Fuu and Gaara worked together to lead the candidates away from the stormy land.
Fuu even took the initiative to offer her Earth Scroll to the three candidates, but was refused, leaving Fuu speechless and confused about what she had done wrong.
She muttered in frustration, "Ah, I was actually hoping to make three new friends."
Gaara looked at Fuu and suddenly realized—she reminded him of someone from Konoha long ago.
Just as he was about to speak, his eyes narrowed. He stared ahead.
Fuu sensed something too. A glimmer of excitement flashed in her eyes as she waved toward the distance. "Brother, is that you?"
Three figures emerged from the swirling sand, slowly approaching them.
As Fuu stepped forward, Gaara suddenly stretched out his right arm, blocking her path. His voice was firm, "Don't go."
She looked at him, puzzled. "Why not?"
"Something isn't right."
"It must be because of the sealing artifact in Hoichi's possession, right? Since it once sealed Shukaku, you can sense the danger."
The three newcomers were none other than Anya, Sasori, and Hoichi.
It was Anya who spoke first. Taking a couple steps forward with a smile, she said, "Your senses aren't mistaken. This time, we really didn't come with good intentions."
Fuu's face paled with worry. She knew how much her grandfather respected this "brother" before her—so what had changed?
"Did I do something wrong?" Fuu asked pitifully.
Anya's gaze turned cold. "You didn't. But your grandfather made me angry."
"No way! Grandfather has always respected you so much, how could he possibly anger you?"
"I'm not lying. Not long ago, he called me a little rascal."
Thinking back on Genzo's dying words, Anya couldn't help but sigh. That was the only honest thing Genzo ever said to her—the rest had just been flattery. In fact, fearing the Zero Organization might harm Fuu for their plans, Genzo had even sacrificed his life to buy Anya's mercy. In the end, Genzo had never truly seen Anya as a friend or family—he had treated Anya purely as a tool, a pawn in his leadership.
That was exactly what angered Anya. He'd never intended to harm Fuu in the first place, but now, after Genzo's death, everything had become a transaction, making Anya even more cautious.
Frightened, Fuu whispered, "Then… after I return, I'll have Grandfather apologize to you, okay?"
"No need. Your Chunin Exam ends here."
Without any visible movement from Anya, a blade flew through the air, slicing across space with a thunderous boom. After breaking the sound barrier, it shot toward Fuu like a streak of lightning.
"Watch out!"
With a wave of his hand, Gaara summoned sand from the gourd on his back, instantly erecting a thick protective wall between them.
Fuu stood there, stunned, unable to believe she had just been attacked.
"Absolute defense? Interesting."
A smirk flickered across Anya's face.
Gaara's eyes flickered with surprise as the previously blocked blade erupted with dazzling lightning. A powerful surge of lightning chakra enveloped the blade—this was the combined power of Lightning Blade Art and Sword Manipulation Art.
The fusion of these two sword techniques amplified their strength, further enhanced by inspiration drawn from The Third Raikage's Ippon Gogotsu technique. By concentrating the force into a single point, the lightning chakra was compressed—the smaller the compression, the greater the resulting explosion.
Gaara didn't dare to be careless. He spread his arms wide, drawing sand from across the nearby desert toward him.
He clapped his hands together and slammed them onto the ground: "Ultimate defense—Shield of Shukaku."
Countless grains of sand formed into a giant construct before Gaara. It spread its massive arms wide, completely shielding both Gaara and his companion behind it.
"Clang…"
The Blade of Indifference unsheathed.
Anya's expression grew slightly serious. Massive surges of lightning chakra erupted around him, arcs crackling across his body nonstop. With thunder and lightning flashing, a sharp, piercing sound filled the air—a shriek like countless bolts of lightning entwining and swirling endlessly.
"Chidori?" Gaara recalled his past duel against Sasuke. "No, not Chidori. This lightning feels even worse—and covers a wider area. But I've grown much stronger. I can block this."
The storm of lightning raging around Anya funneled furiously into the blade, weaving into a mesh of electric threads. Friction between the lightning and the steel turned the blade deep blue, glowing with brilliant electric light as it shot forward.
The original blade merged with the Blade of Indifference, forming an interlinked chain-blade formation—mother and child blades connected.
It moved so fast it was barely visible, piercing Gaara's ultimate shield with blinding speed.
Gaara's eyebrows furrowed tightly. Chakra poured relentlessly from inside him into the sand. He knew it had come down to this—his chakra versus the enemy's, his will against theirs. It was a showdown between the ultimate blade and the ultimate shield. One moment's carelessness could lead to complete penetration.
Lightning danced across the stomach of the sand giant, carving out a hole quickly. Half the blade entered before its speed began to slow. The front section moved sluggishly, the lightning clinging to the metal dimming rapidly. It looked like it could dissipate at any moment.
Gaara exhaled in relief, slowly saying, "Drawing extremely hard minerals from beneath the earth, then compressing them with chakra and blending them into infinite sand—I control all of this. This battlefield is mine. I won't lose."
Blocking even the Blade of Indifference? Interesting." Anya didn't show anger—in fact, he looked amused. A glint of admiration flashed through his eyes. Then, he took a light step forward and instantly appeared before the sand giant.
Grasping the already-weakening Blade of Indifference, he uttered one simple word: "Break."
Gaara suddenly felt darkness encroach around him, a deep chill sinking into his heart. Opposite him, the blade exuded a bloodthirsty aura while he stood alone—like a helpless lamb awaiting slaughter.
[Breaking the Blade]—it was always Anya's ultimate sword technique. With a single strike, the sand giant crumbled into ruins.
The blade's momentum continued without pause, piercing straight through Gaara's autonomous sand defenses, impaling his shoulder harshly. Blood spilled out, staining Gaara's robe red.
"Ah…" Gaara let out a stifled groan before crashing heavily onto the ground.
A spectral blade launched forth, pinning his hands and feet to the ground, rendering him immobile.
"Don't," Fuu said, tears welling in her eyes. "Brother, don't kill him."
Gaara forced himself to stay awake as he spoke. "Fuu, run quickly. His target is both of us—he wants the Tailed Beasts within us."
Anya sighed coldly. "Fuu, what Gaara says is true. I already gave you a chance to escape earlier, unfortunately, you didn't cherish it. It seems that all your life, you've been too well protected by Genzo. But he won't be able to protect you anymore."
Fuu gasped, "What do you mean by that?"
"Because, he's dead."
After saying those words, Anya illuminated a green Scalpel chakra in his hand and struck Fuu's neck with one palm, severing her nervous system.
Moments later, both Jinchuriki collapsed onto the ground, completely helpless and unable to resist.
Watching silently, Hoichi sucked in a sharp breath. He finally understood why Kazekage had obeyed this man's orders. With such sword skills and strength, this person was probably no weaker than Kazekage himself.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
Want to read the subsequent content in advance?
Please follow my Patreon:patreon/Tansnovel
Tans Novel - The Fastest-Updating Naruto Fanfiction Account
Read 100+ chapters in advance, with at least 3 new chapters updated every day! More free chapters! 20+ Naruto fanfictions!
Just three steps:
1. Download and open the "Patreon" app
2. Search for "Tans Novel"
3. Click on the collection and enjoy to your heart's content
<><><><><><><><>