Half-transformed into Shukaku, Gaara let out a shrill, deranged screech. He kicked off the tree trunk, shattering the wood so thick that two people could not have wrapped their arms around it, and shot toward Sasuke in a dark blur.
"So fast!"
Even with his two-tomoe Sharingan, Sasuke could barely make out the trajectory of Gaara's attack.
Seeing the monster's huge, fanlike hand hurtling toward him, Sasuke dodged by a hair's breadth.
Bang!
Crack...
Sasuke was lucky enough to dodge Gaara's slap, but the great tree behind him was not. Gaara's palm snapped it in half, and it crashed to the ground.
"What? What kind of strength is that?" Fear filled Sasuke's eyes as he watched the tree he had been leaning against snap.
"Hahaha... Run. Run for your life. I love playing cat and mouse."
The intact half of Gaara's face twisted into a vicious, deranged expression, like that of someone severely mentally ill.
"Run?" Sasuke instantly remembered his older brother Itachi's scorn and disdain on the Night of the Massacre.
Itachi: "Sasuke! Run! Scrape out a living in this world like a rat!"
"I won't run away again!" Sasuke's gaze turned frighteningly fierce. Chidori sprang to life in his right hand again, and he leaped forward, taking the fight straight to the half-transformed Gaara.
"Sasuke!"
"Gaara!"
Seeing Sasuke attack him head-on, Gaara spread his mouth in a broad grin, his eyes blazing with excitement. He swung his huge, Shukaku-transformed hand straight at Sasuke's Chidori.
Roaring, the two collided violently in midair. Sand scattered in a haze, and lightning crackled everywhere.
They crossed paths in the air and landed on separate trees, their backs to each other.
Gaara maintained his half-Shukaku form, one side of his huge mouth stretched into a grin.
Sasuke lowered his head. His right arm