Chapter 316: Sasuke vs Gaara
A terrifying shockwave ripped across the expanse of the training ground, kicking up a blinding storm of debris.
"Cough, cough!"
Naruto struggled to his hands and knees, his lungs burning as he choked on the thick dust. He had been completely unprepared for Sasuke's sudden, unhinged rampage. The sheer malice behind the unexpected strike left him scrambling for balance, his mind racing to catch up with the reality of the betrayal.
"Sasuke! You bastard... why are you doing this?!"
The swirling dust slowly began to settle, revealing Sasuke's silhouette. His dark eyes were wide, brimming with an ugly, undisguised jealousy that twisted his handsome features into a mask of cruel pleasure.
He raised his hands, fingers curling to form another hand sign, fully intending to crush Naruto into the dirt and prove, once and for all, his absolute superiority.
But before the chakra could mold, a low, calm voice cut through the tension. Gaara had materialized in front of Naruto. He stood perfectly still, the cork already removed from the massive gourd on his back. A steady stream of pale yellow sand gushed outward, swirling around his feet like a living entity.
"This guy, leave him to me. You guys, go complete the assessment."
Naruto blinked, his blue eyes widening in shock. He quickly scrambled forward. "Gaara! No! This is our assessment, and Sasuke, he..."
"Naruto."
Gaara's voice was quiet, yet it carried an absolute authority that sliced right through Naruto's protests.
"He is after you."
"You are a partner I acknowledge."
"So, leave him to me."
Sasuke stared intensely at the redhead, the manic edge on his face sharpening into something far more dangerous. His lips curled into a vicious sneer.
"You? A stray dog from Sunagakure, dare to speak so arrogantly in front of me?"
The Uchiha's disdain bled into every syllable.
"I almost forgot. Your precious Hidden Sand Village has already been flattened by Hokage-sama."
"You are nothing but a captive being escorted to Konoha, barely clinging to life!"
"A good-for-nothing who does not even have a home, what right do you have to tell me what to do?!"
A few paces away, Temari's face drained of color. Her grip on her iron fan tightened until her knuckles turned white, and she instinctively stepped forward, her eyes blazing with fury. Without looking back, Gaara raised a single hand. The gesture stopped her dead in her tracks.
Gaara's face remained a mask of absolute indifference. His pale green eyes locked onto Sasuke.
"Are you done?"
Sasuke barked a harsh, mocking laugh. "What? Did I hit a nerve?"
"You are right."
Gaara dipped his chin in a slight nod, his voice devoid of any tremor.
"The Hidden Sand Village is indeed gone."
"But so what?"
"At least, I am not like you, actively courting death."
The sand around Gaara's feet began to hiss, rising into the air like agitated vipers.
"Daring to attack Naruto."
The temperature in the clearing seemed to plummet. Gaara's expression turned incredibly cold.
"You are asking for death."
The moment the final word left his lips, the yellow sand shot into the sky. It rapidly condensed, expanding into a monstrous, towering giant claw that cast a dark shadow over the Uchiha before slamming down with crushing force.
"Overestimating yourself!"
Sasuke roared. The crimson irises of his Sharingan spun wildly, the tomoe tracking the exact trajectory and density of the descending sand.
"Chidori!"
A piercing, high-pitched shriek tore through the air, sounding like a thousand birds taking flight. Blue-white lightning erupted from Sasuke's right hand, illuminating his crazed expression. He thrust his arm upward, driving the concentrated blade of lightning directly into the descending giant sand claw.
The collision of violent lightning and dense sand unleashed a deafening roar that dwarfed the previous explosion. Wild, untamed chakra lashed out in all directions, ripping deep, jagged furrows into the earth and sending chunks of rock flying like shrapnel.
"Continue the assessment!"
The instant Gaara and Sasuke engaged in their devastating clash, Naruto spun around. He locked eyes with the Jonin examiner, who was still standing a short distance away, his posture rigid with shock at the sudden internal conflict.
Iruka, watching from the sidelines, finally snapped out of his daze. He waved his arms frantically. "Naruto! The situation is special now, the assessment..."
"No!" Naruto cut him off, his voice ringing out with absolute finality. His blue eyes burned with a fierce, unwavering resolve.
"Iruka-sensei! Real battles always involve unexpected situations!"
"If we cannot even handle a sudden change on the battlefield, then what kind of Ninja are we?!"
He turned his burning gaze back to the Jonin examiner, pointing a finger directly at the older ninja.
"Examiner-sama! Please continue! This is our chance to prove ourselves!"
The Jonin stared at the blonde genin. The initial surprise in his dark eyes slowly melted away, replaced by a gleaming spark of genuine admiration.
'An interesting brat,'the Jonin thought, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.'As expected of Hokage-sama's disciple!'
He chuckled low in his throat, shifting his weight and dropping back into a low, ready battle stance.
"Alright! Since you have this resolve, then I will show you my true skills and play with you!"
"Come on!" Naruto commanded.
Temari and Hinata instantly understood the shift in tactics. They moved in perfect synchronization.
"Wind Release: Wind Scythe Jutsu!"
Temari swung her massive iron fan with brutal force. A howling gale erupted from the steel ribs, whipping the loose dirt and debris into a frenzied storm. The violent gusts instantly formed a towering tornado that swept across the field, effectively boxing the Jonin in and severely blinding his line of sight.
"Now! Hinata!"
"Byakugan!"
Hinata's hands formed the seal, and the veins around her pale eyes bulged sharply. Her vision instantly pierced through the chaotic veil of swirling wind and sand, the black-and-white world revealing the bright blue chakra network of their target. She locked onto the Jonin's exact coordinates.
"Gentle Fist!"
She darted forward, her movements as fluid and graceful as a dancing butterfly. Light blue chakra coated her fingertips as she thrust her hands forward, aiming a flurry of precise strikes directly at the Jonin's vital chakra points.
"Naive!"
The Jonin snorted coldly. Just as the deadly fingertips were about to connect, his body suddenly sank, his knees bending at an impossible angle to slip right beneath Hinata's guard.
"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"
His hands blurred through a rapid sequence of seals, and he melted smoothly into the solid earth beneath him, vanishing from sight.
"Watch your feet!" Hinata shouted, her Byakugan tracking the chakra signature moving rapidly below the surface.
But her warning came a fraction of a second too late.
The ground beneath Temari erupted. A dirt-caked hand shot out, clamping like an iron vice around the kunoichi's ankle.
"Got him!" The Jonin's muffled voice echoed from the dirt, dripping with triumph.
However, the very next second, the Temari he had firmly in his grasp vanished with a sharp 'poof', leaving behind nothing but a thick cloud of white smoke.
A Shadow Clone?
Not good.
The Jonin cursed inwardly. He immediately tried to push himself up from the underground trap, but as his head breached the surface, a shadow fell over him. A Shadow Clone of Naruto was already descending from high above, a rapidly spinning sphere of condensed blue chakra howling in his palm.
"Rasengan!"
"This move again?"
The Jonin sneered, his hands flashing in a desperate blur as he activated the Substitution Technique.
The Rasengan slammed into the earth with devastating force, completely obliterating the wooden log that had taken the Jonin's place without suspense. Splinters rained down over the crater.
The Jonin's real body materialized on the thick branch of a large tree a dozen yards away. He looked down at the genin squad, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Brat, the same trick will not work twice on a Jonin."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a sharp whistling sound tore through the air. Another Shadow Clone of Naruto had flanked him from the side, hurling a massive Fuma Shuriken directly at his head.
The giant blades spun furiously, slicing through the wind.
"Child's play!"
The Jonin snorted dismissively. He pushed off the branch with a light, effortless leap, easily clearing the deadly trajectory of the spinning weapon.
And just then, the impossible happened.
Mid-flight, the giant Fuma Shuriken erupted in a cloud of white smoke with a loud 'poof'. The smoke cleared in an instant, revealing a person suspended in the air.
It was Naruto's real body.
At some point during the chaotic exchange, he had used the Transformation Jutsu to disguise himself as the weapon, completely bypassing the Jonin's defenses and confusing his senses.
"What?!"
The Jonin's pupils constricted to pinpricks.
Suspended in mid-air, with absolutely nowhere to gain purchase or alter his momentum, he could only watch in horror as Naruto's face split into a wide, triumphant grin. The blonde boy's right hand flared to life once more, illuminating the canopy with a brilliant, blinding blue light.
At the exact same moment, two more of Naruto's Shadow Clones launched themselves from the adjacent branches, closing the net. Each clone held a howling Rasengan in their hands, sealing off any avenue of escape.
"It is over!"
"Rasengan!"
The deadly sphere of grinding blue chakra slammed squarely into the Jonin's chest.
The violent rotational force instantly erupted upon impact, tearing through the Jonin's flak jacket. The older ninja let out a choked, muffled groan as the sheer kinetic energy blasted him out of the sky. He plummeted like a fired cannonball, crashing into the earth with a sickening thud. The impact kicked up a massive cloud of dust, leaving behind a deep, human-shaped crater. The Jonin lay at the center, completely motionless, having lost all ability to fight.
Near the edge of the training ground, Iruka's jaw hung slack. He stared blankly at the smoking crater, unable to utter a single word for a long time.
It was just... over?
On the other side of the training ground, the battle between Gaara and Sasuke had escalated into an apocalyptic struggle.
"Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral!"
Gaara slammed both of his palms flat against the trembling earth. The entire surface of the training ground groaned, the solid ground rapidly breaking down and transforming into a surging, violent sea of sand. Massive dunes rose and fell like ocean waves, rushing madly toward Sasuke in a relentless tide meant to crush him into paste.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
Sasuke inhaled deeply, his chest expanding before he spewed forth a torrent of blistering flames. Several giant fire dragons roared as they shot from his mouth, their immense heat distorting the air. The fiery beasts plunged headfirst into the encroaching sea of sand. The sheer temperature of the flames instantly superheated the yellow sand, melting large swaths of the incoming waves into jagged, smoking sheets of charred glass.
Sand and fire, two completely opposing and destructive forces, clashed violently, turning the arena into a hellish landscape of shattered glass and scorching heat.
"Is that all you have got? Stray dog!"
Sasuke barked, his voice dripping with manic arrogance. He moved like a blur, his Sharingan tracking every grain of sand as he leaped and twisted, dodging the deadly sand tentacles that lashed out at him from all directions. He continued to frantically provoke the redhead, his ego demanding total submission.
"You are not even fit to scratch my itch!"
"Sand Coffin!"
Gaara's pale eyes turned as cold as the grave. Without a single hand sign, a dense stream of sand materialized directly behind Sasuke, as if bypassing the physical space between them entirely. Before the Uchiha could register the threat, the sand lashed out like a whip, instantly wrapping tight around his left leg.
"Got you!"
Sasuke's eyes widened in sudden panic as his forward momentum was violently halted. More yellow sand swarmed up his trapped limb, moving with terrifying speed. Within a fraction of a second, the heavy, suffocating grains enveloped Sasuke completely, sealing him inside a massive, inescapable sphere of floating sand.
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