At this moment, the two Ame ninjas who had witnessed their companion's tragic death were already scared out of their wits. They froze on the spot, their legs trembling uncontrollably, and cold sweat soaked their entire bodies. Their facial muscles twitched uncontrollably, and their teeth chattered, making a "clatter" sound.
"There is no pain, because my strength is already so great that there is no need to make him suffer." Gaara held the bamboo umbrella covered in thick bloodstains, his tone as calm as if he were talking about the weather.
To him, killing a person was as insignificant as stepping on an ant.
"The rolling quicksand infused with the blood of the dead will grant even greater power." He stood indifferently under the umbrella, his tone devoid of any emotion.
"The... the scroll... it's yours!"
"Please, let us go!"
The two Ame ninjas were terrified to the extreme, hurriedly taking out their scroll and throwing it on the ground, begging for mercy at the top of their lungs.
However, Gaara turned a deaf ear to their pleas. He casually threw the bamboo umbrella aside and decisively extended both hands to activate a Ninjutsu. The sand on the ground seemed to come alive, pouncing on the two Ame ninjas like a tide, wrapping them into two new sand sculptures amidst their hysterical screams.
The screams stopped abruptly and crimson blood seeped from the gaps in the sand sculptures, staining the yellow sand a dark red.
"What luck!" Kankuro stepped forward and picked up the Heaven scroll from the ground, a look of joy on his face.
"It's actually a Heaven scroll. Now we have all the scrolls."
He turned around and said to Gaara and Temari, "Alright, let's head to the Central Tower now."
"Shut up! I haven't had enough fun yet!"
After killing the two Ame ninjas, Gaara turned his gaze toward Mamoru, who was sitting not far away. His cold, heartless eyes locked onto Mamoru's, as if he were sizing up his next prey.
"You really have no class."
Mamoru stood up from the ground, patted the dust off his buttocks, and said double-standardly, "This blood is everywhere, it's so filthy."
He had watched the entire process of Gaara's one-sided devastation with cold eyes. During this time, he didn't have the slightest thought of saving anyone, nor did he feel even a hint of sympathy or pity. In his view, since they had decided to participate in the second exam, they should have been mentally prepared for everything, even inevitable death.
If one expected someone to come to the rescue when encountering unsolvable trouble or even life-threatening danger, then they shouldn't have signed the consent form before entering the Forest of Death in the first place. Those with such naive thoughts, aside from the main character favored by the world, were basically already dead.
"Gaara, ignore him, let's go."
Kankuro wisely spoke up to persuade him. He didn't want to provoke a big trouble like Mamoru here.
Once Gaara and Mamoru clashed, their battle wouldn't be something they could intervene in. Last time in Konoha, the other party clearly didn't want to escalate the situation, which was why they had stopped temporarily.
But here, with no one able to intervene, a fight between the two would inevitably lead to one side's defeat, or even death.
If Gaara could win, that would be fine, but if he lost, the monster inside him would surely go on a rampage. That would not only affect the upcoming plan but might also mean he and Temari wouldn't escape death either.
"Don't tell me what to do, get lost!"
When Gaara spoke these rude words to Kankuro, his gaze never left Mamoru.
"What?"
Mamoru raised an eyebrow and asked calmly, "Do you want to continue the battle that wasn't decided last time?"
Gaara didn't respond verbally. Instead, the sand beneath his feet began to stir. The fine sand writhed around his feet like it was alive, making a rustling sound.
Seeing the situation was about to spiral out of control, Kankuro hurried to stop him. "Stop it, Gaara. Have you forgotten our purpose for coming here?"
"Hmph. Coward, are you afraid?"
As if seeing through Kankuro's thoughts, Gaara gave him a disdainful glance.
Hearing this, Kankuro suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. He had been so humble, yet the other party still looked down on him and that person was his own younger brother.
As he walked quickly toward Gaara, he said loudly, "Gaara, it might not matter to you, but it's too dangerous for me and Temari!"
"Useless trash, don't try to order me around." Gaara replied coldly without even looking at him.
"That's enough! You should listen to your older brother once in a while!"
Hearing Gaara's insolence once again, Kankuro finally couldn't contain his anger. He grabbed Gaara by the collar and said with a resentful expression, the veins on his hands bulging.
Facing Kankuro, Gaara said ruthlessly, "I've never considered you my brother. If you dare to get in my way, I'll kill you just the same."
"Seeing how bad your brotherly relationship is, I've suddenly lost interest. I don't feel like fighting anymore."
At this moment, Mamoru suddenly interrupted. His tone carried a sense of waning interest, as if he were watching a farce.
"Whether we fight or not isn't for you to decide."
Gaara raised his hand to swat away Kankuro's hand, then turned his gaze back to Mamoru and said, "It's for me to decide."
"Are you sure it's for you to decide?"
Mamoru put his hands in his pockets and said playfully, "How about we see if your sand touches me first, or if I snap both of their necks first?"
As soon as he finished speaking, his deep black eyes were veiled in a pale blue, and a brilliant smile appeared on his face, one that was completely at odds with his threatening words.
The scene fell silent instantly, and a suffocating heaviness filled the air. Temari and Kankuro gulped and looked at each other, seeing shock in each other's eyes. Now, they were the ones in a more dangerous and awkward position.
Temari decisively took the giant war fan from her back and snapped it open, staring warily at the boy not far away.
Kankuro, on the other hand, stared intently at the two facing off, unable to help but cry out in his heart, 'This is some rotten luck.'
He wailed in his heart, 'How did I run into these two freaks? If you two want to fight, then fight. What does it have to do with me and Temari? Why must everything involve us?'
As the seconds ticked by, the atmosphere at the scene dropped to freezing point. The wind in the woods seemed to have stopped, and even the birds' songs had vanished, leaving only the heavy breathing of several people.
Facing the stare of the pale blue eyes, Gaara felt an invisible pressure covering him. As time passed, this pressure became even heavier, as if he were slowly sinking into the pitch-black seabed. The surrounding air became cold and thick, squeezing his chest and depriving him of the power to breathe.
It wasn't just Gaara who felt the pressure. Temari and Kankuro appeared even more pathetic, both were unconsciously panting heavily, and just standing took a huge amount of their physical and mental energy. The other party's gaze clearly wasn't directly on them, yet they could clearly feel that terrifying sense of oppression enveloping them.
This subtle feeling made them think they were having illusions, but the perceived heavy pressure was truly making them almost unable to breathe. Fine beads of sweat broke out on Kankuro's forehead, and Temari's hand holding the fan was also trembling slightly.
"Eh... is this a party?"
A voice suddenly broke into the dead silence.