"Sand Coffin."
The moment the sand shuriken were intercepted by Sora, Gaara made a pulling motion with his hand.
A mass of yellow sand erupted from the gourd on his back and bound Sora at incredible speed.
"Die... Sand Burial."
Gaara clenched his right hand. A slight smile appeared on Kankuro's face.
"No matter how much you struggle, you can't be Gaara's opponent."
Squelch.
Sora's body was instantly crushed and shattered by the sand.
Yet no blood fell.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
At the same moment, Sora appeared behind Gaara and unleashed a massive fireball.
A sand shield instantly rose behind Gaara to block the fireball, but almost simultaneously Sora burst forward with explosive speed.
He flashed beside Gaara and delivered a sweeping kick.
Gaara had no chance to even finish speaking.
When taijutsu reaches a certain level of speed and power, it can completely suppress an opponent and prevent them from using ninjutsu.
Anyone who claims taijutsu is useless is simply an idiot.
Even though Gaara's techniques did not require hand signs, he was still completely suppressed by Sora's incomplete Monster Strength Fist.
If Sora had fully mastered the technique, even as a Genin, a single punch would have been enough to shatter Gaara's defense rather than merely being stopped by the final protective layer—the Armor of Sand.
"I don't believe I can't break your defense!" Sora roared inwardly.
His fists erupted forward like raging dragons.
A storm of punches filled the air, each one accompanied by violent explosive sounds as they hammered Gaara's body.
Cracks spread across Gaara's body as sand continuously leaked out.
Clearly, this was his final defensive layer. Once it was broken, he could finally be injured.
"Sand Hand."
The sand beneath Sora's feet suddenly rose up and formed a massive hand, grabbing him instantly.
"Break!"
Sora roared as Chakra surged through his arms.
With the full power of the Monster Strength Fist, he shattered the Sand Hand and launched forward with a powerful kick.
"Sand Body Flicker."
Possessing enormous Chakra reserves, Gaara immediately used the technique to dodge.
He had already begun adapting to Sora's speed and fighting style.
"As expected of a jinchuriki, his Chakra reserves are terrifying," Sora thought.
By then, Gaara had already completed his hand seals.
"Wind Release: Infinite Sand Cloud Great Breakthrough."
Gaara exhaled a massive gust of wind.
Empowered by his enormous Chakra, the technique became incredibly destructive.
The violent wind combined with the desert sand drastically slowed Sora's movement.
Sand filled the air, forcing Sora to close his eyes to prevent it from entering them.
This gave Gaara his opportunity to counterattack.
"Sand Coffin."
A mass of sand shot through the air and bound Sora before he could dodge.
The crushing pressure instantly shattered his body.
However, instead of blood, the body dissolved into a cloud of white smoke.
"Shadow Clone," Temari said in surprise.
She had not expected Sora to escape using a Shadow Clone under such dangerous circumstances.
"Monster Strength Fist!"
Sora suddenly appeared beneath Gaara and punched him into the air.
However, while Gaara was airborne, sand erupted from the gourd on his back and bound Sora.
Clearly, Gaara had deliberately used his defense to lure Sora in, trading injury for injury.
Of course, Gaara himself would not actually be injured.
"Sink for me!"
Gaara landed and slammed both hands into the sand.
The trapped Sora began sinking rapidly underground.
Gaara gave him no chance to break free.
It was clear that Gaara had already realized that Sora's Monster Strength Fist could break free from the Sand Coffin, so the only solution was to bury him deep underground.
"Sand Waterfall Flow!"
Gaara shouted.
This battle had already become the toughest fight Sora had faced since arriving in this world. But the same was true for Gaara.
If not for the Armor of Sand, Gaara might have already been beaten to death.
"There is no other choice... I have to gamble."
Sora poured a massive amount of Chakra into his legs.
Under the pressure of the crisis, Sora didn't even notice that his Chakra circulation had accelerated dramatically.
The Chakra rapidly gathered in the soles of his feet.
With a thunderous boom, he kicked up an enormous wave of sand, blasting forward and appearing directly in front of Gaara before punching him in the head.
"Sand Hand!"
Gaara roared.
Instead of dodging, he took the hit head-on.
Several Sand Hands appeared behind him to support his body while streams of quicksand trapped Sora's arm.
"Sand Burial."
Squelch.
Crack.
The sound of bones breaking echoed from Sora's arm.
Sora gritted his teeth and did not scream.
At this moment, he was gambling on who was more ruthless.
When two enemies meet on a narrow path, the brave one wins.
Unexpectedly, Sora did not clench his remaining hand into a fist.
Instead, he opened his palm.
A mass of violently rotating Chakra condensed within his hand, forming a rapidly spinning blue sphere of energy.
"This is—"
Everyone's pupils shrank to their limits.
Gaara, in particular, immediately sensed the immense danger.
"Go to hell!"
Sora roared as he thrust the spinning sphere forward.
"Absolute Defense!"
Gaara roared.
Layer after layer of sand walls formed around his body.
However, the violently rotating sphere tore through the defenses like a drill.
It smashed directly into Gaara's body.
"Ah!"
Cracks instantly spread across Gaara's body.
With a sharp crack, the Armor of Sand shattered.
The spinning sphere continued expanding before blasting forward with tremendous force, carving a deep trench across the desert.
Pfft.
The moment Sora launched Gaara away, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Gaara!" Temari and Kankuro's expressions changed drastically.
They looked at Sora as if he were a monster.
"Take Gaara and go!" Temari shouted.
At this critical moment, she displayed remarkable calmness.
"Wind Release: Great Sickle Weasel!"
Temari swung her giant iron fan.
A violent hurricane erupted, forcing Sora back several meters.
The storm mixed with sand and completely buried Sora's body, blocking his vision.
By the time the sandstorm settled, Temari and Kankuro had already escaped with Gaara.
Sora was unfamiliar with the desert terrain, but they were not.
To them, the desert was like their own home.
Furthermore, Sora's Chakra was nearly exhausted. If Temari and Kankuro had stayed to fight, he might not have survived.
If they had not retreated, Sora himself would have had to withdraw.
After all, risking his life for a mission was not worth it.
He had only taken the mission to seek a breakthrough.
However, Sora had not expected that defeating Gaara would place such overwhelming psychological pressure on Temari and Kankuro that they chose to retreat immediately.
After all, in their eyes, Gaara was supposed to be invincible.
Anyone capable of defeating him was a monster beyond monsters.
"Fortunately, my physical condition is strong," Sora muttered while checking his injuries.
"Although the bones are cracked, they aren't completely shattered. With Mom's medical ninjutsu, I can recover in half a day without any lasting damage.
In fact, once the injury heals, my bones will likely become even stronger."
Sora himself understood some medical ninjutsu, so after confirming that his condition was stable, he immediately chose to retreat.
...
Author's Note:
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