"The enemies are too scary." Naruto complained as he moved away.
"Mm-hmm," Sakura nodded in agreement.
In this ambush battle, tactics like long-range Genjutsu combined with kunai throwing were the wisest choice. Even though she has mastered the Chakra Scalpel Technique, Medical-nin shouldn't engage in close combat unless absolutely necessary.
Not everyone is Tsunade. That princess with extraordinary strength and nearly immortal health-recovering Ninjutsu can only be described as legendary.
Pakkunsaid nothing and remained silent throughout.
Sasuke kept a blank expression, occasionally asking Pakkun how far they were from Gaara while on the move.
"Hey, Pakkun, who do you think is stronger, Sandaime Hokage or Orochimaru?" Naruto asked out of boredom.
Pakkun was somewhat speechless. Although he didn't want to pay attention to this blond kid, he had to since they were on a mission together.
"Orochimaru is Sandaime Hokage's disciple. As everyone know, a disciple certainly cannot beat his teacher."
"That's not necessarily true." Naruto said, "People's reactions and physical strength will decline as they get older, and Orochimaru looks pretty young."
"You little brat, are you hoping something happens to the Sandaime Hokage?" Pakkun sensed something amiss and looked at Naruto speechlessly.
"How could that be? I'm a law-abiding villager." Naruto chuckled.
After a while, he broke the silence again.
"Pakkun, Orochimaru is still stronger, right?"
"We're almost catching up." Pakkun reminded them solemnly.
Upon hearing this, both Sasuke and Sakura frowned, but Naruto didn't feel anything. He had no interest in carrying out such a mission.
'It's purely because of work. I don't want to chase Gaara at all. I really wanted to attend Sandaime's funeral later, though I'd probably be stuck at the kids' table.'
As he thought this, Pakkun suddenly stopped.
Naruto focused ahead and saw Temari, Kankuro and Gaara at the front staring at the three humans and one dog.
"Uchiha Sasuke!" Gaara seemed to be in an excited state, his eyes fixed firmly on Sasuke.
'Ignoring me? That's perfect.' Naruto looked like he didn't want to exert himself in a fight. He put his hands behind his head as he quietly moved aside.
According to tradition, evenly matched opponents will engage in verbal banter before a fight.
Team 7 had just finished a battle and were happy to rest a bit longer. Sasuke didn't move either, returning Gaara's gaze with the same intensity. He then took out shuriken from his ninja pouch and said, " Where do you think you're running off to? Let's just finish this unfinished match."
"Do you think you have a chance of winning?" Gaara stood on a high tree trunk, with arms crossed, looking down at Sasuke.
"Only one way to find out." Sasuke smirked.
"Sasuke means you're incapable." Naruto suddenly translated, "He could beat you with his feet tied."
Sasuke looked confused and turned to look at Naruto.
Naruto gave him a knowing look and whispered softly, "I think you're being too modest. Let me help you translate it properly."
Clearly, Gaara was doubly provoked, his eyes turning red, looking like he was about to go berserk.
"You are asking for death, Uchiha Sasuke, I'm going to kill you!"
"I hope you don't lose too embarrassingly."
"He said he didn't want to lose to an ugly freak."
Sasuke: "????"
"Uchiha!! Sasuke!!"
Temari, quick on the draw, pulled out her fan and shouted at Kankuro, "Quick! Get Gaara out of here. We can't let him lose control!"
"I'll hold them off!"
Kankuro gritted his teeth, reluctantly grabbed Gaara's arm, and said, "The plan comes first. Control yourself."
Sure enough, when Gaara heard the word 'plan', his anger subsided a little, and he allowed Kankuro to lead him away.
Temari swung her fan, and a fierce wind swept through the forest, kicking up leaves and debris, making it hard to see. Naruto, not wanting to chase after Gaara, eagerly volunteered, "Sasuke, Sakura, you two go ahead. I'll handle this one!"
Naruto's plan was to fight Temari here, stalling just enough before heading over to join the main battle, hoping to sneak in a surprise attack while Gaara and Sasuke were evenly matched.
It is a brilliant tactic, killing two birds with one stone, both slacking off and working at the same time.
It was obviously unrealistic to let Sakura stay to deal with Temari. A As a long-range Genjutsu-using Medical-nin, she would stand no chance against Temari, who could fight both at range and up close. And Naruto didn't want to get entangled with Gaara, so...
"Alright, be careful."
With that, Sasuke dashed off in the other direction, with Sakura and Pakkun following closely behind.
"You think you can just leave? Not happening!"
Temari growled as she sent another gust of wind toward Sasuke and the others, trying to block their route.
"Hey, you pervy-looking woman, your opponent is me."
How could Naruto let Temari interfere with his plan to slack off?
'Sasuke had to be the hero, and only he could take down Gaara! Maybe he could awaken 3-Tomoe Sharingan after being beaten up, wouldn't that be great? It's a win-win situation.'
Wind Release: Blade of Wind!
Several blades of wind appeared in the air, colliding with the gusts from Temari's fan, eventually canceling each other out.
Before leaving, Sasuke glanced at Naruto. He was a little dissatisfied with Naruto's sudden use of Wind Release Ninjutsu he'd never seen before.
He had just learned Chidori, and now this guy had a new Ninjutsu too. The pressure to keep up was becoming overwhelming for Sasuke.
"What did you call me?" Temari was furious.
"A pervy woman." Naruto repeated.
"Go to hell!" Temari was so enraged by Naruto's words that she no longer cared about stopping Sasuke.
She fully opened her three-star fan, unleashing a gust of wind several times stronger than before. The huge fan stirred up a massive windstorm.
"Ninja Art: Wind Sandstorm Technique!"
Seeing that he had successfully provoked Temari, Naruto had no intention of facing her head-on. He suddenly retreated and hid behind the trunk of a giant tree.
"Women are scary when they're angry," Naruto muttered, taking a deep breath.
Suddenly, the mechanical voice echoed in his mind again, and the options panel popped up instantly.
[Option 1: Make Temari beg for mercy. Reward: Sealing Technique: Adamantine Sealing Chains.]
[Option 2: Make Gaara beg for mercy. Reward: The full power of Shukaku.]
As soon as the options came out, Naruto's mind started buzzing.
'Begging for mercy? What kind of nonsense is that'
'Making Temari beg for mercy is possible by beating her into submission. But, with Gaara's gloomy personality, how could he beg for mercy? There's no way he'd beg, not even if he was about to die.'
'Shukaku's combat power is probably ranked among the top four of the Biju. It's a pity to give it up, but it's also a bit of a gamble.'
'Choosing option 1 meant I'd have to wrap things up for Sasuke later.'
'If I could make Temari beg for mercy, then I could use the Adamantine Sealing Chains to bind Shukaku, giving it the same treatment as Kurama. That would be satisfying.'
'But if Temari refused to beg, I could just head straight for Gaara and use the Four Symbols Seal to pull Shukaku and Gaara into the seal space. At that time, Temari would definitely have to submit for her brother's sake.'
'Temari, you wouldn't want Gaara to die forever, would you?'