Realizing that the one hunting him was Ebizo—a legendary figure in the Sand's intelligence and espionage division—Ryuma Aburame's heart sank.
Everything made sense now. The sudden intelligence, the secret shipment of supplies, and this "Konoha surprise attack"... it was all a meticulously crafted lure. The Sand had used the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, as bait to hook Konoha and systematically dismantle their combat power. In the eyes of the Sand's elders, the survival of the newly appointed Rasa was secondary to a victory that would force the Daimyo to stop cutting their military budget.
"It seems I've reached my end..." Ryuma looked up at the toxic purple mist swirling around his insect tornado. His strength was fading. He sighed, wishing the "kid" back at the camp would realize the trap and flee. As the toxic mist began to seep into the weakening insect barrier, Ryuma closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.
Suddenly—
A youth's clear roar pierced through the poison mist and the howling gale!
"Ryuma Aburame, GET DOWN!"
BOOM!!!
A deafening roar and a cataclysmic sandstorm engulfed the horizon, blotting out the stars. The variable had arrived.
"The people flanking the purple mist are Sand ANBU!" Shisui Uchiha reported from atop Manda's head. "Thirty of them—a full Sand squadron! And the leader... he looks like Ebizo, Lady Chiyo's brother!"
"Damn it!" Akichi Inuzuka shouted. "Why is the Sand's Supreme Commander here?!"
"Woof!" Akamaru whimpered, trembling.
Ren activated his Sharingan, staring at the white-haired old man in the black hood. He had known something was wrong. The Sand was desperate. They were selling out Rasa just as they would later sell out Pakura, all to secure a victory that would prove their worth to the Daimyo.
To stop a mad beast, you had to be more insane. You had to drive a spike through its claws until it felt a pain it would never forget.
Ren drew a kunai and slammed it into the gap between Manda's scales, deep into the flesh, then tested the tension of the wire attached to it. He stood up and looked at Shinichi.
"Now... Shinichi! Everyone get off and release the Genjutsu!"
"What are you doing?!" Shinichi gasped.
"Trust me," Ren said solemnly.
Shinichi gritted his teeth and signaled Shisui, Akichi, and Otsu to leap down. Ren walked to the very tip of Manda's snout, his Sharingan spinning as the Genjutsu holding the snake was lifted.
Manda's breathing became heavy and ragged. The Sharingan pattern faded from its golden pupils, replaced by cold, serpentine rage.
"You brat... I'll eat you—"
Ren's eyes widened, the bloodshot veins and crimson Sharingan burning into Manda's vision. Genjutsu: Sharingan!
In the desert, the massive purple snake suddenly reared up like a skyscraper rising from the dunes.
Ren's face contorted into a fierce grin as he took a massive leap off the snake's head. At that moment, the "skyscraper" tilted. Manda's titanic tail swung down like the Whip of God, smashing into two towering sand dunes.
The resulting shockwave was like a blade of wind. It tore at Ren's hair and tattered robes, pulling his face back until his teeth were bared.
CRASH!
The dunes exploded. Using the massive upheaval of sand and wind, Ren calculated his trajectory. He pulled the wire in his left hand to adjust his position mid-air, then released it!
He shot forward like a cannonball, riding the crest of a "Sand Burial" that blotted out the sky, hurtling toward the toxic Sand outpost.
"I'm coming for you, Ryuma!"
As the Sand ninjas grew larger in his vision, Ren slammed his left hand onto his neck.
"Cursed Seal of Heaven!"
Black magatama patterns crawled across his body, transforming his face into that of a demon. Gliding through the gale, amidst the thunder of the crashing sand, he formed a single-handed 'Tiger' seal.
The youth's roar shattered the toxic silence:
"RYUMA ABURAME, GET DOWN!"