At that moment, several ninjas were sprinting at full speed along the road to the forest where Chen was.
"Damn it, who would've thought that even after traveling through the night, we'd still be this late? Gaara and Kankuro should have already encountered Sasuke Uchiha. Hurry up—the forest is just ahead!"
These ninjas were Temari of the Sand Village and the reinforcements sent by Konoha, including Kakashi and Shikamaru. Temari had been the one speaking.
"Are we almost there? I hope we can make it in time!" Kakashi looked at the forest ahead and thought to himself.
Just as Kakashi and the others were about to enter the forest, a tremendous boom suddenly rang out from deep within it! The ground shook violently, making them stop in their tracks and assume guarded expressions.
"What happened in there?" Sakura Haruno asked in shock as she stared at the disturbance.
"There's a battle going on in the forest. With a disturbance this huge, could it be Gaara and Sasuke?"
"Look! What's that?" Just as everyone was making wild guesses, Naruto suddenly pointed toward the forest and cried out.
Hearing Naruto's shout, everyone looked toward the sky above the forest—and was instantly stunned!
"S-so big... What... what is that thing?"
Three enormous gates suddenly rose from the center of the forest. Each one was half again as tall as the forest, and each massive gate bore the carving of a hideous grimacing face. Even from a distance, the sight was deeply shocking.
"How... how spectacular! Kakashi-sensei, what exactly is that?" Naruto, thoroughly shaken, asked Kakashi. The others also stared at Kakashi curiously, hoping he could explain. After all, Kakashi was the strongest person there and had far more experience and knowledge than they did.
"Could this be the legendary super-powerful defensive technique once