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On the bustling streets of Konoha, three figures wearing unfamiliar forehead protectors walked calmly through the crowd. They wore long, dark cloaks, and a heavy, cold aura radiated from them that made the local villagers instinctively step aside.
The boy leading the group had short red hair, dark rings around his green eyes, and a massive sand gourd strapped securely to his back. His expression was completely blank, but the sheer killing intent bleeding from his posture was enough to make even the hidden Anbu guards sweat.
"Hey, Gaara, slow down a bit," Kankuro muttered from behind, nervously adjusting the puppet strapped to his back. "We just got into the village. There's no need to cause a scene yet."
Gaara didn't say a single word, his cold gaze scanning the tall buildings of Konoha. Suddenly, his eyes flickered as he felt a strange, massive ripple of chakra exploding from the direction of the training grounds in the distance.
A dark, terrifying smile slowly stretched across Gaara's face, his sand swirling restlessly around his feet.
"The blood here..." Gaara whispered, his voice sending a chill down his siblings' spines. "It smells delicious."
"Gaara, please, just calm down," Temari said nervously, stepping up beside Kankuro. She tightly gripped the giant iron fan on her back, looking around at the crowded streets. "We are here for the exam under Lord Kazekage's orders. If you start a fight now, we might get disqualified before it even begins."
Gaara stopped walking. The sand swirling around his ankles slowly calmed down, sinking back into the heavy gourd on his back. His cold, dark-ringed eyes looked back at his older sister, making her completely freeze in fear.
"Don't tell me what to do," Gaara said, his voice flat and dead. "If anyone gets in my way, I will kill them. "
Neither Kankuro nor Temari dared to say another word. They knew very well that their younger brother was very irritable, and trying to stop him when he was angry was a death sentence. They could only follow him silently, hoping he wouldn't go on a rampage right now.
But things would obviously not go as they wished. Just then, two kids who were running and playing on the road bumped into Gara.
*Thud!*
"Ouch!" one of the kids cried out as they bounced right off Gaara's hard sand armor and fell flat on their backside. It was Konohamaru, and right next to him, his friend Moegi quickly stumbled back, her eyes wide with surprise.
The entire street seemed to go completely silent in an instant.
Temari and Kankuro froze in pure horror. Their hearts skipped a beat as they slowly looked at Gaara. The cold killing intent radiating from their younger brother instantly spiked, making the temperature in the air feel like it had dropped to freezing.
Gaara didn't move an inch. He slowly looked down at the little boy sitting on the dirt road. His dark-ringed eyes were completely devoid of any human emotion.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, you weirdo!" Konohamaru rubbed his sore nose, completely oblivious to the deadly threat standing right in front of him. He scrambled to his feet, pointing an angry finger at Gaara. "You bumped right into me!"
"Konohamaru, shut up! Let's just go!" Moegi whispered frantically, pulling on his sleeve. She could feel the heavy, suffocating pressure in the air, and her instincts were screaming at her to run away as fast as possible.
But it was already too late.
"You are annoying," Gaara whispered, his voice dangerously low.
*Shhhhh...*
The stopper of the massive gourd on Gaara's back suddenly popped open. A thick stream of dense sand poured out like a waking snake, hovering in the air around him. The sand began to violently ripple, responding to Gaara's boiling anger and desire for blood.
"Gaara, stop! It's just a kid!" Kankuro panicked, reaching out his hand but too afraid to step any closer.
Gaara completely ignored his brother. With a slight twitch of his fingers, the hovering sand suddenly shot forward like a whip, aiming straight to wrap around Konohamaru's neck and crush him instantly.
But just millimeters before the sand hand touched Konohamaru, a slender hand appeared and slapped the dangerous sand hand, dispersing it into a cloud of smoke.
Gaara's eyes widened slightly in surprise. He had never seen someone who had deflected his attacks so effortlessly. Kankuro and Temari gasped, their eyes darting to the person who had just stepped between Gaara and the terrified children.
Standing gracefully in front of Konohamaru was a beautiful woman. She exuded an aura of supreme elegance and absolute power. It was Izanami. She looked down at her slender hand, casually dusting off a few stray grains of sand as if they were nothing but a minor nuisance.
"It is quite rude to throw a tantrum and attack children just because they bumped into you," Izanami spoke calmly as she looked at Gaara with a smile
"Who... who are you?" Kankuro stammered, stepping back. He could feel a cold sweat breaking out across his neck. The pressure radiating from this woman was unlike anything he had ever felt before. It made Gaara's terrifying killing intent feel small by comparison.
Gaara's face twisted into a dark scowl. The sand around him began to boil again, rising higher into the air. "Get out of my way, or I will crush you too."
"You can try, little panda," Izanami replied with a flawless, amused smile. She didn't take a stance, nor did she weave any hand signs. She simply stood there, looking at Gaara as if he were nothing more than a misbehaving child.
Gaara hissed, his blood lust completely taking over. With a sharp wave of his arms, three massive waves of sand erupted from his gourd, locking onto Izanami from all sides to swallow her whole.
But Izanami didn't even blink. She didn't use a long string of hand signs. Instead, she just raised one finger and tapped the air gently.
BOOM!
A powerful blast of pure, invisible energy exploded from her finger. The heavy shockwave hit the sand waves head-on, instantly blowing them apart into a huge cloud of dust that covered the street.
Gaara was forced to take two steps back, his boots skidding on the ground. His sand armor cracked slightly from the sheer pressure of the wind.
"What?!" Kankuro's jaw dropped in absolute shock. He felt his worldview being crushed. His invincible brother, whom he could only look up to, was defeated by the same person twice. At the same a deep fear began to permeate his body as he looked at Izanami with a wary gaze. This girl was definitely not simple.
Wait, could it be that she is just like Gaara…