A heavy, chilling silence fell over the arena. On the electronic board, the two names glowed, a promise of a terrifying battle to come: Gaara versus Deva. The nervous chatter of the genin on the balcony died instantly. Everyone who had witnessed Gaara's first match, a brutal, instantaneous slaughter, understood that this was not a simple test. This was a potential execution.
"Be careful, Deva," Kakashi said, his voice a low, serious murmur that was meant only for his student. "He is not like the others. His defense is absolute. Do not hesitate."
Deva simply nodded and vaulted over the railing, landing silently in the arena below. Gaara was already there, a twisted, insane grin on his face, his eyes wide and unblinking, filled with a terrifying bloodlust. Sand trickled from the gourd on his back, swirling around his feet like eager pets.
Deva's senses were on fire. The chakra he felt from Gaara was immense, chaotic, and saturated with a hateful, ancient hunger. It was similar to the monstrous energy he had memorized from Naruto, but this was untamed, unleashed, and actively craving violence. His senses probed deeper. The sand in the gourd was not normal; it was infused with Gaara's chakra, acting as an extension of his will. And there was something else, a thin, perfectly formed, and incredibly dense layer of chakra-infused sand encasing Gaara's entire body like a second skin. It was his Sand Armor. A direct physical attack was completely useless.
"I can't wait to taste your blood," Gaara whispered, the sound like grinding stones. "Mother is thirsty."
Hayate Gekko, the proctor, looked nervously between the two genin. "Are both competitors ready?" He saw Gaara's manic grin and Deva's unnervingly calm expression. "Begin!" he yelled, leaping back to a safe distance.
Gaara didn't move a muscle. He simply stood there, his arms crossed. The sand did the work. A massive wave of it shot across the floor, faster than a striking snake, forming into dozens of sharp, deadly spikes aimed directly at Deva.
Deva's body, powered by the Uzumaki blueprint, responded instantly. He moved with a fluid, almost lazy grace, his feet barely seeming to touch the ground as he evaded the initial assault. The sand spikes crashed into the wall behind him, pulverizing the stone. He didn't stop moving, constantly circling, his silver eyes never leaving his opponent. He had to test his theory.
He made no hand signs. He simply focused, drawing a bit of chakra and spitting it out. [Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!]
A series of small, high-pressure bullets of water shot across the arena. They weren't meant to do damage. They were probes. Gaara's sand shield, a separate entity from his armor, rose automatically to intercept them. The water bullets slammed into the sand, turning small patches of it into dark, wet mud that dripped uselessly to the floor. The test was a success. Water was a weakness.
Gaara's grin faltered, replaced by a twitch of rage. "My sand... you made it wet." His anger was palpable. He raised his hands, and the sand in the arena responded, rising in a massive torrent. A sand tsunami that threatened to fill the entire space. "Sand Coffin!" he screamed, the wave of sand roaring as it surged towards Deva.
Deva knew he couldn't just defend. He met the overwhelming force with one of his own. He raised his hand, his expression focused. [Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!]
A massive dragon of pure, swirling water erupted from a source Deva created on the floor, roaring as it met the sand tsunami head-on. The two colossal forces of nature crashed into each other in the center of the arena, a maelstrom of churning mud, hissing steam, and the shriek of grinding sand. The genin on the balcony stared in awe at the display of A-rank ninjutsu from two rookies.
"Is that all you have?!" Gaara shrieked, pouring more and more sand into the stalemate. "My defense is absolute!"
Deva knew a simple power struggle was a losing battle. He had to attack Gaara directly. While the Water Dragon kept the sand tsunami occupied, he created a single, perfect Water Clone without a hand seal. The clone shot off to the left, acting as a high-speed diversion.
As expected, a portion of Gaara's sand shield detached to intercept the clone. It was the opening Deva had been waiting for.
He brought his hands together in a single, familiar seal, his chest swelling with chakra. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
While Gaara's attention was on the clone and the clashing jutsu, the massive fireball shot through the steam and slammed directly into Gaara's side, where his sand shield had been weakest. The fire didn't break through his Sand Armor, but it did something else. It superheated the thin, dense layer of sand in an instant. The armor glowed a bright, burning orange, then cooled, fusing into a solid, glass-like shell around Gaara's torso and arm.
For the first time in his life, Gaara felt the searing, direct pain of an attack on his own body. An inhuman roar of pain and pure, undiluted rage tore from his throat.
"MY BLOOD! IT'S MY OWN BLOOD!" he screamed, his mind completely snapping.
The glass shell on his arm shattered outwards. His body began to contort and swell. A massive, clawed arm made of pure sand erupted from his shoulder, and a single, giant eye of pure hatred formed on his forehead. A portion of the One-Tailed Shukaku had manifested. The killing intent that flooded the room was so powerful that several genin on the balcony fainted.
The partially-transformed Gaara unleashed an uncontrolled, massive shockwave of sand and demonic chakra in every direction, a wild, untamed version of his Sandstorm Funeral.
Deva saw the overwhelming wave of power coming. There was no time for another Dragon, no room to dodge. He had one option: defense. He slammed his palms together and poured every ounce of his focus into a single jutsu. [Water Style: Water Wall!]
A thick, curved wall of high-pressure water erupted in front of him, reinforcing itself with his chakra. The sandstorm crashed into it with the force of a tidal wave. The entire arena shook. The water wall held for one agonizing second, hissing and boiling under the immense pressure, then it shattered.
The remaining force of the blast slammed into Deva like a physical blow, picking him up and throwing him across the arena. He crashed hard against the far wall, the impact knocking the air from his lungs, and his world went black before he even hit the ground.
At the same time, Gaara, having lost control and exhausted himself in the violent, partial transformation, collapsed to his knees. He clutched his head, screaming in agony as he fought to suppress the beast within, his body wracked with spasms.
Both of them were down.
Hayate appeared in the center of the ruined arena, looking from the unconscious Deva crumpled against the wall to the writhing, unstable Gaara.
"Both competitors are unable to continue!" he declared, his voice cutting through the stunned silence. "This match is a draw!"
Medics rushed into the arena, one team heading for Deva, another cautiously approaching the dangerous Sand-nin. On the balcony, Naruto and Sasuke stared in shock. They had just witnessed the full extent of Gaara's monstrous power, and the incredible, versatile arsenal that Deva had kept hidden. The gap between them and the true monsters of their generation was still terrifyingly wide.