Hiruzen Sarutobi stared intently at the arena from the stands.
He wanted to know just how strong Zhou Cheng was, and the One-Tail Jinchuriki was the perfect opponent to test him.
Based on the strength Zhou Cheng had shown so far, however, Hiruzen Sarutobi guessed that he was roughly on par with the One-Tail Jinchuriki.
Of course, that was with Shukaku, the One-Tail, still sealed.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi himself could not claim he could reliably suppress a tailed beast.
That made it even less likely that Zhou Cheng could defeat one.
Gaara stepped into the arena, his gaze indifferent from beginning to end.
He had blind confidence in his own strength.
He firmly believed that no one could defeat him, and he would kill anyone who dared challenge him.
He looked at Zhou Cheng across from him without the slightest expression on his face.
Why waste an expression on a dead man?
Zhou Cheng smiled and waved to his friends, acknowledging their encouragement and cheers.
He was also gauging Gaara's strength.
How much power would he need to use to force Gaara to release Shukaku willingly?
Only then would he have a legitimate reason to fight the tailed beast and seize a piece of its body in the process.
That would let him obtain the tailed beast's chakra and fulfill his dream of attaining six paths mode.
"You still have time to give up. Once the fight starts, I won't stop. You'll die!"
Even as Gaara said those words, his expression did not change in the slightest.
His indifference had reached an almost pathological level.
"Panda eyes, don't choke on all that big talk!"
"You think being the One-Tail Jinchuriki makes you invincible?"
"I told you, I'll break an arm and a leg of yours so you can taste what