"Heh heh, gotcha!" Gaara's panda eyes gleamed with bloodthirsty excitement.
In the short two or three seconds he had been fighting Baki, Gaara had already activated his sand control ability, binding Uchiha Nagi's legs.
Then came the classic scene: Gaara opened his five fingers menacingly. "Sand Waterfall Funeral—"
Powerful sand instantly began to compress from all directions. Under Gaara's control, the terrifying sand was like an extension of his will, exerting immense pressure on the trapped person, crushing them into a paste.
Pfft—
"Hm!?" The imagined scene of a paste-splattered sky didn't occur, leaving Gaara a bit bewildered.
"Watch out, behind you!" Kankuro shouted.
Gaara turned around to see Uchiha Nagi looking down at him, an expression of slight annoyance on his face, as if he were looking at a naughty child. If it had been Baki, he would have recognized this as the Flying Thunder God Technique, having experienced the Shinobi World War.
But at this time, Gaara was merely a little boy who had been 'darkened' for three or four years, with limited knowledge of the Ninja World's history, so he couldn't understand how the other party had disappeared from his sand.
"Since you escaped, I'll catch you again! Sand Binding Coffin!"
Two streams of sand came alive, firmly moving to bind Uchiha Nagi.
"Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel."
Uchiha Nagi said calmly, and with a casual swing of his blade, he scattered Gaara's sand as easily as slicing vegetables.
Seeing this, the panda-eyed boy grew even angrier.
"Sand Shuriken."
A pile of sand in the air rapidly floated and took shape, then formed into shuriken and hurled them towards Uchiha Nagi.
"Water Breathing, Second Form, Modified Horizontal Water Wheel." For these thrown sand shuriken, Uchiha Nagi had no difficulty at all, easily batting them away.
"Hey, little brat, if you don't get serious, Uncle's going to spank your butt, with the Thousand Years of Death, it'll hurt really bad..." Uchiha Nagi teased.
"You... you..." Gaara was furious. In Hidden Sand Village, who didn't run from him? This person actually dared to look down on him so much, and he instantly erupted in rage.
In his enraged state, Gaara conjured a massive sea of sand, intending to envelop Uchiha Nagi layer by layer. He was too young now, and his Chakra reserves weren't as vast as they would be later, but he had the Ichibi within him.
The amount of Chakra leaking from the Ichibi was at least several Ninja levels for a human. In his fury, Gaara utilized this power released by Shukaku.
"Hm, this is getting interesting. Sixth Form: Twisting Whirlpool—"
Cool sword techniques were constantly wielded, and the increasingly proficient Water Breathing sword art was like an art form in his hands.
But as the sand grew, exceeding several tons, no matter how he swung his blade, sand still surrounded him from all directions. Most people would truly have no solution in such a situation.
"Sixth Form: Twisting Whirlpool Flow—"
Massive amounts of sand were scattered by Uchiha Nagi's continuously dancing sword art, but Gaara's cost for controlling sand was incredibly low. After the sand was scattered, he only needed a very small amount of Chakra to re-gather it.
Finally, the colossal sand, like a sandstorm, completely encircled Uchiha Nagi, forming a small sand dune.
"This time, you can't escape!" Gaara's eyes were bloodshot, and he said with a sinister expression.
"Come on, let me feel how powerful your Sand Waterfall Funeral is." Uchiha Nagi smiled, allowing the sand to completely envelop him.
Breaking out would be too easy; a Super Strength Fist from his left hand could blast it away. He could even kill Gaara; an unsuspecting Flying Thunder God combined with a Rasengan would finish him off. At this point, Gaara was too green; without transforming, his absolute sand defense would at most give him Jonin-level strength.
However, Uchiha Nagi had other ideas at this moment.
He wanted to test the difference in strength between himself and a Tailed Beast... "Die, Sandstorm Funeral—"
Several tons of sand, following Gaara's palms, forcefully compressed together, crushing the person inside into a paste. "Mother, I'll see it soon, see the red flowers blooming..."
Hm!?
The imagined red liquid didn't spray out. Gaara pushed harder, and the Sandstorm Funeral increased its pressure again, but still to no effect.
Boom!!
With a loud bang, a gigantic skeletal hand made of Chakra directly pierced through the small sand dune, followed by another. Then, a half-body skeleton giant emerged from within.
Inside the half-body skeletal giant was Uchiha Nagi. Gaara was stunned. Facing this Chakra Susanoo, he felt as if he was seeing an ancient giant; they were simply not on the same level.
"Gaara, hold on..." Kankuro, hiding in the shadows, saw this and took his puppet towards Kimimaro.
He hoped to capture the opponent's comrade to secure a glimmer of hope for his own squad. Uchiha Nagi glanced at him, ignoring Kankuro. This was also an opportunity for Kimimaro to train himself; he couldn't always have Uchiha Nagi protecting him.
"Is that all?" Uchiha Nagi said with disdain, grabbing Gaara and lifting him to his face.
"If that's all you've got, then you can die now—"
After saying that, he gently spanked Gaara's butt with the skeletal hand... *Slap, slap, slap~*
Though young, Gaara knew that the other party was humiliating him. This was unbearable.
In a daze, Gaara's consciousness entered a peculiar world. In this world, there were resentful spirits everywhere. On a desolate, barren desert wasteland, there was a monstrous beast trapped in a stone prison.
In mythical legends: a tanuki monster born in the Nara Desert, affected by otherworldly magic, formed from sand buried and accumulated by wind, and brought to life by the resentful spirits of those who died in the desert. Its true form is a tanuki, playful by nature, and it likes to bury itself in sand.
Its body is adorned with violet tattoos, which represent the pattern of the Wind God. This is Shukaku.
"Give me your body, and I'll teach him a lesson, hehehehehe."
Gaara, entering the mental world for the first time, understood that this giant tanuki-like monster before him was probably the entity that had always resided within him. But at this moment, he no longer cared about such details.
The humiliation of defeat and the threat of death made him nod instinctively.
"Good..."
Outside, Uchiha Nagi suddenly noticed that Gaara, whom he was holding, suddenly erupted with a massive amount of evil and powerful Chakra from his body—it was a Tailed Beast.
The surrounding sand rapidly gathered towards Gaara's body—
Boom!!
After a huge cloud of smoke, an enormous, mountain-like monster finally appeared in the desert.
Temporary Sleep Skill... A unique Sealing Technique developed by Hidden Sand Village that allows those who haven't become perfect Jinchuriki to release the Tailed Beast within them, yet remain bound by the seal. As long as the Jinchuriki in the Tailed Beast's head is awakened, the released Tailed Beast will return to their body.
However, this technique was only used as a last resort, because Shukaku would not side with the Ninja of Hidden Sand Village. The greatest possibility was that after it emerged, it would eliminate Ninja from both sides... Compared to the Ninja of Konoha, Shukaku likely harbored even greater hatred for the Hidden Sand Ninja who sealed him.
"Hahahahaha, I'm out! I'm finally out! I'm free!"
With a height like a giant mountain, a tanuki-like body, and those strange tattoos, patterns like the Wind God, it was the Ichibi, Shukaku.
A mischievous Tailed Beast, but its mischief was an immense disaster for humans... "Haha, as soon as I come out, I see a detestable human, a damned little bug! I'll crush you—"
Shukaku saw Uchiha Nagi's half-body Susanoo, but the giant half-body Susanoo was merely a foot-sized obstacle in front of him.
"Is that so!?" Uchiha Nagi exclaimed excitedly, "Shukaku, let me see how strong you are..."
As Shukaku's large foot stomped down, Uchiha Nagi increased his output to Susanoo. The half-body skeleton immediately transformed into a full-body skeleton, and with one swift move, it knocked Shukaku down on one leg.
"Hm? It got bigger? Detestable human bug, I'll kill you!"
Shukaku, enraged, took a deep breath and forcefully slapped its own belly.
"Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet—"
A Wind Release Ninjutsu fiercely struck Uchiha Nagi. That's right, this wasn't Shukaku's innate ability, like a Tailed Beast Ball, but Ninjutsu, Wind Release.
The Nine-Tailed has nine tails and the most Chakra, but Shukaku, with only one tail, cannot be said to be the weakest. On the contrary, he is very intelligent; not only is he the only Tailed Beast that can use Ninjutsu, but he can also perform hand signs and use Sealing Technique.
He even combined his body's violet tattoos to create his own unique Sealing Technique. Among the nine Tailed Beasts, Shukaku is the only one who can use Sealing Technique.
If he were to fight the Nine-Tailed, he might not lose, thanks to his exclusive Sealing Technique.
Compared to the Tailed Beast Ball, Ninjutsu is, of course, more cost-effective and better suited to his sand and wind attributes, requiring less effort.
"First Form: Water Surface Slash..." Uchiha Nagi continuously poured in Chakra, transforming Susanoo into its second form, a flesh-and-blood giant.
The Susanoo giant raised the greatsword in its hand and sliced the air bullet in half with a single strike.
However, the amount of Chakra Shukaku expended on one air bullet was negligible, as easy as a human waving a fist.
But for humans, it was not so pleasant; an air bullet fired from Shukaku's massive body was as huge as an A-rank Ninjutsu.
And such Ninjutsu was like spitting for Shukaku... "Eh, it got bigger, interesting, haha, so interesting!"
Shukaku immediately became excited. It was a rare chance to come out, not only to breathe some fresh air but also to have a fight. It felt so good.
"Wind Release: Multiple Drilling Air Bullets!"
Shukaku slapped its belly, and a barrage of dense air bullets spewed from its mouth, chasing Uchiha Nagi's Susanoo like a machine gun... Uchiha Nagi suddenly looked up and shouted at Shukaku:
"Mere grains of sand, you're not even half of me—"