Naruto: The new beginning

100. Naruto Uzumaki vs Gaara – 2



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Naruto took a few steps back and quickly completed the hand seals:

"Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave!"

A massive tidal wave, wide enough to cover the entire arena and towering over ten meters, rose in front of Naruto and crashed into Gaara's sand wave, completely overwhelming it. 

After all, the water was several times higher than Gaara's sand. It was like an adult bullying a child.

Naruto was now planning to learn a first-hand technique from Kisame Hoshigaki, often referred to as the "Monster of the Hidden Mist."

He started by using the lake's surface to create a battlefield advantage.

The scale of Naruto's Water Release shocked almost everyone present.

Kankuro and the others, worried for Gaara, were reminded of the terrified voices of the unlucky Grass Village ninjas back in the Forest of Death: "Do you call this thing a Water Release jutsu?"

It wasn't good—the attack signal hadn't been given yet. If Gaara went berserk now, it could ruin everything.

Even the Leaf Genin, who knew Naruto well, was stunned by the size of the waves. 

They had heard he was skilled in Water Release, but this was over the top. Had he made a summoning contract with the sea itself?

The audience, unaware of the truth, was equally incredulous. They thought the Uchiha kid's Fire Release was terrifying, but this was on another level.

Especially the senior Genin from other villages—they felt embarrassed. Were Konoha's Genin standards this high now? Should they all go back to the Academy?

The enormous wave finally crashed down, and Gaara's sand had no effect beyond muddying the water.

After the turbulent waters calmed, the arena had transformed into a lake, and Gaara had disappeared beneath the surface.

Genma, the referee, had already retreated to the wall. The senbon in his mouth twitched as he muttered to himself, "Is Naruto attacking the referee? Damn, I should penalize him."

Minato and the Third Hokage looked at the terrified audience in the front row from the high platform. 

They were relieved that the seats were elevated from the arena: "Naruto's gone too far."

"What powerful chakra... It's as expected, considering who his mother is," said the Kazekage, admiring the red-haired figure in the distance.

Meanwhile, Kushina was laughing and slapping Kakashi on the back: "That's it! Great job, Naruto! That's how you use ninjutsu—hit 'em hard!"

Kakashi winced in pain from her enthusiastic backslap, his masked face betraying his helplessness. He thought to himself, Ninjutsu really shouldn't be used like this...

Asuma's cigarette had fallen from his mouth, his thoughts mirroring Kakashi's.

Meanwhile, Gai, who had just returned after seeing Lee off, was deep in thought. 

Suddenly, he clapped his hands together in realization. "So that's it! He's the Fourth Hokage's son!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes at his best friend. "You've met him so many times, Gai..."

In the arena, Naruto opened his mini-map through sensory ninjutsu and realized Gaara hadn't moved. 

He was still at the bottom of the water. Looking up, Naruto noticed an eye floating in the air, staring right at him.

It was Gaara's Sand Eye, a scouting ninjutsu that transmitted visual information directly to his brain.

Though the sight was unnerving, Naruto's first thought was how badly he wanted to learn that trick.

Naruto resisted the urge to use the Transformation Jutsu to mess with Gaara and lift his spirits—it would be too risky with so many people around, and he might get himself killed if they found out.

In the end, Naruto sent a shadow clone to investigate. As for why he didn't use water... well, he was used to it. Fortunately, he had dispatched the more mischievous clones as scouts.

The kunai thrown earlier had already been washed away by the water, leaving the clone to dive down. Ten seconds later, the clone's memory returned:

There was a sphere at the bottom, like an eggshell. When the clone tried to break it open, spikes shot out and destroyed him.

Is this thing waterproof? Naruto wondered. He regretted not knowing techniques like Kisame's Water Shark Bombs or the Five Feeding Shark for underwater combat. 

There was still time to learn that jutsu—he could always drag Sasuke along to track down Kisame later.

Before Naruto could decide on his next move, a splash broke the surface of the water. 

Gaara emerged, half his face covered in sand, transforming into the One-Tail, his eyes were like copper coins, and one of his arms had turned into a massive sand appendage.

Naruto stared curiously. Is this the first stage of his transformation? Why doesn't the sand arm absorb water?

Gaara's voice came out cold and sinister: "You're strong. You're worth killing. And when I kill you, I'll finally feel alive!"

With that, Gaara's sand arm lunged at Naruto.

Though the audience didn't fully understand the situation, they felt something big was about to go down. They focused intensely on the fight.

But Naruto was struggling to stay awake. His eyelids drooped, and soon, one by one, the audience members began falling asleep under Gaara's Genjutsu.

The elite ninja snapped out of it quickly, like Neji and Hiashi, who shielded Hinata and Hanabi, using their Byakugan to survey the area.

Anbu, led by Itachi, sprang into action, engaging the Sound and Sand ninja who had suddenly appeared to attack.

Gai and Asuma also joined the fray, while Kakashi protected Sasuke and Sakura, blocking enemy attacks one by one.

Sasuke and Sakura stared at the chaos, unable to process what was happening. Was this the change Naruto had warned them about?

A Sound ninja snuck past Kakashi, rushing toward Sasuke and Sakura. He thought to himself, A weak, injured girl? One hit should be enough...

Before he could finish the thought, he was embedded in the ground. Sakura rubbed her wrist. "Don't underestimate me."

[Inner Sakura: Shannaro! Finally, it's my turn to protect Sasuke!]

Kushina rushed over to Minato, relaying news from the village's east, west, and north gates, brought to her by Naruto's shadow clones. "Large serpent-like summoning beasts have appeared in all three directions, along with dozens of Sand ninjas attacking the village!"

There was no news from the south yet, but Naruto knew Izumo and Kotetsu were on guard duty there today...

Minato stood up abruptly, but before he could speak, the Third Hokage, unaware of the unfolding plot, turned in shock toward the Kazekage. "Kazekage... you...!"

"Now!" Seizing the moment of distraction, the "Kazekage" grabbed the Third Hokage and leapt to the roof. Four of his five guards reverted to their true forms—the Sound Four—and erected the Four Violet Flames Formation. The last one followed closely behind.

The plan to destroy Konoha had officially begun!

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