Naruto didn't want to leave just Sakura and Ino behind.
If they left and more enemies came from behind, with Sakura and Ino's strength, they'd be taken out instantly.
But if he kept taking them along, they'd definitely feel like they were holding him back.
After thinking for a moment, Naruto told Shino and Shikamaru, "You two stay with them and find a safe place to wait. I'll go on ahead."
With that, Naruto didn't give the four of them a chance to object and vanished in a flash of golden light.
Shikamaru and the others looked at each other, unsure what to do.
"Where do we go now?" Ino asked.
"Like Naruto said, find a safe place and wait until this is over."
Shikamaru sighed helplessly. "Man, what a pain. If I'd known we'd be useless here, we should've stayed at the arena."
At least there, there were jonin to protect them.
Now that they'd left the arena, they could only protect themselves.
"I want to go after them," Shino spoke up for once.
"Why?" Sakura and Ino were confused.
Shikamaru glanced at Shino and figured out what he was thinking. "You want to find that Kankuro, right? Because he forfeited?"
Shino said nothing, but his silence was an answer in itself.
"Forget it. With that guy's speed and strength, by the time you find him, that Kankuro will already be dealt with!" Shikamaru tried to talk him out of it.
Thinking of Naruto's strength, Shino stayed quiet and didn't bring up leaving again.
Meanwhile, after Naruto left, he quickly caught up with Sasuke and Gaara.
Kankuro and Temari, seeing Naruto block their path, looked tense.
"Tiger in front, wolf behind. Looks like we can't escape, Kankuro." Temari gripped her iron fan, her face serious.
"But Gaara still hasn't fully recovered yet!"
Kankuro carried Gaara on his back, looking a little lost.
Naruto had left him with a deep psychological shadow. He felt that only when Gaara recovered and transformed would they be able to deal with this guy.
"No need to be nervous. You two are planning to wait for him to recover, right? Then just do it here. If you have medicine, use it. If not, let him heal on his own."
Naruto spoke with his hands in his pockets, expressionless.
Kankuro and Temari froze for a moment.
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. I just want to see the thing inside him."
Dealing with the Sand trio and dealing with the One-Tailed Beast's Jinchuriki Gaara were two completely different things.
If he reported this kind of result, even if he held back, it wouldn't seem strange, and it could even boost his popularity.
"What do you think, Sasuke?"
The late-arriving Sasuke also heard what Naruto said. He hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Rather than killing a half-dead Gaara, he wanted to fight the thing inside Gaara even more.
If even Uzumaki Naruto cared about that thing, just how strong could it be?
"You two are insane! You're completely crazy!"
Hearing that Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke were deliberately letting Gaara recover, Kankuro stared at them like they were monsters.
"You have no idea how terrifying the thing inside Gaara is. It'll kill you both! Bastards!"
"Kankuro!"
Temari cut him off, "Since they're looking for death, let's not stop them. Got it?"
"Y-yes!"
Being snapped at by Temari snapped Kankuro out of it too. Naruto and Sasuke's actions might have been suicidal, but they were actually good for them.
They were enemies. Why should he go out of his way to help them?
Kankuro put Gaara down against a tree to rest, then took out his crow puppet on guard.
Even though Naruto and Sasuke said they wouldn't make a move, they still had to be prepared just in case.
Even if he and Temari teamed up, neither of them could take on Naruto or Sasuke.
After a while, when Temari saw that Naruto and Sasuke really didn't seem like they were going to attack, she took a box of medicine from inside her clothes.
"Kankuro, keep watch. I'll give Gaara the medicine."
"Don't worry!"
Kankuro controlled his crow to block in front of Temari and Gaara, refusing to move even if it meant dying.
But Naruto and Sasuke just quietly watched them without making a move.
When Temari fed the medicine to Gaara, he slowly woke up from his coma.
But Gaara's condition after waking wasn't good. Especially after seeing Sasuke, his head pounded like it was splitting apart, and all he could think about was killing.
"Temari, Kankuro, get out of my way!"
"Gaara? What's wrong?"
"I said get out of the way!!"
Gaara looked at the two who were closing in on him and struck with all his strength, sending them flying. His whole body burst with a powerful aura.
"Ah!!!"
"Ah!!!"
Gaara let out a sound that was both pained and excited. His body twitched as it began to undergo strange changes.
"Can't hold it back anymore?"
Naruto found it interesting to watch Gaara slowly turn into a tailed beast.
With the control he had over the Nine-Tails' chakra, there was no way he could ever be forcibly turned into a tailed beast in his life.
But he could try using the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
"Temari, what do we do?" Kankuro helped Temari up and asked.
"Fall back for now. Let them finish fighting first." Temari looked at Gaara, who was already on the verge of losing control, knowing there was nothing they could do to stop him.
If they rushed in, Gaara might kill them too!
Naruto didn't stop them as he watched Temari and Kankuro retreat.
If two little side characters wanted to leave, then let them leave.
In a flash, Naruto appeared beside Sasuke. "Want to give it a try?"
Sasuke gripped the decapitating blade, his face cold. "He's my opponent!"
Here we go again...
Naruto shook his head and immediately flashed away.
After the Forest of Death incident, he no longer cared much about Sasuke's stubbornness.
Hopefully, this guy wouldn't end up getting beaten so badly he'd cry for his parents later!
Not long after, half of Gaara's body transformed into Shukaku's form.
Then, as if unable to suppress his desire to kill, Gaara swung his massive claw straight at Sasuke.
Seeing Gaara's eyes, Sasuke felt a flicker of fear, but he didn't back down.
He gripped the decapitating blade and faced the tailed beast's jinchuriki head-on!
Duang!
With one blow, Sasuke's decapitating blade was smacked away, and the force of Gaara's power sent him flying, his hands numb from the shock.
Gaara immediately lunged at Sasuke again while he was still in midair!
Just as Gaara was about to kill him, a laser beam shot in between them, causing a violent explosion!
Boom!!
The terrifying blast wave sent both Gaara and Sasuke flying.
In midair, Gaara's eyes locked onto Naruto like a wild beast, letting out a hoarse roar.
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