Suddenly, a blade of sand shot toward Rock Lee.
"Gaara, what are you doing?!"
Gekko Hayate, the referee, finally had a chance to act. With a Body Flicker Technique, he appeared between Rock Lee and Gaara and easily shattered the surging blade of sand.
Then he frowned at the expressionless Gaara.
Was that a sneak attack?
Naruto also looked at Gaara, but that sand hadn't been particularly fast—not even half as fast as when Gaara had attacked Akechi Ichi during their fight.
Rather than a sneak attack, it felt more like something he had unleashed offhandedly.
"Naruto, pay attention to his chakra. Can you feel it?"
The Nine-Tails' voice rang out inside Naruto.
Yeah. It's faint, but I can feel chakra that isn't his own. Is that Shukaku's chakra?
"What is that stinking tanuki up to?"
Do you need me to test him out?
"No need. If he doesn't want to see me, I'm certainly not going to chase after him! Let's see what he's trying to do!"
With that, the Nine-Tails fell silent.
Naruto, who had been about to act, froze in surprise. It had been a long time since he'd seen Kurama being this petty.
"He deserves to die..."
Gaara's face remained expressionless, but something was off about his tone. "He hurt my family..."
"Gaara! You..."
By then, Baki had reached Gaara's side and hurriedly grabbed him to pull him back.
"Shut up, or I'll kill you too!"
The instant Baki's hand touched him, Gaara's previously unchanging expression twisted into a snarl, and he turned a murderous stare on Baki.
His killing intent was countless times stronger than what he had directed at Rock Lee!
Even the others, who lacked Naruto's ability to sense killing intent, could see it. That only made them more confused—
*Who exactly hurt