More than an hour later.
Baki, who had been waiting at the foot of the cliff, saw Rasa suddenly appear in front of him with a Body Flicker Technique.
Before he could even speak, Rasa's cold voice rang out.
"From today onward, Bunpuku and Shukaku are your responsibility. Find a suitable place for him, assign people to take good care of him, and do not let anyone else approach."
Baki immediately nodded and summoned the Anbu to carry out the order.
Meanwhile, Rasa waved his hand, and countless golden sands appeared beneath his feet.
An hour ago, the golden sands surged like a fountain to lift Rasa into the sky. However, this time, the golden sands directly condensed beneath his feet into a golden sand cloud, lifting him into the air.
Before this, Rasa had never been able to achieve this. In the manga, Gaara could only control sand at this level during the Fourth Great Ninja War. However, even then, Gaara was only manipulating regular sand, whereas Rasa controlled gold dust.
Among all the Kazekage who possessed Magnet Release, the reason the Third Kazekage was considered the strongest was because he controlled iron sand.
Iron sand has six times the density of regular sand.
Density determines mass, mass determines weight, and weight determines destructive power and defense.
However, Rasa's Magnet Release was even more extreme. He took the foundation of iron sand and advanced it further, reaching a level where he could control gold dust. Gold dust has twice the density of iron sand.
This meant even stronger defense and destructive power, but it also severely limited Rasa's ability to control it further.
The chakra and energy required to manipulate it increased exponentially.
As a result, Rasa's control over gold dust was not as flexible and precise as the Third Kazekage or Gaara. His Magnet Release specialized in large-scale area-of-effect (AOE) attacks rather than single-target destruction.
But that was in the past...
This new experiment had given Rasa an unexpected surprise.
After absorbing Shukaku's chakra through the Kāma seal, he immediately felt his body undergoing changes.
The changes in his Magnet Release were only the beginning.
Now, he was eager to test the new power his body had just acquired.
However, the village was not a suitable place for experiments.
With that in mind, he ascended rapidly on his gold dust cloud.
As a Kage-level powerhouse, Rasa's fine control over his body allowed him to quickly master the ability to fly using gold dust.
As the scenery beneath him grew smaller and smaller, Rasa gained a true understanding of the scale of the village he now ruled.
From a bird's-eye view, Sunagakure was much larger than he had imagined. Within the vast canyon, countless earthen-yellow stone buildings with distinct Sunagakure architectural styles stood densely packed, reminding Rasa of the towering steel-and-concrete cities from his past life.
In terms of population, Sunagakure was not weaker than other hidden villages. The only disadvantage was its lack of resources and harsh environment.
This realization gave Rasa a rough idea of the village he would be leading in the future.
However, developing the village was a matter for another time. Right now, improving his own strength was the top priority.
With that thought, he flew straight toward the desert at the edge of Sunagakure.
The Devil's Desert
The desert surrounding Sunagakure bore a terrifying name: The Devil's Desert.
The name alone hinted at the dangers within. This was why, in the original story, even Sasori and Deidara did not choose to infiltrate Sunagakure from its outskirts.
This was not an environment where human strength could easily triumph over nature.
Even though ninja possessed abilities far beyond ordinary people, they were still powerless before the vast, deadly expanse of the desert.
And the Devil's Desert was only a small part of the Land of Wind's desert landscape.
According to Rasa's memories, more than 80% of the Land of Wind was barren desert, which explained why the country's feudal lord was so eager for war. Who wouldn't desire the lush and fertile lands of the Land of Fire?
Fortunately, while the massive desert restricted Sunagakure's expansion, it also served as a natural protective barrier, saving the village from having to station large defensive forces along its borders.
Rasa quickly maneuvered his gold dust cloud to the vast desert outside the village.
The scorching sun and howling sandstorms once again reminded him of Sunagakure's harsh environment.
Out of concern for Bunpuku's life and the risk of Shukaku breaking free, Rasa had not absorbed too much of Shukaku's chakra. However, a Tailed Beast was still a Tailed Beast. Even just a small amount of chakra leaked from Shukaku and absorbed through the Kāma seal had given Rasa immense benefits.
First and foremost, Rasa's Magnet Release had become stronger.
As a Kage, one of the most powerful figures in the ninja world, Rasa had gained a new understanding of chakra from his past-life memories.
He now fully grasped how chakra was refined and transformed into ninjutsu—a process far more complex than it appeared.
In simple terms, a ninja must first mix the physical energy produced by the body's 130 trillion cells with spiritual energy to create raw chakra.
However, at this stage, chakra is merely pure energy with no specific properties.
To use it in battle, chakra must be transformed from neutral energy into one of the seven basic elemental natures: Yin, Yang, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, or Water.
This explains why many people can refine chakra but still cannot use ninjutsu.
For example, the famous taijutsu specialist Rock Lee.
He simply lacked the ability to convert chakra into an elemental nature, which was why he couldn't use ninjutsu. But this didn't mean his body had no chakra—otherwise, he wouldn't be able to train in the Eight Gates technique.
Most people who become ninjas are born with the innate ability to convert chakra into at least one elemental nature. The chakra paper test, which determines a person's ninja potential, measures this ability.
For instance, Rasa was born with three chakra natures: Wind, Earth, and Water.
Most Jonin, after years of training, learn to control multiple chakra natures.
However, there is a crucial difference between innate and acquired chakra natures.
Innate chakra nature automatically converts raw chakra into a specific element without conscious effort. In contrast, acquired chakra nature requires active transformation through chakra nature transformation training.
This transformation process consumes extra time and energy. While rigorous training can minimize this gap, it is still difficult to match the efficiency of someone born with multiple chakra natures.
This is why most Jonin and even Kage-level ninjas, despite having multiple chakra natures, still favor their natural affinity when using ninjutsu.
It also highlights Hiruzen Sarutobi's exceptional talent—his ability to master all elemental releases at an elite level was truly extraordinary.
A similar distinction exists between Kekkei Genkai and Secret Techniques…