During the preliminaries, Gaara once fought against Lee.
In that battle, Lee opened the Fifth Gate of the Eight Gates, proving his youthful spirit through sheer strength.
But in the end, he was defeated by Gaara, his sand crushing half of Lee's limbs.
That fight left Gaara with a deep impression of taijutsu.
It also planted a sense of fear in his heart.
Although he won, it was a messy victory—something Gaara blamed on underestimating his opponent.
But today, facing this red-haired boy, he would take him seriously. With the strongest sand at his command, he would make sure to end it in a single blow!
...
Across the battlefield, Shinju—having opened the Sixth Gate of the Eight Gates—was a blur of motion, dashing through Gaara's surging waves of sand.
In the next instant, with overwhelming taijutsu speed, he charged straight to Gaara's side and swung a fist!
"Crash!!"
Purple lightning crackled around his knuckles.
This was a new jutsu Shinju had developed, based on the "Piercing Hand" he once created. Unlike before, he no longer needed hand seals—he could directly coat his hand with Lightning Release chakra.
The drawback was that its piercing power and destructive force were weaker than the Piercing Hand.
Still, Shinju had given this technique a flashy name—Purple Lightning!
"Crackle!!"
As Shinju's fist, cloaked in Purple Lightning, came crashing down, the gourd on Gaara's back suddenly opened by itself!
A torrent of sand erupted from within.
It formed a shield, standing firmly in front of Shinju's fist.
In the next instant, Shinju's punch struck!
The sand barrier could not hold.
"Bang!"
The immense force shattered the condensed sand, slamming toward Gaara's face!
"Crash!"
The blow landed squarely across Gaara's face!
"Swish!!"
The impact sent his body flying, slamming him hard against the arena's high wall.
Right after, Shinju noticed Gaara's outer skin beginning to peel away.
That "skin" was actually his sand armor!
Underneath, Gaara's real skin was scorched black by the Purple Lightning, blood oozing out.
...
On the stands, Temari and Kankuro exchanged stunned glances.
"Gaara… who had absolute defense… actually got hurt!" Temari gasped.
Kankuro's face darkened.
"This is bad. I just hope Gaara doesn't forget the plan…"
The collapse of Konoha—meticulously plotted together by Sunagakure and Otogakure—couldn't be jeopardized by Gaara losing control!
...
On another side of the stands, Guy too was shocked by Shinju's move.
"That lightning-coated hand—it's the same stance as Kakashi's Lightning Cutter, but without hand seals… Could it be a jutsu that kid invented?!" Guy's eyes widened.
"As expected of Shinju… he's incredible. I can't help but fall for him," Tenten said, full of admiration.
"Stop swooning," Neji replied seriously. "A kid from the year below us is already this strong. We have to work harder too."
After his loss to Naruto, and his uncle Hiashi kneeling before him to admit the truth of the past, Neji had let go of many grudges.
Beside Guy's team, Asuma jabbed Shikamaru's forehead with a finger, frustrated.
"Look at Shinju, then look at yourself! Useless—always whining about how troublesome everything is, and never doing anything! (ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ)"
Shikamaru groaned. "Asuma-sensei, just stop. Talking to you is already troublesome."
Ino and Choji: "…"
Then Ino raised a hand and pointed toward the arena.
"Forget that—look! Something's changing. Gaara's forming an egg!"
Everyone turned back to the battlefield.
Sure enough, just as Ino said—
Gaara had created a sphere of sand around himself.
The sphere was studded with spikes formed from compressed sand, warding off Shinju's attacks.
And inside, no one knew what Gaara was preparing.
"It feels like he's charging up for something huge… I've got a bad feeling," Naruto muttered, squinting.
Sasuke nodded. "That sand user isn't simple."
...
In the arena, Shinju stared at the sand sphere, calculating what jutsu would best break through.
Should he try Sage Arts?
But before leaving, Jiraiya had warned him: Sage Arts, like Wood Release, couldn't be exposed casually.
Maybe the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken?
But he hesitated—what if it killed Gaara on the spot?
The Land of Fire was a great nation. He had to think with a broader perspective.
Conflicted.
So conflicted!
After much thought, he formed a simple seal and prepared the Piercing Hand.
When used while charging at full speed, Piercing Hand had devastating penetration power.
Combined with Lightning Release chakra's paralyzing effects, it could pierce through sand.
It was the perfect choice to break the deadlock.
Seals formed, wild sparks burst across Shinju's hand.
"Crackle——"
Then he leapt back, opening distance.
Once he judged it enough, he dashed forward again.
"Whoosh!"
With the Sixth Gate open, Shinju's speed was so fast that the naked eye could barely track his movements.
In just a few breaths, he reached Gaara's sand sphere—then drove his Piercing Hand, wrapped in blue lightning, straight into it!
"Crash!"
"Shhk!!"
With overwhelming force and lightning power, Shinju easily pierced through the sand defense and stabbed clean through Gaara's left chest!
Only after this did the sand sphere react, forming spikes to stab back at Shinju.
But Shinju had prepared for this. He activated the Flying Thunder God mark he'd placed earlier on the ground and vanished instantly!
The sand stabbed only empty air.
Reappearing at another spot, Shinju gazed into the hole he had ripped open in Gaara's sand sphere.
Inside, it was pitch black. He couldn't see Gaara—only hear a low murmur dripping with killing intent.
Hearing it, Shinju became even more convinced Gaara was a complete psychopath.
Then—
From that hole, a single golden eye, filled with infinite bloodlust, suddenly opened!
Shinju: (≖╻≖;)
That eye… it definitely didn't belong to Gaara!
Was it some kind of special jutsu?!
But the killing intent radiating from it, together with the massive chakra suddenly bursting from the sand sphere, made Shinju certain—something powerful was inside!
On the stands, Temari groaned. "Damn it… Gaara couldn't hold it back after all."
Kankuro gripped the bandages holding his Crow puppet.
"What now? Do we make a move?!"
Temari shook her head.
"Not yet. We wait for the signal."
...
Meanwhile, outside Konoha, a large force of shinobi wearing Otogakure and Sunagakure headbands had gathered.
They checked their gear, standing ready, awaiting the signal to launch their assault at any moment.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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