With Shikamaru and Temari's fight now concluded, the atmosphere in the arena shifted as everyone prepared for the final match. The anticipation was palpable, and the crowd buzzed with excitement.
Daniel found a seat, his eyes fixed on the arena. "I don't think there'll be any changes to this match," he mused, a thoughtful expression on his face. "But Naruto is a lot better than he previously was, huh?"
He settled in, eager to see how the final match would unfold, his mind racing with possibilities and strategies. The stage was set, and the final showdown was about to begin.
The arena was filled with an electric tension as Gaara of the Sand and Sasuke Uchiha faced each other. The crowd's murmurs hushed as the proctor signaled the start of the match. Gaara stood, after calming down, his gourd of sand resting on his back, while Sasuke's eyes gleamed with the promise of a fierce battle.
Sasuke made the first move, dashing forward with incredible speed. After throwing some shuriken. A wall of sand rose to block the attack, turning into a sand clone. The sand moved with a life of its own, protecting Gaara from harm as it attacked Sasuke as he approached.
Sasuke leaped back, his eyes sharp and focused. With a swift motion, he threw another volley of shuriken, each one slicing through the air with deadly precision. As he landed, he aimed a powerful kick at Gaara's face. However, Gaara's sand clone intercepted the attack, blocking it effortlessly.
Not missing a beat, Sasuke moved behind Gaara, striking with a punch that sent him flying. The fight carried on fiercely, each move more intense than the last. Gaara, now backed into a corner, covered himself in a protective ball of sand. He created a sand eye just above him, allowing him to see everything happening around him.
Sasuke, determined to break through Gaara's defenses, leaped onto the wall of the arena to gain some running space. With his Sharingan now activated, he formed the hand seals for Chidori, the crackling energy illuminating his determined expression. The final clash was imminent, and the crowd watched in breathless anticipation.
Sasuke's lightning-infused hand pierced through the ground. Gaara's sand enveloping him with seemingly no gaps, but Sasuke's speed was too great. The Chidori struck Gaara's sand dome and armor, cracking it and drawing blood on his arm.
The crowd gasped as Sasuke broke through, but something didn't feel quite right. Sasuke struggled to pull his arm out of the dome, and as he did, he momentarily saw something he couldn't describe. The sand dome receded, revealing Gaara staggering a little, holding his slightly bleeding arm.
Suddenly, feathers began to fall on the arena. The jonin quickly realized it was a wide-range genjutsu as the majority of the spectators fell asleep. "Guess it's starting," Daniel said, getting up and walking over to Naruto, who was sleeping on the floor. He bent down to wake him up and absorb his Nine-Tails chakra.
"You. How dare you steal my chakra!" Kurama suddenly burst out in anger inside his cage seal, summoning Daniel inside the seal as soon as Daniel made contact with Naruto.
"You're the Nine-Tails, huh? Looks a lot more intimidating than in the anime. If I wasn't this strong, I would've been scared right now," Daniel mused.
"If you know of me, then it's best you don't provoke me, boy," Kurama said, banging the cage bars. "Or I'll show you the wrath of..."
"Of what? A sealed fox that's only half as strong as it really is?" Daniel interrupted. "Listen, Kurama, I can call you that, right? Hem. Listen, Kurama, I'm not here to pick a fight, but if you want, I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty," Daniel said as his hair turned green and a green aura enveloped him, now in his Super Saiyan Two mode. The aura he exuded was immense, even Kurama could feel that if this escalated, he would be in for a tough fight.
"You, how do you know my name?" Kurama replied.
"Name's Daniel, and you better remember it. And the knowing your name thing, it's a long story. I've met your siblings, the Four and Five Tails, Goku and Kokuo," Daniel replied. "I would chat more, but I'll be leaving now," he added, disappearing after he absorbed the chakra he wanted from Kurama.
As he opened his eyes, he saw Sakura yelling at Shikamaru for pretending to be under genjutsu. "Hmm, what happened?" Naruto woke up as Daniel moved his hand off him.
"Well, to put it simply, the village is under attack, and the perpetrator is an old student of the Hokage," Daniel answered, drawing the attention of Sakura and Shikamaru.
"What? An old student of the old man?" Naruto burst out in shock.
"You've met him before, don't you remember?" Daniel said.
"What? I don't remember such things," Shikamaru said, with Naruto and Sakura agreeing.
"You don't remember Orochimaru?" Daniel asked, with Sakura and Naruto gasping at the mention of that name.
"You mean that guy was..." Sakura started, but Daniel nodded before she could finish her sentence.
"Wait, I don't understand. What are you talking about?" Shikamaru said, feeling a little left out.
"You guys are already awake," Kakashi approached, warding off a few ninja that targeted Sakura. He left them with the mission to go after Sasuke, accompanied by Pakkun. Daniel looked at them as the rushed away standing there a little bit undecided on where to go, "I hadn't taken Shikaku's chakra but I'll limited in my actions. Sigh. I'll take the easy route then" he pondered making a shadow clone as he went after Naruto and them leaving his clone to deal with things here.
"This is no place for you, kid," Kakashi said to Daniel's clone as he fought off the enemy ninja in the arena.
"That's my master over there. I'm not leaving until I see this through," Daniel's clone replied convincingly, his eyes filled with determination.
In his mind, Daniel thought, "I really want to absorb Tobirama and Hashirama's knowledge. I mean, Wood Style is just way too awesome to let it die off."
"Besides, I can handle myself just fine," he added aloud, displaying his earnestness and resolve to stay and fight. His stance and unwavering gaze made it clear that he was not going to back down.