My Journey as Fourth Kazekage

At that moment, the Four Tails and Five Tails began gathering Tailed Beast Bombs once again, this time even larger than before. And from the other side, the Six Tails also raised its head, a Tailed Beast Bomb nearly ten meters wide forming at its mouth.

Sensing the unusual state of the three Tailed Beasts, Rasa finally understood what was happening. Each of the beasts had a black iron rod embedded in their bodies.

"No wonder… they've been manipulated without me being able to sense a thing. So that's how you want to play, huh?"

Rasa scoffed coldly.

"The same trick won't work on me twice!"

"Sage Art Limit Release: Wood Style – Wood Human Technique!"

"Sage Art Limit Release: Magnet Style – Manifestation of Shukaku!"

"Golden Dragon Staff!!"

"What!!?"

---

At the compound of the Sand Clan in Sunagakure.

Since the last incident involving the raid from Kumogakure, the bond between Kunmi, Sara, and Maki had only grown stronger. Realizing their weakness, all three had begun training even harder.

As the strongest among them, Kunmi naturally took on the role of guiding the other two. After all, first-year students at the ninja academy had not yet learned ninjutsu. So, Sara and Maki often visited Kunmi's home during their free time. Today was no exception.

As the three of them practiced kunai throwing under Kunmi's instruction, the Tailed Beasts appeared. From the moment they appeared until now, barely a minute had passed.

But the sheer destructive power they displayed in such a short span made the three children feel truly insignificant for the first time in their lives.

For the first time, they felt just how powerful their Kazekage truly was, the one who had always protected them.

"Amazing…"

"This is Kazekage-sama's strength!!!"

Sara and Maki, just beginning to learn chakra, couldn't fully sense Rasa's true might. But Kunmi was different. As someone who had also awakened the Magnet Style, Kunmi could, at most, control less than a quarter of his body weight in iron sand.

Before this, when his father told him that Kazekage-sama was far stronger, that the difference between them was like heaven and earth, Kunmi didn't take it seriously. To him, his father was the strongest person in the world.

But now, gazing at the expansive cloud of golden sand that covered the sky above Sunagakure, Kunmi finally understood. However, there was no time for admiration.

Because he could clearly see those three massive monsters had once again begun forming those terrifying chakra spheres, this time several times larger than before.

The thunderous explosion from earlier still echoed in his ears. In that instant, Kunmi felt the weight of fear and despair. But just then, heaven and earth began to shift.

From the sky, golden sand gathered and condensed into the form of a gigantic tanuki monster, descending from the heavens to block the ape-like creature.

From the earth, the ground roared as massive, thick wooden limbs burst upward, forming a colossal wooden humanoid that stood before the horse-like white beast.

At that moment, the two newly emerged giant entities made the same move, each extended their right hand and seized the Tailed Beast Bombs formed by the Four Tails and Five Tails, then hurled them straight at the faces of the respective beasts.

On the other side, although no gigantic creature had appeared, a massive golden staff suddenly came into view. As the slug-like beast fired its chakra sphere, the staff swung powerfully and sent the Tailed Beast Bomb flying back toward its source.

Boom... boom... boom...

Massive explosions erupted once more, and the pitch-black night sky was lit up again.

This time, without the protection of the golden sand clouds, the blinding flash forced everyone to instinctively shut their eyes. Though the Manifestation of Shukaku and the wooden humanoid served as barriers, the shockwave still swept through the entire village. Sunagakure was hit like a tornado had struck, buildings were torn apart, and countless people were sent flying.

---

"Watch out!"

"Mom!"

Faced with the oncoming shockwave, Temari, Kankurō, and Gaara's expressions changed drastically. Instinctively, Gaara was about to break the restriction Rasa had placed on him and use his chakra to protect Karura. But just then, a thick sand wall rose up in front of them.

It was Karura!

Though she was now a housewife, she had once been the only successful subject of the Shukaku experiments, and she still possessed the ability to control sand.

"Don't be afraid, Mommy is strong too. I'll protect all of you!"

As the shockwaves of explosions echoed around them, Temari, Kankurō, and Gaara looked at Karura with wide eyes, and from that moment on, truly saw her as their mother. A desire to protect her began to rise in their hearts.

Temari quickly asked with concern:

"Will Father be okay!?"

"Don't worry! Believe in your father!"

---

The explosions quickly subsided, and the smoke began to clear.

When the people of Sunagakure opened their eyes once again, their pupils were unfocused, their faces filled with despair.

Though the village had not been completely destroyed like Konoha thanks to Rasa's protection, it now resembled the aftermath of an apocalypse. Countless buildings had been demolished, the village was in utter chaos, and beneath piles of rubble lay buried civilians of Sunagakure.

As they looked around, fear crept into their hearts, and their bodies began to tremble.

The crevice path at the village entrance and the cliff at the rear had completely vanished. Only the mountain walls on both sides remained, like the waist of a broken body. The canyon where Sunagakure lay had now expanded to four or five times its original size.

In that moment, the canyon housing Sunagakure had taken on a strange new shape, like a giant gourd.

!!!

Every shinobi and civilian in Sunagakure swallowed hard, their throats dry. No one could say a word. Their eyes were filled with terror, and their bodies wouldn't stop trembling.

"What the…"

Even the jōnin in the village were no exception. Then, a deep voice echoed above the ruins of Sunagakure.

"Don't just stand there! Now is the time for Sunagakure's shinobi to unite!"

The voice snapped everyone back to awareness. Those familiar with it instantly recognized who it belonged to.

"It's Kazekage-sama!"

"That's Kazekage-sama's voice!!!"

In that instant, every confused and frightened heart in the village found its anchor again.

Indeed, it was Rasa. Wasting no words, he declared loudly:

"From this moment on, I swear as Kazekage, I will not allow those three Tailed Beasts to take even a single step closer to Sunagakure. And all you need to do... is focus on one thing: save the comrades around you. Sunagakure will be protected by all of us, together."

At that moment, the light returned to everyone's eyes.