"..." Gaara expressionlessly pulled up his pants and folded his arms across his chest!
Temari thought as if facing a formidable enemy: Naruto Uzumaki, the Hokage's son. Sasuke Uchiha, the Uchiha clan's second young master, Itachi's younger brother. According to the intelligence gathered beforehand, neither of them was much weaker than Gaara.
We had no information at all on this one called Uzumaki Kaede, yet he had used Lightning Release, which Wind Release countered, to turn the tables against my Great Sickle Weasel and even destroy Kankuro's Crow along with it!
There was no mistake—his Lightning Release was S-rank! To have mastered an S-rank ninjutsu at roughly our age... what monstrous talent. And Naruto and Sasuke clearly treated him as their backbone, though it was hard to believe! Perhaps he was even stronger than Gaara...
At that thought, Temari was drenched in sweat, cautiously observing Gaara's restless expression from the corner of her eye.
It seemed Gaara had noticed too, right?
The monster everyone saw... had encountered an even greater monster.
If the real monster inside him awakened during their fight, then the "mission" Father had instructed them to carry out before their departure would...
Temari's thoughts raced as she considered wording Gaara might accept.
"Gaara, those two groups have joined forces. We're at a disadvantage in numbers. And the gourd sand infused with so much of your chakra was solidified by that Hidden Stone woman's Lime Solidification. We'd be at too much of a disadvantage if we fought. I suggest... retreating for now?"
"Shut up." Gaara coldly raised his palm toward the patch of cement that had long since hardened... Stars seemed to flash in his eyes!
"Crack, crack, crack!" The cement trembled and split apart. The sand sealed within erupted upward like a sandfall, gathering once more into