A special thank you to my patrons:
—Cain, kevin Williams, Jose Carrillo, Jose Sierra, Salim, Archer, Vora, kurtis newman, 66835, Alex Rushing, Nhoxious, Tom89.
You can read 30 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
-------------------------------------------------------------
After signing the consent forms, Kagaya and his team received a "Heaven" scroll.
However, whatever they got was irrelevant; Kagaya had already decided to withdraw from this stage of the exam.
If voluntarily withdrawing weren't so conspicuous, Kagaya wouldn't even have bothered coming to collect this scroll.
Not long after receiving the scrolls, the examinees were separated and led away by different proctors.
They would all enter the Forest of Death through different gates.
As the designated time arrived, the proctors opened the gates one after another, letting the examinees inside.
Kagaya's group walked in leisurely.
Karin looked at Kagaya and spoke hesitantly. "Kagaya, are we really going to withdraw here?"
Kagaya smiled slightly. "What, are you reluctant?"
Karin immediately shook her head, her attitude firm.
"That's not it. Wherever Kagaya goes, I go. I was just thinking, could we stay in this Forest of Death a little longer?"
A sense of foreboding rose in Kagaya's heart. He immediately asked.
"Why?"
Haku leaned in from the side to remind him. "In this Forest of Death, we'll need to camp together."
Thinking for a moment, as if afraid Kagaya wouldn't understand, Haku added. "When camping, there won't be any rooms as barriers."
Kagaya was stunned for a second, then looked at Karin, speaking with an expression of utter exasperation.
"Stop thinking strange thoughts all the time."
As he spoke, he continued leading the two forward.
Although he had decided to withdraw, it didn't mean they had to just sit in one spot. As long as Kagaya didn't go to the central tower of the Forest of Death, he couldn't possibly pass. Therefore, Kagaya planned to wander around the forest, find someone worthy, and give them his scroll to facilitate a smooth withdrawal.
However, while Kagaya intended to find a worthy recipient for his scroll, the potential recipients didn't seem to share his sentiment.
"Hand over the scroll."
The straightforward words were spat out from a young boy's mouth.
Kagaya was somewhat surprised. "I didn't expect the first person I'd run into to be you."
As he spoke, Kagaya took out his scroll. "Although your words annoy me a bit, I really don't plan on keeping this scroll anyway. So, it's yours."
After saying this, Kagaya threw the scroll to Gaara, who stood ahead of them.
Indeed, the group standing before Kagaya and his companions was Gaara and his team.
Kankuro, standing behind Gaara, hurriedly caught the thrown scroll, his face full of disbelief.
"J-Just like that? You're handing it over?"
Kagaya smiled slightly, changed direction, and spoke to Karin and Haku. "Let's go. We'll wander around a bit more and then figure out a way to leave."
Just as they were about to take a step, Gaara spoke again. "Who said you could leave?"
Kagaya's eyes darkened slightly. "That's the second time you've annoyed me."
Gaara spoke indifferently, without a care. "Good timing then. Attack me. I'm going to kill everyone I see, including you."
Behind him, Kankuro and Temari both turned their heads slightly with a hint of pity. If Gaara had said that, then the three people ahead were certainly dead.
Kagaya narrowed his eyes slightly. His temper wasn't exactly mild, and he was starting to get genuinely angry now. However, to avoid making too much of a scene and exposing himself, Kagaya decided to endure it one last time.
"We're leaving. Karin, Haku."
Kagaya ignored Gaara and prepared to leave with Karin and Haku.
However, the moment he took a step, Kagaya immediately leaped backward to avoid it. On the path where he had been about to walk, a hand made of sand had materialized. If Kagaya hadn't dodged, that sandy hand would have grabbed him.
Kankuro couldn't help but speak with pity. "Hey, you three, run! Run as far as you can! You're no match for Gaara."
Since Kagaya had so readily handed over the scroll, Kankuro felt somewhat favorable towards him and didn't want the three of them to be killed by Gaara.
Gaara's face darkened as he looked at Kankuro.
"Shut up! Do you want to die?"
Killing intent surged towards Kankuro, who immediately took a step back, sweat pouring down his face, not daring to speak another word.
Temari also looked at Kagaya's group with concern. Like Kankuro, she wasn't particularly soft-hearted, but she didn't kill people on a whim either, especially not people like these three who had handed over their scroll immediately. In Temari's view, the other party had already adopted a very low posture; there was simply no need to attack them. But looking at Gaara's dark expression, Temari opened her mouth several times but couldn't bring herself to speak.
However, what Temari and Kankuro failed to notice was that Kagaya's expression had also darkened considerably. He had handed over the scroll the moment they met. Gaara's words had been filled with a "commanding" tone several times, and Kagaya hadn't made much of it.
And now, this Gaara had actually taken the initiative to attack them? And wanted to kill them?
While Temari and Kankuro were still worried for Kagaya, they suddenly heard Kagaya speak.
"Who gave you the confidence? Did Sunagakure spoil you too much? With the mere power of the One-Tail, what exactly do you think you are?"
Temari was shocked. This guy knew about the One-Tail? And knew Gaara was its Jinchuriki? The key was, knowing all that, did he still dare to speak like that? This guy was definitely no ordinary Genin!
Gaara's expression darkened to the extreme.
"You won't even leave a complete corpse."
As he spoke, Gaara raised his hand, preparing to attack.
Kagaya let out a cold laugh. "As expected of a country ranked at the bottom of the Five Great Nations. They can't even handle a single One-Tail, letting a brat like this wield the power of a Tailed Beast and think he's invincible. Consider it my act of charity; I'll discipline this One-Tail Jinchuriki on behalf of Sunagakure."
As his words fell, a foot slammed viciously into Gaara's face.
The surrounding sand surged, trying to protect Gaara. However, this sand simply couldn't keep up with Kagaya's speed. Before Kagaya, unless Gaara protected himself with sand from the very beginning, his so-called "Absolute Defense" was a joke.
In the original story, Lee, by merely opening the fourth gate of the Eight Inner Gates, made the sand of this era's Gaara unable to keep up and defend. How much more so for Kagaya's current speed.
When facing shinobi with high defense, Kagaya indeed didn't have many methods. But Gaara was a special case. Gaara's defense came from the sand, not his own body. Figures like the Four-Tails' Jinchuriki after tailed beast transformation or Kimimaro possessed formidable natural physical defense, which gave Kagaya a headache.
But Gaara? Hah, Absolute Defense? First, your sand needs to be fast enough to defend!
With that one kick, Gaara was sent flying a considerable distance.
Even though several meters had separated Gaara and Kagaya, in that instant, no one had reacted. It wasn't until the sound of wind from Gaara's flight alerted Temari and Kankuro that they snapped out of it.
Kankuro's eyes widened in disbelief.
'Wh-What the hell? The Absolute Defense didn't activate in time? Gaara was kicked away?'
It was crucial to understand that Gaara's Absolute Defense wasn't activated by his conscious will; it was an autonomous, self-acting ability. This meant that even if Gaara couldn't react consciously, the sand would still automatically move to defend. Because this defense mechanism operated independently of Gaara's conscious control; it was an autonomous behavior.
For such a situation where the Absolute Defense failed to activate in time, it could only mean that the opponent's speed far exceeded the maximum speed limit of Gaara's sand, rendering the sand incapable of defending even at its full speed!