After Sasuke and his group walked for a while, they finally found some clues through Neji's Byakugan.
Sure enough, it didn't take long for them to successfully find traces of Gaara and his companions.
Sasuke signaled the others to hide first, then took a deep breath and moved towards the target alone. His steps were light and firm, filled with confidence and determination.
As he approached Gaara and the others, Sasuke suddenly appeared and greeted them with a smile, "Hey, everyone, good morning. I went through great lengths to find you."
Kankuro's eyes widened in surprise. "What! How did he get in front of us? I didn't notice him at all!" He was shocked by Sasuke's sudden appearance.
Temari, standing nearby, immediately recognized Sasuke. She shouted in surprise, "You're the handsome guy from Konoha!" Clearly, she still remembered Sasuke.
Sasuke smiled and replied, "Did you recognize me? It's nice to see you all again. We were in such a hurry last time that I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Uchiha Sasuke. And what's the name of this beautiful lady?" His eyes gently fell on Temari.
Temari blushed and replied shyly, "My name is Temari. I'm also very happy to see you again." At that moment, a surge of joy and anticipation filled Temari's heart. 'What does Sasuke mean? Does he also have feelings for me? If he confesses, how should I respond? When should we get married? What will our child be named?' These thoughts raced through Temari's mind, making her feel flustered.
Seeing Sasuke again made Temari's heart race even more. She began to fantasize about a beautiful future with Sasuke, imagining them walking hand in hand into the palace of marriage.
However, Sasuke, unaware of her thoughts, couldn't read minds. If he could, he might have found her fantasies amusing.
"That gourd-wearing kid over there should be the Jinchuriki from your Sand Village," Sasuke suddenly said, pointing at Gaara in the distance.
'What! He actually knows?' Hearing Sasuke openly reveal Gaara's true identity, Temari was shocked, snapping out of her romantic daydreams and back to reality. She no longer had time to care about her fantasies of the future. She stared at Sasuke nervously and asked anxiously, "Sasuke, where did you hear that? Could it be... is there a traitor among us? Otherwise, how could a Konoha Genin know Gaara's true identity so well?"
As if sensing Temari's doubts and worries, Sasuke quickly explained, "Don't get me wrong. I'm a member of the Uchiha clan. With the Sharingan, I can easily detect that there's an extremely ominous chakra hidden within Gaara."
This statement was, of course, a bluff. The Sharingan doesn't have the ability to see through others' bodies to check their chakra. However, since Sasuke was the last of the Uchiha, he could claim whatever he wanted about his clan's abilities. As for Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Obito? Humph, they don't deserve the Uchiha name!
"I can sense that you're a significant threat to me. I am Gaara of the Sand," Gaara, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.
'Only such an enemy is worth killing,' Gaara thought to himself.
"Gaara, the Shura who only loves himself..." Sasuke murmured, recalling Gaara's past.
Gaara was the son of the Fourth Kazekage, and the younger brother of Temari and Kankuro. When he was born, his father sealed the One-Tail, Shukaku, within him, hoping he would become a powerful weapon to protect the village. However, Gaara's mother lost her life due to this, but her deep love for her son allowed her consciousness to transform into the sand that always protected him.
Later, the Fourth Kazekage sent assassins to kill Gaara, but they all failed. The Fourth Kazekage was an idiot—his head must have been filled with sand! Who treats their Jinchuriki like that, sending people to assassinate them? Was he not afraid of forcing the tailed beast out? If Shukaku unleashed a tailed beast bomb, how could they resist it? I seriously suspect that the Fourth Kazekage got his position through cheating. In the end, Yashamaru, Gaara's caretaker, was killed by Gaara himself.
From that moment, Gaara became cold and ruthless, vowing to live only for himself and to find meaning in killing. All the tragedies Gaara experienced were caused by his own father.
Sasuke then looked at Gaara and said, "I came here mainly to see the difference between the One-Tail and others."
"Fool, who do you think you are?" Kankuro began, but Gaara interrupted, "Oh? Is that so? As long as you can defeat me, you can study me as much as you want."
Hearing this, Sasuke's lips curled into a confident smile. "Okay, then it's a deal. I'm going to make my move!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, lightning flickered around Sasuke's body, moving like silver serpents.
This was a weakened version of a technique Sasuke had developed based on the Lightning Release Armor. Similar to how Susanoo has different stages, Sasuke was now using the first stage of the Lightning Release Armor. By condensing lightning chakra on the surface of his body, he could significantly enhance his defense, attack power, and speed.
After all, one should always keep some trump cards, as you never know when they might be needed.
Sasuke quickly drew the long sword on his back and infused it with lightning chakra. In an instant, both his body and the sword were illuminated by a dazzling blue-white light, so intense it was almost impossible to look at directly.
Meanwhile, Gaara, facing Sasuke's powerful aura, didn't dare to be careless. He formed hand seals, preparing some kind of jutsu.
Moments later, the ground beneath Gaara's feet began to tremble violently. Countless tiny grains of sand gushed out from the earth like fountains, spreading rapidly in all directions. These sands gradually gathered to form a massive barrier, attempting to completely enclose Gaara and create an indestructible absolute defense system.
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