"Come on, you guys didn't want to try pulling one out when you saw it?"
Hatake Satoru looked left and right at the people staring at him.
It made sense for Kakashi to ask something like that, but why did Hozuki Mangetsu also have that "I totally get it" expression?
Do they really know me that well?
The people on both sides shook their heads like bobbleheads.
Who in their right mind would just randomly pull someone's bones out? Kimimaro already looks pretty scary as it is.
Hatake Satoru wanted to roll his eyes at the two of them, but since he was wearing an eyepatch, no one could see it anyway.
"Well~ I'm the teacher, so I can do whatever I want."
"You two couldn't pull them out even if you tried~"
Satoru grinned smugly at the two of them, instantly leaving Kakashi and Mangetsu speechless.
What twisted logic. Kakashi just sighed and turned his head away.
No wonder he's the teacher—he can turn the tables just like that. Mangetsu nodded, looking like he was deep in thought.
"So there's armor under the sand shield too?"
"Doesn't matter how many layers there are. I'll break through all of them."
Kimimaro jumped up and swung his spine around, wrapping it tightly around Gaara, who was just catching his breath. The sand shield got completely locked down by the bone coil.
Before Gaara could even react, a sharp spike grew from Kimimaro's palm. More spikes and bones quickly wrapped around his arm.
Pale white bones sprouted from his arm, forming a huge spinning drill-like weapon.
He compressed the bone density to the max, boosting its hardness to the limit, and readied a powerful strike.
"Dance of the Clematis: Flower."
As Kimimaro spoke softly, one word at a time, he charged straight at Gaara, the drill-bone on his arm spinning fiercely.
At this point, the fight between the two of them was already way beyond what most teachers could manage.
But since neither Sunagakure nor Kirigakure had called for a stop, the people from Konohagakure couldn't say much either. All they could do was stand there and watch the two kids fight it out.
As for why Sunagakure hadn't stepped in—it was because they believed Gaara was strong enough, and things hadn't gone too far yet.
The Chunin Exams are a major event that shows the strength between villages and countries.
Kirigakure had already taken on many high-level, high-paying missions. Naturally, Sunagakure wanted to use this chance to gain some reputation too.
There's no way they'd give up on this so easily.
Besides, Gaara wasn't even exhausted yet, so there was no reason to stop the fight.
As for Kirigakure, whether it's the Mizukage or anyone else—
They treat Hatake Satoru as a safety net. As long as he doesn't wander off and let things spiral out of control, there shouldn't be any serious problems.
As long as he's standing here, those two fighting below won't get too out of hand.
Since he's the one guiding Kimimaro, he naturally understands the situation better than anyone.
If Hatake Satoru doesn't call it off, they won't stop the match on their own.
"Shukaku's Shield."
Gaara frowned a little, eyes dark as he stared at Kimimaro.
The ground around them suddenly sank a bit, and sand started rising up all around, forming a huge Shukaku-shaped shield that wrapped tightly around Gaara.
Even though the sand kept coming together, this version of Shukaku's Shield wasn't as big as the one that fought Kimimaro in the original.
Hatake Satoru leaned on his hand, chewing on the skewer from a dango, swaying it slightly.
There's not enough sand here.
Gaara didn't just use the sand from his gourd—he also pulled in the sand from the surrounding area.
To form this shield, he had to gather up every bit of sand nearby.
The sudden drop in the ground showed that he was drawing sand from underneath too.
The area was mostly rock, not much natural sand. Sure, Gaara could grind the stone into usable sand,
but that takes time, and he was still a bit short.
Hatake Satoru kept his eyes on the fully formed Shukaku and Kimimaro, who had charged straight in.
*Crack!*
In less than two minutes of clashing with the shield, cracks started forming in the bones on Kimimaro's arms.
Even the toughest bones weren't enough to completely overpower Shukaku's Shield.
Sand burst up all around them as the two clashed. Kimimaro's brows were tightly knit, then he lunged forward with all his strength.
*Cough!*
Gaara coughed up a bit of blood, and the sand forming the shield began to scatter. At the same time, Kimimaro's bones shattered completely and fell all over the ground.
Gaara's left side wasn't pierced through, but there was still a big wound there.
Blood kept pouring out, dripping steadily onto the sand.
The two of them quickly jumped apart, keeping their distance.
Both of them looked exhausted, panting heavily, and slightly hunched over. They were clearly running out of strength.
"He broke through?!"
Temari almost stepped onto the railing, staring down in shock, eyes wide in disbelief.
That was Gaara—the one who never got hurt in missions, the one with absolute defense. And someone actually managed to hit him!?
"That's definitely his real body… that bone guy is insane."
Even Kankuro, who always squinted, opened his eyes wide, staring in suspicion at Gaara and Kimimaro below.
It was always Gaara who made others bleed—no one was supposed to land a hit on him.
Even his absolute defense got broken. Just how far could this guy from Kirigakure go?
Baki, the jonin in charge of the Sand siblings, stood nearby and couldn't help but frown.
No one expected Gaara to get hurt. They had always treated him as their trump card, bragging about his absolute defense all the time—and now it just fell apart in front of everyone.
They couldn't let this fight go on any longer. Baki quickly looked over the situation, then hurried off to speak with the Konoha referee.
He had to move fast. These two were seriously fighting with their lives.
But heading down alone at a time like this—even a teacher might not be able to keep things under control.
This wasn't like those fights earlier with the students. These two were strong enough—and they really wanted to kill each other.
Kimimaro and Gaara caught their breath, then almost at the exact same time—
They suddenly looked up and locked eyes, then began forming hand signs.
The next moment, both of them slammed their hands onto the ground.
"Quicksand Waterfall Flow!"
"Dance of the Seedling Fern!"
The ground beneath both of them—not just the battle area, but even where the spectators were standing—
All of it began shaking violently as their voices rang out!
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