"Got you."
A twisted grin spread across Gaara's face.
Kirito's arms and legs were completely bound, tightly wrapped by streams of sand that slithered like vines, holding him fast.
"Sand Coffin Constriction!"
As Gaara clenched his fist, the pliant and winding sand suddenly contracted! The crushing pressure could easily pulp an ordinary person into mush.
"Hmph, for someone who liked showing off just now, he sure died fast, didn't he?" Kankuro sneered as he watched the ball of sand compress into a dense mass.
But Gaara himself wasn't as relaxed. His brow furrowed as he stared unblinking at the clump of compressed sand.
"Kirito!" Asuna gasped in alarm.
"He's fine. Kirito-kun is still alive!" Hinata had already activated her Byakugan, her gaze fixed on the mass of sand. She could clearly see Kirito's chakra signature struggling within it.
Squelch!
A hand suddenly burst out from the tightly compressed sand, followed by a leg as Kirito tore his way free.
Clatter~
The entire shell of sand shattered off him. Kirito emerged, his clothes torn in several places, blood lightly staining his skin. While it wasn't as if he had shrugged the attack off completely, he had, in fact, endured Gaara's killing technique and lived.
Flexing his fingers, Kirito murmured to himself,
"So this is the toughness of my physical defense? Looks like those two endurance stat points weren't wasted."
"His durability…"
Kankuro and Temari were both dumbfounded. Seeing Kirito walk away from Gaara's Sand Coffin Constriction with nothing more than scratches was beyond belief.
What they didn't know was that although Kirito's endurance had been enhanced through stat points, that alone wasn't what saved him. A key factor was his conceptual equipment: the Phantom Cloak, an item that granted partial resistance to chakra-based attacks such as ninjutsu and genjutsu. It had mitigated a significant portion of the chakra-embedded sand's damage, allowing Kirito to survive with only light wounds.
"...Is this your trump card?" Gaara stared coldly at Kirito.
"To completely endure my Sand Coffin Constriction... impressive. But if defense is all you've got, that's not enough- "
Bang!
A sharp, thunderous crack split the air, followed instantly by a spray of blood!
"Wha- "
"Huh?! What is this feeling? Cold... and a little- "
Gaara's pupils shrank. An instant later, a searing pain erupted from his shoulder.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! I'M BLEEDING?!"
"Gaara… is wounded?!"
Temari and Kankuro stared in disbelief, as if they'd seen a ghost.
The sand surrounding Gaara's body was proof of his automatic defense having activated. And yet, the blood staining that sand confirmed one thing, he had been struck, and it had pierced even his so-called Absolute Defense.
They both turned wide-eyed toward Kirito, who hadn't moved a muscle.
And then-
BANG!
"Aaargh!"
Gaara dropped to one knee, his thigh struck by another unseen projectile. Though his sand armor had reacted to intercept it, blood still seeped out from the ruptured barrier.
"Reactive defense that senses an attack and responds immediately… automatic chakra shielding, 'Absolute Defense', huh?"
Kirito calmly brushed off the sand from his body.
"That defense layer mitigates some of the damage, sure. But letting bullets stay lodged in your body? That's never a good idea."
"AAAAARGH! DAMN IT! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Roaring in agony, Gaara hurled a massive sand arm straight at Kirito.
BANG!
Another sniper shot rang out. This time it struck Gaara's raised arm, rendering it useless. The giant sand limb collapsed mid-attack, breaking apart before it could reach its target.
"AAAAAAAARRRGHHHHHH!"
Gaara screamed as another sharp pain tore through him, his expression twisting into a mask of rage and agony.
"Gaara!"
Kankuro and Temari were both panicking now. They couldn't believe someone had actually broken through Gaara's ultimate defense, not just once, but three times, and all from an unseen attacker.
The source of the sniper fire was, of course, Kirito's illusion clone, Phantom Vision, manipulating the M700 sniper rifle from a concealed position.
"Most people would be down after one or two rounds. You've taken three… and you're still standing? That won't do. Not until you're completely wrecked."
At Kirito's hand signal, another shot was fired,
BANG!
It struck Gaara's remaining leg.
Both legs crippled, Gaara collapsed sideways, kneeling on the ground. His sand armor quivered around him but failed to shield his broken body. Blood seeped from his wounds, staining the ground red.
Huff…
After four sniper shots, Gaara was finally still. His face pale, his breath faint.
But then,
A terrifying chakra began to pulse from his body.
Sand started to swirl around him again, encasing him like a cocoon. Strange vine-like patterns, dark purple in color, crawled across the surface of the sand shell as it solidified.
When he lifted his head again, half his face had transformed into that of a monstrous beast. A jagged jawline, fanged mouth, and a massive tail sprouting from his back.
Grkk...
With this monstrous metamorphosis, Gaara slowly stood back up.
Kirito narrowed his eyes. Without hesitation, he raised his hand,
BANG!
Another bullet slammed into Gaara's chest. Sand exploded outward from the impact, yet all it did was push him back a few steps.
Kirito's gaze sharpened.
The bullet had embedded into Gaara's chest, but hadn't penetrated.
"...So after partially releasing your tailed beast transformation, your defense is strong enough to stop sniper rounds?"
<><>---------------------------------------
45 Advanced Chapters on p(a)treon
p(a)treon.com/Aaltairr
200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapters
//Leave a Review!//