Central Tower Examination Arena
Gaara had already used the Body Flicker Technique to reach the center of the arena.
"Come down!!"
He spoke to Sakura, who was still on the stands, his face devoid of expression.
Sakura looked at the stoic kid in the arena and sighed internally. Third Hokage, you've really given me a tough assignment.
Unlike Gaara, Sakura didn't use the Body Flicker to descend. She needed to conserve every bit of chakra she could.
"Sakura, be careful. That Sand ninja is dangerous," Kiba warned as Sakura passed him.
"I will. Thanks, Kiba. If things get out of hand, I'll forfeit," Sakura replied with a hint of resignation.
As Sakura reached the center of the arena, Hayate announced, "The fourth round match begins."
Gaara stared at Sakura without a word.
Suddenly, an object shot towards Sakura. She dodged it – it was the stopper from Gaara's gourd.
"Hmph," Gaara watched Sakura evade the projectile, but he didn't make the first move, remaining still.
Sakura knew that Gaara's sand would automatically defend him; only something faster than the sand could hit him.
But... "Heh heh," a small smile crept onto Sakura's lips.
"..." Gaara, noticing Sakura's smile, asked in a chilling voice, "Do you want to die?"
"..." Sakura was slightly speechless. This kid was too sensitive, just like Sasuke used to be, even more sensitive than Sasuke.
Sakura decided to stop talking. She activated her Strength of a Hundred Seal, channeling chakra to vitalize her entire body, instantly maximizing her speed. She launched a punch at Gaara.
Although taijutsu was largely ineffective against Gaara, she had to test the speed of his sand.
Just as Sakura's fist was about to connect, a barrier of sand formed in front of Gaara, protecting the targeted area.
Sakura mentally estimated the distance the sand had blocked. If she were just a bit faster, she could probably hit Gaara.
Having failed to land a blow, Sakura immediately retreated, facing Gaara once more.
"Is that all you've got?" Gaara asked, his expression still blank.
"Hmph," Sakura grunted. She charged at Gaara again, attacking with even greater speed.
Perhaps Gaara was slightly more prepared this time. Even though Sakura attacked faster than before, she still couldn't break through his sand defense. This attack was even less effective than the first.
Up in the stands, Lee was shocked by Sakura's speed. She was almost as fast as he was.
"Wh... What kind of ninjutsu is that?!" Naruto exclaimed, seeing Sakura's attacks repeatedly blocked by the sand. He couldn't believe it.
Sasuke was also stunned, watching Gaara in the arena. Attacks that had once overpowered him were being effortlessly deflected. Was Gaara stronger than Sakura?
"That's Gaara's absolute defense," Kankuro, who had somehow appeared beside Team 7, explained. "Physical attacks are completely useless against him. The sand will unconsciously protect Gaara... To this day, no one has ever been able to injure him!"
"What?!" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief.
"If your teammate is only at this level, she won't be able to beat Gaara," Kankuro said, glancing sideways at Naruto.
On the field, Sakura's attacks were continuously blocked. Although she hadn't been able to hit Gaara, her efforts weren't in vain.
Sakura was constantly gauging the sand's maximum speed. Taijutsu was her weakest area. Right now, she was using taijutsu, which consumed less chakra, to estimate the sand's speed, so that she could use ninjutsu later for a decisive blow.
Sakura was already using the fastest speed she could currently achieve, and she still couldn't hit Gaara. However, when Gaara deliberately controlled the sand, the distance it protected was close to the distance it protected in its initial, unconscious state.
Having roughly understood the speed of Gaara's sand, Sakura stopped attacking and faced him.
"Is that all you've got?" Gaara said coldly.
Gaara was starting to take things a little more seriously. The increasingly close attacks were stirring up the bloodlust within him.
Gaara knew that his opponent could use ninjutsu. The fact that she could almost hit him with just taijutsu made her a worthy opponent to kill, a testament to his own existence.
Kankuro, seeing the look on Gaara's face, was filled with fear. "This is bad... your teammate is going to be killed..."
Damn it, had Gaara forgotten their mission? This was neither the place nor the time for him to lose control.
"What is it?" Naruto asked, noticing Kankuro's fearful expression.
"You should stop the match quickly. Otherwise, she'll be killed by Gaara," Kankuro said. Of course, he wasn't genuinely concerned about the survival of a Leaf ninja; he was trying to prevent Gaara from going berserk.
"Hmph, Sakura isn't as weak as you think," Sasuke said disdainfully to Kankuro.
Sasuke knew that Sakura wasn't proficient in taijutsu. The fact that she hadn't used a single ninjutsu yet, only taijutsu, most likely meant that she was testing the sand's defensive speed.
This was what Sasuke observed with his Sharingan.
"No... you don't understand..." Kankuro started to say something, but he suddenly stopped himself.
Kakashi turned his head and glanced at Kankuro. From his terrified expression, Kakashi had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
On the field, Sakura looked at Gaara, who was becoming increasingly dangerous, and raised her hands.
"Now, the real fight begins. Don't lose too quickly."
With that, Sakura condensed water droplets infused with small stones at her fingertips. Aiming at Gaara, she used a massive amount of chakra to propel the water bullets towards Gaara's shoulders.
A sharp "whoosh" pierced the air, and Gaara was sent flying backwards, crashing into the wall behind him.
Only then did Gaara's sand form a shield in front of him.
The entire arena fell silent.
......
"Th... This... How is this possible..." Kankuro's eyes were wide with shock as he stared at Gaara, embedded in the wall. "The... the sand's speed couldn't keep up!!!"
"Hehe, good job, Sakura! Keep it up!" Naruto, seeing Sakura send Gaara flying with a single blow, cheered her on excitedly.
The silence of the arena was broken as the audience erupted in a buzz of conversation.
Lee looked at Sakura in the arena, speechless. She really was stronger than Sasuke. No, she was even stronger than Neji, in both taijutsu and ninjutsu... Was this the number one rookie from three years ago?
After the first exam, Lee had asked Shikamaru for information about Sakura. There was no need to keep it a secret, so Shikamaru had told him everything.
Lee hadn't expected that there had been a genius who had surpassed Sasuke three years ago.
Neji looked at Sakura, calculating whether his Rotation could defend against such an attack. The conclusion wasn't optimistic.
That attack was too fast. Rotation was an absolute defense, but when speed reached a certain point, the power behind it became terrifying. It would be difficult for his current Rotation to block such power.
Moreover, with such speed, just being targeted made dodging extremely difficult. The only option was to avoid being targeted in the first place to have a chance of defeating her.
Shikamaru's words were indeed true. This was interesting.
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