Gaara's escape was more difficult than expected.
Although he easily dealt with the guards who came at the sound, having not eaten or drunk for three days and with his Chakra Consumption quite severe, he only lasted a few minutes before starting to feel dizzy.
But a certain obsession in his heart still guided Gaara forward.
The guards at the Northern Hideout were even stronger than at the Southern Hideout.
Because the prisoners held here were all used for Cursed Seal Experiments.
After receiving the Cursed Seal, even if they hadn't completely lost their minds, most of them underwent drastic personality changes…
Becoming like Jugo, highly aggressive.
At the same time, even without practicing Ninjutsu, Natural Energy allowed these people to possess the power to easily kill another person with a mere gesture.
To prevent these prisoners from escaping, Orochimaru stationed most of his elite Otogakure's Ninjas here.
This included Kidomaru and his group, who had become Sound Three, and the last member of Kaguya Clan, Kimimaro.
Aside from Orochimaru himself, he was probably the one with the highest combat power in this base.
Unfortunately, due to the inherent 'bloodline disease' in his lineage, Kimimaro's body was almost unable to hold on.
This was also why Orochimaru didn't list him as the next body for his [Living Corpse Reincarnation].
-Even though Kimimaro himself was very willing to become Orochimaru's new body, the specific circumstances didn't allow it.
Due to his memory confusion, Gaara couldn't perform any Ninjutsu.
But just by instinctively control the fine sand to attack, it was enough to easily disrupted the pursuit of ordinary Otogakure's Ninjas.
Soon, Gaara rushed all the way up to the surface.
By then, several high-ranking people in the base had also received the notification and hurriedly gave chase.
But when they arrived at the main entrance of the Northern Hideout, all they saw were Otogakure's Ninjas lying on the ground, their condition unknown, and Gaara's figure gradually disappearing from view.
"Kidomaru, Tayuya, Jirobo, you three come with me to pursue the Jinchuriki."
After saying this, Kimimaro turned his gaze to a Ninja behind him wearing round glasses, who looked harmless.
"I'll stay at the base. Someone needs to guard this place, and I'll also convey this matter to Orochimaru-sama immediately."
Yakushi Kabuto shrugged and said to Kimimaro with a light laugh.
Among Orochimaru's subordinates, both Kabuto and Kimimaro could be considered 'second-in-command' level, so there was no real superior-subordinate relationship between them usually.
Hearing Kabuto's words, Kimimaro didn't say much more and took the Sound Three and some Otogakure's Ninjas to chase after Gaara's direction again.
...
Gaara had no awareness of concealing his tracks.
Perhaps he had received that kind of education before losing his memory, but he obviously didn't remember it now.
And precisely because of this, Kimimaro and the others quickly caught up to Gaara.
Unlike the muddle in his mind…
Gaara's direction of travel was exceptionally firm.
Like the 'magnetic field navigation' innate in geese, Gaara didn't need visual observation to know where he should go.
"Attack, don't kill him."
Kimimaro still remembered the need to keep Gaara alive.
The Ninjas beside him immediately swarmed forward.
Meanwhile, Kimimaro, Kidomaru, and the others watched from the side, preparing to first probe Gaara's capabilities.
Combat between Ninjas is a battle of intelligence.
Sacrificing a few cannon fodder in exchange for mission success rate… they wouldn't hesitate in the slightest.
Due to hunger and weakness, Gaara, who was somewhat dazed, only reacted when the enemies were within four or five meters of him.
And this distance was enough for those Otogakure's Ninjas to launch their attacks.
Just like their name-
Otogakure's Ninjas mostly specialized in ninjutsu related to 'sound'. (T/N: Oto means sound.)
This could be seen from the Otogakure's three Genin who were brought to Konoha Village by Orochimaru.
Ding ling-
A clear bell sound attracted Gaara's gaze.
But that was all.
His eyes were still as confused as ever, showing no sign of whether he was bewitched by Genjutsu.
Seeing this, the other Ninjas didn't bother anymore and simply attacked together.
Kunai, sound waves, air blades, and other attacks rushed towards Gaara all at once.
These people still remembered their mission, aiming at non-lethal areas like Gaara's limbs.
At the moment before the attacks landed, the sand moved on its own, forming armor.
Those attacks hitting the sand had no effect at all, being directly absorbed by it.
It seemed this sand wasn't simple.
Before the Otogakure's Ninjas could launch their next wave of attacks, Gaara's counterattack arrived.
He didn't even move… or maybe he just didn't have much strength.
The sand formed an extremely thin spike, winding in mid-air following Gaara's line of sight.
Then, with lightning speed, it pierced through the bodies of all the surrounding Ninjas.
Those who reacted quickly tried to use Ninjutsu to block, but whether it was rock walls or other Ninjutsu, they were all vulnerable before the fine sand.
The only fortunate thing was that Gaara didn't seem to have the consciousness to attack vital spots, basically wherever the sand spike hit was fine.
Lucky guys might only have wounds on their limbs or torso, while the unlucky ones were directly pierced through the head or heart.
This group only lasted a few seconds before many of them falling to the ground severely wounded.
After doing this, Gaara didn't even glance at Kimimaro's group and continued walking in the same direction.
Only, as he walked, he stumbled, almost falling directly, but fortunately, the sand took the initiative to form a large hand to support his body.
"He only seems to react to enemies within attack range."
Kidomaru said to Kimimaro.
Kimimaro nodded slightly, then spoke.
"You go first, Kidomaru."
Hearing this, Kidomaru directly entered Cursed Seal Stage 2.
His skin instantly changed color, six arms and barbs grew on his head, and an extra eye appeared in the center of his forehead.
Since barely surviving his encounter with Naruto last time, Kidomaru's originally proud and frivolous nature had completely changed.
Being much more cautious, he immediately used his strongest attack from the start.
He spat out a mass of high-density sticky gold from his mouth, forming a bow and arrow, with spider-silk-like substance entangled on it.
'Bowstring drawn, 120% output!'
The spiral arrowhead cut through the air in an instant, shooting towards the distant Gaara.
Gaara only noticed when the arrow was near.
But it was too late by then.
The sand quickly wrapped around the sharp arrow, but due to the urgency, it couldn't slow it down much.
Sshhh-
Gaara's shoulder was directly pierced through, the spiral arrow's barb stuck in the flesh, making it very difficult to pull out.
"Hmm-"
Gaara couldn't help but grunt, the sand quickly forming a sharp blade to cut the spider silk behind the arrow.
But because Kimimaro's group was too far away, Gaara didn't turn around to counterattack.
He just covered his wound and continued moving forward in a certain direction.
Seeing this, Kimimaro didn't say much either.
Leading the others, he quietly trailed behind like hunters, waiting for the prey to lose resistance due to excessive blood loss.
At the current rate of bleeding, he knew the other wouldn't be able to run far.