Chapter 95: Confronting Gaara
Naruto smiled awkwardly at Hiashi and said to Kakashi, "Alright, I understand."
After speaking to Kakashi, Naruto used Secret Telepathic Communication to tell Hinata, "Don't separate from Hanabi! Something might happen later."
Hinata looked at Naruto in surprise and said with some worry, "Then you must be careful!"
Naruto smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Go over to Clan Leader Hiashi's side!"
"Okay!"
Just as Naruto was about to leave, Hanabisuddenly said to him, "Hey big baddie, my sister won, so you must win too. Otherwise, I won't call you brother-in-law; I'll call you big baddie forever."
Before Naruto could respond to Hanabi, a blushing Hinata had already picked Hanabi up and jogged away.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes and remarked, "It's so nice to be young!"
Naruto glanced at Kakashi and said, "You could find a girlfriend too, instead of always reading those unhealthy books."
After speaking, Naruto used the Body Flicker Technique and arrived at the center of the arena.
Gaara, on the other hand, was being more of a show-off, flying to the center of the arena on a cloud of sand.
Seeing this, Naruto stroked his chin, thinking he should also get a flying Ninjutsu to show off, or else it would be a bit too low-tier.
Seeing the vacant look in Naruto's eyes, Gaaraglared at him angrily.
"Are you looking down on me that much?"
Gaara's question snapped Naruto back to reality.
"What did you just say? I didn't hear you?"
"Bastard! I'm going to kill you!"
As soon as Gaara finished speaking, sand flew out of his gourd.
Shiranui Genma saw this, rubbed his nose, and said, "Since both of you are so eager to start, then begin!"
After speaking, he used the Body Flicker Techniqueto leave quickly, thinking to himself, 'Young people these days have such short tempers, not steady at all.'
Just as Shiranui Genma left, Gaara's Sand Shurikenflew toward Naruto.
Naruto knew Gaara was very strong, so he quickly used Adamantine Sealing Chains, winding two Chakra Chains into a shield to block Gaara's Sand Shuriken.
The remaining four Chakra Chains attacked Gaara.
The sand surrounding Gaara also quickly protected him.
The two of them went back and forth, both using long-range strategies.
But Naruto's long-range attack was different from Gaara's. Naruto used Chakra Chains; even if the sand swatted away the front of the chains, the chains could still wrap around Gaara to bind him.
Gaara naturally saw this flaw and formed a sand wall around his body, slowly expanding the space so that Naruto's Chakra Chains couldn't trap his main body.
Seeing this, Naruto curled his lip and said, "So you've decided to have a stationary showdown with me, is that it?"
While speaking, Naruto gathered a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken in his hand.
"Guess if you can run away if I throw this move at you."
Seeing the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken in Naruto's hand, Gaara's eyes narrowed, and the sand wall closed in further, leaving only a small portion of Gaara's head visible.
Naruto also wanted to test if the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken could break through Gaara's Absolute Defense.
Once Naruto finished gathering the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, he threw it directly.
Seeing this, Gaara completely closed up the sand wall. Naruto vaguely saw Gaara also use the Absolute Defense from the original series; it could be said that Gaara used all his defensive measures this time.
After the Rasenshuriken collided with the Absolute Defense, there was an explosion, followed by turbulent wind and sand.
The Sand Shuriken Naruto had been defending against also stopped.
Following the principle that 'big smoke means no damage,' Naruto quickly controlled his Chakra Chains to attack where Gaara had been standing. Regardless of whether Gaara was dead or not, he'd deal a wave of damage first.
Just as the Chakra Chains hit the spot where Gaarahad been standing, a scream was heard.
"If you can scream, it means you're not dead yet."
Naruto continued to use the Chakra Chains to attack Gaara.
Naruto's ruthlessness was unexpected by everyone present. He wasn't giving his opponent a single moment to breathe. But they couldn't say anything; after all, in the Ninja World, once you become enemies, it's kill or be killed. No one could say 'no' to Naruto's current approach.
Just as Naruto was feeling satisfied, the four Chakra Chains suddenly pulled taut.
Naruto sensed something was wrong and tried to retract the Chakra Chains.
But to Naruto's surprise, the opponent was matching his strength.
Naruto quickly used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough to blow away the smoke.
Naruto could finally see clearly that Gaara had now become a miniature Ichibi, with each hand grabbing a Chakra Chain.
Gaara glared at Naruto with murderous intent and said, "I'm going to kill you!"
After speaking, Gaara pulled hard on the Chakra Chains, trying to drag Naruto over.
Naruto took the opportunity to quickly retract the Chakra Chains. After all, the current Gaara was much more agile than a full Tailed Beast, and with Gaara's current strength, Naruto would be the one at a disadvantage if he continued using Adamantine Sealing Chains.
The moment Naruto retracted the Adamantine Sealing Chains, Gaara punched Naruto in the face. Naruto was sent flying and rolled twice on the ground after landing.
Naruto stood up, rubbing the spot where he was hit, and glared at Gaara. "It seems one of us must die today!"
After speaking, Naruto removed the weights from his body and threw them to the edge of the arena. When the weights hit the ground, the entire arena shook.
Naruto looked at Gaara and said, "Just because Lee's Taijutsu didn't kill you doesn't mean you're strong."
After speaking, Naruto took off his jacket and activated the Eight Gates.
"First gate, Gate of Opening! Open! Second gate, Gate of Healing, open! Third gate... Seventh gate, Gate of Shock... Open...!"
Naruto opened seven of the Eight Gates all at once. Blue steam rose around his body, invisibly putting immense pressure on Gaara.
"Next, it's either your death or mine!"
After speaking, Naruto performed the Ninja Worldversion of the Eight Trigrams Dragon Step. Before Gaara could even react, Naruto was already in front of him.
As Naruto sent Gaara flying with a palm strike, white feathers began to float down from the sky.
Because Naruto had the Eight Gates open, his Chakra was inherently unstable, so he didn't fall under the Genjutsu at all. However, most of the people in the arena weren't so lucky.
"Oh no! I forgot about Hinata and the others."
Naruto had originally intended to use the Flying Thunder God at this moment to take Hinata and Hanabi to the Hyuga Clan. No matter how bold Orochimaru was, he wouldn't dare to openly provoke a major Konoha clan.