almost overlapped with the sky, a faint glimmer of red appeared.

Night departs, dawn arrives.

With his deep-seated memory of this sea of ​​sand, Luo Sha knew he was very close to the village. The fierce wind whipped up sand and gravel, cold as knives, constantly scraping against his cheeks and exposed skin, but he seemed oblivious, his eyes fixed on the sand-blurred path ahead.

The speed gradually slowed down, and the golden sand cloud lowered its altitude, penetrating layer after layer of hazy yellow dust curtains.

However, as the scene before him gradually became clearer, Luo Sha's eyes changed from anxiety and worry to a blank and bewildered look.

The sand cloud rushing beneath his feet involuntarily came to a halt, eventually hovering several meters above the ground.

"……what?"

Luo Sha uttered those words in a daze, his gaze sweeping blankly across the front of him.

There was no towering Kazekage Building as I remembered, no familiar street outlines, and no patrolling ninja figures...

Nothing at all.

There was only a vast expanse of sand dunes.

The crimson glow of dawn spilled onto the sand dunes, bringing no warmth whatsoever, but rather like a thin layer of blood, clumsily smeared on a canvas, exuding a chilling, deathly desolation.

"What about the village?"

Where is Sunagakure (Hidden Sand Village)?

"Am I lost? Have I gone to the wrong place?"

The thought flashed through his mind, and Luo Sha controlled the sand cloud to slowly descend.

However, the ground beneath my feet did not feel solid and stable as I remembered; instead, it felt soft and sinking, as if I were stepping on the lifeless, soft belly of some enormous creature.

Luo Sha stumbled, lost his balance, and fell backward.

puff!
He sank into a soft, fluffy sand dune, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Cough cough!" Luo Sha coughed violently, choked by the sudden dust and fog, his nasal cavity and throat filled with a complex and strange smell.

It wasn't just the earthy smell of the sand itself, but also a scent that was hard to describe.

He instinctively reached out with both hands to his sides, trying to use them to stand up, but his palms touched something hard and cold.

Luo Sha was startled and looked down at the spot where his hand was pressed.

Beneath his palm, in the soft sand, a corner of a stone with clearly man-made angular features was barely visible.

A strange and intense sense of familiarity made Luo Sha's heart pound wildly, driving him to dig through the sand with his hands, his fingernails instantly filling with sand.

More sand was thrown away, and more of the hard object gradually became visible.

It's not a stone.

It was part of a stone tablet.

A boundary marker for Sunagakure Village that should have stood several meters tall and solemnly at the entrance of the village!
"..."

Rasa's body became incredibly stiff. He slowly raised his head and looked once again at the massive sand dune in front of him.

The rosy glow of dawn was slightly brighter at this moment.

He was finally able to vaguely make out the outline of the sand dunes, the structure faintly exposed beneath the sand, and the buildings with only a few dilapidated corners showing...

It's like a giant being buried alive, struggling to emerge from the quicksand before suffocating, trying to call for help, but ultimately its arm falls limply down.

Silent, yet filled with chilling despair, helplessness, pain, and fear.

At this moment, a voice in his heart kept telling Luo Sha that this was the place, the place he was looking for.

This is Sunagakure (Hidden Sand Village).

Yes.

Sand Hidden Village.

(My sister got married these past few days, so updates have been a little late and less frequent. [Private message: Marseille or 2])

(End of this chapter)