A wave of helpless, stunned discussion gradually spread through the stands after the initial gasps of amazement:
"That thing's way too tough!"
"Just like the last match—no one can break through it! Every attack gets blocked. How are you supposed to fight that?"
"No wonder they call it Absolute Defense."
"What a shame. That Konoha kid's so fast, and his tactics are good, but he can't break through the defense. He doesn't even have a chance to get close."
"The difference in strength is still obvious. That kunoichi has barely moved at all. She's completely crushing him with Chakra and secret techniques."
"Looks like there's no suspense about who'll take the championship..."
On the high platform, the Third Kazekage watched the match below. It looked like a stalemate, but Karura was firmly in control, and his expression grew more relaxed by the moment.
He turned slightly toward the Third Hokage beside him. "Lord Hokage, your young shinobi is certainly good at carrying out tactics and adapting to the situation. His resolve is admirable, too. But against an overwhelming difference in strength, skill ultimately... seems a little powerless."
The Third Hokage continued to smile as he puffed on his pipe, his expression unchanged. He replied calmly, "Lord Kazekage is quite right. Still, the match isn't over yet. Young people can sometimes show more tenacity than either of us expects. Let's see how it plays out."
On the field, after dodging another wave of sand that surged at him from the side, Shinichi abruptly retreated, putting more than fifty meters between himself and Karura.
Then he planted his right foot firmly to steady himself and took a deep breath. The Chakra throughout his body began to thrum and surge, vibrating with a unique, frenzied rhythm!
The air around him trembled. Tiny pebbles and grains of sand were swept up by an invisible force and began circling him slowly.
It was the telltale sign that he was about to unleash Konoha's Dragon God!
For the first time, a hint of gravity crossed Karura's gentle features. She had watched Shinichi's earlier matches and recognized his opening stance. She also remembered the move's devastating power.
She'd thought that after his fierce battle with his teammate in the previous match, Shinichi would be too drained to use it again. But apparently...
This was undoubtedly the attack that threatened her most. She couldn't let him complete it!
She stopped holding back and quickly brought her hands together, releasing all her Chakra.
"Sand Shower!"
The great mass of sand hovering around her, ready to respond, instantly sprang into action. Rather than forming giant hands or walls, it condensed and compressed, transforming into countless iron-hard sand pellets that poured toward Shinichi's head and upper body like a torrential downpour!
They were fast, covered a wide area, and had one clear purpose—to interrupt his buildup and concentration!
But the invisible waves of air produced by the intense gathering and rotation of Chakra around Shinichi had already begun to take shape.
The instant the sand pellets entered their range, they seemed to strike an incredibly resilient, elastic wall. Their trajectories veered off, their momentum faltered, and the swirling currents swept them away and deflected them. They couldn't penetrate the increasingly powerful field of energy!
Karura's gaze sharpened. Realizing that a ranged attack wouldn't work, she didn't hesitate. She slammed both palms down onto the ground!
"Flowing Sand Waterfall!"
A vast wave of Chakra rippled into the earth, sweeping across the entire arena!
Under the crowd's disbelieving eyes, the arena's solid stone floor visibly turned to sand, with Karura at its center!
The hard rock softened and crumbled into quicksand. In just two or three breaths, the entire broad platform had become a shifting, sinking desert!
Her intention was clear: she would use this field of sand, which she controlled completely, to trap Shinichi's feet from below, interrupt his next dash and leap—or even swallow and bury him outright!
Unfortunately, just before the quicksand reached him, Shinichi finished gathering his strength!
This further exposed Karura's lack of combat experience and her inability to seize the perfect moment. She had failed twice in a row to interrupt Shinichi's buildup.
If she'd truly had the combat experience of a Jonin, Shinichi would have struggled to unleash Konoha's Dragon God.
On the field, Shinichi stomped hard. The ground, not yet fully transformed into sand, exploded beneath him!
Using the tremendous force of the recoil, he shot into the air, his body spinning at high speed!
Whoom! Whoom! Whoom!
Vast, dense azure Chakra erupted and surged upward!
The waves of air circling him expanded and solidified. The sand was swept away completely, and the outline of a majestic, fearsome azure dragon's head appeared at the front of the spinning whirlwind, roaring soundlessly!
Konoha's Dragon God had returned!
Below him, Karura's Flowing Sand Waterfall had run its course. The entire desert seethed beneath her will.
Facing the azure dragon hurtling down from above with the force of destruction, she raised both hands and held them aloft. Her gaze was calm and resolute.
"Sandfall Burial!"
Rumble!!
Every grain of sand across the desert—sand she had transformed and controlled with her Chakra—surged into action!
As if a sleeping yellow sea had been roused to fury, towering waves of sand rolled upward. Their scale dwarfed every attack she'd unleashed before, as though they meant to bury the entire sky. With enough force to bury everything, they surged straight toward the diving azure dragon!
An azure whirlwind of destruction and a yellow sea of burial!
The next instant, they collided head-on, without a hint of hesitation!
Rumble!!!!
An indescribably terrifying boom erupted, like a thunderclap from a clear sky!
A blinding flash and surging currents of energy exploded at the point of impact. The violent shock wave mixed with shredded sand, the dying flames of Chakra, and pulverized rock. In an instant, it formed a gigantic, churning cloud of grayish-yellow dust that billowed upward, swelling like a small mushroom cloud and swallowing most of the arena's center!
Their view was completely obscured. Even the barrier walls shuddered and hummed violently.
In that instant, with their vision blocked and their senses thrown into confusion—
Whoosh!
A cold glint tore through the dust, shooting out from the chaos! It was a sharp sword, moving at tremendous speed, its tip aimed straight at Karura.
Karura furrowed her brow, but didn't panic.
The sand in front of her had already risen on its own. Her familiar Sand Shield quickly took shape, ready to block what looked like a desperate thrown attack.
The sword reached her in an instant, about to crash into the newly formed sand shield.
Pop!
A soft sound rang out—not the clash of metal, but the burst of smoke!
The flying sword abruptly vanished into a cloud of white smoke. A black figure appeared from within it like a phantom. It was Higashino Shinichi!
In his right hand, thrust forward, a head-sized sphere of azure Chakra had already taken shape. It spun madly, radiating a terrifying, destructive force!
Great Ball Rasengan!
Oh no!
Karura's light-brown eyes contracted sharply as a powerful sense of danger set off alarm bells in her mind!
She could feel the technique's terrifying piercing force and destructive power. It might actually be able to break through her Sand Shield!
She wanted to retreat, to summon more sand and build layer upon layer of defense. But the weakness that came from spending years in a desk job, without experience in life-or-death combat, became painfully clear once again. Her body reacted a fraction of a second slower than her mind!
That was the fatal instant!
Shinichi gave a low shout and slammed the head-sized sphere of raging energy into the Sand Shield at point-blank range!
Boom!!!
Another deafening explosion rang out, but this impact was completely different from the last. The instant the Great Ball Rasengan touched the Sand Shield, its highly compressed, rapidly spinning Chakra displayed terrifying piercing power. The solid surface of the shield cracked with an overloaded "crack!" After holding for less than half a second, it was forcibly drilled through!
The Rasengan shrank noticeably as it pierced the shield, and its light dimmed somewhat, but its remaining energy was still wildly powerful. Like a cannonball, it slammed squarely into Karura's arms, which she had hurriedly crossed in front of her chest!
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