Before, Sasuke would inevitably have been deeply wary after witnessing how terrifying Gaara was.
But after a month of training, his strength had improved considerably. Even against the terrifying Gaara, he remained supremely confident.
The corner of Sasuke's mouth lifted, and a moment later, he too appeared in the arena.
He moved so fast that even those familiar with him could not help marveling.
Naruto exclaimed in surprise:
"When did Sasuke get so fast?!"
Ye Feng, however, spotted a clue. This Body Flicker Technique had a touch of Shisui's style.
Presumably, Sasuke had learned something more from Shisui over these last few days.
"Begin the match!"
As soon as Ye Feng finished speaking, Sasuke swung a punch at Gaara.
The result was unremarkable, however. Gaara's automatically defending sand blocked it.
But a moment later, Gaara froze, because the Sasuke before him abruptly vanished.
By the time Gaara located Sasuke, Sasuke had already appeared behind him and was swinging another punch. Even Gaara's sand could not defend in time, and the punch slammed into his face, sending him flying.
Ye Feng had deliberately refrained from copying Rock Lee's speed to Sasuke, yet unexpectedly, events still followed the original story.
Sasuke sent Gaara flying repeatedly, while Gaara, his face full of rage, used his absolute defense.
Sasuke used Chidori, injuring Gaara.
The One-Tail inside Gaara nearly went berserk as well, extending an enormous claw.
Just then, on the arena's raised platform, a ninja suddenly opened the door and said, his face filled with shock and anger:
"Lord Hokage, bad news! Large numbers of ninja from other nations have appeared on the village outskirts and are approaching Konoha."
At these words, the expressions of all four village Kage present shifted slightly.
Then Minato Namikaze slowly stood and said:
"Sigh... so you took this