Chapter 34: Gaara in Close Quarters
"Intruders... wearing that kind of attire, the Akatsuki, huh."
Gaara stood before Deidara, carrying a sand gourd that reached a meter high on his back.
"It seems the infiltration didn't go smoothly. We'll switch to a direct assault, yeah."
The moment Deidara finished speaking, a wisp of sand curled toward him. The sand seemed to come alive, intent on binding him.
Just as the sand coiled in front of Deidara, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air.
Bang. A bullet pierced through the sand, sending grains scattering. The sand that had been reaching for Deidara fell to the ground, gradually gathering back toward Gaara. Gaara looked up toward the sky.
"Two intruders."
The sand rose, forming a sand shield around Gaara, a defense against Su Xiao's bullet.
High above, Su Xiao put away his sniper rifle. Using a sniper against Gaara wasn't very effective; unlike Jiraiya's hair, Gaara's sand could significantly reduce a bullet's kinetic energy.
If he were to blow Gaara's head off with one shot, that would be counterproductive, though the odds of that were even lower than winning the lottery.
He controlled the clay bird beneath him to dive lower. Below, Gaara had already engaged Deidara in battle.
Deidara stood on the back of his clay bird, leaning low as he weaved rapidly through the air. Behind him, a thick stream of sand, as thick as an arm, pursued relentlessly, clinging like a stubborn parasite.
The sand chasing Deidara moved extremely fast, forcing him to dodge midair.
Su Xiao observed the current situation. As his clay bird descended to about ten meters above the ground, he silently leaped off.
The sky was already growing dim, and combined with Su Xiao's black trench coat, Gaara temporarily lost track of him, focusing intently on dealing with Deidara.
When Su Xiao had fallen to about five meters from Gaara, Gaara noticed him.
As Su Xiao descended, he held his longsword. The moment Gaara spotted him, he immediately activated Azure Steel Shadow. Since he was already discovered, there was no need to stay hidden.
"Enemy attack!"
A loud shout rang out as some Sand Shinobi spotted Gaara battling the intruders.
Clang, clang, clang...
The village's alarm bells sounded. Sand Shinobi, some still disheveled, rushed out from various buildings.
"Where's the enemy?"
"Up high, two intruders."
"The Kazekage is engaged in battle."
Though the Sand Shinobi quickly assembled, most lacked any means to fight airborne enemies. As for helping Gaara fight, everyone hesitated.
In their hearts, Gaara was still a monster. Even though he had become Kazekage, these Sand Shinobi still harbored reservations.
Two people stood apart from the rest—a man and a woman: Kankuro and Temari.
Kankuro and Temari were both descendants of the Fourth Kazekage, meaning they were Gaara's older brother and sister, with Temari being the eldest.
"Kankuro, who is Gaara fighting?"
Temari carried a large iron fan on her shoulder, her face slightly flushed, her blonde hair loose, and a faint fragrance lingering on her. She had been bathing earlier.
"I don't know. Let's go help."
"Wait."
Temari's words surprised Kankuro.
"You go gather the troops. I'll go help Gaara first."
Leaving that behind, Temari leaped toward a tall building.
"Damn it."
Kankuro gritted his teeth. He wanted to help too, but quickly assembling the ninja forces was the right move. The enemies were unknown, and anyone daring to invade Sunagakure must have some strength.
Setting aside the Sand Shinobi's reaction, Su Xiao was currently hanging motionless in midair, which visibly puzzled Gaara below.
If one looked closely, they would see a thread connected to the bracer on Su Xiao's left arm, with the other end tied to the clay bird above.
"An opening."
Taking advantage of the opportunity Su Xiao created, Deidara, not far away, threw several bird-shaped clay bombs. These bomb birds dove at high speed toward Gaara.
Su Xiao wasn't trying to close in on Gaara; the timing wasn't right. Rushing in would risk getting caught in Deidara's explosions. His earlier move was simply to draw Gaara's attention.
Several bomb birds dove toward Gaara. With Su Xiao on guard, Gaara was caught between two fronts.
The bomb birds swooped down, and sand enveloped Gaara.
Boom, boom, boom!
Explosions echoed through Sunagakure.
At the assembled Sand Shinobi forces within the village, an unusual situation was unfolding. No matter how much Kankuro urged, the gathered Sand Shinobi refused to support Gaara. The internal problems of Sunagakure were laid bare.
In the hearts of these Sand Shinobi, Gaara was a jinchuriki, a monster. Though he had been peaceful in recent years, his earlier attacks on fellow villagers were an undeniable fact. Who knew if Gaara might suddenly lose control and attack again?
Besides, Gaara was both Kazekage and jinchuriki. Repelling foreign enemies was his primary responsibility. These Sand Shinobi weren't unwilling to help; they simply didn't dare to get close to Gaara while he was fighting.
...
The smoke from the explosions cleared, revealing a large sand sphere. Gaara was hidden inside, completely unharmed.
"Formation A."
Su Xiao shouted while retracting the Realm Severing Thread, dropping toward the sand sphere below.
Deidara was about to throw another clay bomb but stopped upon hearing Su Xiao's call. He began preparing more clay bombs instead. If Su Xiao failed, he would step in.
Su Xiao dove down. Just as the sand sphere below hadn't yet dissipated, he thrust his sword into it.
With a sharp tearing sound, Dragon-Slaying Flash sank deep into the sand sphere. It wasn't that Gaara's sand sphere was weak in defense, but that Azure Steel Shadow energy had devoured the chakra within the sand, greatly reducing its defensive power.
A longsword suddenly pierced into the sand sphere. Gaara, inside, was startled. The blade struck beside him, missing him.
"A ninja skilled with ninja swords."
Through the floating sand eye outside the sphere, Gaara saw the situation clearly. Inside the sphere, Gaara extended his palm, and a wisp of sand coiled around Su Xiao's torso, binding him before he could land.
"Sand Coffin..."
The sand tightened rapidly, pressure building in Su Xiao's chest. But he continued thrusting his longsword forward, even though he knew the blade wouldn't hit Gaara.
Just as Gaara was about to use the sand to crush Su Xiao's ribs, a sudden change occurred.
Pfft. Pale blue spikes burst out from inside the sand sphere, droplets of blood seeping through the sand. The sand that had bound Su Xiao fell to the ground.
After thrusting Dragon-Slashing Flash into the sand sphere, Su Xiao used 'Shadow Stab,' a technique he had accidentally developed while developing Ring Break—energy spikes formed from Blade Aura and Azure Steel Shadow.
The sand sphere around Gaara dissipated. At the tip of Dragon-Slashing Flash, over a dozen half-meter-long energy spikes had formed, piercing through half of Gaara's body. One of Gaara's arms hung limply.
"Sand..."
Gaara tried to command the sand to attack Su Xiao, but Su Xiao had already rushed forward, landing a side kick to Gaara's abdomen.
Crack.
Like ceramic shattering, cracks appeared on Gaara's body surface—this was his Sand Armor, created by coating his body with chakra-infused sand.
The shadow spikes broke, but the energy didn't immediately dissipate; it remained inside Gaara.
As seen in the original work, while Gaara's strength wasn't weak, before tailed beast transformation, his close combat was garbage.
One kick sent Gaara airborne. Su Xiao charged forward, sword in hand. If Gaara took a direct slash from Su Xiao, the Sand Armor would be useless.
"Kid, hurry up and transform into the tailed beast! This guy is bad news!"
A sharp, shrill roar echoed in Gaara's ears—the voice of Shukaku, the One-Tail.
Gaara ignored the voice. He couldn't transform. Once he did, he would immediately lose control.
Su Xiao held his sword with one hand, killing intent boiling in his eyes. He slashed toward Gaara's chest.
Given Su Xiao's nature, if he didn't need to capture the jinchuriki alive, that blade would have been aimed at Gaara's neck.
Was Gaara strong now? The answer was not particularly. It wasn't that Gaara as a ninja was weak, but that the One-Tail inside him was holding him back, preventing him from using his full power.
The longsword cut through the air toward him. Gaara's pupils contracted. Though heavily wounded, he hadn't lost his combat capability.
Just as Gaara was about to counterattack, a whistling wind sound came.
Bang.
A strong gust of wind slammed into Su Xiao, sending him flying backward. He adjusted his center of gravity midair and landed steadily.
Temari, holding her large iron fan, stood not far away. Though only nineteen, her figure was well-developed.
It was Temari who had intervened, helping Gaara greatly by resolving his predicament of being caught in close quarters.
Before closing in, Su Xiao was no match for Gaara. After closing in, Gaara was no match for Su Xiao.
"Sunagakure won't tolerate the Akatsuki running wild."
Temari stared at Su Xiao, her hostility unmistakable.
"Deidara, buy me five minutes. I'll deal with this woman first."
High above, Deidara stopped preparing bombs and dove down instead. Su Xiao no longer paid attention to Gaara; having Deidara stall him was enough.
"Isn't it better to stay alive?"
Su Xiao spoke as he stomped the ground, charging at high speed toward Temari.