Chapter 986

"It's a squad from the Sand Village. Can we zoom in on the picture? A jutsu that can alter the environment isn't common even among the Sand." Young Yuanzi was somewhat concerned; in her hazy memory, it seemed Gaara hadn't used sand on this scale in the second match.

Mitarashi Anko quickly called over the Konoha shinobi controlling the ninja beast to enlarge that area. Although the current Whirlpool Young Yuanzi didn't represent Konoha, she had once directly led Konoha's forces to face the Sand army head-on. Since even she expressed strong interest, Mitarashi Anko—Orochimaru's disciple, equally curious—naturally wouldn't let it pass either.

Unlike the leisurely observation through the screen on this side, Tsukuyomi Xiaomeng and the others were facing the sea of sand head-on. Even though the target wasn't them, Gaara's technique covered far too wide an area, forcing all three Moon ninja out of their hiding spots and leaving them completely exposed.

"Zhao Afu, formation!" Sensing Gaara's fierce killing intent in an instant, Tsukuyomi Xiaomeng shouted decisively, while purple light leapt up in her hands.

Hearing Tsukuyomi Xiaomeng's order, Zhao Afu didn't pause for a moment and charged straight toward the sea of sand, unsealing and taking in hand a two-handed greatsword with an extra-long grip and a blade as wide as a door panel.

"No problem, leave it to me!" Though a boy, Zhao Afu had a waist as supple as a woman's. His figure blurred, and he spun his weapon, transforming into a human-shaped whirlwind.

The wind slammed violently into the crest of the sea of sand.

"Dragon Pattern · Single Heart!"

The purple markings all over Fujikawa Linnaizi's body blazed to life. The energy clinging to her long bow bloomed like a lotus. Tilting the bow upward, she nocked an arrow formed entirely of dragon-vein energy, the sight locked firmly onto Gaara.

"Loose!" With a sharp cry, the energy arrow on the bow vanished.

Completely different from her earlier loosed indirect shots, this time she fired a straight shot like a crossbow bolt—no trajectory, no whistling of fletching. The arrow that reappeared drove firmly into Gaara's chest.

"Crack!"

Though faint, the sound of shattering made Kankuro and Temari nearby change color dramatically—but not out of worry for Gaara being hit.

"Aaaargh!"

Ever since his beloved uncle, following his father's orders, had come to assassinate him and failed, Gaara had constantly maintained a fixed jutsu on his body—"Sand Armor." That armor had been completely shattered by Linnaizi's arrow.

Watching the "Sand Armor" crumble into a pile of fragments and Gaara scream, Kankuro recalled his puppet—he was already thinking about how to escape.

Temari beside him was much the same. She glanced at Linnaizi, who still held her shooting stance. What could she say to someone who didn't yet know she had unleashed a monster?

"No, there's a power on par with the dragon vein surging out of the opponent."

Tsukuyomi Xiaomeng pressed her palms together, and a pair of "wings" unfurled behind her—no, something that resembled wings, hung with many exquisite scrolls. This time she plucked a scroll straight from them and unhesitatingly unfurled it toward Gaara.

"An over-spec power calls for an over-spec counter. Sorry, this match never said scrolls and tools weren't allowed!"

"Dragon Pattern · Cursed Tool!"

After a blinding flash, the first to recover her sight was Temari, who had shielded most of the light with her fan in time. When she saw the scene on the field, she simply couldn't believe it.......

"I've temporarily sealed that guy, but I didn't expect the backlash to be this severe." After the dragon patterns on her body fully receded, Tsukuyomi Xiaomeng could only let Linnaizi hold her as they moved.

Originally she had wanted to use Gaara's own power to strike back at him, but the result was that she couldn't hold on first and gave up on that tempting idea. Tsukuyomi Xiaomeng, who had chosen forced sealing and was still full of regret, didn't know that what she did actually did the Xiaojue Gang a huge favor later on.

"I was thinking I could grab some extras before that Xiong Maoyan took them out—those Rain ninja might have had plenty of scrolls." Compared with the final hasty escape, Zhao Afu cared more about the scrolls the Rain ninja hadn't been able to recover; those were precious points for advancing.

Linnaizi shot Zhao Afu a look, then adjusted Tsukuyomi Xiaomeng in her arms to a more comfortable position.

"The currently the heaviest thing is to retreat quickly. Stop thinking about those unimportant things!"

Maybe it was instinct!

Linnaizi kept feeling a chill on the back of her neck, as if some fierce beast behind her was staring fixedly at her vital points.

"Eh, why's it gotta be like this? Fine, I got it!" Zhao Afu pouted, hefting her door-panel greatsword and clearing the way ahead.

"Won't this leave really obvious traces? If the enemy catches up we'll still have to fight."