"Damn it! Bastard!"
Gaara roared in shock and fury, his crimson eyes wide with disbelief.
He had never imagined that Tejima Shinichi's ninjutsu would be this devastating—one blow had torn clean through the giant arm formed from Shukaku's Chakra!
That earth-shattering strike stunned not only Gaara, but also rattled every soul in the Forest of Death who sensed the clash.
Far away, Kobayashi Takeshi and Satō Yū were fleeing when the commotion behind them made them turn.
"It's the Water Blade!" Kobayashi's eyes lit up, relief flooding his face. "That's Shinichi's jutsu! He's okay—and he's winning!"
Satō Yū exhaled slowly, unclenching her fists. "I knew it… he'd pull through."
Nearby, Kankuro and Temari—retreating with them—froze at those words, looking back at the collapsing sand arm and the watery vortex shooting skyward.
"Th-that guy…" Kankuro's voice was dry, the paint on his face seeming to lose its color. "He's… that strong?!"
Temari's knuckles whitened around her Giant Folding Fan, her mind replaying the moment at Konoha's gate when that boy had casually looped an arm around her neck and left her powerless…!
A chill raced from her soles to her scalp.
Thank heavens she hadn't truly enraged him; looking back, surviving that encounter felt like pure luck!
Farther off, Team 8 lay hidden.
Hyuga Hinata's Byakugan captured the terrifying impact in perfect clarity.
Her petite frame trembled, a small hand flying to her mouth.
"Th-that Water Release… is Shinichi-kun's…"
Inuzuka Kiba's Akamaru whined softly while Kiba himself stammered, jaw quivering:
"Y-You've gotta be kidding… That jutsu came from Shinichi? That kind of power… even an S-rank ninjutsu is only about that strong!"
Shino Aburame said nothing, but shock flickered behind his lenses; the fear and agitation his insects transmitted now surpassed what they'd felt facing Shukaku.
Who could have guessed that their quiet, unfathomable classmate hid such terrifying might?
Every other examinee scattered through the forest—Konoha, Sunagakure, Amegakure, Kusagakure—any with decent senses or a clear view—now stood stunned into silence.
They might not know who was fighting Shukaku, but that fleeting azure water spear and the Tailed Beast's severed arm screamed a single truth: some "monster" they couldn't comprehend was challenging a real Tailed Beast monster head-on!
At that moment, words failed them… They had signed up for the Chunin Exams, not a clash of monsters!
The forest's hush was replaced by an even deeper dread.
Tejima Shinichi stood in place, watching the gigantic hand crumble back into sand, and flicked his wrist.
"As expected, sand is just sand… though—" He eyed the grains writhing at Shukaku's wrist, re-forming the limb, and finished, "—fighting a Tailed Beast is a battle of attrition… troublesome."
Unless you unleashed an attack massive enough to obliterate most of its body in one go and then sealed it, or exhausted its near-endless Chakra, defeating such a monster was nearly impossible!
"Still…" An excited grin crossed Shinichi's face; he lifted both hands, palms pressing together. "Luckily, the power I possess is exactly what's needed!"
"Wood Release—"
At his low declaration, a Chakra far vaster than moments ago erupted from him.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence—!!!"
His joined palms snapped together—
Rumble…!
Centered on Shinichi, the ground quaked even harder than when Shukaku had appeared.
Beneath the Tailed Beast, the cracked, sand-covered earth suddenly surged with wild vitality and brute force!
Countless thick, dark-brown roots burst up, twisting, growing, coiling! They shattered rock, pierced sand, ballooned at visible speed into towering trees.
In the blink of an eye, a primal, dense forest erupted around Shukaku, forcibly turning the storm-scoured wasteland into a roaring sea of trees.
"What?!"
Gaara, now Shukaku, stared in fresh shock and bewilderment!!
He had never seen such a bizarre jutsu, but a Ninja's instinct told him: this had to be a Kekkei Genkai!
In that instant, the Tailed Beast's colossal body was seized by countless thrashing branches and vines; thick limbs cinched its legs, waist, torso, striving to climb higher.
Gaara's face paled as he forced Shukaku to struggle, the Beast's remaining left arm and tail smashing and ripping huge swaths of wood.
Splinters flew; broken branches rained down.
But it was useless!
The speed of destruction couldn't match the speed of growth!
Fresh gaps were filled by thicker branches in an instant!
More vines—snake-like and alive—slithered upward, coiling tighter, throttling its movements.
"Damn it! What is this freakish thing?!"
Gaara raged in shock; Shukaku's struggles grew labored. The endless trees seemed purpose-built to counter its sandy body, their grip terrifyingly strong.
"Air Bullet!"
Shukaku's maw gaped; it slapped its belly, forming a highly compressed Chakra sphere that blasted into the surging forest.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A chain of Air Bullets exploded, shockwaves clearing huge swaths of trees and leaving blackened craters; sand and splinters geysered skyward.
Seizing the brief opening, Shukaku tore free of most entangling branches and lurched backward, its massive feet leaving deep prints at the forest's edge.
Gaara glared at the seemingly living woods, eyes full of dread and fury.
On the scorched earth the Air Bullets had cleared, tender green shoots stubbornly re-sprouted, slowly but surely regrowing.
The sight sent an icy shiver through every onlooker.
What kind of jutsu was this?! It had actually pushed back—and briefly bound—the fully manifested Tailed Beast?!
Sunagakure's Kankuro and Temari were speechless, staring at the forest that had appeared from nowhere and at the battered Shukaku within it.
Kobayashi Takeshi and Satō Yū brimmed with pride and excitement; perhaps they were already thinking that being Tejima Shinichi's comrade would be the greatest honor of their lives!