Chiba: Your Sand Is Good, It's Mine Now

"The Four Violet Flames Formation?"

Chiba stood in mid-air, quietly glancing at the four corners of the rectangular purple barrier. The Sound Four, having already dispelled their Transformation Jutsu and reverted from their Sunagakure Ninja disguises to their original forms, showed little change in their expressions.

In the original Konoha Crush Plan, the Sound Four had utilized this technique to create a combat environment where Orochimaru and Sarutobi Hiruzen could fight without interference.

Theoretically, this barrier should be capable of briefly trapping a powerhouse of Kage Level strength.

But for Chiba, who possessed the Tenseigan, it was really nothing special.

By comparison, he was more concerned with something else—

"Isn't this Lord Orochimaru, our Konoha's S-Rank Rogue Ninja and one of the legendary Sannin?"

Chiba looked toward the top of the giant snake at Orochimaru, who had also reverted from his Sunagakure Jonin disguise. He immediately switched to a mocking tone: "Why are you not only collaborating with Sunagakure now, but also stooping so low as to transform into a Sunagakure Jonin?"

"I must say, your acting is quite good, though you seem to have underestimated my Tenseigan and my judgment."

"The massive amount of Chakra within your body is not something a standard Jonin should possess."

"No matter how realistic your acting is, certain things cannot be concealed. For instance—the fear of Gaara in your eyes is just too fake."

That's right; from the very beginning, Chiba knew there was something wrong with the six Sunagakure Ninja surrounding Gaara.

But he didn't care. He only needed to confirm that Gaara was the real one, and that was enough.

"Come to think of it, you actually utilized the real Gaara this time?"

Chiba glanced again at Gaara, who had already pierced through the giant snake's abdomen with sand and was flying out on a sand carpet, his eyes locked firmly onto him. Chiba's tone was slightly surprised.

He had originally thought that finding Gaara's true form would be a bit more troublesome.

"Chiba-kun, you seem quite different from what I imagined."

Orochimaru extended his long, snake-like tongue to lick his face, then spoke with a hint of excitement in his eyes: "You don't look at all like a 12-year-old from the Hyuga Branch Family who was born blind, never practiced, and lived solely on family relief."

"And your Tenseigan—it looks even more beautiful than the Rinnegan, and it has indeed granted you powerful strength."

"I am very interested in it, which is why I used this method to create an environment free from Sunagakure's interference, giving me the opportunity to obtain it."

"As for Gaara's true identity? If I didn't do this, how else could I lure out the real you, Chiba-kun, who had already infiltrated Sunagakure?"

Upon hearing this, Chiba's expression remained unchanged. He asked as if chatting with a friend: "Are you really that confident that you, along with those few pieces of trash you call subordinates, can take my Tenseigan?"

"Just because my Tenseigan has only recently awakened, have you forgotten the time you were in the Akatsuki and tried to attack Pain, only to be suppressed by his Rinnegan's power?"

As soon as Chiba finished speaking, before Orochimaru could respond, the Sound Four each looked quite indignant: "What is this guy talking about?"

"He actually dares to look down on Orochimaru-sama and even calls us trash?"

"That detestable Hyuga Brat, how dare he look down on us?"

"What's so great about the Tenseigan? Orochimaru-sama will definitely make him regret saying those things!"

"Orochimaru-sama, let me go and kill him!" Standing atop a new giant snake alongside Orochimaru, Kimimaro spoke with fierce killing intent surging in his eyes.

Kimimaro hailed from the highly militant Kaguya Clan and possessed the Kekkei Genkai known as Shikotsumyaku, which allowed him to manipulate the bones within his body at will.

His childhood had been spent being used as a powerful combat tool by the Kaguya Clan.

It wasn't until he met Orochimaru that he finally saw a light of his own.

As long as it was for Orochimaru, Kimimaro was willing to do anything, and he would never let anyone who dared to humiliate the former go unpunished.

Even if it meant dealing with someone who possessed the so-called Tenseigan!

"Sand Binding Coffin!"

However, faster than Kimimaro, who had to wait for Orochimaru's approval before acting, was Gaara, who had been obsessed with killing Chiba while being tormented by Shukaku within his body.

Under his mental command, the sand from the large gourd on his back and the sand on the ground all rapidly converged into a mass, surging toward Chiba.

"I don't like playing with sand. I'll return it to you."

Chiba glanced at Gaara. The sand that was about to strike him seemed as if its control had been forcibly seized, turning around to attack Gaara instead.

"It's the same ability to manipulate gravity and repulsion as Pain's Rinnegan." Seeing this, Orochimaru's expression immediately tightened.

Setting aside whether Chiba's control over gravity and repulsion was as strong as Pain's, his application of it seemed to surpass Pain's.

After all, Orochimaru had never seen Pain display the ability to seize control of a target's attack and turn it back against them.

Of course, Orochimaru did not rule out the possibility that he simply hadn't seen Pain fight enough times, leading him to believe Pain lacked such combat methods.

Furthermore, what surprised Orochimaru greatly was that Hyuga Chiba actually knew he had once attacked Pain.

"How truly interesting!"

After snapping back to reality, Orochimaru stared at Chiba and once again licked his face with his tongue.

It was just unclear whether he was interested in the Tenseigan now, or Chiba himself.

"What?"

Upon seeing his own attack forcibly turned back against him, a rare look of astonishment appeared on Gaara's face.

"Flowing Sand Stream!"

Shocked, Gaara immediately caused the ground to rise, creating a massive wave of sand that nearly filled the entire Four Violet Flames Formation. While it blocked the sand being sent back at him, it also continued to attack Hyuga Chiba from all directions.

"Heh, do you think that just because the amount of sand has increased, I can't manipulate it in reverse?"

Chiba chuckled softly, further activating the effects of Almighty Push and Banshō Ten'in.

The next moment, the sand waves coming from all directions were forcibly seized under his control once again, rapidly condensing into a giant sand dragon that turned back to attack Gaara.

"Damn it!"

"I'll kill you, I'll definitely kill you!"

Having his control over the sand forcibly seized twice in a row, Gaara was not only shocked but seemed to be losing his composure.

As he roared continuously, filled with killing intent, his right eye instantly transformed to look like Shukaku's, and his right arm shifted into something resembling Shukaku's limb.

This was Gaara's Possession Body form as the One-Tailed Jinchuriki, similar to Naruto's Partial Tailed Beast Transformation.

In this state, his mental state became increasingly frantic, and his abilities in all aspects, including his control over sand, received a significant boost.

Yet, even so, the massive sand dragon remained under Chiba's forced control, ruthlessly slamming into him.