In midair, Sasuke perfectly mimicked the movements of Rock Lee's Front Lotus.
Bandages extended from Sasuke's hands and bound Gaara. Sasuke immediately kicked him in the face, flipping him upside down, then formed hand seals in midair.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Song Technique!"
Fire dragons spewed from Sasuke's mouth, roaring as they charged down at Gaara one after another. Meanwhile, Gaara kept laughing.
"That's it, Sasuke Uchiha! Get me even more excited!"
With a thought, the airborne Gaara made the sand covering his body shatter every bandage binding him. At the same time, his partially transformed One-Tail right arm extended and wrapped around him.
Sasuke had anticipated Gaara's defensive capabilities. That was precisely why he had not used taijutsu to drive Gaara into the ground.
The fire dragons clashed with the sand sphere, and thunderous booms kept rising from the ground. Sasuke spat out five fire dragons in all. After his fire release rampage, a vast stretch of forest around them was ablaze.
"Infinite Sandstorm Breakthrough!"
As the flames continued to burn, Gaara's voice rang out from the ground, followed by a violent sandstorm sweeping in every direction.
"Sasuke Uchiha! I will never lose to you!"
The tremendous impacts and scorching flames had pushed Gaara's body close to its limit. But whenever he thought of how Sasuke, the one who had defeated him, had companions and family, the fury in his heart kept burning.
Why?!
Why could this guy be so powerful without sacrificing anything?!
As his emotions erupted, a huge cloud of smoke appeared before Sasuke. Then a terrifying monster shaped like a tanuki emerged amid the dense forest.
"I never thought you'd push me this far, but it's all over now!"
Although Sasuke had just inflicted considerable damage on Gaara, he quickly recovered, just as Naruto did, sustained