"The sand shield won't be fast enough to block it."
Temari bit her lip slightly, frowning just a bit.
There were very few people who could match or beat Gaara in speed. That bushy-browed guy earlier seemed like he could hang in there for a bit.
But this guy using bones looked like he had serious skills too.
Kimimaro's spine struck Gaara right in the ankle as he tried to dodge, and the flexible bone made him stumble hard.
Kimimaro yanked on the bone in his hand and used the force to launch himself forward, suddenly appearing right in front of Gaara.
"What's he trying to do? Just run at him face-first?"
Naruto frowned, confused. After all, Kimimaro was only holding his own spine.
At most, that thing could trip someone up. It didn't look very deadly.
And judging from Kimimaro's movement, it didn't seem like he was going in for a punch either—it looked more like he was just throwing his whole body at Gaara.
"Well, his whole body is made of bone~ In a way, he is a weapon."
Hatake Satoru pinched Naruto's cheek and spoke lightly.
Even though Kimimaro had been quiet for a long time, his reputation as a walking weapon wasn't just some rumor.
"Tch!"
Gaara reached out to block, and his sand shield quickly followed behind Kimimaro.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch."
Bones suddenly burst through the skin of Kimimaro's chest, arms, and entire upper body—sharp, pale-white spikes stabbing out in all directions.
Kimimaro bent forward slightly, then spun quickly. His sharp bones scraped past Gaara's cheek and clothes, and after a few spins,
he actually managed to cut through Gaara's supposedly absolute defense and leave several wounds.
The sand chasing behind him then caught onto the bones on Kimimaro's back and forcefully snapped off a few sharp tips.
Gaara used the brief pause in Kimimaro's movement to take a few steps back, putting some distance between them.
The sand was tightly wrapped around the bones sticking out of Kimimaro's body, like hands gripping them tightly.
Kimimaro tried to pull the bones back a little, but they seemed to be out of control and wouldn't listen to him at all.
As soon as Kimimaro moved even a bit, the sand would immediately try to tear his bones off completely.
It was hard to break Kimimaro's bones with a direct hit, because he could adjust the calcium density in his bones to make them unbelievably hard.
But those long bones sticking out—if the sand kept pulling on them, it would still cause him serious damage.
What was supposed to be a defensive strength was now becoming a threat in the hands of the sand that had latched on tight.
Gaara crouched slightly and took a small breath—he was using this threat to keep Kimimaro in check.
But the constant back-and-forth attacks and defense were starting to wear both of them down.
From Gaara's body, layers of sand peeled off like armor breaking apart, revealing the fierce wounds underneath.
"What the heck! Even if the sand shield couldn't keep up, he's still got armor underneath?"
"And that bone guy looks like he's getting held down—sand's all over his bones."
Naruto stood on a railing, looking like he was about to fall off headfirst.
Even after all this fighting, Kimimaro still hadn't broken through Gaara's defense—his absolute defense was still holding.
No one had managed to land a hit on Gaara's actual body.
"They've been fighting this long and still haven't broken through?"
Sasuke frowned slightly. If either of these two had fought him earlier, he probably would've been knocked out by now.
Honestly, if either of them had fought someone else, it likely would've been a one-hit finish.
"The sand armor eats up more chakra and isn't as strong as the sand shield."
"If Gaara's using the armor now, it means he's on the back foot."
Temari, who knew Gaara well, also frowned slightly.
From the looks of it, Kimimaro wasn't showing any signs of being tired. He really might break through Gaara's defense.
No way… could someone in the Chunin Exams actually beat Gaara?
But Gaara still had a trump card. Hopefully he wouldn't have to use it now.
Still, Kimimaro had basically pushed Gaara to the edge, and it was hard to say what would happen next.
Temari took a deep breath. Gaara had told them not to cause any trouble, but now he was making the biggest mess himself.
And it was against someone from Kirigakure—right in the middle of Konoha's territory.
"Bones are just bones. Weapons that never run out."
"You don't really think doing this is enough to threaten me, do you?"
Kimimaro frowned slightly, then crouched quickly and jumped straight up.
The sand still wrapped around his bones yanked them downward in that instant, tearing the bones right off his body.
Skin, flesh, and bone—those bones were growing from inside him, after all.
The crowd around them let out a gasp of shock.
"Man, that *has* to hurt!"
"Even if it's a Kekkei Genkai, is it really okay to go that far with your own body?"
"Should we really not stop this fight?"
Even Hozuki Mangetsu, the Mizukage, couldn't help but wince and rub his own arm.
He couldn't fully imagine what Kimimaro was going through, but just watching made his bones feel cold.
"Ugh! That looks so painful… Kimimaro's not gonna be okay after that, right?"
Hatake Satoru lowered his eyes slightly. For a brief moment, there was a glimpse of flesh and blood, but Kimimaro's wound healed up quickly.
The troubled look on Kimimaro's face only lasted a second.
Back when Kimimaro was little, during a sparring match, Satoru had casually pulled out one of his bones.
But it was just one, and Kimimaro didn't really react to it.
Gaara had pulled out a bunch all at once, so it was bound to hurt a bit. But judging from how things looked, it wasn't a big deal.
"It's fine. When his bones pierce through the skin, the wounds heal fast."
"The only difference is that usually he pulls them out himself. This time someone else yanked them out."
Wounds from getting hit are different, but when it comes to pulling out his bones, they heal on their own.
Turns out it doesn't matter if he does it himself or someone else does—it works the same.
"You sure are chill about it. Any other teacher would've freaked out by now," Kakashi said, his dead-fish eyes drifting toward Hatake Satoru, who sounded as calm as ever.
"Well, I trust Kimimaro, after all…"
"Wait… have you pulled out his bones before?"
"..."
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