Gaara's Whisper, Your Mother Doesn't Want You Anymore

When the golden tide erupted from beneath the ground, Sasuke's first reaction was not fear, but absurdity.

This was Konoha's Forty-Fourth Training Ground, deep in the forest—the place known as the "Forest of Death."

Within a twenty-kilometer radius inside the training ground, there were only towering trees that had grown for over a century, and outside the training ground stretched endless forest as well.

Beneath the soil, roots tangled in dense, interlocking networks, and even at the shallowest point, the rock layer was three meters below the surface.

Sand?

Where had this much sand come from?

Rumble—

A deep, thunderous roar came from beneath their feet, and the earth trembled.

The layer of fallen leaves beneath Sasuke's feet collapsed in an instant, replaced by surging, scalding golden grains of sand.

Those grains seemed alive, devouring everything around them like a pack of starving beasts.

"Get out of the way!"

Sasuke leaped with all his strength to the left, kicked twice against a tree trunk, and shot toward a farther treetop like an arrow loosed from the string.

His Sharingan spun rapidly as he raced, frantically capturing every detail in his field of vision: the speed of the sand wave's advance, its coverage, and possible safe spots.

Sai and Shigaraki, the two Root members, reacted quickly as well.

Sai rolled to the right, the scroll in his hand unfurling as he tumbled. Ink splashed out, and an Ink Hawk with a two-meter wingspan instantly took shape, carrying him into the sky.

Shigaraki chose to go downward. He formed seals with both hands and slammed them against the ground. "Earth Style: Subterranean Voyage!"

His body sank into the soil that had not yet been covered by sand, swimming outward through it like a fish entering water.

But the speed of the sand