My blood—Mom, this is my blood!
Staring at the drops of blood falling onto the ground and feeling the burning pain in his nasal cavity, everything crashed against Gaara's fragile mental defenses.
Seeing Gaara completely descend into madness, Naruto stared blankly at his own fist. He didn't remember having such terrifying strength.
Nearby, Kankurō, who was sprawled on the ground, suddenly shrank his pupils. He swallowed hard, his eyes filled with terror.
"It's over… it's over… that monster is coming out!"
Just as Shin and Kimimaro looked at Kankurō's pale expression, faint cracking sounds rang out without pause. Hearing this, everyone present froze and turned toward Gaara's direction.
The solid ceramic shell that had tightly sealed Gaara inside was now trembling and breaking apart.
At last, the shell reached its limit and shattered completely into fragments scattered across the ground. Gaara was finally freed from his restraints.
Roar!
An ear-splitting roar echoed out, instantly drawing everyone's attention. As they looked at Gaara's drastically changed appearance, everyone instinctively covered their mouths in shock.
At this moment, the left half of Gaara's body had completely transformed into the One-Tail. The left side of his face looked exactly like Shukaku's, and the sand from the gourd on his back automatically gathered around his left arm, forming an enormous yellow-brown claw.
Because the claw was so massive, Gaara's entire body was forced into a hunched posture. With his head tilted back at an unnatural angle, he stared at Naruto and Sasuke, growling hoarsely:
"Kill... I'll kill you!"
Seeing Gaara like this, not only Naruto and Sasuke, but even Kimimaro and the others quietly swallowed. This was the first time they had felt such terrifying chakra fluctuations from someone their own age.
This red-haired boy clearly possessed an extremely frightening trump card.
Kankurō stared at Gaara's current form, muttering over and over:
"It's over… it's over…"
"Shut up!"
At this critical moment, it was Temari—who usually appeared gentle and soft-spoken—who calmed down first. Her father's and Baki's warnings echoed repeatedly in her ears.
Gaara was the key trump card in this plan. He absolutely could not be exposed at a time like this!
With that thought, Temari first snapped at Kankurō, then cautiously spoke:
"Gaara, calm down. Think about Father's instructions!"
"Grr…"
Hearing this, Gaara—who had been endlessly growling about killing—finally showed some reaction. In the eye of the half of his face that still looked human, a trace of hesitation and fear flickered.
Seeing this, Temari hurried to press the advantage:
"Father has placed great expectations on you this time. If you lose control now… you know what the consequences will be!"
Hearing those words, Gaara clutched his head with his right hand as pain wracked him. His reason told him that he couldn't go on like this, but the sharp, manic roaring in his mind continued to tear at what little sanity he had left.
...
Watching from the treetops, Hoshiyomi couldn't help rubbing his forehead. Things had developed further than he expected. It seemed that even in this life, despite his presence, Rasa still hadn't properly handled Gaara's relationship with the One-Tail.
He had gone berserk far too easily… this couldn't be allowed to continue.
Whether the Chūnin Exams proceeded or not was secondary. Hoshiyomi was mainly worried that Shukaku's sudden outburst at this moment would disrupt both sides' plans.
After all, he still wanted to take this opportunity to see what Black Zetsu was scheming.
With that thought, Hoshiyomi activated his Transparent Escape Technique and silently appeared behind Gaara. Casually placing a hand on Gaara's head, Hoshiyomi released a trace of killing intent and whispered into his ear:
"Shut up. If you keep making trouble, I'll cut you down!"
Hearing this, Shukaku inside Gaara's mind suddenly shuddered for no apparent reason.
He had sharply sensed that trace of killing intent just now. The moment he felt it, Shukaku clearly understood the reality of the situation—if he kept causing trouble, something truly disastrous would happen.
The owner of that killing intent would absolutely make him pay dearly.
Although Shukaku was wild and arrogant, he still possessed a basic level of rationality. So, quite shamefully, he chose to shut his mouth.
As soon as Shukaku quieted down, Gaara immediately regained a brief moment of clarity. After freezing for a second, he shifted his gaze away from Sasuke and Naruto, then stomped heavily on the ground and suddenly charged toward Shin and Kimimaro.
Before entering the exam, Hoshiyomi had warned Kimimaro's group not to cause too much of a commotion. After hesitating for a moment, they suppressed their fighting spirit and chose to evade instead.
Seeing this, Gaara did not pursue them. With one hand he grabbed Kankurō, and with the other he pulled Temari close. In just two leaps, the three of them disappeared into the forest.
Only Naruto and the others were left behind, staring at the direction they vanished into, exchanging bewildered looks.
"What… what was that thing just now?"
Sakura swallowed hard and asked with difficulty.
Kimimaro's group lightly shook their heads.
"Why worry about that? A win is a win."
"Besides, you guys really got lucky—they left their scrolls behind."
As he spoke, Shin casually tossed the several scrolls in his hand.
"Our team has already collected everything we need. The scrolls they left are useless to us, so we'll leave them to you as a reward for standing up to that guy just now."
...
The second stage of the Chūnin Exams lasted five days, and the first team to reach the tower was, naturally, Kimimaro's group.
After the encounter with Gaara, Naruto and Sasuke had more or less reconciled. As for whether any lingering resentment would remain, that would depend on whether Kakashi could properly handle their relationship.
With their goals achieved, the six of them had no interest in continuing a game of cat-and-mouse with the other genin. As soon as the five days were up, they headed straight for the central tower.
The next team to arrive was Team Three, led by Neji.
This was hardly surprising. Excluding Kimimaro's group, Neji was the strongest in the Forest of Death. In Hoshiyomi's estimation, the current Neji wouldn't even be at a disadvantage against Gaara as he was now.
With Neji leading, and with Tenten and Lee both being above average themselves, it was no surprise they became the second team to reach the tower.
After them came Gaara's trio. Upon arriving, Gaara clearly noticed Naruto and Sasuke, but unexpectedly, he showed no hint of killing intent toward them.
That was because his attention wasn't on them at all. Instead, he was still thinking about the voice that had suddenly spoken at his ear—about who its owner could be.
Although he couldn't fully control Shukaku, the two of them were ultimately a symbiotic existence. What the One-Tail saw and sensed, he could feel clearly as well.
He could feel Shukaku's fear toward that voice, and that fear had spread into his own heart, filling him with deep dread.
Just who... was the owner of that voice?