A shadow dropped from a branch, landing beside Mamoru—Sasuke.
"What are you doing?" Mamoru blinked.
"I'll take him." Sasuke declared, locking eyes with Gaara.
"Come on, man. First come, first served." Mamoru pleaded with a wave. "Stand down."
Keep hogging the spotlight and I'll knock you out—literally.
Sasuke snorted but stepped back behind Mamoru.
"Sasuke, you always grab the spotlight. Now you lose to Mamoru!" Naruto said, bouncing with glee. "Serves you right!"
"Moron." Sasuke had no energy left for him.
"Let's keep going." Mamoru crooked a finger at Gaara. "Show me everything you've got."
Gaara's face turned even colder. He brought his palms together, fingers of his right hand curled inward, then thrust them forward.
Sand Binding Coffin!
The sand at Gaara's feet sprang to life, becoming serpents of grit that whipped toward Mamoru. They coiled around his limbs and crawled over his torso.
Before the stunned onlookers could blink, everything but Mamoru's face was sealed tight in a grotesque sculpture of sand.
"Nice squeeze, much comfier than the last one." Mamoru quipped, only his face still visible.
Gaara stepped forward until they stood nose to nose, his voice flat but crushing. "Even this can't shut your noisy mouth?"
"Wanna try harder?" Mamoru grinned. "Maybe if you crank it up, I'll finally shut up."
Though completely immobilized, Mamoru showed no flicker of panic. Gaara could feel it—no bluff.
He frowned. "Since you asked… let's see."
Knowing things were about to spiral, Temari shouted, "Stop it, Gaara! Remember why we're here!"
Kankuro stepped up as well. "Yeah, Gaara, enough."
"Shut it, both of you!" Gaara snapped his head sideways, eyes blazing with cold murder. "Say another word and I'll kill you too."
'So much killing intent.' Mamoru thought, studying the boy inches away.
This isn't some brat acting out—it's naked, unapologetic bloodlust. Right now, Gaara looks exactly like a Jinchuriki should.
Sakura edged toward Sasuke and whispered, "Shouldn't we help Mamoru? This looks bad."
"Quiet, Sakura. Just watch," Sasuke answered coldly.
He was worried, but remembering Mamoru's unfathomable strength, he figured his concern was probably wasted.
"H-he'll be fine… right?" Naruto laughed weakly, the sound drying up as he realized how serious the moment was. "I mean, that's Mamoru."
While they spoke, Gaara lifted the cocoon of sand, Mamoru inside, high into the air.
He clenched his raised right hand.
Sand Waterfall Funeral!
The sphere of sand clamped inward, pulsed once, then nothing.
No scream, no spray of blood.
"That all you got, shorty? Tickles." Mamoru's teasing voice drifted down, perfectly unharmed.
Gaara had assumed his opponent had some counter, but seeing him untouched still sent a jolt of surprise through him. How?
"Impossible…"
Temari and Kankuro stared, slack-jawed. They'd never seen anyone walk away from Sand Waterfall Funeral intact.
What happened next was even more stunning.
BOOM!
A deafening sonic boom slammed every eardrum in the clearing.
The sand prison shattered into dust, obliterated by a visible shockwave of Chakra. For an instant, a vacuum ring snapped open around Mamoru. Freed, he dropped lightly to the ground, feet settling with casual poise.
The blast left everyone reeling—hands over ears, eyes shut, or brows knitted in pain.
"My turn." Mamoru said, raising his fists, eyes glinting a mad blue beneath a sharp grin. "Try not to get one-shot."
"Tch!"
Gaara didn't bother replying. With a sharp thrust, he conjured two colossal sand hands that lunged to crush him.
"Now we're talking!"
Mamoru didn't dodge, he stepped forward, charging straight at the towering fists of sand.
Mamoru shot upward, his right leg whipping out like a steel flail, driving a sharp wind. With a thunderous crack of gravel, the two colossal sand hands shattered into a sky-full of yellow dust.
The instant his feet touched ground he was off again.
"Too slow!"
He laughed, closed the distance to Gaara in a blink, fist howling like thunder toward the boy's face. At the last heartbeat, a wall of sand surged up and took the blow head-on.
Boom!
The sand wall burst apart on impact, sand raining down, but the strike had been stopped.
Mamoru followed with a flurry of punches, brows lifting in surprise. This sand was no joke—it had soaked up his monstrous strength. He hadn't gone all-out, yet a thrill he hadn't felt in ages stirred inside him.
He licked dry lips.
So this was the 'Shield of Sand'.
Absolute defense? Interesting.
Endless grains were already pouring from the gourd on Gaara's back, writhing like living things, whispering as they spiralled round him. In a moment, they formed a thick sandy armor, dull in the sunset light, while a tide of dirt rolled at Mamoru's feet.
Faced with the clinging waves, Mamoru never flinched, letting the sand climb his body. Each time he lashed out, loose Chakra flung it aside in glittering sprays.
No matter how Gaara shaped it, the sand could not bind him, he was a wind impossible to snare.
"Hahaha—"
Unrestrained laughter echoed above the empty lane. Fists drummed like rain, kicks flickered—side, wheel, flying—every move smooth as flowing water. Mamoru's shape flickered through the yellow cloud, each step raising a gust.
"You're a blast! I haven't had this much fun in ages!"
Spectators beyond the ring were dumbstruck.
"Wha… no way…" Kankuro's eyes bulged, voice rasping like sandpaper.
"What is he?" Temari gasped, hand over mouth. "He's toying with Gaara's sand."
Sasuke stared, fists clenched so hard nails split skin.
This was the gap?
Naruto's jaw hung open. "I knew Mamoru was strong, but this is nuts."
Sakura stood blank.
A Genin who'd graduated with them?
"Cat got your tongue?" Mamoru jabbed, fists screeching across the shield. "Tired already? Want me to fight you in a sandbox?"
"Shut up!"
Gaara roared, shoving a palm forward. The shield bristled into a hedge of gleaming stone spikes.
Mamoru didn't retreat. He stood grinning as the spears stopped a finger from his chest, halted by nothing visible.
Gasps all round—no blood.
"What?!"
For the first time Gaara's eyes widened.
Mamoru chuckled. "These little pets aren't obeying you, are they?"
The shield shattered and spikes crumbled to harmless sand, pattering down.
A single step apart, Mamoru smirked. "Your turtle shell's not so tough after all."
"What did you do!?" Gaara's voice shook.
His absolute shield had vanished before he could blink.
Mamoru said lightly, "Relax, just a test,'"
While they spoke, the shield re-formed behind him and a fresh wave lunged like a clawed beast.
Mamoru braced, right arm glowing pale blue as Chakra condensed.
"Think you can take this punch?"
He seemed to ask Gaara, yet every Genin present felt the words like ice: No one could.