"RAAAHHHH!"
Half-tailed beast Gaara let out a furious roar, his entire body now clad in a thick, monstrous armor of sand. But this wasn't ordinary sand, it had been infused with the power of a tailed beast, turning his defenses into something terrifyingly durable.
Bang!
Kirito fired a shot straight at the charging Gaara, knocking him back. The sniper rifle had returned to Kirito's hands, but Gaara's new defense was far too resilient, long-range shots no longer had the power to pierce through it. At close range, though, there was still a chance to deal real damage.
With Gaara's massive form as a target, Kirito didn't even need the scope. His bare eyes were more than enough to land accurate shots.
The moment Gaara entered this form, Kankuro and Temari had already retreated to a safe distance. They knew well, once Gaara transformed, he could no longer distinguish friend from foe. Anyone in his path would be shredded.
Hinata, Asuna, and the others had also withdrawn, following Kirito's wordless signal. But they refused to leave completely. From a distance, they watched, Hinata even forcing herself to stand, body trembling but ready. If things took a turn for the worse, she would charge back in without hesitation.
Also hidden in the shadows was Karin, who had followed Kirito's orders. Using her exceptional sensory abilities, she had helped him locate Asuna. Now, however, she stood frozen in fear as she stared at the monstrous Gaara, arms hugging her shoulders, body trembling.
"This... this chakra... it's monstrous! Can he really beat something like that?"
"Damn it! Gaara's gone full monster, what now?!" Kankuro growled, panicked.
"How should I know?!" Temari snapped back, clearly just as helpless. But her gaze kept drifting to the boy who stood against Gaara, the one who had repeatedly forced him back. Her expression was shaken.
"That guy... he's actually holding his own against Gaara like this!"
"Sand Barrage!"
Gaara roared, swinging his enormous, mutated arm. Sand bullets burst from his shoulder in rapid-fire blasts, raining down toward Kirito.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Kirito weaved and dodged, but this time Gaara's attacks were faster, denser, relentless. Unable to fully evade, Kirito raised his right hand and summoned his Zanpakutō, striking down the incoming projectiles.
ROAR!
Using the barrage to suppress Kirito, Gaara suddenly slammed the ground with a massive stomp, his body turning into a massive sand-armored battering ram that surged forward to crush everything in its path.
"He's gotten faster too?"
As the huge, armored beast barreled forward, Kirito's eyes widened.
"But I'm still faster!"
Whoosh!
At the last second, Kirito flipped into the air, narrowly avoiding Gaara's charge. Midair, he twisted, left hand raising the sniper rifle,
Bang!
"Tch... as expected, my aim with one hand, especially my off-hand, isn't great."
Kirito clicked his tongue. He had aimed for Gaara's head, but the shot veered slightly off, grazing the side of his face and tearing off a chunk of the sand armor.
He glanced at his trembling left hand and frowned. The sniper rifle's recoil had temporarily disabled it. That was no surprise. Even a regular rifle required both hands to wield. A sniper rifle like the M700, though lightweight, still packed enough force to dislocate an arm if handled improperly.
Gaara, enraged, twisted his head around. But his momentum was too great to stop. Midair, his tail swung violently toward Kirito.
Kirito reacted instantly, raising his Zanpakutō to block.
WHAM!
It felt like getting hit with an iron club. The impact traveled through his blade and into his arm. Though the blade, crafted from spiritual matter, remained unscathed, the force behind the blow couldn't be fully absorbed.
BOOM!
Kirito was slammed into the ground, creating a small crater. A normal person would be crippled, or worse, from that strike. But Kirito's high endurance finally paid off.
He quickly rolled aside-
BOOM!
Gaara landed with a monstrous thud, his massive foot smashing the earth. Even though Kirito had dodged the direct blow, the shockwave still hurled him violently into the air.
ROAR!
But Gaara wasn't done. He pounced again, claws tearing into the ground as he lunged forward like a rampaging war machine.
Click!
Kirito raised the sniper rifle with his injured left hand, ignoring the pain.
Bang!
The bullet struck Gaara's shoulder at close range. The impact was enough to penetrate the chakra-infused sand armor and wound the real body beneath, but only barely. It was superficial at best.
Still, the sniper shot momentarily staggered Gaara's rampage. Kirito used that instant to retreat, narrowly avoiding the next charge.
Landing on a thick tree branch, Kirito looked down at the half-transformed Gaara.
Right now, he was facing an unprecedented crisis.
He wasn't built for head-on combat. Normally, he would have slipped away and used illusions and stealth to wear his enemy down. That strategy might even work on Gaara in this state.
But this time, he couldn't leave. If he did, Asuna and Hinata would be in danger.
"I need a weapon... one powerful enough to fight him head-on."
That was the thought burning in Kirito's heart.
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