The Third Match:
Uchiha Yao vs. Gaara
"It's my turn!"
Yao nodded to Sasuke and Naruto beside him, then leaped off the platform and landed lightly in the middle of the arena.
A wave of cheers immediately erupted from the stands.
"Yao! Go! Go! Beat that raccoon-eyed freak to a pulp! I've hated the sight of him for ages!"
Naruto leaned over the railing, waving his fists with gusto.
"Yo-kun! Go!"
Sakura cheered excitedly too.
"Yao! Be careful! That guy from Sunagakure is really strong!"
Ino called out anxiously.
In the Forest of Death, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had witnessed Gaara killing other ninja with their own eyes.
It had left them deeply shaken. Now, whenever they saw Gaara, they were scared out of their minds.
Yao was strong, but in Ino's eyes, he wasn't as monstrous as Gaara.
The cheers from the Konoha side drew the displeasure of Sunagakure.
"Hmph! You brats from Konoha are so noisy! Shut up!"
Kankuro folded his arms, his face wearing a mocking sneer.
"Just watch! That Uchiha brat's going to be crawling on the ground before long, courtesy of Gaara!"
"What did you say?!"
Naruto was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Yao's really strong! That raccoon-eyed freak doesn't stand a chance!"
"Beat Gaara? You Konoha brats are so naive!"
Temari clicked her tongue, confidence in her younger brother written across her face.
"At the Chunin level, no one can beat Gaara. His strength is beyond anything you can imagine!"
Temari looked at Gaara, and a trace of fear flickered deep in her eyes.
She knew better than anyone about the monster sleeping inside Gaara, and the near-merciless power he wielded.
In the arena, Gekko Hayate coughed twice and announced the start of the match.
Yao and Gaara stood facing each other.
Gaara's eyes were vacant and dull, devoid of emotion.
The stopper on the gourd on his back silently came loose. Sand trickled out and swirled around his feet.
"Uchiha... Yao!"
Gaara's voice was hoarse and cold. "I'll kill you!"
Just a few simple words, yet the naked killing intent seemed almost tangible as it quietly spread through the air.
"Is that so?"
Yao remained calm. "If you mean the monster inside you, I'm sorry, but you might be disappointed!"
Gaara's pupils contracted.
"I'll kill you!"
The instant Gaara's words fell, the yellow sand at his feet sprang to life like a venomous snake.
With a piercing whoosh, it shot toward Yao.
Yao had expected it.
He moved with effortless grace.
Just before the sand could reach him, he dodged by a hair's breadth.
The grains of sand brushed against the hem of Yao's clothes, but never touched his body.
Gaara's expression remained cold as he controlled more and more sand, moving it faster and faster, unleashing one technique after another with ease.
Sand Shuriken!
Sand Coffin!
Sand Shower Barrage!
Yao moved like a phantom, weaving freely through the web of sand.
His speed, reflexes, and coordination were clearly superior to the speed of Gaara's sand.
It wasn't a coincidence!
Before awakening the system, Yao had understood the importance of taijutsu and never let up on basic physical training.
After all,
when a fight between ninja dragged on until their chakra ran dry, they still had to rely on taijutsu!
After gaining the Sage Body,
Yao's physical abilities had undergone a qualitative leap. His strength, speed, stamina, and reflexes had all improved.
Gaara's sand was fast, sure, but catching Yao was another matter.
"Whoosh!"
Once again, Yao darted out of the closing sand hand half a second before it could trap him, landing lightly on a boulder.
He casually rolled his neck, eliciting a faint crack.
"Alright, raccoon eyes!"
Yao looked at Gaara. "That's enough warm-up. Now I'm going to get serious!"
He raised his right hand. Dazzling blue light burst from his palm.
An immense amount of chakra gathered, spun, and compressed!
The air around him churned, giving off a low hum.
In the blink of an eye, a blue orb far larger than an ordinary Rasengan appeared in his palm.
Great Ball Rasengan!
"That's..."
The pipe in the Third Hokage's hand nearly slipped from his grasp. His face was filled with astonishment.
The Jōnin observation area erupted into commotion.
Kakashi's eyes went wide, his mouth hanging open unconsciously.
Asuma forgot to light his cigarette. Kurenai covered her mouth in shock.
Might Guy's thick eyebrows shot up. He even forgot to shout "Youth!"
"Kakashi, is that the Fourth Hokage's Rasengan?"
Guy asked in disbelief.
"It's a Rasengan! But it's clearly much bigger than a regular Rasengan!"
Kakashi's voice trembled slightly. "Obviously, it's an advanced form of the Rasengan!"
He knew Yao had mastered the Rasengan and Chidori in a single day.
But he hadn't expected
Yao to master a variant of the Rasengan too!
When had he done that? During the half-month since they returned from the Land of Waves?
"How did Yao's Rasengan get so much bigger than mine?"
Naruto stared at the blue orb, his eyes wide as saucers.
He instinctively compared it to the one he made, utterly astonished.
"Idiot!"
Sasuke could only shake his head in exasperation. "He obviously injected a huge amount of chakra into the Rasengan and developed a more powerful variation!"
Sasuke felt a sense of defeat.
The three of them had learned the Chidori and Rasengan at the same time.
He and Naruto had only just managed to master the Chidori and Rasengan.
But Yao had not only mastered the Chidori Sharp Spear, an advanced form of the Chidori, he'd also come up with all sorts of new tricks for the Rasengan.
Was this guy a monster? Were he and Yao really twin brothers? Why was the gap between them so huge?
"I-is that so?"
Naruto only half understood.
However, everyone's shock was clearly premature.
Just then,
the low hum of chakra abruptly became sharp and shrill.
It was as if countless rapidly spinning saw blades were grinding against the air.
A ring of clearly visible, razor-sharp blades suddenly appeared around the blue Great Ball Rasengan.
The blades spun rapidly along with the Great Ball Rasengan at its core, producing a grating cutting noise.
Its once-stable spherical shape now resembled a shuriken made of pure storm, brimming with a sense of destruction.
"Th-this is..."
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, could no longer remain composed. His clouded eyes filled with disbelief.
"He added Wind Nature Transformation to the Rasengan's shape transformation? How is it possible to maintain both changes at once and stabilize them?"
Baki, the Jōnin leading Sunagakure's team, broke out in a cold sweat. "Lord Hokage, has that kid from your village gone too far?"
Baki could sense how terrifying the Rasenshuriken was. It made his heart pound with fear.
Beneath Kakashi's mask, his mouth had formed an "O," while his Sharingan spun furiously.
He tried to analyze the structure of the terrifying technique, but the information coming back nearly overloaded his brain.
Guy had forgotten to pose. Kurenai and Asuma were at a loss for words. The Rasengan was a technique developed by the Fourth Hokage.
And yet this Uchiha brat had developed a Nature Transformation for it. It was utterly absurd!
On the Sunagakure side,
the confidence and sneers on Temari and Kankuro's faces froze instantly.
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