"Gaara... are you sure?"
Maki swallowed discreetly, then looked at Gaara, whose face betrayed no emotion, and spoke.
"Judging from how he acted, Kusagakure could never have cultivated a shinobi of that caliber."
Gaara gave the basis for his deduction with characteristic brevity.
"At that moment, he stopped Kankuro's punch and caught Second Pillar's attack at the same time. He used no ninjutsu or special abilities—purely speed and combat coordination. Someone with that kind of strength could never have come from a small shinobi village like Kusagakure. And the way he intervened was purely taijutsu, which also matches the intelligence saying he excels at taijutsu."
After saying that, Gaara once again recalled the figure that had moved so quickly during Kankuro's attack that even he had nearly failed to see it clearly. Unable to help himself, he blurted out another sentence.
Tch! The instant the words left his mouth, Gaara frowned slightly. An inexplicable flash of impatience and irritation crossed his face. After clicking his tongue inwardly, he turned away.
"I've reported everything that needed reporting."
With that, Gaara started toward the door. Under the gazes of the three people in the room, he left Temari's room.
"H-he really was fast. I didn't even see how he got there."
After watching her youngest brother leave and standing there blankly for a moment, Temari spoke, pulling the atmosphere back from the edge of silence.
"Y-yeah!"
Kankuro hurriedly agreed.
"I see. Understood."
Hearing their confirmation, Maki's expression gradually returned to its usual calmness as he spoke.
Yet beneath that calm exterior, a faint sheen of cold sweat slowly seeped from his temples.
"So... what do we do next?"
Hearing no clear indication from their teacher, Temari and Kankuro exchanged a glance. Perhaps because he had nearly caused a major disaster, Kankuro's face