After Mamoru fired the first Blue, his movements did not pause for a second.
Facing the massive number of Shadow Clones still lunging forward, he raised both hands and brought them together. A deeper, dark sphere with internal energy violently twisting and rolling quickly condensed between his palms. With a wave of his hand, that blue light sphere emitting ominous fluctuations flew out, tracing a graceful yet lethal arc as it swept through the dense crowd of Shadow Clones as if it had a life of its own.
Poof... Poof...
Accompanied by the sand and floor tile debris flying across the arena, the light sphere acted like the grim reaper's scythe, efficiently sweeping across the entire battlefield. Wherever it passed, the clones all turned into white smoke and dissipated, unable to block it for even a second.
Finally, Mamoru flicked his right hand down casually. The Blue that had not yet fully dissipated and was still buzzing loudly was suddenly pulled by an invisible hand, abruptly changing direction and rushing straight toward the ruins of the collapsed wall where Naruto's real body was located.
Boom!!!
A deafening roar exploded.
Accompanied by a violent vibration, the entire arena shook, dust from the ceiling pattered down, and gasps of surprise came from the stands.
At this moment, the scene fell into a dead silence where a pin drop could be heard. Only the sound of rubble falling from high places and hitting the messy ground with a "clatter" clearly reached everyone's ears, striking their hearts.
After several seconds, Hayate, the proctor, finally recovered from the shock brought by this succession of violent destruction. He took a deep breath and was about to step forward to check the situation in the ruins and announce the match result.
Mamoru's brow, however, furrowed slightly and imperceptibly.
Just then, a faint yet heart-pounding rustling sound came from the dust-filled ruins. To everyone's astonishment, a hand with sharp, beast-like claws suddenly reached out from the pile of stones—the entire arm was actually covered in eerie red Chakra.
Then, even denser scarlet Chakra seeped out from the cracks in the stones like mist, carrying an ominous aura.
As the rubble was pushed aside with a "clatter" by a brute force, Naruto walked out slowly from the ruins with his head hanging low. His entire body was wrapped in the continuously surging red Chakra, and his originally blue eyes had turned into blood-red vertical pupils like those of a beast when he looked up.
Seeing his current appearance, the Konoha Jonin in the stands all frowned, their expressions solemn.
Hiruzen's hand tightened slightly on his pipe, his gaze as deep as an abyss, and the furrow in his brow showed a gravity that wouldn't dissipate.
'I didn't expect Nine-Tails' Chakra to leak out at a time like this.'
At Team 7's position, Sakura covered her mouth in horror, while Sasuke stared wide-eyed, his eyes full of disbelief.
Is this really that dead last, Naruto?
Naruto walked toward Mamoru step by step, his pace slightly stiff. He stopped not far from Mamoru. The wounds on his body were healing at a visible rate under the cover of the red Chakra.
He slowly raised his head, and the usual silliness and playfulness were gone from his face, replaced by pure ferocity and cruelty. A pair of crimson vertical pupils locked onto Mamoru like a beast targeting its prey, his eyes gleaming with murderous intent as if he wanted to tear him apart.
"Mamoru!!!"
A roar that didn't sound human at all, mixed with a howl, pierced through the arena. More violent red Chakra erupted from Naruto's body like a volcanic eruption, and at the same time, a scarlet shockwave mixed with a tyrannical aura blasted out from him, blowing up the rubble and dust on the ground.
"I won't lose! I'll definitely win this match!"
Mamoru shook his head. "Victory isn't decided by who shouts the loudest, but... this form of yours seems a bit interesting."
Facing this terrifying aura, Mamoru just curled his fingers casually, the corner of his lips lifting in a curve full of interest. "Come on."
Before he finished speaking, Naruto's figure on the spot instantly blurred and vanished. In the next second, he appeared behind Mamoru like a phantom, a heavy punch covered in red Chakra striking at Mamoru's vital lower back.
As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Mamoru lightly sidestepped at the last second to avoid it, then spun around with a sharp, whip-like kick that precisely struck Naruto's side, sending him flying like a kicked ball.
Bang!
Naruto turned into a red meteor, crashing heavily into the distant wall. Dust rose everywhere, and spiderweb-like cracks spread across the wall.
"No technique, only power and speed. No matter how strong the body is, it's futile." Mamoru stood with his leg retracted, commenting calmly as if instructing a junior.
However, before he finished speaking, Naruto shot out from the dust that had not yet settled, lunging again with even more frantic momentum.
Facing this kind of crazy attack that relied entirely on instinct and was full of openings, Mamoru handled it with ease. His figure flickered several times in the arena, and each appearance was accompanied by a heavy thud and the roar of Naruto being kicked like a ball into walls in different directions of the arena. The entire venue vibrated continuously under the impact.
When Naruto lunged out from the dust once more with a roar, rushing toward Mamoru with speed exceeding his previous attempts, a mischievous smile flashed on Mamoru's face.
At the moment the two were about to clash, Mamoru's figure suddenly vanished, appearing above Naruto's dash trajectory in an instant. In his right hand, a blue Chakra sphere emitting a violent droning sound had already condensed.
Exerting force from his waist and abdomen, his body like a fully drawn bow, he spun and slammed the Rasengan in his hand downward.
Boom!
The Rasengan pressed accurately into Naruto's back, smashing him into the ground like a stake. The massive impact caused the ground to instantly cave in, forming a circular crater as rubble flew and dust billowed outward.
"Rasengan!?"
In front of the stone carvings, Hiruzen could no longer maintain his composure. He leaned his body forward abruptly and exclaimed, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
Over by Team 7, Kakashi stared at the field in shock. His usually half-lidded eye was now wide open to its limit, as if in that moment, through Mamoru's silhouette, he saw that familiar figure. "Sen...sei?"
Sasuke's eyes were filled with shock and confusion. He vaguely heard Kakashi's murmur, and a storm of emotions surged in his heart.
Sakura looked at the billowing dust below with a face full of worry. A few seconds later, she suddenly pointed into the field in terror and shrieked, "Wha... what is that!?"
Hearing her, Kakashi snapped back to his senses, his single eye fixed intently on the scene. He subconsciously walked to the railing and gripped the cold bars tightly. "Has the seal... leaked to this extent..."
On the Sunagakure spectator stands, the expression on Gaara's face was shifting violently. At times, he showed the joy of finding one of his own kind. At others, it turned into deep sorrow, finally settling into a nearly pathological state of excitement and killing intent.
His Jōnin instructor, Baki, along with Kankuro and the now-awake Temari, stood aside in trepidation, hardly daring to breathe for fear of disturbing him.
They had already realized that the Konoha Genin named Naruto was the same kind of existence as Gaara, a Jinchuriki.
This was also the fundamental reason for Gaara's violent emotional fluctuations.