The sand hand seized Shino directly, and Hayate, watching from outside the arena, felt a trace of doubt.
Given Shino's strength, he should have been able to dodge the sand claw's attack. Why hadn't he?
If Shino could hear Hayate's thoughts right now, he would surely give a confident answer.
Because he wasn't afraid!
Gaara's sand-controlling right hand suddenly clenched tight.
"Sand Burial."
The sand hand compressed further, producing a creaking sound.
But Gaara sensed that something was wrong. The feeling was off.
It did not feel like he was crushing his opponent to death. Instead, it felt as though he had grabbed a pile of hard stones.
Just then, Gaara suddenly felt the sand begin to loosen beyond his control. The sand hand that had wrapped around Shino started falling apart from the outside, bit by bit turning into loose sand and dropping onto the ground.
"What is this...?"
Gaara immediately understood. The Chakra on the sand he had controlled earlier was now almost completely gone.
He drew out all the sand from the gourd on his back, forming it into Sand Shuriken that shot toward the scattered pile of sand ahead.
"Sand Shuriken."
In the arena, the sand that had enclosed Shino suddenly exploded. He stood where he was, completely unharmed, but his body was now covered in countless black beetles.
From a distance, those familiar with the Aburame clan might mistake them for Kikaichū. But members of the Aburame clan could tell that the beetles' shells seemed to be covered in countless tiny scales, gleaming with a dark luster beneath the sunlight.
These were the new insect species Shino had bred by continuously reproducing mutated Kikaichū after their proliferation—Scale Insects!
Not only had these Scale Insects inherited the Kikaichū's ability to devour Chakra, but they could withstand