A Fierce Battle with Gaara

"Wood Style: Tree Barrier!"

Lin Mu had just arrived at the battlefield when he saw Sasuke in mortal danger.

He immediately clasped his hands together and, without hesitation, performed the new jutsu he had just learned.

"Bang!"

Gaara's monstrous right claw slammed directly into the Tree Barrier.

But then, something astonishing happened.

At full strength, Gaara's claw could snap a tree several meters thick in half.

Yet this thin wooden wall had only developed a few cracks!

Everyone marveled at the wooden wall's formidable defensive power. Only Lin Mu's face had gone pale.

Gaara, wielding the power of the One-Tail Shukaku, was monstrously strong.

The Tree Barrier's defensive power also depended on the strength of the chakra he poured into it.

Although Wood Style: Tree Barrier had stopped Gaara's claw, it had consumed a huge amount of Lin Mu's chakra!

Lin Mu let out a small breath, his gaze sharpening. Before Gaara could strike back, he took the initiative and lunged at him.

"Wood Style: Cutting Sprigs!"

Lin Mu let out a roar in his heart as his chakra surged wildly.

Sharp Wooden Thorns sprouted from his arms and fists.

Those Wooden Thorns gleamed with a metallic sharpness!

But Gaara was using Shukaku's power, and his mind was no longer clear. Killing intent and darkness had already engulfed him.

"Die!"

Gaara didn't recognize Lin Mu, but that did nothing to stop his frenzied attack.

Sand gathered around his claws, making them even more powerful.

Shhk—

The sharp Wooden Thorns on Lin Mu's fist pierced straight into Gaara's claw.

The Shukaku claw clinging to Gaara's body was pierced through. Sand scattered from it and drifted slowly to the ground.

"Aaaaaaah!"

Gaara let out a pained roar.

Although the claw was made of sand, he still felt pain when it was injured.

But would a beast that had lost its reason care about a little pain?

His claw didn't lose any force. It slammed straight into Lin Mu's chest.

The blow struck his chest, and the world immediately spun around Lin Mu. It felt as if his internal organs had been twisted together.

Lin Mu flew backward like a cannonball and crashed hard into a giant tree dozens of meters away.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Lin Mu's face was grim. He had still underestimated the power of a Tailed Beast!

He had thought that with his repeatedly enhanced Wood Style Body and the powerful offensive force of Wood Style: Cutting Technique, he could hold his own against Gaara.

But now it seemed that idea had been far too naive.

His Wood Style: Cutting Technique could indeed injure Gaara.

But the damage Gaara could inflict on him was far greater than what he could do to Gaara!

He had been on the losing end of their very first clash.

He'd been careless...

But Lin Mu wasn't panicking. If an ordinary person had taken that punch, they would likely have suffered severe injuries, if not died.

But Lin Mu was different. Wood Release chakra surged wildly inside him, and the injuries from that blow were already healing rapidly!

Unable to be healed!

All he had to do was expend chakra, and he could recover from his injuries at an extremely rapid pace.

Seeing Lin Mu get to his feet, Sasuke Uchiha—lying helplessly across a tree branch—looked utterly shocked.

He knew Lin Mu, of course. At the Ninja Academy, he had been nothing more than an average student.

Even Sasuke would have struggled to withstand Gaara's claw just now.

Yet Lin Mu had come away from that blow completely unharmed!

"How is this possible? How can Lin Mu be so strong?"

After getting up, Lin Mu didn't charge straight at Gaara.

Although he had been at a disadvantage in that last exchange, he had gotten a fairly good read on Gaara's current condition.

In some ways, it was similar to his own Wood Style Body.

Gaara used sand to form the Shukaku Body, and ordinary attacks couldn't break through the sand's defenses.

Even if an attack was powerful enough, like the Chidori Sasuke Uchiha had used or Lin Mu's Wood Style: Cutting Technique, it could scatter Gaara's Sand Body. But Gaara could still use chakra to gather the sand again and recover from his injuries.

All he felt was the pain of being hurt!

"Gaara really is a monster..."

Lin Mu sucked in a breath. The attack hadn't seriously injured him, but it had definitely hurt.

This time, Lin Mu had learned his lesson.

He used Wood Style: Cutting Technique again, but this time he only extended a one-meter Wooden Thorn forward from each wrist.

At the same time, he used a large amount of chakra to reinforce them, making them harder and stronger.

Then Lin Mu circulated chakra throughout his body, covering himself from head to toe.

He transformed the entire surface of his body into wood.

Once the process was complete, Lin Mu felt his combat strength rise to a new level.

His attack power, defense, and speed had all improved further. The only downside was that it had consumed a huge amount of chakra.

Fortunately, the chakra reserves of his Wood Style Body were astonishing. Otherwise, he never could have kept up with such expenditure.

The whole process sounded lengthy, but it had taken only a few seconds.

After recovering from his injuries, Gaara let out a fierce roar and lunged at Lin Mu.

Lin Mu didn't meet the attack head-on. He knew he wasn't a match for Gaara's current strength.

He leaped to dodge Gaara's attack, then kicked off a branch with both feet and used the momentum to charge at him.

Gaara's first claw swipe had missed, and he hadn't yet regained his balance.

Lin Mu seized the opportunity, closed in instantly, and stabbed the Wooden Thorn in his hand into Gaara's shoulder.

"Aaaaaaah!"

Gaara let out another pained roar, but Lin Mu showed no mercy. He twisted the Wooden Thorn, widening the wound in Gaara's shoulder.

Whoosh—

The attack struck Gaara's monstrous shoulder, and his entire right arm fell away, turning into sand and revealing his original arm beneath.

Having landed a hit and gained the upper hand, Lin Mu didn't linger. He immediately retreated.

"Aaaaaaah!"

Gaara fought through the pain and sent chakra to his shoulder. Sand spilled from the gourd on his back and slowly took the shape of an arm.

But this time it formed much more slowly than before, and even after parts of it took shape, they crumbled back into sand.

Gaara was running out of chakra!

Seeing Gaara's current state, Lin Mu felt a surge of excitement. If he had been fighting Gaara at his peak, the outcome would have been uncertain.

But although Gaara had knocked Sasuke Uchiha down, he had also used up a great deal of chakra.

Gaara was no longer a match for Lin Mu!

Lin Mu remained on guard. He carefully observed Gaara and saw that he was panting, sand constantly falling from his body. He was indeed on the verge of exhaustion.