34: Chapter 34 Gaara's Challenge, Naruto's ResponseGenma Shiranui's voice echoed in the deathly silent arena, yet it sounded hollow and powerless.
Tens of thousands of spectators, whether villagers from Konoha or visiting nobles, fell into an eerie silence.
Their brains seemed unable to process what had just happened.
That perennial underachiever, that notorious troublemaker in the village, crushed the Hyuga clan's once-in-a-century genius, both physically and mentally, in a way they could not comprehend at all, a way that was almost miraculous.
Then, he personally pulled him out of the abyss of collapse.
This is no longer a game.
This is a public, brutal execution, and a twisted, bizarre redemption.
[Ding!You have received 18,000 bursts of extreme shock from the entire audience!]
[Ding!You have received 15,000 "Confusion" responses from the entire audience!]
[Ding!You have received 9000 "Awe" from the entire audience!]
A massive influx of emotion points into the system brought Naruto inner peace.
His identity as an "actor" is being accepted by more and more people.
This time, however, he was no longer playing an idiot, but an unfathomable, undefinable monster.
That's good.
Fear is a more solid foundation for domination than love.
Naruto released Neji's hand and prepared to leave the arena.
Just then.
A red figure carrying a huge gourd leaped down from the high contestants' stand without warning.
He didn't land on the ground, but landed on a patch of sand that appeared out of nowhere, silently, like a ghost.
Gaara, the Sand Waterfall.
The moment he appeared, the air in the arena, which had just begun to warm up, instantly froze again.
A cold aura, even purer and more intense than that of Hyuga Neji before, emanated from him.
That was a unique aura formed from the fermentation of extreme killing intent and extreme loneliness, belonging only to the Jinchūriki.
[Ding!Sensing the arrival of Gaara's ultimate [killing intent] x7000!]
[Ding!Sensing the arrival of Self-Ai Luo's ultimate [Loneliness] x8500!]
Gaara did not speak.
He didn't even glance at Hyuga Neji, who had just been defeated.
His light green eyes, with their heavy dark circles, pierced through everything, locking onto Naruto Uzumaki.
He walked slowly towards Naruto, step by step, treading on the sand.
He sensed it.
He felt it during the qualifiers.
The boy in the orange shirt possessed an energy similar to, yet completely different from, mine.
That's not chakra.
It was a complex, chaotic, yet extremely powerful "emotional spectrum".
There is light, there is darkness, there is joy, there is hatred.
He was like a walking, aggregate of emotions.
This aura caused the gourd on his back and the monster inside his body to roar with excitement.
[Ding!You have received 9000 units of Gaara's ultimate [Desire]!]
[Ding!You have received 6000 Extreme [Alert] Tokens from Gaara!]
Gaara finally stood in front of Naruto.
Sand poured out of the gourd behind him and automatically condensed in front of him, transforming into a ferocious sand arm with sharp claws.
The Sand Claw didn't attack immediately; it simply pointed at Naruto's throat from a distance.
He did not issue a challenge.
But his actions have already shown everything.
He was going to fight this fellow human.
He wanted to kill him to prove his own existence.
Naruto looked at him calmly.
On the system panel, Gaara's emotional data is being refreshed rapidly, and every single one is top-tier, highly concentrated negative emotion.
[System notification: A high-purity aggregate of negative emotions, codenamed "Sand," has been detected.This target is currently the most efficient source of Shadow Points.]
This is simply a walking treasure trove of emotions.
On the highly anticipated stage of the finals, to completely unleash his emotions—that would be the reward…
Naruto could almost foresee the numbers on the system panel jumping wildly.
but.
Now is not the time.
Fruit needs to be fully ripe before its sweetest juice can be extracted.
Facing the sand claw that exuded killing intent, Naruto neither refused nor assumed a fighting stance.
He simply looked Gaara up and down with the same eye one would use to assess merchandise.
Then he spoke.
"Can."
His voice was flat, devoid of any emotion.
"However, not now."
He shook his head slightly, and a deep, unfathomable calm, almost pity, shone in his azure eyes.
"Your strength is not enough."
He paused, then said something that completely overturned Gaara's understanding of the world.
"Come find me again when you truly understand the meaning of 'pain'."
Buzz.
That ferocious, poised sand claw disintegrated in an instant, without warning.
The sand lost all its power and form, scattering across the ground.
For the first time, a crack appeared on Gaara's usually expressionless face.
That wasn't anger.
It wasn't resentment after being humiliated.
Rather, it is a deeper, incomprehensible sense of bewilderment.
[Ding!You have received 12,000 units of Gaara's ultimate [Confusion]!]
Not qualified?
This monster, which exists solely for slaughter, this weapon feared by all, is actually deemed "unqualified" by its own kind?
And.pain?
From the moment I was born, I have been unable to sleep at night, tormented by the monster inside me every moment, and shunned by everyone as a monster.Isn't this pain of not being recognized or loved by anyone enough?
He couldn't understand it.
What exactly is this man saying?
His unfathomable confidence and his all-seeing gaze made Gaara feel for the first time.The meaning of my own existence has been shaken.
On the podium, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, frowned deeply, his brows furrowing into a deep frown.
Naruto's battle against Neji was beyond his comprehension.
Now, his words to Gaara, the Jinchuriki, sent a chill down his spine.
He wasn't provoking anyone.
He was "teaching" Gaara.
What exactly does he want to do?
Beside Hiruzen Sarutobi, the man wearing the Kazekage hat leaned forward slightly, a wide, extremely pleased smile playing on his lips hidden beneath his veil.
Orochimaru's golden snake eyes gleamed with the extreme fervor and excitement of a scientist discovering a new continent.
"Hehehe."
A suppressed laugh, audible only to himself, escaped from his throat.
This Naruto Uzumaki is much more interesting than that brat from the Uchiha clan.
It is not a container waiting to be developed.
He himself is a higher-level predator, hunting its prey.
Inside the arena, Naruto didn't glance at Gaara again, who was lost in utter confusion.
He turned around and walked straight towards the players' tunnel.
Just as he was about to step into the shadows of the passage, two figures rushed out from inside, nearly colliding with him.
It was Kakashi Hatake, and behind him, Sasuke Uchiha, who arrived late.
Their eyes met briefly in mid-air.
Sasuke saw Naruto's calm, even indifferent, face.
Naruto didn't even linger his gaze on him for more than a fraction of a second.
His senses were already overwhelmed by another, even more turbulent emotional storm.
[Ding!Sensing 8800 units of extreme [Jealousy] from Uchiha Sasuke!]
[Ding!Sensing 9200 units of extreme [resentment] from Uchiha Sasuke!]
[Ding!Sensing intense killing intent from Uchiha Sasuke x5500!]
Naruto brushed past him without pausing for a moment.
He knew that Sasuke, who had completed his special training with Kakashi and thought he had mastered great power, had his pride as a genius completely shattered after seeing his crushing victory just now.
New seeds have been planted.
The path to darkness is about to begin.
Stepping into the dark athlete tunnel, I was shut out from all the noise and sights behind me.
Finally, a subtle smile silently appeared on Naruto's lips.
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