Chapter 55: The Forest Chase
Sasuke was locked in a furious battle with Temari. Temari's wide-scale Wind Release techniques created barrier after barrier of slicing gales, stalling Sasuke's advance. She could only watch, frustrated, as Kankuro hustled the increasingly unstable Gaara deeper into the woods.
The original plan had called for Gaara to participate in the main assault, but his premature rampage, while successfully creating a major diversion and covering the "Kazekage's" move against the Third, had cost them a key combatant. Temari and Kankuro's orders were now to stabilize him away from the main fray, then regroup.
Sasuke's mission, however, was pursuit. She wouldn't let them go. Gaara wasn't just an opponent; he was the one who had humiliated her. She was determined to finish this herself.
But Temari was formidable. Her Wind Release forced Sasuke to constantly dive for cover behind thick tree trunks, waiting for the onslaught of slicing air to pass. Entire branches were sheared off and sent flying.
To buy time, Temari poured her chakra out relentlessly. After several major Wind Release jutsu, her reserves were nearly tapped. It was then that Sasuke saw her opening.
Darting from cover, Sasuke's hands became a blur. Kunai flew from her grasp, their trajectories calculated to cover every possible evasion route around Temari.
Temari saw them coming, but exhausted, she couldn't muster another large-scale defense. She was forced to draw her own kunai, parrying frantically in a shower of sparks.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
She managed to deflect them all—but failed to notice the one that had embedded itself at her feet, a paper tag sizzling on its hilt.
Oh no—!
Temari flung herself backward.
BOOM!
The explosion sent her tumbling through the undergrowth. She'd put enough distance to avoid the worst of the blast, but the shockwave still left her bruised and gasping on the forest floor.
Sasuke stepped forward, looking down at her. "You're finished. You never stood a chance of stopping me."
Temari gritted her teeth against the pain, her vision swimming, before darkness claimed her.
With a dismissive snort, Sasuke flickered away, resuming the chase.
Temari was just regaining consciousness when Naruto arrived. Seeing him, she forced her aching body up, planting herself in his path. "Uzumaki Naruto! Not another step!"
Naruto didn't even break stride. A simple Body Flicker carried him past her, and he continued his sprint without a backward glance.
Temari stared, stunned. He just ignored me?! Scrambling to her feet, she gave chase. "UZUMAKI NARUTO! HALT!"
But Naruto's speed was in another league. He pulled away effortlessly, leaving her to trail far behind, her shouts growing faint.
He heard her, but Gaara was the priority. Let her follow. By the time he caught up to the real threat, she'd be irrelevant.
As he ran, Naruto's brow furrowed. Ahead, Gaara's chakra signature was swelling, growing more violent and unstable. It had also stopped moving. A fight. Sasuke's caught up.
Sasuke stared at the monstrosity before her—Gaara, half-transformed into the shape of a tanuki demon, one arm a gigantic, clawed appendage of sand. The malevolent chakra rolling off him was suffocating. Kankuro watched from a safe distance, his face a mask of pure terror.
"KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" Gaara roared, a massive arm of sand forming and swatting down at Sasuke like a god's hammer.
Sasuke's hands flew through seals. "Chidori!"
Blue-white lightning screeched to life in her palm. She didn't dodge; she charged, meeting the descending sand arm head-on.
SCREEE—CRACKLE—BOOM!
The electric blade carved through the sand. Sasuke drove forward, a bolt of living lightning trying to pierce the storm.
But halfway through, her Chidori sputtered and died. She skidded to a stop, chest heaving. That single clash had drained nearly half her chakra, and she hadn't even reached him.
Her failure only enraged Gaara further. His chakra surged, the killing intent becoming a physical weight. Against this, Sasuke felt like a leaf before a hurricane.
Kankuro was paralyzed with dread. He'd never seen anyone trade blows with Gaara in this state and survive. This had spiraled far beyond the plan. The sedatives were useless now. If Gaara completed the transformation into Shukaku, this entire forest—and everyone in it—would be annihilated. Himself included.
Panic overriding duty, Kankuro turned and fled into the trees.
Sasuke was alone, facing the demon. She fought desperately, but Gaara's chakra reserves were bottomless compared to hers. She managed two more Chidori, each one tearing through another massive sand construct, but each one leaving her more drained.
After the third, her hands could only spark feebly before the lightning died. She stood, panting, drenched in sweat, teetering on the edge of chakra exhaustion.
Damn it!
Am I going to die here? No! I can't! I haven't gotten my revenge! I haven't beaten Naruto! I won't die like this!
But Gaara's next attack was already forming—a crushing fist of sand larger than her whole body. She had no doubt it would pulp her.
In that moment of pure, primal desperation, the Curse Mark on her neck blazed with sudden, agonizing heat. The inert, sealed natural energy within it stirred.
A torrent of power, wild and immense, erupted from her core. The black markings of the Curse Seal crawled across her face like living fire. Sasuke gasped. This feeling—this overwhelming strength—it was back!
"CHIDORI!"
The lightning returned, not as a focused blade, but as a roaring, chaotic tempest of blue-white energy around her fist. With a sound like tearing metal, she met the sand fist.
This time, she didn't just block it. She obliterated it.
And she didn't stop. Propelled by the Curse Mark's power, her speed doubled. To her Sharingan-enhanced perception, the world became a slow-moving tableau. She became a streak of black and blue, weaving through Gaara's frantic, sandy defenses.
Gaara saw only a blur. Then Sasuke was there, right in front of him.
"ROAR!" A tidal wave of sand rose to engulf her.
Sasuke thrust her lightning-wreathed hand forward, a final, defiant spear.
SCREEEEE—!
The Chidori tore through the sand wave, closing the final distance. Under Gaara's wide, inhuman eyes, the crackling point of Sasuke's technique drove toward his heart.