In the arena, the atmosphere between Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara grew increasingly tense, as though two invisible clouds were frantically probing, colliding, squeezing, and grinding against each other, willing to do anything to... devour the other!
Bang!
The stopper of the gourd on Gaara's back suddenly popped out. A great amount of fine sand poured from its mouth, forming a pale yellow cloud of sand that floated above Gaara's head.
The sand cloud was not still. It flowed continuously, producing dense, faint scraping sounds as the grains rubbed together, like tens of thousands of ants gnawing at something, sending chills down everyone's spine.
Gaara's breathing grew heavier as well. From within his dark circles, his bloodshot eyes stared coldly at Uchiha Sasuke opposite him, like a wolf that had gone hungry for two days finally spotting prey covered in meat.
Uchiha Sasuke raised a brow and immediately threw two Shuriken. Spinning at high speed, they tore through the air and shot straight for Gaara's eyes.
At the same time, Uchiha Sasuke pushed off the ground and charged forward at top speed.
Gaara did not even blink. The drifting sand cloud above his head suddenly dropped a curtain of sand, directly swallowing the two Shuriken. Then, another "Gaara" emerged from that curtain, sweeping up vast amounts of sand as it surged toward Uchiha Sasuke like a waterfall.
Uchiha Sasuke quickly leaped into the air, evading the sand waterfall's attack.
At the same time, he descended with a charged kick, splitting the Sand Clone "Gaara" in half before throwing a punch at Gaara's real body behind it.
Yet Gaara's bloodshot eyes remained wide open, and he still did not move.
Another curtain of sand fell from the cloud above him, attempting to block Uchiha Sasuke's punch.
"Hmph!"
A disdainful smile suddenly appeared