The two Sand Ninja closed their eyes, offering no resistance as they awaited their deaths. They could only hope that Gaara would regain his senses after seeing blood.
"Stop! Aren't you comrades?!"
Naruto, witnessing this, was momentarily stunned. Realizing what was happening, he quickly stepped forward, preparing to block Gaara's attack.
But he was too late.
Just as Gaara's claws were about to tear their bodies apart, they suddenly stopped, then instantly turned into sand and fell to the ground. At the same time, Shukaku's appearance vanished from his face, replaced by Gaara's furious expression.
He gritted his teeth, glaring at the two men, then withdrew his hand and turned to leave.
"Don't follow me! If you dare stop me from venting my anger again, I'll kill you both!"
Although Gaara always said he wanted to love himself and ensure his existence wouldn't disappear, deep down, he still longed for the care and concern of family and friends. Even though he had repeatedly said he would kill Temari, Kankuro, and his father, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to do it.
Seeing that Gaara hadn't attacked, Kankuro was first incredulous, then breathed a sigh of relief.
"Phew—I almost thought I was going to die. I didn't expect Gaara to stop at the last moment!"
Temari also patted her chest, looking shaken. Then, remembering something, she quickly chased after him.
"Gaara, wait for us! You're injured and bleeding, let me heal you!"
In Sunagakure, Gaara had never been in such a sorry state. Now that he was injured, Temari wanted to check on him, hoping to improve her relationship with this terrible yet pitiful younger brother.
Hearing Temari's call, Gaara paused slightly. Then, without turning his head, he vanished from the spot using Sand Body Flicker. It looked like he was fleeing in a panic.
Naruto: "..."
He just left like that, without even glancing at him? So, what was the point of this fight?
Shaking his head, Naruto withdrew the Nine-Tails Chakra Cloak and mentally thanked Kurama. "Thank you so much for what you did. Even though you were probably afraid of Menma, I still want to thank you!"
Naruto had assumed that the Nine-Tails' help was due to Menma's pressure. After all, their relationship had improved a lot not long ago! And now, Kurama was offending the Nine-Tails for his sake, which was proof enough! Thinking this, Naruto felt a warmth in his heart, and his mood improved.
"Hmph, foolish brat, you'll die of stupidity!"
Naruto's words made Kurama in the sealed space mutter speechlessly. Then, turning to Menma, he explained, "Don't overthink it. I just don't want to lose to that stupid raccoon, Shukaku. Besides, I only did this to avoid troubling you. Otherwise, I would have let him go berserk and kill everyone already!"
Menma glanced at Kurama but ignored him, turning his attention to the Corruption Points he had just acquired.
[Corruption Points +2000]
[Current Corruption Points: 18,000]
Menma didn't immediately exchange these 18,000 Corruption Points, instead planning to save them for Nagato's Rinnegan. He had already sent one of his shadow clones to Amegakure with Zabuza. If all went well, he should be able to join after demonstrating his strength. Then he could see the required Corruption Points for the exchange. His plan to break through 80% would require the Rinnegan. He just hoped the required Corruption Points weren't too high, otherwise he'd have to start with Nagato.
Outside, the crowd watching from the back rushed over as the battle ended. Kiba was the most excited. He rushed up and put his arm around Naruto's shoulder.
"Naruto, you're so unfair! You secretly abandoned us and became so strong, and so cool too!"
"No way, hahaha..." Naruto laughed triumphantly, scratching the back of his head.
Compared to the happy Naruto, Shikamaru and the others looked utterly miserable.
"We've completely lost our chance in this Chunin Exams. Not only are the scrolls buried in this sand, but we're also seriously injured. Even with Sakura's help to heal, by the time we recover, all those teams will have already cleared the exams..."
Because there are only twenty-six teams in total, to pass, they'd have to overcome half the requirements for those two scrolls. Not to mention those who, like Gaara just now, obtained the same scroll and then went to find other teams. In this situation... waiting for them to recover before trying to obtain the two scrolls... the difficulty is ridiculously high!
Sasuke had arrived at this point, scanning the battlefield before looking at Naruto, shaking his head in disappointment.
"If it were me, the power of One-Tail Chakra Mode would have been enough to completely defeat him. If it were Menma, he wouldn't even need One-Tail Chakra Mode; he could win with taijutsu alone. But you used almost the power of Three-Tailed Chakra Mode, and you still couldn't finish off the enemy."
Although Naruto imitated Menma by using chakra tails, he completely missed the essence, merely copying the form. His attacks relied solely on his fists, failing to utilize the powerful defense and terrifying adaptability of the Tailed Beast chakra! If it were him, when those sands enveloped him, they would have been instantly cut and dispersed by the powerful chakra surrounding him! Even for that final strike, he would have coiled chakra around his fist, forming it into a sharper shape that was easier to inflict damage, or a blunt, heavy shape with immense force! He wouldn't have given his opponent a chance to get back up!
"Huh?" Naruto didn't immediately understand Sasuke's analysis. After a moment of stunned silence, he angrily shouted, "Sasuke, stop bragging! This isn't your pure Tailed Beast chakra; it's hundreds of times harder to control! If it were your simple chakra, I would have already defeated my opponent!"
"You call that simple?" Sasuke glanced at Naruto, a thin layer of golden-red light rising around him. "Make your move. Even with just a wisp of Tailed Beast chakra, I can easily defeat you."
"Fine, I'll fight!!!" The unconvinced Naruto immediately prepared to fight. However, Sakura pulled him back.
Hinata, standing nearby, activated her Byakugan at just the right moment. She changed the subject softly in a timid voice.
"Um, I, I found the scroll with my Byakugan, it's, it's under the sand over there, there are two..."
"Two scrolls!" Ino, who had been listless, immediately perked up upon hearing Hinata's words. A flush of excitement rose to her pale face. "It must be the scroll of that unlucky guy who got killed at the beginning; Gaara didn't take it!"
With that, Ino quickly ran in the direction Hinata pointed and started digging with a kunai.
Sakura seized the opportunity to say, "Naruto, use your Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu to help Ino, she's injured!"
Seeing Sakura's pleading expression, Naruto immediately forgot about Sasuke. With a smug, silly grin, he quickly formed the hand seals.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
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