Gaara's consciousness began to blur.
He had just controlled a large amount of sand before instantly crashing to the ground. His body was thrown backward through the air, smashing heavily on the ground not far away.
Yuichi slowly lowered his right leg. He narrowed his eyes, looking at the distant Gaara with some disdain.
Such a weak Kazekage!
Truly befitting of the weakest ninja village.
The battle had just begun, and Gaara was completely overwhelmed. It hadn't even fazed Yuichi. At first, he thought it would take a little more effort to take Gaara down, but now it seemed he had overestimated him.
Gaara was merely the Jinchuriki of the One-Tail.
But Yuichi was the Jinchuriki of an Otsutsuki. A Tailed Beast Jinchuriki was no match for him.
"Lord Kazekage!"
"Gaara!"
A group of Suna ninja rushed over. When they arrived, they saw Gaara lying on the ground, struggling to get up.
Having been kicked in the jaw, Gaara's consciousness was in a hazy state.
Kankuro saw Gaara beaten to such a state, the shock in his heart beyond words.
Just a rogue ninja from Kirigakure. How had he become so strong? Gaara's sand was completely useless against him. The image of Yuichi blasting the sand away with a powerful shockwave of chakra was difficult for the Suna ninja to accept.
When had Gaara's sand become so easy to break through?
Although Gaara was young, he hadn't become Kazekage just because of his special status; his strength was sufficient for the role. But now, he was being beaten to the ground by a rogue ninja from Kirigakure who had suddenly invaded their village.
Were all rogue ninja this monstrous now?
Kankuro maintained a calm expression on the surface, but his heart was in turmoil. Seeing Gaara's condition, Kankuro instantly pulled out the scroll on his back, opened it, and released his puppets.
"Quick, check on the Kazekage! I'll hold him off!"
Two puppets appeared. Crow and Salamander were simultaneously controlled by Kankuro.
The puppets moved, their joints emitting a piercing, creaky sound.
The moment the puppets were released, Kankuro immediately controlled them to charge at Yuichi. This was the most nervous he had ever been while manipulating his puppets, because the safety of the entire village was at stake.
He had to hold Yuichi off and give Gaara time to recover. If Gaara was defeated, Sunagakure's situation would become even more dire. A rogue ninja from another village could easily invade and defeat Sunagakure's Kazekage. After this, Sunagakure's reputation as one of the five great ninja villages would be utterly finished!
The attack puppet, Crow, instantly flew towards Yuichi.
Yuichi glanced back, his gaze sweeping over Kankuro's face. The disdain in his eyes was clearly felt by Kankuro.
Kankuro grit his teeth. It was impossible to feel nothing when being looked down upon like this. A fire of anger ignited in his heart.
You dare look down on me!
I'll show you the power of a puppet master.
Holding back his anger, Kankuro pushed his puppet skills to their limit. The Crow puppet's movements were incredibly sharp. The moment it was in front of Yuichi, it instantly opened its four arms and lunged, trying to grab him.
Black Secret Technique: Poison Smoke Bomb! Kankuro thought with a cold smile. At this moment, Yuichi hadn't moved. In Kankuro's eyes, it was too late for him to escape now.
At that moment, Yuichi gave a very contemptuous smile.
"Puppet Mastery?"
"Don't you know I hate puppets?"
BOOM!!
His fist shot out with blinding speed. In the instant before Crow could grab him, it punched straight through the puppet's body. The astonishing power caused the Crow puppet to be blown apart by the single punch. Shattered parts exploded in the air.
Kankuro was stunned. His puppet... was destroyed by a single punch.
How could this be? Although Crow wasn't a defensive puppet, the materials used to make it were not ordinary. To destroy it with one punch, what kind of power was required?
This guy... is he a monster? How could his fists have such astonishing destructive power! No wonder even Gaara's sand couldn't defend against him. Ordinary sand couldn't block power of this level.
"Hmph!"
Yuichi snorted coldly. He turned and charged towards Gaara.
But before the Suna ninja could help Gaara regain his senses, those who had just gathered around him didn't even have time to help him up. They heard the sound of wind being torn behind them and all turned around.
Yuichi was charging at extreme speed. He was almost upon them.
Several Suna ninja reacted quickly, immediately raising their hands to form seals.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
Yuichi's speed was too fast; they didn't have time to perform more advanced ninjutsu. All of them wisely chose a low-level Wind Style jutsu. The hand seals were fast, allowing them to intercept Yuichi in time.
And there were many of them. Six Suna ninja unleashing a Wind Style jutsu at once, even if it was a low-level one, its power was not weak. Six violent gales swept towards Yuichi with great momentum.
A C-rank jutsu was unlikely to cause much damage to Yuichi, but the combined power of six ninja using it should be enough to stop him. At the very least, it could force him back.
This was what they thought. Kankuro, who had just lost a puppet, thought the same. He even silently praised the six for their quick judgment. This would buy some time for Gaara to recover from his dazed state. Then, they could attack Yuichi together and surely defeat him.
But in the next second, before the eyes of Kankuro and the other Suna ninja, Yuichi did not choose to retreat. Instead, his speed didn't decrease at all as he charged into the Wind Style jutsu.
In a flash, Yuichi raised his left hand, the black markings on the back of it glowing red.
Absorb!
The Wind Style jutsu in the air was instantly absorbed by Yuichi. It was one of the Kāma's abilities: to absorb ninjutsu formed from chakra and convert it into chakra stored within the body.
Seeing their jutsu being absorbed, the six Suna ninja were all stunned. What was that ability? A jutsu? Why did the ninjutsu they cast suddenly disappear in front of him? What did he do?
After instantly absorbing the Gale Palms, Yuichi took another forceful step, his speed suddenly increasing. He lowered his left hand and raised his right.
The moment he raised his hand, a red light suddenly appeared in his palm. As Yuichi aimed his hand at the six of them, the red light erupted.
A massive, red, spherical mass of chakra roared towards the six ninja. It exploded instantly.
The astonishing power flattened the surrounding landscape in an instant! The six Suna ninja, along with Gaara, were all engulfed by the red light of the explosion.
The terrifying destructive power froze Kankuro in his tracks. He stared blankly into the distance. To think that Yuichi could unleash an attack of such power in an instant.