Chapter 355 - 40

AI Model: gemini-3.1-flash-liteChapter 40: Ichibi vs Nine-TailedFacing Gaara in his berserk state, Naruto did not panic in the slightest. He also chose not to use Kotoamatsukami directly; firstly, he was unsure if the Sharingan's ability would work on a Jinchuriki, and secondly, he wanted to test out another one of his techniques, "Kotoamatsukuchi".However, before that, what he wanted to do even more was to spar with Gaara. After all, since he began his training, he had too little practical combat experience. At this moment, Gaara was already controlled by the desire for slaughter; his moves were mostly ruthless and vicious, and were relatively simple and crude. This was the perfect training partner.Thus, Naruto quickly entered Gear Second mode and simultaneously opened the Gate of View. However, before starting the fight, Naruto used his Sharingan to cast a genjutsu on the person sitting on the ground, knocking him unconscious.The battle between the Ichibi Jinchuriki and the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki was about to break out!Gaara made the first move, controlling sand to attack Naruto, but in Naruto's eyes, the speed of this sand was simply too slow; he dodged it with ease.After standing still, he looked at Gaara and said, "The Ichibi Jinchuriki should be capable of more than this! An attack of this level probably can't even touch me. Use your full power! Otherwise, you will lose very ugly."Naruto certainly knew this was not Gaara's full strength; saying this was actually just to provoke him. Sure enough, Gaara looked even angrier. He stuck out his tongue to lick the corner of his mouth and then said, "As you wish."As soon as he finished speaking, he extended his hands in a gesture of lifting upwards. The sand around Naruto began to move strangely, and suddenly, sand filling the sky surrounded him, seemingly wanting to trap him inside.Naruto did not move, allowing himself to be bound by the sand. He muttered to himself, "Is it Sand Binding Coffin or Sand Waterfall Funeral? I really don't know who is stronger, Gaara or Crocodile."Even while fighting, Naruto was still letting his mind wander, but this was also a manifestation of his confidence in his own strength."It seems I need to teach him a lesson; otherwise, I don't know how long this probing will continue. If it attracts others from the Hidden Sand Village, that would be bad."Thinking of this, Naruto directly opened the Gate of View. Relying solely on the airflow generated by his body, the sand was unable to get even an inch closer to him.Just as Gaara was about to close his hands towards him, a "bang" was heard. Naruto broke free, and the surrounding sand was completely scattered by him, while his arms had turned black.Sensing the opponent's aura, Gaara actually felt a trace of fear. He did not know who the person was; he looked to be about the same age as him, yet possessed such strength.Just as he was stunned, Naruto vanished into thin air right before his eyes. He widened his eyes, seemingly trying to find where he had gone, but the next second, Naruto appeared instantly in front of him.Before he could react, he was sent flying backwards from the hit. Although Naruto seemed to only flash past, he had already thrown three punches. The sand automatically protecting Gaaracould not keep up with the speed of Naruto's strikes, and even his Armor of Sand was being knocked off piece by piece.Gaara stood up again with the help of the sand, but after walking two steps forward, he knelt on one knee on the ground again. Immediately after, he spat out a mouthful of blood. He touched the blood on the ground with his hand and said in disbelief, "I, actually spat out blood from being hit?"Under normal circumstances, if Gaara saw blood, he would definitely fall into a frenzy, but perhaps the pressure Naruto brought was simply too great, so at this moment, he actually calmed down instead.He looked at Naruto coldly and said, "You are the first person to injure me since I gained consciousness. I have to admit, you are very strong, but it ends here."After hearing the other's words, Naruto smiled and said, "Oh? Are you preparing to perform a Tailed Beast transformation? But in your current state, at most you can only use the partial transformation, right!"Naruto's words shocked Gaara once again. He asked, "Who exactly are you? What is your purpose? Why do you know so much about me?"Gaara directly fired three soul-searching questions. Naruto smiled and said, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, from the Konoha Village in the Land of Fire. Nice to meet you. Don't worry, my running into you today was completely accidental; I am currently traveling and training, and just happened to pass by here. The reason why I attacked you is that we are actually the same kind of people. I just wanted to see what kind of strength you, as a fellow "monster", currently have.""The same kind of "monster", what does that mean? Could it be that you are also...?" Gaara asked doubtfully.Naruto nodded and said, "That's right, I am the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha Village, which is why I felt a sense of affinity the moment I saw you. Because our childhood experiences are the same: no friends, not accepted, everyone treating us like monsters, spending every day in loneliness and exclusion. Am I right! And what's interesting is that both of our fathers were the Kage of their respective Villages. The difference is that my parents sacrificed themselves for the Village during the Nine-Tailed rampage back then. It's ridiculous that as their orphan, my growth environment didn't receive even a shred of special treatment. People in the Village all know I am the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, but they don't know I am the son of the Hokage."Hearing this, Gaara completely let down his guard. He looked up at the sky and said, "Looking at it this way, we really are the same kind of people. But the difference is, your parents might have loved you very much while they were alive, but I am different; my parents both hated me very much. And my father is still alive, but I'm afraid the person who wants to kill me most right now is him. The uncle who once loved me the most was also lying to me, and in the end, he also died by my hands. Heh, isn't it pathetic?"Before Naruto could speak, Gaara suddenly screamed hysterically, "Why? Why do we have to endure all this? Everyone treats us like monsters; did we do something wrong? Did we have a choice? Before turning us into monsters, did they ever think about whether we were willing?"After saying all this, Gaara completely exited his battle state. He crouched down, wrapped his arms around his legs, buried his head in his legs, and began to cry bitterly. After all, he was only five or six years old; at this moment, he finally looked like a little child.