Chapter 92: Taking the Blame Again

Konoha Stadium

Gaara stared coldly at Sasuke.

"You're her teammate, aren't you...?" Gaara said, his voice devoid of emotion.

"What...?" Sasuke was bewildered by Gaara's words.

"I hope you're as strong as she is..." Gaara's expression instantly became twisted with ferocity. "Otherwise, it will be too boring..."

"You..." Sasuke understood. Gaara was talking about Sakura.

"Come, let's begin," Gaara's demeanor suddenly returned to normal.

"Here I come!" Sasuke pulled out shuriken from his ninja pouch and threw them at Gaara. As expected, they were useless, blocked by Gaara's sand.

Then, Sasuke swiftly charged towards Gaara, throwing a punch. However, it was still blocked by the sand.

"Hmph, just as I thought," Sasuke, having observed Gaara's battle with Sakura through his Sharingan, knew how to deal with Gaara's sand. But Sasuke didn't have Water Release like Sakura, so he had to be faster than the sand itself.

"Looks like I have no choice," After personally experiencing Gaara's sand, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and formed hand seals. Sparks of electricity intermittently flickered across his body.

Sasuke gave a cold snort, looking at Gaara, and charged forward again, throwing another punch. Sand quickly rose in front of Gaara, but Sasuke's punch wasn't meant to connect directly.

A smirk appeared on Sasuke's lips. His body, with incredible speed, twisted and turned, circling behind Gaara, and he landed a direct punch on Gaara's face. Gaara was sent flying backward, parts of his Sand Armor flaking off.

Sakura, watching from the stands, felt a bit speechless. She was probably going to take the blame for this again. This was Sasuke utilizing the Sharingan's predictive ability and the body-activating properties of Lightning Release to execute such an attack. However...

"Kakashi, you're being too reckless. That kind of movement isn't something his body can handle yet..." Guy, a taijutsu expert, immediately saw the problem.

High-speed linear movement, to suddenly change direction, required a strong physique. But Sasuke's movement just now was achieved by activating his body with Lightning Release, stimulating his reflexes to complete the action.

In short, Sasuke had forced his brain to issue commands, exceeding his body's limits to perform this move. Previously, Sasuke could see Sakura's movements with his Sharingan, but his body couldn't keep up. By stimulating his nerve cells and body with Lightning Release, Sasuke could react.

Combined with the Sharingan's prediction, it wouldn't be so easy for Sakura to hit him anymore. However, the side effects were still significant. His body wasn't strong enough, it wouldn't last long, and his body would be exhausted afterward.

So Sasuke had ended up using this method after all. Sakura, as a medical ninja, knew that this method ultimately damaged the nervous system. She'd have to examine Sasuke's body later; she wondered how many times he had used it.

"I didn't teach him that," Kakashi, seeing the electricity on Sasuke's body and the movement that shouldn't be possible at this stage, understood what Sasuke had done and immediately glanced at Sakura. He hadn't taught Sasuke this method; the most likely culprit was Sakura, the medical ninja.

Sakura, seeing Kakashi's questioning gaze, stuck out her tongue sheepishly. "Sasuke asked me if there was a way to increase his speed, because he was going to fight Gaara, so I told him."

Actually, if Sasuke trained his body using Lightning Release stimulation for about a month, he could almost reach his current speed. But that would leave him no time to practice Raikiri. So, to save time, Sasuke asked Sakura for a shortcut, even though this method was akin to drinking poison to quench thirst.

On the field, Sasuke, temporarily gaining speed equal to the sand with Lightning Release, and using the Sharingan's prediction, was beating Gaara, who couldn't fight back. Most of Gaara's Sand Armor had fallen off.

Meanwhile, in the Sand Village section, Kankuro and Temari were secretly growing anxious, watching Gaara being beaten without being able to retaliate. Temari glanced at the Kazekage in the stands, who remained as steady as a mountain, watching the match.

Temari quietly said to Kankuro, "Have you noticed anything strange about Lord Kazekage?"

"Hmm... It does seem a bit odd..." Kankuro had already felt that something was off about the Kazekage, but with the mission imminent, Kankuro had attributed it to his own nervousness. Hearing Temari say this, Kankuro became uncertain.

"You feel it too... It seems it's not just my imagination..." Temari hadn't expected Kankuro to share the feeling. It seemed she wasn't wrong; something was definitely wrong with this Kazekage.

The Kazekage was Temari and Kankuro's father. Outsiders might not notice anything, but Temari, having lived with him for over ten years, couldn't miss it. To be honest, neither Temari nor Kankuro supported this operation, but they were only Genin, their opinions held little weight, and they had no choice but to participate.

Now, with the plan about to commence and her suspicions about the Kazekage, Temari didn't know what to do. Her heart was filled with intense anxiety...

On the field, Sasuke finally stopped, panting heavily. Gaara looked rather pathetic, his Sand Armor completely gone. However, Gaara didn't bother repairing the armor, as maintaining it also consumed a significant amount of chakra.

"Hehehe... This is the feeling... Your blood must be delicious..." Gaara paid no attention to his disheveled appearance; his expression had become utterly savage.

Rising to his feet, Gaara formed the "Tiger" hand seal. Immediately, the surrounding sand swirled around him, gradually forming a sphere.

Sasuke, seeing Gaara encasing himself in sand, felt a sense of danger. His battle instincts told him that this was a formidable ninjutsu. Thinking this, he charged forward, intending to interrupt it.

But he was ultimately too late. By the time Sasuke reached Gaara, the sand had completely surrounded him. Sasuke punched the sand sphere, but there was no reaction. Instead, numerous sand spears instantly protruded from the surface.

Caught off guard, Sasuke was scratched on the face by the sand spears. He quickly jumped back, warily observing Gaara's "turtle shell."

Feeling the pain on his hand, Sasuke looked at the sand sphere and thought, "Just changing the density of the sand made it this hard. Is this Absolute Defense? Looks like it's time to use that move."

Sasuke glanced behind him, estimating the distance. "Using that move from this distance will reduce its effectiveness somewhat. Looks like I have no choice." Thinking this, Sasuke jumped onto the wall behind him, using chakra to adhere himself to it.

"Huh... What's Sasuke doing... Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, puzzled by Sasuke's actions.

Kakashi didn't answer Naruto's question, because Sasuke's actions had already provided the answer.

After Sasuke formed the hand seals, his hand blazed with blue light, emitting a piercing sound. Sasuke, with emotionless eyes from his Sharingan, stared at the sand sphere, and in an instant, he disappeared from the wall.

All that could be seen on the field was a blue streak of light rushing straight towards Gaara.

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