Chapter 343: I Don't Want Casualty Figures. I Only Want Shashan!

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!”

A short while later, the third volley of Fire Release Cannon Type-3 shells once again streaked toward the Shashan Temple defensive position.

“Gold Dust Barrier!”

A furious roar rang out.

Wave after wave of gold dust surged upward from the Shashan Temple defensive position, rushing toward the Fire Release Cannon Type-3 shells descending from the sky.

Even though Rasa had unleashed his full strength, quite a few shells still broke through the defensive net formed by his Gold Dust and fell into the Shashan Temple position, exploding into enormous fireballs.

“Damn it!”

Rasa’s body was covered in scorch marks and blood. He once again rode his Gold Dust into the air.

His gaze swept rapidly across the entire Shashan Temple defensive position.

Everywhere he looked, severed limbs and bodies littered the ground. Fewer than half of the original defenders were still capable of fighting. The various large-scale weapons had been reduced to wreckage, leaving them with no opportunity to demonstrate their usefulness.

But Rasa had no time to mourn.

The Konoha elite had already reached the vicinity.

They were less than a hundred meters from the Shashan Temple defensive position!

“Gold Dust Wave!”

The chakra within Rasa’s body surged wildly.

A massive quantity of Gold Dust erupted from beneath the ground, sweeping toward the advancing Konoha shinobi like a gigantic wave.

He wanted to slow their advance as much as possible and buy the surviving Sand shinobi at the defensive position a little more time to react.

“Lord Kazekage!”

Might Guy’s silhouette—no, Maki’s—appeared beneath Rasa, and he shouted anxiously:

“Something’s wrong! Our losses are catastrophic! Konoha’s attack just now has already caused at least—”

“I don’t want casualty figures! I only want Shashan!”

Rasa snarled furiously.

“It’s only been a few minutes since the battle began, and you’re already thinking about retreating?!”

“Sunagakure is directly behind us! Where else can we retreat to?!”

“Tell everyone that no matter what the cost, I only want Shashan!”

“Even if every single person at this defensive position dies, I still want Shashan! I only want Shashan!”

Maki froze.

He stared at Rasa, who had practically descended into madness, completely speechless.

In the end, he could only accept the order and leave to organize the defenses.

As he watched Maki depart, a complicated look flashed deep within Rasa’s eyes.

Rasa naturally knew what Maki had wanted to say.

It was nothing more than withdrawing temporarily to avoid Konoha’s overwhelming momentum, falling back to the narrow passage at the entrance of Sunagakure, and reorganizing their defenses there.

But could they really retreat under the current circumstances?

The quality of the Sand shinobi stationed at Shashan Temple was already inferior to that of the Konoha forces. They had now suffered a devastating bombardment and lost more than half their strength.

Rasa could guarantee that if he ordered a retreat at this moment, the surviving Sand shinobi would inevitably turn their retreat into a rout once Konoha began pursuing them.

Konoha would never give them the opportunity to return to Sunagakure alive!

Therefore, in Rasa’s view, rather than abandoning Shashan Temple and being slaughtered by Konoha during the retreat, it was better to make a desperate stand here and buy the defensive line at the narrow passage behind them as much time as possible.

Rasa knew that Elder Chiyo in Sunagakure must already have learned about the situation at Shashan Temple.

Under the assault of Konoha’s new weapons, the defensive position at the narrow entrance to Sunagakure would be little more than a joke.

That slight geographical advantage would absolutely not be enough to stop Konoha’s new weapons.

Although he had no idea whether Elder Chiyo could devise a countermeasure against Konoha’s new weapons, there was only one thing Rasa could do now:

Trust Elder Chiyo and buy her as much preparation time as possible.

Every additional minute meant another sliver of hope!

“Fire Release: Flame Wall!”

At that moment, a gigantic wall of fire suddenly rose into the air, completely blocking the surging sea of Gold Dust.

“This level of Fire Release…”

Feeling the scorching heat wash over him, Rasa’s pupils contracted.

His expression became extremely grave.

“The Crimson Sun of Konoha… Uchiha Ren!”

Although Rasa had not fought Uchiha Ren during the Battle of Kikyō Mountain, the slash that the Golden Flash of Konoha, Minato Namikaze, had used to severely injure him was still fresh in his memory.

Uchiha Ren was an existence in Konoha who was spoken of in the same breath as Minato Namikaze.

His battle record was hardly inferior to Minato’s.

As a result, Rasa’s wariness toward Ren had already reached its peak.

Before Rasa could think any further, the enormous fireball in the distance suddenly split apart from the center.

A figure wielding a long sword leaped out through the opening, with a group of Konoha shinobi following closely behind him.

“Uchiha Ren!”

Seeing the Uchiha clan crest on the swordsman’s sleeve and the scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan in his eyes, Rasa immediately confirmed his identity.

He charged straight toward Ren.

Against an opponent of this caliber, Rasa no longer had the luxury of worrying about the other Konoha shinobi.

“Gold Dust: Spear!”

Rasa raised one hand from his elevated position.

A massive quantity of Gold Dust erupted beneath his feet, gathering together like flowing water and forming a razor-sharp golden spear that shot toward Uchiha Ren.

“One-Sword Style: Gentle Slash!”

Ren raised his sword and swung.

A crescent-shaped slash of flame shot from the blade, meeting the Gold Dust spear head-on.

A faint trace of disdain appeared in Rasa’s eyes.

He spread the fingers of one hand.

The speed and force behind the Gold Dust spear instantly increased by another thirty percent!

In Rasa’s opinion, no matter how explosive flames might be, they were still ultimately intangible.

In a direct clash between fire and Gold Dust, the Gold Dust possessed an overwhelming advantage because of its physical mass.

As long as the kinetic force carried by the spear was powerful enough, it should easily break through the flames.

Perhaps this attack could even catch Uchiha Ren off guard and make him suffer a serious blow.

But the result of the collision between the flames and Gold Dust in the next instant caused Rasa’s eyes to widen.

The razor-sharp tip of the Gold Dust spear had already begun showing signs of melting the moment it approached the flaming slash.

Once the spear directly collided with the flames, it melted completely into a pool of molten gold!

“How is that possible?! What kind of temperature…”

Rasa couldn’t help blurting out in shock.

But by then, the flaming slash had already cut through the Gold Dust spear and reached him.

Rasa immediately manipulated the Gold Dust beneath his feet to retreat while simultaneously raising a massive amount of Gold Dust in front of himself as a shield.

Before he could even feel relieved, however, Uchiha Ren—his entire body wreathed in blazing flames—had already appeared above him.

He raised his sword and prepared to bring it down.

A flash of sword light.

Rasa’s body was split cleanly in two, transforming into molten gold that splashed onto the ground.

“His speed is only slightly inferior to the Golden Flash’s, but the power of his attacks is far greater than Minato Namikaze’s!”

“This Uchiha of Konoha is far more troublesome to deal with than Minato Namikaze!”

Rasa’s figure emerged from a mass of Gold Dust some distance away.

While calmly analyzing Ren’s abilities, he cautiously maintained his distance from him.

“If that’s the case, then the only option is to keep my distance and overwhelm him through sheer numbers!”

Rasa controlled the mass of Gold Dust beneath his feet and continued retreating.

At the same time, he brought his hands together.

Countless streams of Gold Dust mixed with ordinary sand and stones surged into the air, blotting out the sky.

In the desert, Rasa possessed an overwhelming advantage in terms of terrain!