—Flowing Sand Waterfall!
Suspended in mid-air atop a platform formed entirely of sand, Gaara raised his hand.
The desert beneath his feet responded instantly.
An overwhelming sea of sand surged upward, rolling forward like a tidal wave, crashing toward Code.
Against that colossal wall of quicksand, Code's figure looked incomparably small—like an ant standing before a giant.
Under the blazing sun, his body was reduced to nothing more than a black shadow swallowed by the sandstorm.
This technique originally reshaped terrain from nothing. But here, in the desert—Gaara's absolute domain—it only required mobilizing what already existed to unleash power far beyond its normal limits.
Code narrowed his eyes, yet did not retreat.
Instead, he accelerated straight toward the sand waterfall.
His claws crossed sharply, and with explosive force, he plunged both hands into the torrent.
Boom—
Code tore the sand wall apart with his bare hands, ripping open a massive gap and forcing his way through.
Gaara's expression remained calm.
He raised his hand again, stirring a stream of sand that condensed into a massive fist and slammed down toward Code.
The power of the white Kāma continued to surge. As the battle dragged on, Code could clearly feel the limiter suppressing him weakening further.
With a single punch, he shattered the sand fist.
Then he leapt upward, charging directly toward Gaara.
Cold light flashed as his claws pierced through the air, aimed straight at Gaara's neck.
A sand shield rose instantly.
Code paused for only a fraction of a second before tearing through it again, reaching out to seize Gaara's throat.
Gaara hadn't expected his mother's absolute defense to be breached so easily.
In that instant, a thick layer of sand armor wrapped around his body.
Clang—!!
The sensation sent a shock through Code.
Something was wrong.
That didn't feel like flesh at all.
"Sand Coffin!"
The gourd at Gaara's waist burst open, pouring out vast amounts of sand that flowed like liquid, wrapping tightly around Code's body.
"Sand Burial!"
Bang—!!
Gaara felt the pressure around his neck loosen. He exhaled softly and forced himself free.
But—
The sand peeled away.
Code stood there unharmed.
In the next instant, his claws slashed downward.
Five fingers, like five blades, erupted with terrifying force at close range, tearing through Gaara's defenses and blasting him away.
Code landed and immediately chased after him.
"Shukaku's Shield!"
Gaara was driven close to the ground, but he connected to the desert with sand, anchoring himself and stopping his momentum.
Facing Code's relentless advance, he summoned a massive shield of sand. The outline of Shukaku formed clearly in front of him.
For a brief moment, Code thought Shukaku had come to interfere.
Did Kashin Koji really lose already?
Boom—!!
Code smashed straight through the shield.
Behind it, Gaara was already extracting high-hardness minerals from deep underground.
After the exchange, he understood clearly—
Surface sand was useless against this opponent.
Gaara retreated at an extremely low altitude.
A spear shaped like Shukaku's arm formed instantly in his hand.
High-density minerals mixed with sand under immense pressure, chakra flooding in to increase its density.
—Shukaku's Spear!
The moment Code broke through the shield, the spear shot forward, aimed directly at his face.
Gaara had already noticed the abnormality of Code's body.
His opponent barely used ninjutsu. His fighting style was frighteningly simple—and frighteningly effective.
Whoosh—!!
At the critical moment, Code activated his claw mark.
His body vanished.
He reappeared at his previous position.
Gaara frowned slightly.
A spatial technique… similar to Flying Thunder God?
Without giving Code time to regroup, Gaara silently infused chakra into the surrounding desert.
The ground became a hidden trap.
In the next instant, Code appeared again, charging forward violently, each step leaving deep craters in the sand.
"Desert Layered Burial Seal!"
Gaara spread his arms, then clenched them sharply.
The ground collapsed.
A massive pit opened beneath Code.
Lacking footing, Code slid forward with inertia, but he was still far from Gaara.
Then—
The dunes on both sides bulged.
Two massive pyramids formed, mirroring each other, closing in.
Code instantly realized this was a sealing technique similar to Shukaku's.
If this continued, Kashin Koji might truly be finished.
After a brief hesitation, Code spread his arms, pressing his claws against the converging pyramids.
White Kāma surged.
With brute force, he stopped them.
Crack—!!
The pyramids shattered, collapsing into quicksand.
Using the recoil, Code propelled himself forward, instantly closing the distance.
The burst of power was overwhelming.
Gaara's sand armor didn't even slow him.
Too fast—!
Without hesitation, Code pierced straight through Gaara's body.
A hole appeared in Gaara's chest.
Code's figure passed through it cleanly.
He didn't look back.
A real man never looks back at an explosion.
Confident the battle was over, Code turned to rush back toward Shukaku.
But—
A Tailed Beast Ball roared toward him.
Code was forced to teleport back.
Two claw marks glowed.
One at Shukaku's shattered shield.
One at the place where he had first evaded the burial seal.
The remains of Shukaku's shield still stood, a spear embedded in its back—an attack Code had dodged earlier.
Now, he had returned.
Shukaku arrived moments later.
Code narrowed his eyes.
If Shukaku was here, that meant—
Kashin Koji is dead.
Just as Code prepared to move again, something seized his ankle.
Crack.
He looked down in disbelief.
A hand, formed of sand and mud, had grabbed him.
Then Gaara's face emerged from the ground.
"We've been waiting for this."
Code's pupils shrank.
So everything—from the moment his vision was blocked—had been calculated?
Damn clones…
"Burial in the Sands of Hell!"
The desert swallowed Code.
He was dragged straight down.
Five hundred meters.
Gaara slowly emerged from the ground, sand flowing effortlessly around him.
As Kazekage, the desert favored him absolutely. In this environment, his combat power was pushed to its limit.
Even so, his chakra was nearly exhausted.
Sand clones required no hand seals—but timing them with real attacks still demanded precision.
This entire battle had been coordinated through clones and hidden sand manipulation.
"It's over," Gaara said quietly. "Compared to the deep sea, the pressure underground is far more terrifying."
"Just to be safe… I'll keep you at five hundred meters."
He stared at the ground, brows tightly knit.
Code possessed a space–time technique.
If he insisted on escaping, there was no absolute way to stop him.
But within Gaara's perception—
Code was buried.
Five hundred meters underground.
And for now, his teleportation was sealed.
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A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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