Naruto Uzumaki VS Gaara 2

On the arena platform.

Gaara looked at the yellow sand scattered across the ground, and for the first time, an astonished expression appeared on his face. But it was quickly replaced by even deeper brutality.

"Interesting." He licked his cracked lips, his hoarse voice carrying a sickening excitement. "Looks like this toy of yours is a little more durable than I imagined."

"Sand Burial!"

Countless grains of sand burst from the ground like venomous snakes, instantly wrapping around Naruto's limbs in an attempt to trap him completely.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as Kagura Mind's Eye activated instantly.

The sand's movement speed... Chakra is distributed along the surface... The core is three meters beneath Gaara's feet... Wind counters earth. A wide-area Wind Release attack is the most effective way to blow it apart.

The thought flashed through his mind. Naruto took a deep breath and rapidly formed hand seals.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

A violent gale erupted from Naruto's mouth. Like a typhoon sweeping through, it instantly engulfed the entire arena. The sand winding toward Naruto was swept into the sky by the raging wind and scattered without a trace.

The gale did not stop. Even the sand shield surrounding Gaara began to shake violently.

"Useless! My sand is the absolute defense!" Gaara roared, forming seals once more. "Sand Shuriken!"

Countless grains of sand condensed into sharp shuriken and shot toward Naruto like a torrential downpour.

Naruto pushed off the ground, retreating like a phantom. At the same time, he flicked his left hand, sending three Fūma Shuriken flying.

"Fūma Shuriken: Shadow Windmill!"

The three shuriken suddenly split apart in midair, becoming nine as they shot at Gaara from nine different angles.

Gaara snorted coldly, and sand instantly formed a thick wall before him.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Fūma Shuriken struck the sand wall and were all deflected away.

"Is that all you've got?" Gaara mocked.

But the moment his words fell, he suddenly felt a bone-chilling chill from behind him.

Not good! It's a feint!

Gaara spun around sharply, only to see that Naruto had somehow circled behind him. A ball of spinning azure chakra had gathered in Naruto's right hand.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"

An incomparably condensed wind blade shot toward Gaara's back like a laser. Naruto had deliberately targeted the blind spot where Gaara's sand shield was weakest, the place least covered by Shukaku's chakra.

Gaara's pupils constricted. Without time to think, he forcefully summoned sand to protect his back.

Splat!

The wind blade pierced through three layers of sand shields and carved a bone-deep wound across Gaara's back.

Red blood immediately spilled out.

The entire audience erupted once more.

"He hit him! Naruto hit Gaara!"

"Oh my god! Gaara was actually injured! This is the first time anyone has hurt him in the Chunin Ninja Exams!"

"That was awesome! This is what a real clash between experts looks like!"

Temari's face instantly turned pale, while Kankuro abruptly rose to his feet, his palms covered in cold sweat.

Gaara slowly turned around and touched the wound on his back. Looking at the dark red blood on his fingertips, his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Not because of pain.

But because of rage.

Utter, absolute rage.

Ever since he was young, everyone had feared and hated him. No one had ever dared to hurt him. Anyone who dared attack him had already become minced flesh in the sand.

But now, this blond brat had actually dared to cut him!

"You... actually dared... hurt me..."

Gaara's voice became hoarse and twisted. The "love" on his forehead began to turn red, and his eyes filled with bloodshot veins.

Naruto crossed his arms and stood not far away, his tone calm but every word piercing. "So what if I hurt you? Who do you think you are? You're nothing more than a pitiful wretch possessed by the One-Tail."

"No one loves you. No one cares about you. So you rely on killing people to prove you exist. You think you're terrifying? You're really just a coward, a weakling too afraid to face reality."

"What did you say?!" Gaara abruptly raised his head. His eyes had already turned into complete beast eyes.

"Was I wrong?" Naruto walked toward him step by step, his gaze icy. "Your mother died protecting you, yet you treat her chakra as a tool for murder. The people around you fear you not because you're strong, but because you're insane."

"Your very existence is a tragedy."

"Aaaaaaah!"

Gaara let out a heart-rending howl as chakra erupted from his body like a volcano.

Black markings instantly crawled across his body. Yellow sand surged toward him madly, wrapping around him. His body rapidly expanded, a furry tail grew from his back, and tanuki markings appeared on his face.

A suffocatingly terrifying pressure instantly swept across the entire arena.

The temperature plummeted, and even the air seemed to freeze.

The spectators in the stands instantly fell silent. Everyone's faces turned pale as they trembled all over, finding it difficult even to breathe.

"Th-That is...?"

"S-So much terrifying chakra..."

"This isn't power a human could possibly possess!"

Several Konoha Jonin suddenly stood up, their expressions grim to the extreme.

"Holy shit! He's transforming into a Tailed Beast! That kid is actually a Jinchuriki!"

"It's the One-Tail Shukaku! The Hidden Sand Village actually sent the One-Tail's Jinchuriki to the Chunin Ninja Exams!"

"Quick! Get ready to intervene! We can't let him lose control here!"

Kakashi and Might Guy leaped from the stands at the same time, blocking the front of the spectator seats. Kakashi's Sharingan stared fixedly at the transforming Gaara as he said in a low voice, "Guy, protect the spectators. I'm going to help Naruto."

"Wait!" Might Guy grabbed him. "Look at Naruto!"

Kakashi looked in the direction Might Guy pointed and saw Naruto standing there without the slightest trace of panic. He even picked at his ear as he watched Gaara undergo Tailed Beast transformation, a teasing smile curling across his lips.

Deep within his consciousness, the Nine-Tails bounced around excitedly, its nine tails whipping wildly. "It's here, it's here! Finally! Brat! Hurry up and beat it up! Beat the shit out of it! Let it know who's the boss of the Tailed Beasts!"

Naruto silently rolled his eyes inwardly. Yeah, yeah, I got it. You're too damn loud.

In the arena, Gaara's Tailed Beast transformation was already halfway complete. He had become a more than thirty-meter-tall half-human, half-tanuki monster, his entire body covered in yellow sand. A massive tail swung behind him, producing dull, heavy thuds.

He lowered his head, staring at Naruto with those beast eyes completely devoid of reason, before releasing an earth-shaking roar.

"Roar—!"

Yellow sand filled the sky, and the entire arena shook violently.

In the shadows, Danzo watched the scene in the arena, a trace of wild delight flashing through his one eye.

"Good! Excellent! He's transforming into a Tailed Beast!" he laughed madly in his heart. Fight! Fight to your hearts' content! It would be best if both of you were wounded and perished together! Then the Nine-Tails and the One-Tail will both be mine!

Temari and Kankuro collapsed into their seats, their faces filled with despair. They knew that once Gaara transformed into a Tailed Beast, no one would be able to control him anymore.

The entire arena had fallen into unprecedented panic.

Only Naruto remained where he was, calm and unruffled.

He slowly drew the Nine-Life Demon Tail Blade from his back, and azure wind-natured chakra once again wrapped around its blade.

Looking at the half-transformed Gaara roaring before him, Naruto's smile grew wider and wider.

"The One-Tail Shukaku, huh?"

"Perfect. I've been wanting to see whether a Tailed Beast's bones are hard enough."