Su Bai vs. Gaara

Gaara's voice was ice-cold. "You killed our Sunagakure jonin, didn't you?"

"I did kill that Sunagakure jonin."

A trace of recollection flickered through Su Bai's eyes before they returned to calm.

He stared directly into Gaara's eyes. "Your village was conspiring with Orochimaru to attack Konoha. When two armies clash, killing him was only reasonable."

"I don't care about any of that! I don't care whether anyone else lives or dies. I only care about you!"

"The moment I saw you fighting Hyuga Neji, I could barely hold myself back. You're my prey!"

"If you won't fight me, then I'll kill him right now."

Gaara pointed at Hayate Gekko, who stood not far away.

Su Bai's gaze instantly turned cold, and killing intent spilled out without restraint. "You're looking to die."

According to Su Bai's original plan, he was supposed to wait here for Orochimaru to launch his surprise attack.

Then he would protect Gale here while picking up experience along the way.

But Gaara's appearance had ruined Su Bai's plan.

He actually wanted to make a move against Gale!

That had touched Su Bai's reverse scale.

Orochimaru, who was observing from the shadows, relaxed slightly when he saw this.

He thought to himself, If this One-Tail jinchuriki can keep Su Bai occupied, then he isn't completely useless after all.

The situation seemed to be developing in the direction he wanted.

Su Bai glanced at his uncle, Hayate Gekko, standing some distance away.

He thought to himself that if Gaara transformed into a Tailed Beast here, Gale would likely be placed in great danger.

He turned to Gale, concern evident in his tone. "Uncle, I'll be back soon. Be extra careful and watch your own safety."

After a pause, he added, "If things go wrong, don't force yourself. Retreat immediately."

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Gale's face as he thought, My strength may have been surpassed by yours, but I'm still a jonin...

But he had overseen the preliminary rounds, so he knew exactly how strong Gaara was.

When facing a powerful enemy, he absolutely could not let Su Bai be distracted.

So Gale nodded in agreement.

"Cough, cough. I understand. Don't worry, I'll follow your arrangements."

Su Bai turned to Kakashi again, his gaze carrying a plea. "Teacher Kakashi, can you look after my uncle for me?"

Kakashi nodded solemnly. "Don't worry. Leave Gale to me."

With that assurance, Su Bai finally relaxed.

He refocused his attention on the powerful enemy before him.

He said to Gaara in a low voice, "This is a battle between two genin. The jonin don't need to get involved. Let's change locations."

With that, he swiftly vaulted over the high wall and leaped toward a sparsely populated area.

Gaara narrowed his eyes and followed without hesitation.

His older siblings, Kankuro and Temari, quickly followed as well.

Seeing that the situation was turning bad, Kakashi could not let Su Bai face them alone.

He immediately ordered, "Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, follow them!"

The three young ninjas immediately set off in Su Bai's direction.

When Shino saw his original opponent, Kankuro, fleeing, he felt somewhat unwilling to let him go and quietly followed after them.

Just then, four figures appeared like ghosts at the four corners of the arena roof.

They were Orochimaru's capable subordinates—the Sound Four.

They formed hand seals almost simultaneously and shouted, "Ninja Art: Four Violet Flames Formation!"

In an instant, purple light shot into the sky and converged in midair, forming a massive cubic barrier.

The barrier completely cut off the entire arena from the outside world. Konoha's reinforcements could not enter, and those inside could not escape.

"Damn it!"

Kakashi gritted his teeth and growled. His Sharingan was exposed as he stared fixedly at the Hokage, who had been taken hostage by Orochimaru.

Might Guy also took up a fighting stance and said gravely, "It seems the situation is even more serious than we imagined."

At the same time, the Sunagakure ninjas began to move.

They swiftly joined up with the Sound ninjas, forming an encirclement around the Konoha ninjas.

The two villages that had once been allies were now facing each other with weapons drawn.

Orochimaru looked around with a savage grin and declared loudly, "Konoha's end has come! Today, I will completely destroy this rotten village!"

The moment his words fell, explosions suddenly rang out throughout Konoha Village.

Smoke and dust rose into the sky in the distance, while screams and sounds of battle erupted one after another.

Clearly, this surprise attack was not limited to the examination arena. It was a full-scale assault on all of Konoha Village.

Konoha's jonin quickly organized defenses, directing the conscious genin and chunin to protect the civilians.

Fifteen minutes later.

Su Bai stopped in an open clearing and turned to face Gaara, who had followed him.

The surrounding trees swayed gently in the breeze, as though holding their breath for the battle to come.

Gaara slowly approached, his hoarse voice breaking the silence. "What is your goal? Why are you so obsessed with pursuing power?"

Su Bai replied coldly, "That has nothing to do with you."

Gaara narrowed his eyes slightly and continued, "You killed a jonin from my village. You killed him, so what? I don't care. I'm not interested in your uncle either. The only one I care about is you."

He paused, his gaze fixed directly on Su Bai. "You're different from me. There's something in your eyes that I've never seen before—you pursue power, yet you're filled with the desire to protect."

"You're my prey!"

Gaara's tone grew even colder.

"You, who are strong. You, who have companions. You, who have a clear goal—you, who are completely different from me. If I kill you, I can become the person who destroys all of this. Only then can I confirm my existence in this world. Only then can I feel that I'm still alive."

Su Bai remained silent, but he was calculating inwardly.

This was the perfect opportunity to test whether Ryujin Jakka's Shikai could stand against a jinchuriki's Tailed Beast transformation.

"Enough talk. Come on."

Gaara assumed a fighting stance as sand began to churn around him.

Just then, Kankuro and Temari arrived at the scene.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura appeared right behind them.

Shino emerged without a sound, silently observing the situation.

Su Bai and Gaara faced each other in the center of the clearing, the air thick with tension.

As a breeze swept through, the two moved almost at the same time.

Su Bai shot forward like lightning, moving so fast that he nearly left afterimages behind.

Gaara immediately controlled the surrounding sand, forming a defensive wall.

However, Su Bai's Flash Step was even faster. Before the sand wall could fully take shape, he had already circled behind Gaara.

Bang!

Su Bai's swift punch struck Gaara squarely in the back, but the Sand Armor formed in time and barely blocked the blow.

Gaara spun around to counterattack, sending a torrent of sand shooting toward Su Bai like sharp arrows, but Su Bai easily dodged every one of them.

Su Bai moved freely through the waves of sand, sometimes launching a surprise attack from the left, sometimes striking from the right. Gaara's sand defense was powerful, but it was always half a beat too slow, unable to completely stop Su Bai's offensive.

As he was steadily forced back, a hint of panic flashed through Gaara's eyes.

He knew that if this continued, he would eventually reveal an opening.

In a moment when he nearly got hit, Gaara made a snap decision and shouted, "Sand Binding Coffin!"

In an instant, massive amounts of sand surged in from all directions, wrapping around him layer upon layer at astonishing speed.

In the blink of an eye, an almost perfect sphere of sand appeared in the center of the battlefield, tightly protecting Gaara inside.

Su Bai stopped and stared at the indestructible sand sphere before him.

Gaara's murmuring could vaguely be heard from within.

"This guy seems to be forming hand seals inside!"

Su Bai tightened his grip on his Zanpakuto, gathering blazing flames along the blade before fiercely slashing at the sand sphere.

Clang!

A metallic collision rang out, but only a shallow mark was left on the surface of the sand sphere. It was repaired in the blink of an eye by the flowing sand.

"This defense..." Su Bai muttered, frowning deeply.

He swung again, putting more force into the strike, but the result was the same.

Su Bai took several steps back and calmly assessed the situation before him.

He had just fought Neji and now had immediately gone straight into a battle with Gaara. He needed to recover his stamina, so activating Shikai for a direct assault would not be wise.

Looking around, the clamor of battle filled his ears.

Not far away, Shino's insect techniques clashed fiercely against Kankuro's puppet techniques, both sides using every ounce of their strength.

Elsewhere, Sakura nimbly dodged Temari's Wind Release attacks. Though she was at a disadvantage, she still resisted stubbornly.

Only Naruto and Sasuke stood off to the side, looking eager to make a move but unsure how to intervene.

Naruto clenched his fists, urgency flashing in his eyes. Several times, he almost rushed forward, only to force himself to stop.

He turned to Sasuke and asked quietly, "Hey, Sasuke, are we just going to watch?"

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest, his brows slightly furrowed as his sharp gaze swept across the battlefield.

He snorted softly and answered, "Don't rush in. Recklessly interfering might only make things worse."

Although he said that, his fingers twitched unconsciously, clearly restraining his own urge to join the fight.

Naruto stomped his foot unwillingly and scratched at his head. "But Su Bai looks like he's in trouble! We have to help!"

Sasuke glanced at Naruto and analyzed calmly, "That sand sphere's defense looks extremely strong. Even Su Bai can't break through it right away. We need to think of something..."

Just as the two hesitated, Su Bai's gaze suddenly turned toward them.