Facing a high-speed opponent like Uchiha Sasuke, Gaara chose a different approach. He wrapped himself completely in sand, sealing his body inside.
Against something like a turtle shell, Sasuke had no choice but to keep moving. He sprinted toward the massive sand sphere and threw a punch, but he was still a moment too late. His fist slammed into the sand ball, and spikes shot out instantly, nearly impaling him.
Only because he had activated the Sharingan did he barely manage to react in time. If it had been anyone else, they would already be dead.
This was true Absolute Defense.
Inside the sand sphere, Gaara could calmly form hand seals. Sasuke's external taijutsu attacks were completely useless against him while he remained protected within.
"Hiding in there… I don't know what he's planning, but that works for me. I need a bit of time for this too."
Sasuke immediately settled on a plan.
He retreated all the way to the wall at the edge of the arena, channeled chakra into his feet, and pinned himself firmly in place. Then he began forming hand seals.
Moments later, everyone understood what the surprise was.
He unleashed Chidori.
Mimicking Hatake Kakashi, Sasuke held the crackling lightning in one hand and charged straight toward Gaara.
"So that's how it is."
Outside the scene, Uchiha Itachi watched Sasuke sprint forward. Compared to his future self, Sasuke still looked undeniably immature. Even next to the White Robe Sasuke from three years later, the gap was obvious.
At this point, his Chidori still required a long running start to amplify its power to the maximum.
Three years later, Uchiha Sasuke had already evolved Chidori into Chidori Current. No running start was needed. There was no lengthy sequence of hand seals either. He could activate Chidori Current instantly, paralyzing Uzumaki Naruto and several others who possessed Jonin-level strength and dropping them to the ground in seconds.
At the same time, Itachi finally understood why Sasuke had shown such terrifying speed at the start.
Whether it was taijutsu or raw speed, all of those improvements existed to strengthen Chidori's destructive power.
After all, with such a long charge-up, if the user was too slow, the enemy would have plenty of time to react.
It was a complete combat system.
Still, compared to the White Robe Sasuke of three years later, this version of Sasuke was flashy. His movements were dramatic, his attacks looked impressive, but in reality, he was far behind.
This move seemed unstoppable, but that was only if the opponent cooperated. If it were Itachi himself, a few well-timed shuriken would be enough to force Sasuke to distort his movement, possibly even preventing him from maintaining Chidori at all.
The two fighters in the arena were clearly no longer at the Genin level. Even an ordinary Tokubetsu Jonin would struggle to deal with them.
But in front of someone at Uchiha Itachi's level, they were still far from enough. There were simply too many openings.
As Itachi was thinking, Sasuke had already begun his charge, Chidori shrieking violently as he rushed toward the sand sphere.
In an instant, with the Sharingan enhancing his perception, he pierced straight through Gaara's seemingly indestructible Absolute Defense.
But right after his moment of triumph, a scream tore from his throat. His arm had clearly been attacked inside the sand sphere.
He immediately released Chidori again, forcibly pulling his arm free. Only then did he completely shatter Gaara's Absolute Defense, the sand collapsing and raining down.
The video ended there.
Yet the shock it delivered was only just beginning.
Clearly, the focus of both videos was the power of Chidori, also known as Raikiri.
At the Jonin level, it was an outstanding technique.
But for someone like Uchiha Itachi, who had already reached Kage Level, it was not enough. Once he awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, surpassing Hatake Kakashi came naturally.
So he did not feel much from the display itself. Instead, old memories surfaced in his mind.
He still remembered learning the Great Fireball Technique. He had mastered and released it after seeing it just once. Compared to him, Sasuke's progress back then had been underwhelming.
Sasuke learned it quickly as well, but in terms of proficiency, scale, and power, the gap was obvious.
At the time, their father had believed Sasuke's talent to be mediocre.
But now, that no longer seemed possible.
After just one month of special training, Sasuke's speed had reached this level. That alone proved his talent was not the problem.
The real issue might have been the type of ninjutsu.
Was it possible that Sasuke's talent in Fire Release was far inferior to his talent in Lightning Release?
After all, he had taken Chidori, a technique invented by Hatake Kakashi himself, and refined it to the point where people associated the move with Sasuke rather than Kakashi.
"Perhaps… we were all wrong, Father," Itachi murmured.
In truth, Sasuke's talent in Fire Release was not bad. It was just slightly weaker compared to Itachi's. But his talent in Lightning Release was undeniably exceptional.
"Chidori… so this is Kakashi's hidden trump card?"
Sasuke thought to himself. He had to master Chidori. Too many of his future plans depended on it.
Whether he stayed in Konoha or eventually followed his original path and left, Chidori was something he absolutely needed.
From the looks of it, Hatake Kakashi already intended to teach it to him.
And then there was that taijutsu and speed.
Too fast.
Was this really something that could be achieved with just one month of special training?
Sasuke was no stranger to hard work. He had trained his taijutsu relentlessly before, yet he could never reach this level. There had to be some unique training method Kakashi used.
For the first time, he truly felt how important a good teacher was.
Although he had graduated properly from the ninja academy, there was so little it could actually teach. At this point, he was barely any different from someone trained through rough, improvised methods.
The video made it clear. Following Hatake Kakashi for just one month had elevated his strength to this degree.
Later, after training under Orochimaru for three years, the White Robe Sasuke who reappeared could face several Jonin-level opponents without the slightest panic, defeating them effortlessly.
His talent needed a teacher to bring it out.
Whether it was Hatake Kakashi or Orochimaru, both were excellent instructors. Especially Orochimaru. When it came to teaching, there were few he feared.
Sasuke quietly pulled out a notebook he had been keeping and began laying out his plans.
Using his future self as a reference, his early path should focus on high-speed breakthrough combat. With the Sharingan and Chidori combined, his short-term combat power would be more than sufficient.
Over the next few years, he would continue down this route. He needed to evolve his Sharingan from one tomoe to three, and further develop Chidori into something like the Chidori Current used by his future self.