Gaara's Tailed Beast Transformation!

Watching his opponent raise that sturdy Sand Shield, Chen Feng arched a brow slightly. "Hiding inside a turtle shell, huh? You think that means I can't do anything to you?"

Then he slowly lowered his body and suddenly slapped the ground before him, shouting softly, "Kun Character, Earth River Chariot!"

As his words fell, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble violently. Jagged cracks were torn open one after another, sending earth and stone flying.

In an instant, massive boulders burst from the ground, colliding and joining together into a colossal whole dozens of meters long.

It looked both like an unstoppable giant war chariot and a terrifying rock python roaring mercilessly.

With a movement of Chen Feng's sword fingers, it slammed fiercely toward the sturdy Sand Shield ahead!

With a thunderous boom, smoke and dust filled the arena as the two collided in the most violent and direct manner possible.

Struck by the blow, the Sand Shield, like a giant eggshell, was instantly covered in cracks. The next moment, it shattered outright.

Gaara, trapped within it, cried out in pain before his entire body was hurled away by the massive rock, smashing heavily into the wall at the edge of the arena and leaving a huge dent in the stone.

A pile of rubble buried his body, and bright red blood dripped onto the shattered stones. This strike had clearly dealt him considerable damage.

Seeing this, Temari and Kankuro were shocked and deeply worried. They had never expected Gaara, with his strength, to be injured so badly.

The others were stunned as well. Such an intense battle had long surpassed the limits of genin; even most chunin could not reach this level.

That Earth Release Ninjutsu from earlier, in terms of power alone, was at least A-rank...

Even the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, revealed unconcealed surprise in his eyes. What concerned him was not merely the technique's power, but the fact that every technique Chen Feng had used required no hand seals.

Whether it was the lifelike genjutsu at the beginning, Tornado Storm, or the current Earth Release, he had not formed a single hand seal while casting them. At most, he had merely raised his sword fingers.

This reminded him of the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, whose might had once overwhelmed an entire era.

That man had also required no hand seals for most ninjutsu. With nothing more than a clap of his hands, he could summon whatever he desired.

As the famed Professor of Ninjutsu, Sarutobi Hiruzen's research into techniques naturally far exceeded that of ordinary people. He knew well that, in theory, hand seals were not strictly necessary to perform ninjutsu.

So-called hand seals merely helped a caster guide the flow of chakra.

In other words, if someone possessed sufficiently vast chakra and could control it perfectly, they could even cast a technique with a single thought.

Of course, that was only an ideal state. Probably no one in the entire Shinobi World could achieve it.

Even if it were truly possible, it was certainly not something a youth like Chen Feng could accomplish.

That left only one explanation: the inheritance Chen Feng had received was vastly different from that of the current ninja world.

This inheritance had made up for the shortcomings of ninjutsu, allowing its user to cast techniques instantly without hand seals!

At that thought, his eyes could not help but burn with excitement. If his guess was correct, the entire Shinobi World might undergo a transformation.

He had already made up his mind. Once the Chunin Exams were completely over, he would have a proper talk with Chen Feng and do everything possible to obtain that inheritance...

At this moment, Gaara was still buried beneath the rubble.

His head was bleeding, several bones in his body had been broken, and his pale face was filled with a sickly mixture of fear and madness.

"Blood... my blood... it hurts!"

The madness in his eyes grew even stronger, followed by a brutal, berserk aura that gradually spread outward.

With an enraged roar, his body began to tremble violently. His right arm continuously turned to sand and deformed, becoming increasingly twisted and thick.

His yellowed, sand-like arm swelled without end. Amid his painful struggle, half his face and his entire arm transformed into the form of a savage beast.

At the same time, an immense and tyrannical power erupted from him, directly overturning the heavy rocks pressing down on his body.

With a fierce push of his legs, he leaped out from the rubble.

Gaara, having broken free of his restraints, hunched slightly as a beastlike, violent aura radiated from his entire body. The madness in his eyes had completely taken over.

The spectators' hearts jolted at the sight, and they exclaimed in shock, "That's... a Tailed Beast!"

That was right. Gaara had already begun his Tailed Beast Transformation, becoming half man and half beast. This state could be called a partial Tailed Beast Transformation, or a Jinchuriki state.

While he would lose most of his sanity in this state, his strength was also greatly enhanced.

As the Tailed Beast's power continued to be released, he had truly stepped into the jonin level. He might even be stronger than Xiao Li with the Fifth Gate opened.

Most importantly, if left unchecked, the longer this continued, the more he would be affected by the Tailed Beast, and the more his power would grow.

Therefore, Chen Feng had to find a way to deal with him.

Just as he was considering this, Gaara attacked. His body turned into an afterimage as he shot forward, his Tailed Beast-transformed right arm smashing down viciously.

Facing such an attack, Chen Feng could only evade while observing his opponent's movement trajectory.

After seeing Gaara's transformation, Sarutobi Hiruzen also recognized it as Tailed Beast Transformation, yet he did not immediately intervene.

He still wanted to see how this Dao School youth would respond when faced with such a powerful Jinchuriki.

At this moment, Chen Feng dodged Gaara's ferocious attack once again. Unable to vent his fury, Gaara's gaze grew even more crazed.

He then controlled a large amount of quicksand to surround Chen Feng from all sides, sealing off his escape routes. Immediately afterward, he leaped high into the air, gathered the energy within his body, and smashed down fiercely.

At that moment, Chen Feng used the Qimen technique once more.

"Dui Character, Metal Sundering!"

As the technique activated, an invisible ripple spread outward. Gaara's speed was greatly suppressed, and his entire body seemed to hang motionless in midair.

Then Chen Feng moved his sword fingers. "Xun Character, Sandalwood Merit!"

In an instant, thick, incredibly resilient vines and roots burst from beneath the ground, shooting toward Gaara in the air with lightning speed.

In the blink of an eye, they tightly wrapped around his body, leaving him unable to move...