In everyone's eyes, when Gaara spoke those words and clarified the severity of the situation, Jokichi would back down.
But he did not.
Instead, he attacked without hesitation. This took everyone by surprise, and thus, they were caught off guard.
However, being caught off guard did not mean being without defense.
The will sleeping within the sand automatically flew out at the critical moment, forming a sand screen in front of Gaara.
Jokichi's surprise attack was successfully blocked.
No, not only was the surprise attack blocked, but the sand also launched a counterattack.
Gaara had his arms crossed over his chest. His indifferent eyes, full of killing intent, stared fixedly at Jokichi. The sand lunged at the target according to its master's will.
"Whoosh!"
Jokichi spun and kicked the flying sand apart. With a movement of his body, he charged at Gaara again.
But during this time, more sand poured endlessly from the sand gourd on Gaara's back. It split into fist-sized clumps and flew towards the opponent at high speed.
Items flying at high speed, even a clump of water, will accumulate destructive power. A clump of sand flying at such a speed was enough to smash basketball-sized craters into the bluestone pavement.
If Jokichi used his leg to kick them apart like before, he would only end up breaking his leg.
However—
"There's absolutely no need to clash head-on with you."
The corners of Jokichi's mouth curled up slightly. He brought his left index and middle fingers together, holding them vertically in front of him. Then, his figure vanished from the spot.
The sand hit nothing, making a small crater in the ground. Gaara widened his eyes, and his arms, previously crossed over his chest, dropped down at some point. His consistently calm and indifferent expression also showed a slight change at this moment.
"Whoosh!"
The sound of air breaking sounded from behind. Gaara looked back, and the sand returned to defend a step ahead.
But it was still too late.
A whip kick delivered by a ninja shoe struck Gaara's just-turned face before the sand could arrive. The name of the technique, shouted to increase momentum, only arrived belatedly at this moment.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
Konoha-Style Body Flicker Jutsu plus Konoha-Style Taijutsu—
In the anime, this was how Sasuke dealt with Gaara during the Chunin Exams.
And Jokichi's strength at this time was countless times greater than Sasuke's back then.
Gaara was kicked staggering backward by this kick. Cracks like those on porcelain appeared on his face, and tiny grains of sand fluttered down.
Before he could steady himself, Jokichi vanished from his spot again. In an instant, he appeared on Gaara's right and delivered another whip kick.
"Bang!"
Gaara's chest suffered a heavy blow, and he was sent flying heavily. He crashed into the wall on the side of the street and finally stopped. The wall behind him caved in deeply, with cracks spreading like a spiderweb.
"How is this possible!"
Kankuro and Temari had faces full of shock.
Gaara's sand would defend automatically. Since they formed a team, they had never seen a situation where Gaara was hit.
At this moment, Jokichi displayed speed that surpassed the sand's defense, kicking Gaara flying with two legs. It gave them a feeling of having their worldview refreshed.
It turned out that the invincible Gaara wasn't that invincible.
"This Sand Armor of yours is really useful!"
Jokichi walked slowly towards Gaara. Looking at the sand falling from his body, a trace of envy showed in his eyes.
As for armor, generally speaking, it defends against sharp weapons like blades. For heavy blows, even if it blocks the attack, it cannot defend against the penetration of force.
But the Sand Armor was different. Armor made of countless tiny grains of sand would cushion the transfer of force layer by layer. Trying to defeat someone wearing Sand Armor with sheer force was impossible without monstrous strength like Tsunade's.
However, a person wearing Sand Armor would also have an incredibly heavy body, unable to move at high speeds like a normal ninja.
And Gaara, because of the sand's automatic defense and his past smooth sailing, had a neural reaction speed that was not as fast as his sand.
The indirect result was that once an enemy's speed exceeded the sand, he could only take the hit head-on.
However—
"You shouldn't be injured, right!" Jokichi stopped at a position two meters away from Gaara.
Sure enough, when his voice fell, Gaara raised his face, which was full of cracks. Sand surged towards Jokichi like water from a fountain.
Jokichi seemed to have expected this. Before the sand could pounce, he punched Gaara in the face.
"Bang!"
Gaara's back of the head smashed hard against the wall. The powerful force made the entire wall tremble.
More sand fell from Gaara's head, mixed with bright red blood.
"Blood, blood, blood..."
Gaara lowered his head, muttering something under his breath. The speed of his speech was very fast and soft, making people feel hysteria and madness. An uneasiness rose in the hearts of everyone around.
"Oh no, Gaara is bleeding."
Kankuro and Temari showed even more terror, even their voices trembling.
They knew Gaara was very sensitive to blood. Once he saw blood, he would go mad, and the monster inside his body would come out uncontrollably.
Moreover, this time it was his own blood.
"Jokichi, there's no need to go this far!"
Sakura looked worriedly at his back in front of her, feeling that he had become somewhat unfamiliar.
In her impression, Jokichi always wore a faint smile on his face, and his personality was very gentle, vastly different from the ferocity at this moment.
Naruto beside her also nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Relax, there won't be any problems." Jokichi turned back and gave them a thumbs-up, wearing a confident smile on his face.
Seeing this, the two asked no more, but their faces still carried a trace of worry.
At this time, the sound of air breaking sounded from behind, accompanied by Gaara's hysterical roar. "If I kill you, mother will definitely be very happy, right!"
Without looking back, Jokichi did a donkey roll on the spot, rolling away to the right. A thick claw made of sand with violet patterns reached out from the place he had just stood.
Gaara stood up, hunching his body. His left face and right hand were completely covered in thick sand with violet-like patterns on it.
Moreover, one of his eyes had turned the color of sand, with a black cross-star pattern inside. His eyes were full of tyranny and hostility.
Such a change made Sakura, Konohamaru, and the others very surprised.
Temari and Kankuro were even more terrified, their bodies unable to stop trembling slightly.
"The monster inside Gaara has come out as expected. We're doomed!"
"You said the monster inside that guy?"
Naruto froze in place upon seeing Gaara's appearance. Hearing Kankuro and Temari's words now, he associated it with something and couldn't help but press, "What do you mean the monster inside that guy has come out?"
But no one answered him. Kankuro and Temari just looked at the center of the field with terror and worry.
However, a smile appeared on Jokichi's face.
"It finally came out!"
Shukaku was sealed inside Gaara's body. If he wanted to obtain Shukaku's body tissues, he had to either use the Sharingan to invade the mental space where Gaara's seal was, or let Shukaku's power rush out on its own.
Jokichi didn't want to expose his Sharingan, so he chose the second method.
But at this point in time, the only way to make Gaara use Shukaku's power was to make him injured and go mad.
However, Sunagakure and Konoha were allies. Without a big excuse, landing such a heavy hand would definitely invite punishment.
Although it might just be an inconsequential punishment, Jokichi didn't want to deal with so much trouble later on.
So he had to find an excuse.
Therefore, when Kankuro wrapped his limbs and neck with chakra threads, he snapped his own arm and neck.
Otherwise, with Kankuro's current level, he could have snapped the threads with a casual struggle.