At that moment, time seemed to freeze. The only sound left was the faint rustling of sparse grains of sand falling bit by bit from the air.
"Magnet Release?"
Beneath Susanoo, Obito wore a look of astonishment.
He had never expected this mysterious Kirigakure Genin, who alternated between male and female forms and could use Shinra Tensei, to possess such an inexplicable ability to control sand.
Karin, who had been preparing to forcefully activate Planetary Devastation, also froze for a moment before asking Gaara in delight, "So you can control sand now?"
"I... I don't know either!"
Gaara was no less astonished than Obito and Karin.
All along, he had believed that his ability to control sand came from One-Tail Shukaku. Since Shukaku was inside him, the sand protected him of its own accord.
That was precisely why he had never tried to control sand during his time residing in the Type-Three Biological Armor.
In his view, Shukaku was still sealed within his physical body. Once his spirit left that body, his connection with Shukaku would be temporarily severed, so he should have lost his ability to control sand as well.
"Could it be... could it be that the sand protecting me since childhood had nothing to do with Shukaku? Then why did the sand protect me?"
A question quietly arose in Gaara's heart.
Obito narrowed his eyes slightly and chuckled. "Heh, now I'm really curious about who you are. You have so many strange abilities—there shouldn't be anyone like you in Kirigakure! But it doesn't matter. I'll know your true identity soon enough!"
After his brief surprise, Obito once again spurred Susanoo into action.
Soon, the cyan skeletal Susanoo raised its fist again and smashed it viciously toward Karin, who was lying on the ground.
In Obito's eyes, the