WHOOSH!!
As soon as they stopped speaking, Sakura moved. In a flash of lightning, she appeared right in front of Gaara, her right leg lashing out in a vicious kick!
'So fast!'
Gaara's pupils constricted. His body couldn't react in time; he could only watch the kick hurtling towards him.
THUD!
Just as the kick was about to smash into his face, his Shield of Sand surged up in the nick of time, blocking the attack by a hair's breadth.
'Huh? He can still block it?'
Seeing her attack fail, Sakura narrowed her eyes. Without hesitation, her body flashed to the other side to launch another assault.
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
A rapid, dense series of impacts rang out. Sakura flickered around Gaara, launching attack after attack. Her speed was so great that she left multiple afterimages, making it look as if several Sakuras were attacking at once.
"You... you've got to be kidding me."
On the spectator gallery, Kiba's jaw dropped so low he could probably swallow a few eggs.
At this moment, he felt his previous doubts boomeranging back to slap him repeatedly in the face.
"Hey, hey... is that speed even humanly possible?"
Shikamaru's usually droopy eyes were now wide open, reflecting just how shocked he was.
"Sakura, you've really gotten so much stronger... so strong that I can't even see your shadow anymore."
Ino clenched her fists as she watched, her heart in turmoil.
Although she had sensed Sakura had grown stronger before the written exam, she never imagined the gap had widened to the point where she could only choke on her dust!
SMACK!!
Suddenly, a sound different from the previous thuds echoed from the field, causing many spectators to widen their eyes.
"She hit Gaara?"
This time, Sakura's attack wasn't intercepted by the sand. It landed solidly on Gaara, sending him flying.
'Phew~ Finally got a hit in. That sand defends really fast.'
Sakura retracted her hand, panting slightly as she watched Gaara fly backwards and crash into the wall.
At this moment, her body was enveloped in a white aura, indicating she was powering up her ki.
Indeed, although removing the weights had significantly increased her speed, Gaara's sand still managed to block her attacks, albeit barely. So, she had flared her ki, boosting her speed even further.
At this incredible velocity, Gaara's sand could no longer keep up, and he was forced to watch the attack land on his body.
"But... why did it feel wrong?" she muttered to herself.
When she hit Gaara just now, it didn't feel like hitting a person. It felt like hitting something hard and solid. But with her ki sensing, she knew he was definitely human!
Crack, crack~
A sound from nearby caught her attention.
As Gaara slid down from the wall, cracks inexplicably began to appear on his forehead.
"What is that?"
"Heh heh heh, that is Gaara's absolute defence!" In the gallery, Kankuro smirked upon seeing Sakura's surprise.
Although he had been shocked by Sakura's speed earlier, he hadn't been overly worried. He knew that besides the external Shield of Sand, Gaara also covered his body with an Armour of Sand.
This Armour of Sand involved coating his skin with a layer of compacted sand, completely blocking attacks and preventing injury.
"Still, to force Gaara to this extent... You should be proud, woman."
Despite his dislike for Sakura, he couldn't help but feel a grudging admiration. It had been a long time since he'd seen anyone force Gaara to rely on his Armour of Sand.
On the field, seeing the layer of sand armour cracking off Gaara's face, Sakura was both surprised and exasperated.
"A second layer of defence? That's way too turtlish."
She really hadn't expected him to have this kind of protection on his body.
As pieces of his sand armour fell away, a crazed, wicked smile spread across Gaara's face.
How long had it been?
How long had it been since someone broke through his Shield of Sand and actually touched him?
He admitted he had underestimated her. This woman possessed the strength to pique his interest.
He looked up at Sakura, his voice trembling with suppressed excitement. "Not enough. Is that all you've got?"
Hearing his taunt, Sakura sneered. "Then, as you wish. Watch me crack that turtle shell of yours!"
With that, she vanished, reappearing instantly at Gaara's side with a whip-like kick aimed straight at his head.
BANG!!
Again, Gaara couldn't react in time and was sent flying by the blow.
But she wasn't done.
As Gaara rocketed through the air, Sakura vanished again. In the next instant, she appeared right in front of the wall he was about to hit and kicked him again!
BANG!!
BANG!!
BANG!!
In the moments that followed, Sakura gave everyone present a lesson on what "lightning speed" truly meant.
Every time she kicked Gaara away, she would beat him to his destination and kick him in a different direction before he could hit a wall.
Gaara was helpless, reduced to a sandbag, passively accepting Sakura's relentless beatdown.
From east to west, north to south, he was punted all over the arena, never touching the ground or the walls. The spectators could only watch in awe.
"T-That's terrifying," Choji stammered, so scared he dropped his potato chips without realising it.
'Is this Sakura's current strength? To think she's undergone such a drastic transformation after only two months of training with Goku.'
'Then how much have Naruto and Sasuke, who were already stronger, improved?'
Kakashi thought to himself.
Although he had occasionally watched their training, they always wore weights so that he couldn't gauge their true power. Now, seeing Sakura unleashed without weights, he was witnessing her full potential.
BANG!!
After kicking Gaara away one more time, Sakura's gaze sharpened.
The Armor of Sand on Gaara's face, already riddled with cracks, could no longer hold. With this kick, a large chunk of it shattered.
Correspondingly, several bruises appeared on Gaara's face.
"Phew! Finally broke that shell?" Sakura panted heavily, wiping sweat from her face, looking thoroughly annoyed.
She hadn't expected Gaara's turtle shell to be so tough. Even with her full power, it had taken so many kicks to break it.
CRASH!!
During her brief pause, Gaara slammed heavily into the wall, creating a large crater.
Inside the crater, the look in Gaara's eyes grew even more crazed. "Heh heh heh... so this is what pain tastes like?"
He touched his face, feeling a stinging pain he had never experienced before, and a bloodthirsty smile appeared.
But suddenly, his smile froze.
In front of him, several ki blasts were rushing towards him with ferocious momentum.
Sensing the threat they posed, he felt his Shield of Sand might not be enough. He hurriedly manipulated more sand to form a wall in front of him, harder than steel.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ki blasts exploded against the sand wall one after another, blasting depression after depression into it.
Finally, with the last blast, the wall was breached with a loud BOOM.
A smaller, diminished ki blast continued through the hole towards Gaara's face.
However, having lost speed punching through the wall, it gave Gaara just enough time to vacate the crater, narrowly dodging the attack.
BOOM!
The ki blast exploded on the edge of the hole, widening it further.
Seeing the power of the attack, Gaara knew that if it had hit his face—now stripped of its armour—he would have been seriously injured.
His bloodlust surged. He prepared to throw caution to the wind and use a technique meant for the Konoha Crush plan.
But just as the thought formed, Sakura's voice rang out, causing his mind to go blank for a second.
"I forfeit this match. I'm not fighting anymore!"