What is this thing?
Back when he fought Kimimaro, it was clear Gaara still had something up his sleeve.
The sand around Gaara kept building up, surrounding him completely.
"You really do have all kinds of annoying defenses."
Sasuke muttered under his breath, then pressed his lips together and quickly rushed forward.
He didn't know exactly what this thing was, but if Gaara got fully wrapped inside, it'd be hard to attack him afterward.
Right away, Sasuke jumped up and slammed a kick into the sand shell. In an instant, sharp spikes shot out from the shell like needles, aiming straight at him.
Sasuke dodged the best he could using his Sharingan, but a few spikes still scratched him, cutting open his skin and drawing blood.
Even the hand he had punched with was scraped and bleeding from the tough surface.
Barely missing a worse injury, Sasuke paused, then quickly jumped back. As he moved away, the spikes slowly retracted into the shell.
Gaara was now completely sealed inside the sand sphere, like a giant ball growing from the ground.
A swirl of sand spun up nearby, forming into the shape of an eye on the outside of the sand shell.
That floating sand eye spun around in the air, scanning the area. Gaara had fully sealed himself inside the shell and was now using just that one eye to observe the outside.
"This is bad... looks like Gaara completely forgot the plan..."
The people from other villages didn't understand Gaara's situation, but Temari and Kankuro knew exactly what was going on.
Although Gaara and Shukaku were both key to this mission, they hadn't gotten the signal yet.
Now Gaara had suddenly acted on his own and changed—this was way off what they had planned.
"Our teacher's not here, and there's no signal at all. This is getting out of hand. Maybe we should just run for now."
Anyone who had seen Gaara like this once wouldn't want to see it a second time.
Kankuro looked down at the arena nervously, already regretting not sending Temari to find Baki right away.
Their teacher hadn't shown up at all, and now that Gaara was about to lose control, they had no way to stop him.
The Kazekage still sat there without a single expression on his face, as if he didn't care about any of this.
Temari frowned deeply.
"How are you supposed to fight that sand ball? It looks super tough."
Isn't this just trapping himself? Sure, it was great for defense, but Gaara couldn't attack from inside either.
Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his seat, glancing around.
"There's a way. Just keep watching."
Kakashi pushed down on Naruto's head to make him sit still.
Sasuke suddenly leapt backward, landing on the nearly vertical wall. He quickly formed hand signs with both hands, then placed his right hand on the ground.
"Zzzap—"
After a short pause, bright, lightning-like chakra began to gather in Sasuke's hand.
The crackling current rubbed against the air, making a high-pitched, sharp screech that sounded like a thousand birds crying at once.
The ground beneath Sasuke's hand was instantly blasted open, leaving a decent-sized crater from the chakra and electricity.
"That move of yours is really loud~."
"You seriously use that noise for sneak attacks?"
Hatake Satoru rested his chin on his hand as he said this to the Kakashi beside him.
"It's one of the few moves I actually came up with myself. Can't you say something nice about it?"
Kakashi tilted his head slightly, looking a little helpless.
Sasuke dragged his hand across the nearby wall, and the sparking Chidori left a deep crack right next to Vice Admiral's position.
Right after, Sasuke dashed forward at full speed, aiming straight for Gaara's sand shield.
Chidori is meant to be a high-speed, piercing attack. If fast enough, the user's hand becomes like a blade for both slashing and thrusting.
But the downsides are obvious. The charging distance is long, which makes it easy to interrupt. Plus, it can only be used properly with the Sharingan.
Still, with the way Sasuke's using it now, it's a pretty powerful technique.
Hatake Satoru scratched his eye mask and stood up to get a better view of what was happening below.
Kakashi thought Satoru was taking interest in Sasuke's jutsu, and quietly felt a bit happy inside.
Sasuke charged straight at Gaara's sand shell. The moment it sensed danger, a bunch of sharp spikes shot out from it.
"Thud!"
With a muffled sound, bits of sand scattered around Sasuke. He had dodged all the spikes cleanly and landed a solid hit with his Chidori.
Warm, slippery blood quickly soaked his hand.
The whole arena and the stands fell silent. Everyone was watching the two in the ring with tense focus.
That should be enough, right?
A few Anbu near the crowd looked up at the Kazekage sitting in the Kage seat, then glanced at each other.
Sasuke suddenly froze mid-motion, still stuck in the sand shell. It wasn't just blood—something else had grabbed onto him.
"?!"
His arm… was stuck.
Sasuke's brows tightened sharply. As expected, this guy wasn't going down that easily.
There was no room for another running start, but there was no choice. Sasuke quickly poured more chakra into his hand.
"Zzzap!"
With another sharp burst of electricity, the glow turned Sasuke's face pale.
He forcefully stepped back and yanked his hand out.
But something came out with it—a large claw. Yellow in color, soft-looking, covered in dense purple markings, and gripping his arm tightly.
It only came out partway. But as Sasuke pulled back to a safe spot, the claw released him and quickly pulled itself back into Gaara's sand shell.
A drop of cold sweat ran down Sasuke's cheek. Then, in the dark hole where the claw had disappeared—
A strange eye suddenly opened, surrounded by swirling dark purple marks.
Killing intent, pressure—something heavy was coming from it.
Almost everyone in the area with decent skills felt a sudden wave of dread.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes slightly—then suddenly, feathers began drifting in front of him.
"Genjutsu?"
He froze for just a moment before shaking it off, dispelling the illusion. But most of the students and spectators around him dropped their heads and fell asleep.
At the same time, a loud *boom!* rang out nearby.
Leaning against a railing, Hatake Satoru looked up slightly, just in time to see a smoke bomb explode where the three Kage had been sitting.
The three Kage figures disappeared into the smoke in an instant.
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