Sasuke naturally paid no heed to the shock of the crowd outside the arena.
At that moment, there was only one enemy in his crimson eyes—the expressionless Gaara standing not far away!
He absolutely could not let that guy's sand catch him. Otherwise...
The moment he recalled what he had seen in the Forest of Death, Sasuke's gaze grew exceedingly grim!
Swish! Swish! Swish!...
His body seemed to be wreathed in a layer of blue electricity as he flashed continuously across the arena, searching for an opportunity to break through the enormous curtain of sand before him and launch a surprise attack on Gaara.
However, now that Gaara had consciously taken up a defensive stance, sand seemed to be everywhere, floating around him like a flowing vortex.
Bang! Bang! Bang!...
Sasuke's several probing attacks were all blocked in time by the heavy sand. It seemed there was simply no way to break through that barrier of sand.
Seeing Gaara's flawless defense, the examinees outside the arena could not help widening their eyes as they began murmuring among themselves.
"Th-this guy is way too strong, isn't he?! Who could possibly defeat that kind of defense with no blind spots?!"
"What a relief... If one of us had drawn that guy, we probably would have lost already..."
"Still, that Second Pillar is really strong too... I thought what he showed before was his true level, but he'd been holding something back. Are those eyes the legendary Sharingan?!"
"Tsk, tsk... No matter how strong he is, it won't help. Second Pillar ran into Gaara of the Sand Ninja. No matter which one of them wins or loses, it's a huge stroke of luck for us..."
While the examinees outside the arena were discussing the match heatedly...
On the viewing platform, unnoticed by anyone,