Uchiha Sasuke had no intention of killing Gaara. For one thing, Sunagakure had not exposed its ambitions yet. If he really killed Gaara now, it would definitely become a massive diplomatic incident.
When that happened, Sasuke would be the one left paying for it.
For another, Gaara seemed to be an ally in the future. When Otsutsuki Momoshiki attacked, the Five Kage fought him together.
Although Sasuke had a hard time imagining the future turning out that way, reality was reality.
Still, he was very interested in finishing that unfinished fight, even though he had not yet gone through the month-long special training under Hatake Kakashi that his original-timeline self had received.
But he was confident his current strength would not lose to that version of himself. If anything, he would only be stronger.
Back then, the other him had known Chidori. Now, Sasuke had already learned it too.
Back then, the other him had not known Thunder Breathing. Now, he did.
"Naruto, back me up!"
Uchiha Sasuke spoke to Uzumaki Naruto behind him. "Let me test them myself."
"Yeah!"
Uzumaki Naruto nodded, but he could sense something similar to himself from the black-eyed boy in front of him.
He was different from the loudmouthed, clueless version of himself from the original timeline. Right now, he was clearly much steadier. With his own enormous Chakra alone, even fighting normally, he could display combat strength comparable to an Elite Chunin. Naturally, he was much more reliable.
"So cool!"
Several girls at the scene were instantly dazzled by the handsome Uchiha Sasuke.
"Boss, you're seriously lame."
Sarutobi Konohamaru could not help roasting him.
"Damn Sasuke. He just wants to show off all by himself again," Uzumaki Naruto muttered inwardly.
But compared to the him from the original timeline at this point, he was far more mature. Especially because Kaede Kitahara had repeatedly drilled him in the basics. Basic Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu training were only the foundation. What mattered even more was tactical thinking.
That was advanced knowledge he could never learn at the academy.
So although he felt like Uchiha Sasuke was always stealing the spotlight right in front of him, Naruto did not throw a tantrum over it now, nor did he rush forward to show off.
"Sand Binding!"
Gaara let out a low roar and stretched out his hand. Countless grains of sand and dirt immediately rose into the air, rushing toward Uchiha Sasuke to seize him.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form!"
In an instant, Uchiha Sasuke turned into a streak of lightning and cut straight through the sand.
With a sharp flash and the crackle of thunder, he arrived in front of Gaara in the blink of an eye.
"Gaara!"
"Gaara!"
Kankuro and Temari went pale with shock. They had never imagined Uchiha Sasuke could be that fast.
After all, Gaara himself was not slow. His Sand Body Flicker was extremely fast. In the original story, right after Gaara appeared, Uchiha Sasuke had evaluated his movement and decided it was not inferior to Hatake Kakashi's.
Of course, at that stage, Hatake Kakashi had almost become a unit of measurement for combat strength, and Uchiha Sasuke's own strength was limited. He had never truly seen Hatake Kakashi move at full speed.
Even so, Gaara's speed was astonishing.
Yet in front of the current Uchiha Sasuke, it was as though he had not reacted at all.
But at the critical moment, just as the Kusanagi Sword was about to pierce straight through Gaara, one hand grabbed Uchiha Sasuke's thrusting wrist, while another seized Gaara, who was about to cast his jutsu.
The Chakra that had originally been coating Uchiha Sasuke's blade vanished instantly. Gaara's jutsu was interrupted on the spot as well. The sand that had already wrapped around Uchiha Sasuke's ankle loosened and fell away.
"Kaede Kitahara?"
Only then did Uchiha Sasuke react. The one who had stepped in and stopped everything was actually Kaede Kitahara.
"There's a limit to how much trouble you can cause inside the village."
Kaede Kitahara blocked both of their attacks.
He glanced toward both sides. Anbu were following both groups, but they were staying far away and not coming close.
He had thought the Anbu shadowing them would intervene, but in the end, they all calmly watched the two sides clash. That left Kaede Kitahara with no choice but to step in himself.
"I'll kill you. I'll kill you."
Gaara's eyes were bloodshot, but the Chakra throughout his body seemed to be suppressed by something. He could not move at all.
"Let go of Gaara."
Temari shouted, and the giant fan in her hands was about to sweep out Wind Release.
Suddenly, Kaede Kitahara shouted, "Shut up!"
"S-so much killing intent!"
Kankuro felt the air around him turn thick and heavy. Even breathing became difficult.
Looking at Kaede Kitahara's absurdly young face, a thought flashed through his mind. So this is a Konoha Jonin?
He looked about the same age as them, but Kankuro felt that if the Konoha boy in front of him wanted to, he could kill them in an instant.
It was an instinct honed through years of life-or-death battles.
Although their group was only Genin in status, their strength was definitely not something ordinary Genin could compare to.
Even Kankuro and Temari had strength at the level of Elite Chunin. They were the most presentable team of genius Genin that the declining Sunagakure could offer.
As for Temari, who had been about to use Ninjutsu, she felt an unprecedented wave of terrifying killing intent crash down over her, as if an entire mountain had come pressing down.
In an instant, a chill crawled up her back. Cold sweat soaked through her completely. Her arms, which had never trembled when using Ninjutsu before, were now shaking faintly.
It was like she had been targeted by some horrifying monster.
That feeling was even stronger than the rare times she had seen Gaara enter Version 2 and turn into something monsterlike.
"I'll kill you!"
Gaara roared. In his bloodshot pupils, there was already a faint trend of him turning into a monster. That was the result of the One-Tail tormenting his mind for years. The boy had to endure the harassment of the One-Tail's Chakra almost every waking moment, leaving his mental state extremely unstable.
Even through the cosmetic contacts covering his eyes, Kaede Kitahara's Sharingan had already seen the Chakra of One-Tail Shukaku of the Sand inside Gaara's body, roaring as if it was about to burst out.
The next instant, Kaede Kitahara's mental energy slipped into Gaara's inner world. It was a massive cage, and inside the cage lurked a gigantic beast, roaring without end.
This was the monster from the myths and legends of the Land of Wind. In truth, it was one of the nine Tailed Beasts, One-Tail Shukaku of the Sand.
Kaede Kitahara only needed one glance to judge the situation. Without question, Sunagakure's skill in Fuinjutsu was far inferior to Konoha's.
Both villages had sealed Tailed Beasts, but Sunagakure's seal was riddled with holes.
Both were Tailed Beasts, and the Nine-Tails was far stronger than the One-Tail, but over all these years, the number of times its Chakra had seeped out could be counted on one hand.