"Hmph, arrogant fool. Sand Funeral!" Seeing Takeru's head emerge, his gaze still indifferent, Gaara grew furious and unleashed another skill without hesitation.
Bang!
The violent contraction of the sand produced a sound, with much of the sand splattering outward.
Takeru felt a powerful force pressing against him, yet he felt no pain, not even much sensation, just a faint sense of pressure.
Perhaps if this force were ten times stronger, it might cause him some pain...
Even Takeru's Twilight Armor remained completely undamaged, making him sigh lightly, 'Indeed, the current Gaara posed no threat to me at all...'
As the sand slowly fell away, Takeru's completely unharmed figure reappeared before everyone, stunning Temari, Kankuro, Baki, and others who had been certain Takeru was doomed.
Even Shikamaru and the others found it hard to believe.
"What is Takeru wearing? Could it be that armor blocked Gaara's attack?" Suddenly, Naruto exclaimed, staring at Takeru's Twilight Armor. It looked incredibly cool, and paired with Takeru's looks, it elevated his appearance several levels, making Naruto somewhat jealous.
"So handsome!" Others also stared dumbfounded at Takeru. Before, Takeru wore ordinary clothes, somewhat masking his handsome features.
But now, with this equipment, his incredibly high level of attractiveness made him impossible to ignore.
"So handsome!" Ino clapped her hands, her eyes sparkling with hearts.
Karin felt the same. Already devoted to Takeru, seeing his godly level of attractiveness now made her feel faint.
"Why?!" Gaara, seeing Takeru unharmed, was utterly shocked.
"Truly disappointing." Takeru said softly, but his figure vanished from the spot, appearing right in front of Gaara. Then he punched Gaara's head again, sending him flying.
"Argh!" This time, Gaara couldn't hold back a cry of pain.
Takeru's punch had completely shattered the Sand Armor covering his face, and blood gushed from his mouth.
"Gaara... he's vomiting blood!" Noticing Gaara spitting blood, Temari was stunned.
Looking at Takeru, her gaze turned somewhat frightened. This was the first time she'd seen someone injure Gaara, even drawing blood.
"It's over." Seeing Gaara's emotional state becoming out of control, Kankuro panicked internally.
"This is blood... I'm bleeding!" Looking at the blood he'd spat onto his hand, Gaara's expression turned somewhat crazed.
"Yes, and now how will you deal with it?" Looking at the seemingly insane Gaara, Takeru wasn't in a hurry to finish him off instantly… that would be too boring.
'It's over. Surrender quickly, Gaara!' Temari in the competitor's area watched Gaara nervously, constantly praying in her heart.
However, though frenzied, Gaara hadn't completely lost his sanity. He glared angrily at Takeru, formed a hand seal, and sand immediately enveloped him.
'Is that guy Gaara planning to use that Jutsu?' Noticing Gaara's gaze, Kankuro felt extremely panicked.
"Why hide?" Looking at the sand sphere enveloping Gaara, Takeru shook his head gently and walked toward it again.
Soon, he was close. When less than half a meter away, the sphere suddenly shot out numerous sand spikes.
Takeru saw them but still showed no intent to dodge. The sand spikes struck him hard but caused no damage whatsoever, not even enough force to make him retreat.
Stopping mere tens of centimeters from the sand sphere, Takeru raised his arm slowly, clenching his fist. Soon, a fist imbued with Ko moved toward the sand sphere.
Boom!!!
A powerful explosion erupted. Within the arena, the area where Takeru and Gaara had been seemed to have suffered some terrifying bombing. The strong air wave even affected spectators in the audience.
Genma, closest to Takeru and Gaara, was directly swept away by the air wave, flying over ten meters before barely stabilizing himself.
"What kind of power is this?!" Even the Hokage, seated high and far away, felt the sweeping air wave and exclaimed in shock.
'Chakra Enhanced Strength?' Orochimaru, disguised as the Kazekage, first thought of Tsunade's signature technique, then dismissed it. Takeru couldn't use Chakra, so it couldn't be her skill.
Only after the smoke cleared did everyone see a huge crater on the ground. Gaara had been sent flying by the earlier attack, crashing into a distant wall with such force that it left a large dent. Aside from a pile of sand beside him, Gaara seemed to have lost consciousness.
'It's over. He actually hurt Gaara, who has never been injured before, and twice at that. That guy is a monster!' Sensing the special Chakra within Gaara seemed about to erupt, Temari slumped to the ground.
"Why am I so happy? I finally understand now. This pain, defeating someone who can hurt me, taking everything from them, makes me feel more intensely alive!" Gaara cried out crazily. Under everyone's gaze, his body began to change.
His right arm transformed into Shukaku's arm, and the right side of his face similarly took on a monstrous appearance. In other words, Gaara had entered a partial transformation state.
Feeling the sudden increase in Gaara's Chakra and the increasingly terrifying aura, Takeru remained utterly calm.
"That is..." The Third Hokage, seeing Gaara's change, was shocked. If he guessed correctly, Gaara was Sunagakure's Jinchuriki. Hiruzen never expected the Kazekage to be so crazy as to let a Jinchuriki participate in the Chunin Exams.
Above, Guy and Asuma also watched the partially transformed Gaara seriously.
Kankuro felt despair, wanting to stop Gaara but not daring to, and also unable to.
Ordinary civilians, unsure what was happening, kept shouting "Monster!".
Some timid ones even left their seats, causing commotion in the arena.
"More... more!" The partially transformed Gaara's sanity was somewhat confused. But just an arm change wasn't enough. Soon, a mass of sand appeared, forming a tail.
"What are those things?!" Naruto above, seeing Gaara's change, said in shock.
"So terrifying..." Shikamaru felt a sliver of fear.
"I absolutely do not want to fight that guy!" Feeling the violent aura emanating from Gaara, Naruto felt horrified.
'So this is the monster inside him. He can actually release it. It's really strong.' Ui also found Shukaku tricky. She knew she couldn't fight such a monster, as she sensed it wasn't fully released yet.
Gaara, having grown a tail and Shukaku's arm, gathered strength like a fired bullet and swiftly charged at Takeru.
Seeing his action, Takeru shook his head gently. Just as Gaara was about to collide with him, Takeru also raised his fist and punched him, sending him flying again.
Boom!
Their collision unsurprisingly caused another explosion in the arena, with smoke and dust flying. In the smoke-filled area, no one could see what was happening.
Only Ui and Ritsu, using Observation Haki, could clearly perceive the situation through the smoke.
Karin, not wanting to be outdone, used Mind's Eye of the Kagura to sense inside.
Once again, even in his partially transformed state, Gaara was sent flying by Takeru.
This time, while being sent flying, his mutated arm and tail expanded to protect him, preventing secondary impact damage. However, the damage from Takeru's direct punch was fully received.
"Pain... so much pain!" The powerful force left marks on his face, making Gaara somewhat frantic.
"So, so amazing!" Lee stared dumbfounded. Earlier, he thought Takeru would quickly lose, but now, Takeru's strength limits were unclear.
"Sand Shuriken!" Regaining his senses, Gaara unleashed shuriken made of sand at Takeru without hesitation.
Looking at the densely packed sand shuriken, Takeru sighed lightly, feeling helpless toward Gaara's persistence.