They were stunned.
Dumbfounded.
Completely shocked.
In the depths of their memory, the cruel, mercurial, and bloodthirstily powerful Gaara had just been severely wounded by a single kick. Others might not have known, but they were keenly aware. Gaara, as the Jinchuriki of the One-Tail, was a monster. At this stage, it should have been impossible for anyone to break through his defense.
Looking at Hatake Kusuo's outstanding appearance and temperament, somehow, it didn't seem so out of place. It was as if this bewitchingly handsome young man was simply meant to be this powerful.
"A jonin who's the same age as us?" Gulp. The sound of swallowing was heard. Temari's heart was in turmoil. An unknown feeling began to spread, which was then quickly covered by worry and tension.
Konoha... is truly a concentration camp for geniuses.
As the two of them thought this, they became even more cautious about the rest of their trip.
"That was so amazing, Kusuo! You took care of that weird kid so easily!" Naruto shouted excitedly, ignoring the fact that his own wounds were still bleeding.
Sasuke was also covered in cuts. With his Sharingan activated, he stared blankly at the scene, his hands trembling slightly. That guy... he's still so powerful! No... he's far more terrifying than before. All of Sasuke's so-called hard training during this period, his desperate attempts to catch up, had resulted in the gap not shrinking but growing. He was further and further away from even touching Kusuo's shadow.
"Hahahaha," a chilling laugh echoed from the end of the street. "I'm starting to get excited." Gaara, who had been kicked into the wall, wiped the red from the corner of his mouth. The aura around him turned sharp and cold, and sand began to flow slowly around him. A cold smile was paired with his twisted, cruel expression. It was as if he had found his favorite prey.
"Interesting."
Watching Gaara's reaction, Kusuo raised the sword in his hand and pointed it at him from afar. "Not bad strength. You can still move after taking a kick from me." As the Jinchuriki of the One-Tail, Gaara's strength was definitely not weak. It should be known that Kusuo hadn't held back on that kick at all. Faced with someone from another village so brazenly bullying his own teammate, Kusuo had no intention of showing mercy. Yet his full-power kick had only managed to break through his defense. Gaara's strength could be described as terrifying.
"Sand Coffin!" a deep voice boomed.
RUMBLE—
The vast amount of sand that had been hanging in the air no longer hesitated. It surged wildly, like a soaring dragon, and in an instant, it swept over and coiled around Kusuo's body.
"Gaara is getting serious!" Temari cried out, and Kankuro's eyelid twitched. Even if this boy's strength was outstanding, comparable to a jonin, they had witnessed the power of Gaara's sand since they were children. Once he used Sand Burial, no one had ever been able to withstand it.
This is Konoha! And his opponent is a Konoha genius! Gaara... he's about to cause a huge disaster!
"Stop it, Gaara! If you kill him, we'll definitely be in for it! We'll be held accountable by Konoha, and it might even lead to a war between our two countries!" Kankuro yelled, ignoring his fear of his younger brother and trying to stop him.
But Gaara acted as if he hadn't heard a thing. The mottled sand on his face and his savage grin indicated that he had fallen into a state of madness.
"I... will kill you!"
"Sand Burial!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of dull explosions erupted. Kusuo, who was covered by the massive sandstorm, was engulfed by countless sand explosions. The fine sand was blasted into the air by the astonishing force, even riddling the nearby walls with countless tiny holes.
"It's over." Temari's heart sank. Gaara was in a frenzy and hadn't held back at all. It was impossible for anyone to survive that.
Just as she thought, the center of the explosion was now completely empty, with only a blast crater left behind.
On the other side, Naruto and Sasuke were dumbfounded. A ninjutsu of that power... was that something someone their age could even use? The sheer force of the explosion, the aftershock alone, had almost knocked them off their feet.
So then... what happened to Kusuo, who was at the center of the blast?
"Kusuo!"
"Hatake Kusuo!"
Naruto and Sasuke cried out in alarm. Naruto's wide eyes were filled with disbelief. In his daze, orange chakra began to bubble around his body. The Nine-Tails had been activated by his intense emotional fluctuation.
Sasuke's face was a mask of horror and disbelief. This... how is this possible? The person he had always seen as his goal to surpass, second only to Itachi, the classmate whose back he was always chasing... was he just... dead? For some reason, a pang of sorrow shot through his heart, as if something was now missing.
"Hahahaha! HAHAHAHA!" Seeing that Kusuo had been completely obliterated by his Sand Burial, not even a speck of dust remaining, Gaara laughed wildly. Madness, savagery, and hysteria were written all over his face.
"There's no time! We have to get Gaara out of here!" Kankuro and Temari were burning with anxiety. They flashed forward to grab Gaara and run for their lives. It had already happened. Even if they were ten thousand times unwilling, they, as his siblings, had to take responsibility for Gaara's actions.
"No, this might even be a war between our two villages, our two countries," Temari thought as she ran, the image of Kusuo's graceful figure flashing through her mind with a hint of regret.
Sprinting at full speed, the Sand Village team made a mad dash towards the village gate. Just as they rounded a corner—
"And where do you think you're going?"
It was a clear voice, calm and composed. A figure in red stood quietly before them.
When they saw who it was, they gaped as if they had seen a ghost.
"You... you're not dead?"
"How is that possible?!"
-------
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