"Woah!"
The fierce gust blasted forward, sweeping across a wide area.
Gaara remained expressionless. With a single thought, sand surged outward at his feet.
Under Gaara's precise control, the sand rose and shaped itself into a thick, semicircular barrier.
BOOM!
Naruto's wind jutsu slammed against it.
Crack!
Shatter!
The barrier cracked apart under the pressure—but even then, Naruto's attack failed to break through completely.
"Sand…? What kind of technique is that?"
Naruto's pupils tightened.
This was completely outside his expectations, forcing him to immediately switch tactics.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
A huge surge of chakra erupted.
Even though Naruto was no longer the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, the Uzumaki bloodline still gifted him with a chakra reserve far beyond that of ordinary shinobi.
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
Dozens of white puffs burst open across the field.
In seconds, fifty to sixty solid clones surrounded Gaara.
"Ohhhh!"
"What is that!?"
"Shadow Clone Technique!?"
"Lord Naruto's son can use this many physical clones?"
Even the veteran shinobi in the stands were surprised.
Gaara, on the other hand, grew colder. A murderous gleam flickered in his eyes.
Don't worry, Mother. I'll let you taste this one's blood soon…
The bloodlust intensified.
"Sand Coffin."
As Naruto's clones charged from every direction, Gaara's chakra flared sharply.
The ground trembled.
Sand gathered in a massive mass around him.
"What's that—?"
"Huh!?"
"W-woah…"
Most clones were caught before they even reached striking distance. With no preliminaries in this altered timeline and no fight against Rock Lee beforehand, Gaara's abilities were unknown to the entire arena.
Controlling sand like a living creature—
Naruto had never encountered anything remotely like it.
Once the clones were caught, they couldn't break free.
Sand wrapped around one after another—
"Sand Burial."
Gaara clenched his hand.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Explosive bursts of sand detonated across the field.
Dozens of clones vanished in blinding puffs of smoke.
Still—
More than a dozen pushed through the explosions and closed in on Gaara.
Naruto grinned as one clone leapt forward.
"Got him—!!"
"Sand Shield."
Walls of sand rose instantly around Gaara.
"What!?"
Every attack from the shadow clones struck the sand walls uselessly.
"It can defend like this too!?"
Naruto stared in shock.
And Gaara wasn't finished.
After clearing the first wave, he sneered.
"Sand Burial."
Chakra surged violently.
The ground itself began to writhe.
"What now!?"
Naruto and the remaining clones were suddenly engulfed as the earth swallowed them.
"Not good!"
Naruto flooded his body with chakra and leapt backward, barely escaping.
Several clones weren't so lucky—they were dragged underground.
BOOM!
A deep, heavy rumble thundered across the arena.
The ground split.
Every clone caught within was erased instantly.
Only a handful of shadow clones remained beside Naruto, keeping their distance.
All of this—
took less than ten seconds.
Dozens of clones had been annihilated almost instantly.
"This Sand kid is terrifying."
"Can a Genin even use jutsu on this scale?"
"That sand… is it a kekkei genkai?"
"This is going to be hard to win."
Even the shinobi of Konoha were stunned.
Gaara's combat ability already exceeded typical Chūnin levels.
Kakashi, Guy, and Asuma exchanged serious glances.
"In that case," Naruto muttered, taking a deep breath, "I'll see if your defense is really unbreakable!"
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Another massive outpour of chakra shook the stadium.
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
Within seconds—
Hundreds of clones appeared.
The crowd gasped.
"This kid… how does he have that much chakra!?"
"This is insane—even most Jōnin couldn't create so many!"
Kankurō and Temari looked completely stunned.
Even they, Gaara's siblings, were bewildered by Naruto's enormous stamina.
Gaara's expression darkened further.
BOOM!
He unleashed chakra violently.
CRASH!
Sand exploded upward in response.
But Naruto's army didn't hesitate.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
Hundreds of clones rushed from every angle, formation tight, speed synchronized.
Sand erupted everywhere in layers.
Wind blasted through the battlefield.
Poof! Poof! Bang!
Clones and sand collided in chaotic waves.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!"
"Wind Style: Wind Cutter!"
"Wind Style: Wind Blade!"
Dozens of Naruto clones unleashed powerful Wind Release techniques simultaneously.
Naruto's plan was clear:
Wear down Gaara's sand defense.
Break through it.
Close in and finish with a strike.
Or at least
Use sheer numbers to burn through Gaara's chakra reserves.
The massive clash made the battlefield explode with spectacle.
The crowd was completely enthralled.
But the seasoned shinobi among them saw the truth
Naruto's tactics were crude.
Wasteful.
Chakra drained at a dangerous rate.
Yet the boy charged forward with unwavering resolve.
And so the fight escalated.
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