The battlefield was plunged into chaos. Explosions, screams, and the sharp sound of blades mingled with the desert wind.
Li Shang wiped the blood splattering his face as he watched the body before him fall lifeless. The enemy he faced was skilled but underestimated him. His centuries of battle experience made him relentless.
'First one eliminated.'
Li Shang's gaze immediately shifted. No Suna ninja was in danger. They watched from afar, with tense expressions, while four hooded figures kept them under surveillance. No hostile movement, just the silent threat of attack if they got involved.
'They are being used as bait.' To prevent our retreat.
In the center of the combat, Kakashi and Gai faced four opponents each. The power difference was clear, but the numbers balanced the battle. The sound of air being cut accompanied Gai's movements, who had already opened the third gate. Green chakra emanated from him like a living flame, vibrating with each blow.
On the other side, Kakashi fought with coolness, dodging and counter-attacking in perfect synchronicity.
Li Shang observed everything, assessing the field as if it were a chessboard. 'We'll make sure no one dies.'
He felt no obligation. Protecting others was a burden that was not part of his nature. But, as long as it didn't threaten his own life, he saw no reason to hold back.
"Steps Between the Void!"
Li Shang advanced.
An instant later, he arrived behind the enemy attacking Sakura.
Shiiing!
The sound of the blade cutting through the air echoed before the man realized. His head slowly rolled, eyes still open in confusion. He tried to understand what had happened, but there was no longer a body to sustain his doubt.
Li Shang was no longer there.
"Steps Between the Void!"
The air vibrated again. Tenten retreated, breathless, pressured by a ninja wielding a broadsword. The moment the blade descended towards her, something gleamed between them.
Clang!
The impact echoed, and the attack was blocked.
The ninja instinctively recoiled, surprised to see the Hyuuga boy before him. "You..."
His gaze wavered for a second. He looked for the companion who should have been facing that same boy — but saw only a body fallen in the dust.
"What carelessness, to divert attention in the middle of a life-or-death struggle."
The voice came from behind.
The enemy barely had time to react. The dry sound of perforation echoed — shlurk! — and the tip of a sword pierced his chest. Li Shang's clone had surprised him.
Blood flowed, dripping onto the sand.
Li Shang watched the body fall.
'Two less. Six remain.'
The battle continued, but now, the balance began to break.
—POV Gaara—
The sand was stained red. The wind blew low, carrying the metallic smell of blood and the distant sound of kunai falling to the ground. The battle, which minutes before seemed out of control, now dissolved into a tense silence.
Gaara observed the field ahead. His body was still covered by a thin layer of sand — an automatic defense reaction — but he did not move. The screams had ceased. The last enemy had just fallen, immobilized by Kakashi. Beside him, Gai relaxed his combat stance, breathing deeply after closing the third gate.
The Konoha ninjas were unharmed.
'Unbelievable...'
Gaara's mind tried to process what he had seen. That young Hyuuga, the same one from the chunin exam whom he despised for getting in his way, now walked across the field as if death were just another technique.
Neji moved with surgical precision. No gesture was wasted. No enemy survived a second mistake.
Gaara watched him from afar, as he wiped his sword blade on the uniform of a fallen adversary. There was something cold and controlled in every movement, something that reminded him of the silent assassins of the desert — hunters who killed without emotion.
But what intrigued him most was not the brutality. It was the control.
'He's not fighting with anger... he's fighting like someone who has done this a thousand times.'
Gaara felt a shiver run down his spine.
The last few weeks had been the calmest of his life. For the first time he could remember, his mind was at peace. Shukaku, the monster that inhabited him, had disappeared. No voice whispered in his head, no craving for blood pulsed in his chest. The silence was strange, but liberating.
He believed he owed it to Naruto.
He vividly remembered the moment he fell defeated, his body covered in sand and his lungs burning. The blonde boy looked at him with eyes full of determination — and even with his body wounded, he extended his hand and asked the Hyuuga to spare him.
'He... asked him to let me live.'
Gaara never understood that gesture. He never understood why someone who hated him would choose to save him. But now, seeing that Konoha group fighting side by side, he began to realize something.
'They fight differently. None of them are here for ego, or fame. They fight to protect something they believe in. And perhaps... that's what makes them so strong.'
Gaara's gaze returned to Li Shang. The young Hyuuga had taken down four enemies alone. His strange movement technique made him disappear and reappear with a precision that left the human eye unable to follow him. It was as if he bent space around him — and each time he appeared, a new body fell.
"Neji..." Gaara murmured, testing the name softly.
The sand subtly stirred beneath his feet, reacting to the intense chakra in the air. Gaara realized that the battlefield was no longer chaos, but a stage. The Konoha ninjas had taken absolute control.
Kakashi, now with his Sharingan revealed, sealed one of the captured enemies. Gai clenched his fists and exhaled slowly, dissipating the heat emanating from his body after using the gate.
Naruto and Sasuke were nearby, exhausted, but still standing. Sakura was giving first aid to one of Suna's men, who had been wounded in the chaos.
Everything was over.
Gaara crossed his arms, thoughtful. 'I thought I was the strongest of my generation... but... are all Konoha ninjas like this?'
The feeling was uncomfortable. He felt no envy, no anger — just perplexity. It was as if he saw for the first time the real distance between him and the rest of the world.
Li Shang turned at that moment, as if he had noticed Gaara's gaze. His almost transparent blue eyes met his, and for an instant, Gaara felt the same pressure an animal feels when observed by a predator.
'Is he even a boy?'
For an instant, Shukaku reacted within him — a brief distant murmur, like an echo in the desert that no one can hear.
"Monster..."
The demon seemed furious, but cautious.
Gaara took a deep breath, suppressing the voice before it grew stronger. But Li Shang's gaze had already shifted, returning to the horizon where the wind lifted sand and ashes.
Kakashi approached, his tone serious. "All enemies neutralized. Gather. We leave before more of them arrive."
Li Shang cleaned his sword, sheathing it. Gai nodded silently, observing his disciple from afar. 'He has completely changed. The boy who fought with pride now fights with purpose.'
Gaara still looked at the horizon, where the sand slowly swallowed the bodies left behind.
'Naruto... maybe what you did for me wasn't just saving me.'
The wind blew again, erasing the last traces of the battle.
'Maybe you showed me what it really means to live.'