Sunamaru's eyes narrowed. He calmly formed hand seals and said in a low voice, "Sand Release: Sand Guard!" A dense layer of sand instantly covered his body. When the lightning struck, the sand hissed and cracked, but it did not break.
"Not bad, kid."
Sunamaru looked at Kawaki Aoba, surprise creeping into his voice. "You managed to crack my Sand Guard. Looks like you've got some skill after all.
But it's not enough!"
Sunamaru formed another set of hand seals and unleashed all his chakra. The sand swirling around him thickened, then rose into a towering Sand Giant over ten meters tall. Its eyes were cold, and an immense pressure rolled off its body.
"Is that... a Sand Giant?"
Kawaki Aoba stared at it in astonishment, his voice tense. "Sunamaru, you can control something that powerful?"
Sarutobi Asuma's expression turned grave. He tightened his grip on his blade. "The Sand Giant is a secret technique of Sunagakure. It takes enormous chakra to control. Sunamaru is stronger than we thought!"
Standing atop the Sand Giant's head, Sunamaru sneered. "Scared now? This is what I can do! Today, I'll crush every last one of you! Sand Giant, attack!"
At his command, the Sand Giant raised a massive hand and slammed it toward the four of them. The ground shook beneath its sweep, sending sand and stone flying.
"Dodge!"
Asuma shouted and pulled Aoba back with him. Yuhi Shinku and Yuhi Kurenai dodged at the same time. The sand hand struck the ground, leaving a huge palm print as deep cracks split the earth.
Aoba stared at the imprint, shaken. "Asuma-sensei, we can't keep this up. The Sand Giant's too strong to face head-on. What do we do?"
Asuma frowned, thinking fast. "It may be powerful, but Sunamaru has to control it with