The chase was a blur of green. Sasuke led the way, his enhanced speed a black streak against the forest canopy. Naruto pushed himself to keep up, his legs pumping, while Deva followed effortlessly, his senses locked onto their target ahead. The unstable, hateful chakra of Gaara was a beacon in the woods, growing more powerful and more chaotic with every passing second.
They finally found him in a massive, ancient clearing. Gaara was partially transformed into a grotesque, sand-covered monster, clutching his head and muttering.
"He's losing control," Deva stated, his voice calm as the three of them fanned out, taking positions on the thick branches of the surrounding trees. "His chakra is still growing. We have to stop him before he transforms completely."
Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan was spinning, analyzing the monster. "This is what we trained for. Naruto, clones, distract him! Deva, find a weak point! I'll go for the head!"
"Finally, a real fight!" Naruto yelled, a wide, excited grin on his face as he formed a hand seal. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A tidal wave of two hundred Narutos erupted into the clearing, their battle cries echoing as they charged the sand monster.
The partially-transformed Gaara roared, his giant sand claws swatting the clones away, but the sheer number of them created the perfect chaotic diversion.
Deva, standing on a high branch, began his own assault. He wasn't just testing; he was cataloging. He fired a series of [Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets]. They were useless, absorbed by the sand. He switched to [Water Style: Water Bullets]. They turned the sand to mud, but it instantly regenerated.
"Hey, Deva!" Naruto's voice yelled from the fray. "Your polite little jutsu aren't working!"
"Noted," Deva called back, his voice completely deadpan. "It seems our opponent is unusually resistant to fall over."
He knew simple attacks were a waste of chakra, even for him. They needed overwhelming, combined force.
"We need a bigger attack!" Sasuke yelled, coming to the same conclusion. "Naruto, buy us time! Don't let him move!"
"I'm on it!" Naruto roared, directing his clones into a massive dogpile, swarming the sand monster in an attempt to physically restrain it.
"Deva, get ready!" Sasuke commanded. "I'm going to open him up. I need a follow-up!" He began to focus his chakra, his hand crackling with lightning. Deva understood instantly. Water conducts electricity. "Sasuke! On my signal! I'm making it a conductor for you!"
Deva poured a massive amount of his own chakra and unleashed a seal-less jutsu. [Water Style: Water Wave!] A huge, rushing river erupted from the ground and crashed into the struggling sand monster, drenching it completely.
"NOW, SASUKE!" Deva yelled.
Sasuke shot forward like a bolt of lightning. "CHIDORI!"
He plunged his electrified hand directly into the chest of the water-logged sand beast. The effect was devastating. The lightning, conducted by the water, coursed through the entire sand body in a brilliant, blinding flash. The sand monster convulsed violently, and massive sections of its sand shell, hardened and then shattered by the combined assault, began to crumble away.
But they had pushed the beast too far. The pain and electrocution were the final trigger. An inhuman roar tore from Gaara's throat. "I've had enough of this! I'll kill you all! MOTHER!" He slammed his hands together. [Feigning Sleep Jutsu!]
The sand around him exploded outwards, reforming with terrifying speed. It grew, and grew, and grew, taking the shape of a massive, sand-colored tanuki with dark, cursed markings all over its body. A behemoth the size of the Hokage monument now stood in the clearing, its single, massive tail lashing out and destroying trees. The One-Tailed Shukaku was fully unleashed.
The three genin of Team 7 looked up at the towering monster. Their confidence had not wavered.
"Whoa! Now that's a big one!" Naruto shouted, his grin widening with manic excitement. This wasn't terrifying; this was the ultimate challenge.
"Hn. Don't state the obvious, idiot," Sasuke scoffed, his Sharingan spinning as he analyzed the giant beast, searching for a weakness in its new form. The sheer scale of it was annoying, but it was just a bigger target.
Deva's senses were flooded with the most powerful, hateful frequency he had ever encountered. But it wasn't painful anymore. After his own transformation, it was just... data. Fascinating data. He was looking at a living, breathing A-rank jutsu.
The giant sand beast looked down at the three tiny shinobi before it. Its massive mouth cracked open into a terrifying, manic grin. It took a deep breath, and the air itself seemed to be sucked into its lungs as it began to gather and compress a massive amount of wind-natured chakra. A colossal, swirling sphere of air, the size of a building, formed in its mouth.
"Well," Deva said, his voice calm and dry as he looked at the city-block-sized attack forming above them. "I am re-evaluating our chances of winning." He paused for a beat. "The new estimate is... low."
Naruto and Sasuke just shot him an annoyed glance. They stood their ground, side-by-side, looking up at the impossible threat. They were battered, outmatched, and facing a literal god of destruction. But they were Team 7. And they weren't scared at all.