Gaara's sudden burst of laughter made everyone present turn to look.
Zeyu's gaze sharpened as he wondered,
What happened? How did Shukaku come out?
Temari, who had been resting, and Kankuro, who had been repairing a puppet, were startled too and jumped to their feet.
They had always kept an eye on Gaara to prevent anything from going wrong.
They had done so when he was little, but once Gaara became a ninja, he grew irritable and bloodthirsty, so they stopped keeping such a close watch on him.
They'd thought Gaara was just resting with his eyes closed as usual, but it turned out he'd fallen asleep from exhaustion.
"Gaara! Wake up!" Temari and Kankuro called, trying to go over and rouse him.
Gaara, under Shukaku's control, heard them and turned to glare. He immediately waved a hand, sending sand surging toward them.
The sand wrapped around them and slammed them against the wall, leaving only their heads exposed.
They were just about to speak when the sand sealed their mouths.
"You're so noisy. I'll deal with you after I kill that red-haired brat."
Nearby, Shota nudged Megumi with his elbow and asked in a low voice,
"Um, Megumi, isn't he a red-haired brat himself? And he's shorter than Big Brother. Why's he calling Big Brother that?"
Megumi replied with an exasperated look,
"How would I know? He's probably got something wrong with his head. You're an idiot too, Big Brother."
"What did I do?" Shota asked, looking bewildered.
"Enough! You damn brats. You deserve to die!" Gaara, under Shukaku's control, roared.
He raised a hand, making the sand float in the air.
Zeyu's expression turned grave as he readied himself to fight.
"Don't hurt Zeyu!" Hinata activated her Byakugan and took up the opening stance of the Gentle Fist, shielding him with her body.
"Hinata..." Zeyu murmured, momentarily dazed as he looked at her delicate figure.
Hinata said,
"Zeyu is a very special person to me. I won't let anyone hurt him."
The others gathered beside Zeyu, ready to fight as well.
"Everyone..." Zeyu said.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm here to protect Hinata," Megumi said.
"I feel the same way as Big Sis. I'll never let anyone hurt Big Brother. Oh, and Big Sis too," Shota said.
"Yeah, same here," Kiba and Shino chimed in.
Megumi thought with a deadpan expression,
If you feel the same way as Hinata, that'll be a problem.
Shukaku snorted disdainfully and said,
"How amusing. You've even teamed up to get yourselves killed. Fine, I'll grant your wish."
The sand floating in the air slowly gathered into countless tiny clumps.
"Not good!" Zeyu exclaimed, immediately beginning to form Hand Seals.
Then he puffed out his cheeks and spat a large amount of water onto the ground.
Shukaku sucked in a deep breath, puffing up his cheeks and belly as he formed Hand Seals.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!" "Wind Style: Wind Sand Bullet!"
Shukaku blasted a tremendous volume of air from his mouth, firing every tiny clump of sand that had been floating in the air.
The people with Zeyu had still been wondering what Gaara was about to do, but the attack had already begun. The tiny clumps of sand came hurtling toward them in a dense barrage.
They were horrified, but fortunately, Zeyu had already completed his Water Style. A wall of water rose before them and stopped the sand clumps.
The sand clumps struck the water wall, sending countless splashes flying.
On hitting the wall, the sand immediately disintegrated and was swept upward by the water.
"Tch, is this all this body can manage?" Shukaku thought.
The people hiding behind the water wall watched the sand clumps rush toward them, only to be stopped at the last moment. They couldn't help breaking into a cold sweat.
"If Zeyu hadn't been here, I'd probably have been turned into a sieve by now," Kiba said with a tremor in his voice.
Shino nodded too and swallowed hard.
They looked at Zeyu, their eyes full of gratitude.
"Thank you, Zeyu," Hinata said.
"It's all right. It's not over yet, so stay alert," Zeyu said, keeping his eyes fixed on Shukaku.
By then, Shukaku had used the remaining sand in the gourd to wrap around Gaara's left arm. A huge, dark-yellow hand emerged, breaking through the sand around it.
The previous attack had just ended, so Zeyu quickly formed Hand Seals.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
A dragon's head formed on the water wall and shot straight toward Shukaku, who had just transformed one arm.
Damn it. If Gaara gets hit now, he'll wake up, and all our efforts will be wasted. Who is this kid, anyway? He's so perceptive, and he can use such a powerful Water Style in a place like this.
As he thought, Shukaku raised his right hand and summoned a wall of sand in front of himself. His hand rested against the wall, and sand covered it.
The Water Dragon Bullet slammed into the sand wall. Its immense force broke straight through and struck Shukaku.
It lifted Shukaku off the ground.
Shukaku's face had now finished transforming, and he grinned broadly.
"Kehehehe! This is interesting. I haven't been this excited in ages!"
The others took a closer look. Shukaku had placed his left hand in front of his belly, blocking the dragon's head.
His right hand had also finished transforming. He grabbed the water dragon by the neck and squeezed with both hands.
He gave it a hard squeeze, and the water dragon burst apart, sending water flying everywhere.
Everyone present was drenched.
Shukaku shielded his face with his huge left hand and peered through his fingers at the people opposite him.
"Hahaha! Brat, you're going to make this even more—?" Shukaku looked at the group across from him. The flash of red hair had disappeared, and he froze, his grin stiffening.
He quickly lowered his hand and searched carefully for Zeyu.
Looking up, he saw Zeyu flying toward him through the air.
"Heh, you little punk. Too slow!" Shukaku said, reaching out with his massive hand to grab Zeyu.
He caught Zeyu in his fist.
"Zeyu!" Hinata cried out anxiously.
The others turned to look, their faces full of shock as they saw Zeyu in Shukaku's grasp.
As soon as she saw what had happened, Hinata rushed forward.
"Damn it, let go of Big Brother!" Shota clenched his fists and charged forward too.
"Ugh." Trapped in the giant hand, Zeyu looked pained and couldn't move.
"Hahaha! I'll finish one of you off first. You'll be next!" Shukaku grinned.
"No!" everyone cried in alarm.
Just as Shukaku was about to strike, Zeyu, held in his grasp, suddenly smiled.
Shukaku had only just noticed Zeyu's expression when a chakra-coated fist was already beside his right cheek.
Shukaku caught it in the corner of his eye, but it was too late. The punch landed.
A sound like an explosion rang out. Shukaku's face twisted from the blow, and his whole body went flying.
The Zeyu in his hand turned into water.
The tremendous impact kicked up a fierce gust. Hinata and Shota were closest, and the wind blinded them, forcing them to shield their faces with their arms.
"Impossible!" Shukaku roared.
Shukaku crashed straight through the wall on the break room's doorway side, kicking up a cloud of dust as he flew on into the hall.
The gourd on his back turned to sand again, protecting Gaara's body.
He finally landed in the hall, where sand had spread beneath him.
"Impossible! You damn brat! I'll remember this! I'll get my revenge! I'll kill you one day, you hear me?!" Shukaku bellowed, mouth wide open.
Then his pupils returned to normal, his raccoon-dog face reverted, and his giant hands slowly changed back.
Gaara slowly opened his eyes and began coughing violently. He turned his face to one side and spat out a mouthful of blood, then gasped for breath.
Zeyu withdrew his fist, shook his hand, and looked at the others.
"Is everyone all right?"
"Yeah... we're fine," they answered in unison.
Hinata hurried over to Zeyu and asked with concern,
"Zeyu, are you all right? Was that a clone just now?"
Zeyu pulled Hinata into his arms with a mischievous grin.
"Then why don't you feel for yourself whether this body is a water clone?"
Hinata's face flushed red. She spoke softly.
"Ah, yes, it really is you, Zeyu. And... everyone's still watching."
Zeyu looked at the others.
They all turned away, pretending they hadn't seen anything.
"That guy never knows when to be serious," Megumi muttered.