As the words faded, Gaara formed a hand seal with one hand while raising the other horizontally toward Zaku. His palm faced forward, fingers curled into a claw.
In an instant, sand erupted from all around, coalescing in mid-air with terrifying speed, and forming countless hands that snatched at Zaku.
Zaku scrambled backward, but fine sand surged beneath his feet, transforming into seven or eight hands that clamped around his ankles. Thwarted, he watched more sand hands engulf him completely. Within the blink of an eye, the Sound ninja was sealed inside a coffin of sand.
"Damn it! My body's bound—I can't move at all!" Zaku roared, only his face visible through the shifting grains. He shouted frantically at his teammates, "Stop standing there! Attack!"
Dosu and Kin snapped out of their shock, roaring as they charged forward. "Damn it, stop!" "Let go of Zaku!"
Watching from the sidelines, Kankuro sneered. "It's too late. Gaara's sand can kill elite chunin instantly. Unless you're a Jōnin, you should run."
As if to confirm his words, Gaara raised his hand high, claw bent. Then he clenched his fist — Sand Burial.
"Ah!!!"
Thud! Pitter-patter!
The scream cut off abruptly. A rain of blood poured down as sand squeezed the encased body from all sides. Zaku was crushed and burst open—like a chicken cutlet popping under pressure.
Silence hung in the air for less than three seconds before breaking.
"Run!"
Covered in blood, Dosu and Kin exchanged terrified glances. They turned and fled toward the direction of Menma and the others.
"Lead the Sand Ninja over there! Make them clash with those two monsters!" Dosu gasped. "We'll hide and wait to reap the benefits!"
"Hmph. Turning your back on Gaara will only hasten your death," Temari sneered.
The moment the three Sound Ninja uttered such insolent words, they were already dead.
Shhh! Sand whistled through the air.
Watching the two flee, Gaara once again raised his hand forward and bent it into a claw — Sand Binding Coffin!
Just like before, swirling sand formed countless hands that snatched forward. Fine sand surged from the ground, wrapping around and enveloping the ankles of Kin and Dosu.
Dosu suddenly kicked Kin.
Thud!
"To complete the mission, I have to sacrifice you," he said coldly.
Using Kin's body as a springboard, Dosu shot forward like a missile.
"Dosu—NO!!!"
Kin's face twisted with disbelief and betrayal. Her body was momentarily halted by the kick, and she was instantly engulfed by the pursuing sand. With a soft poof, she turned into a shower of blood.
"So decisive. So ruthless," Kankuro muttered. "Using comrades as stepping stones to escape... what trash."
Temari spat in disgust. They could understand sacrificing comrades for the mission, but attacking them just to save your own skin was beyond repulsive.
"Shut up. Chase them," Gaara commanded, his voice dangerously low. A mere henchman had escaped his grasp, and his fury was absolute.
He vanished in a cloud of sand.
...
Meanwhile, the group healing nearby snapped to alertness after hearing the distant screams.
"There's a battle nearby!" Hinata Hyuga stood immediately, activating her Byakugan to scan the surroundings. "Over there!" She pointed toward the forest on the left. "A ninja with a Sound headband is being chased!"
Kiba Inuzuka turned to Shikamaru. "Hey, Shikamaru, our team already has a pair of Heaven and Earth Scrolls. You can take that lone enemy. With all of us here, the pursuers won't dare keep coming."
While forming a team from the same village was technically cheating, as long as they didn't attack together, it should be fine.
Before Shikamaru could speak, Ino Yamanaka nodded eagerly. "No problem. We'll take his scroll!"
She grabbed Shikamaru's collar and Choji Akimichi's scarf, yanking them forward. "Let's go!"
"What a pain. Hopefully those pursuers know what's good for them," Shikamaru muttered, smoothing his wrinkled collar. He grabbed Choji, who was already trying to retreat. "Choji, don't even think about running. We have to fight eventually."
Pulled back, Choji complained softly, "It's just one guy. You two can handle it. I don't need to—"
"Stop complaining. The enemy's almost here!" Ino snapped, cutting him off.
The three quickly formed a formation as Dosu spotted them. Surprised, he held his scroll high and shouted, "Save me and you can have the scroll!"
The trio was about to nod when a gust of sand blew past. Gaara appeared using Sand Body Flicker in the center, forming a hand seal. His voice was calm.
"Sand Drizzle. Sand Burial."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A cloud of sand mist erupted above Dosu's head, transforming into a downpour of sand that buried him instantly. Then the sand pressed inward.
"Ah!!!"
The scream was drowned by the crushing force. Sand mixed with blood, leaving only an arm holding the scroll exposed.
Shikamaru and his companions stared, stunned by the brutality.
"Excuse me! Sorry to disturb you! We'll leave right now!" Shikamaru said immediately, turning to retreat.
But as they turned, sand swirled behind them, forming a solid wall that blocked their path.
Gaara picked up the scroll from the exposed arm and glared coldly at the three. "That was just a warm-up. Now it's your turn to play with me…"
"Gaara!" Kankuro and Temari arrived, stopping him. "Did you get the scroll?"
"If it's the Heaven Scroll, forget it. Killing too many people will get noticed," Temari pleaded. "We're begging you…"
"You dare tell me what to do?" Gaara frowned, annoyed his fun was being interrupted. He glanced down at the scroll in his hand and tossed it to them. "It's the Earth Scroll. If you dare interfere again, I'll kill you all."
Catching the scroll, the two looked at Shikamaru's group with a hint of pity.
"We understand," Kankuro said. "We'll handle the rest. They won't bother you."