Chapter 543

"Intruders… this attire, it's Akatsuki."

Gaara stood before Deidara, carrying a one-meter-tall sand gourd on his back.

"Looks like infiltration didn't go well—then switch to direct assault, hmm."

As Deidara finished speaking, a tendril of yellow sand surged toward him, seeming to come alive, intent on wrapping him up.

Just as the sand reached Deidara's front, a sharp whistling sound pierced the air.

Bang—a bullet pierced through the sand, scattering it; the sand meant to ensnare Deidara fell to the ground, gradually drifting back toward Gaara, who looked upward.

"Two intruders."

Sand lifted into the air, forming a sand shield beside Gaara—this was to defend against Su Xiao's bullets.

Above, Su Xiao retracted his sniper rifle; the rifle's effect against Gaara was negligible—Gaara's sand differed from Jiraiya's hair, capable of drastically reducing bullet kinetic energy.

If he blew Gaara's head off in one shot, it'd be pointless—though the odds were smaller than winning the lottery.

He controlled the clay bird beneath his feet to dive low, as Gaara below was already engaged with Deidara.

Deidara stood atop the clay bird, crouched low, darting swiftly through the air; behind him, a thick tendril of yellow sand pursued relentlessly, like a parasite clinging to bone.

The sand chasing Deidara moved at extreme speed, forcing him to dodge midair out of necessity.

Su Xiao observed the current situation; when the clay bird descended to ten meters above ground, he silently leapt off.

The sky had grown dim, and Su Xiao's black trench coat helped him remain unnoticed—for now, Gaara was fully focused on Deidara.

As Su Xiao fell to five meters above Gaara, the man below finally noticed him.

Mid-fall, Su Xiao held his long blade; the moment Gaara spotted him, he activated Qinggangying—since he'd been seen, concealment was pointless.

"Ambush!"

A shout rang out—a Sand Ninja had spotted Gaara fighting enemies.

Ding, ding, ding…

The village alarm bell clanged; disheveled Sand Ninjas burst from various houses.

"Where are the intruders?"

"In the air—two of them."

"The Kazekage is fighting them."

Though the Sand Ninjas quickly gathered, most lacked aerial combat capability; as for aiding Gaara, all hesitated.

To them, Gaara was still a monster—even as Kazekage, they still harbored deep unease.

Two individuals differed from the rest: a man and a woman—Kankuro and Temari.

Kankuro and Temari were descendants of the Fourth Kazekage, meaning they were Gaara's older brother and sister—Temari being the eldest.

"Kankuro, who is Gaara fighting?"

Temari carried a large iron fan on her shoulder, cheeks flushed, golden hair loose, a faint fragrance clinging to her—she'd just finished bathing.

"I don't know. Let's go help."

"Wait."

Temari's words startled Kankuro.

"You gather the troops—I'll go aid Gaara first."

With that, Temari leapt toward a tall building.

"Damn."

Kankuro gritted his teeth—he wanted to help too, but assembling the ninja force quickly was the right move; the enemy's origin was unknown, and daring to invade Suna meant they were formidable.

Leaving Suna's reaction aside, Su Xiao now hung motionless midair; Gaara below clearly looked puzzled.

If one looked closely, they'd see a thread connecting Su Xiao's forearm to the clay bird above.

"Opportunity."

Seizing the opening Su Xiao created, Deidara hurled several bird-shaped clay bombs; they dove at high speed toward Gaara.

Su Xiao wasn't aiming for close combat—now wasn't the time; rushing in would get him blown up by Deidara. His earlier move was meant to distract Gaara.

Several bomb-birds dove at Gaara; Gaara, still alert to Su Xiao, was now attacked from behind.

The bomb-birds plunged downward; yellow sand enveloped Gaara.

Boom, boom, boom!

Explosions echoed across Suna Village.

At the gathered Sand Ninja unit, the situation was odd—no matter how much Kankuro urged them, none moved to support Gaara; Suna's internal flaws were laid bare.

In these ninjas' minds, Gaara was a jinchuriki, a monster. Though he'd been calm for the past two years, his early attacks on fellow villagers couldn't be erased—who knew if he'd suddenly turn violent again?

Besides, Gaara was both Kazekage and jinchuriki—defending against outsiders was his primary duty. These ninjas weren't unwilling to help—they simply feared getting near the fighting Gaara.

…

The explosion's dust cleared, revealing a large sand sphere—Gaara remained unharmed inside.

"A-formation."

As Su Xiao shouted, he retracted the Kai Duan Xian and dove toward the sand sphere.

Deidara, about to launch another clay bomb, paused upon hearing Su Xiao's call, instead preparing more bombs—if Su Xiao failed, he'd step in.

Su Xiao dove downward; before the sand sphere dissipated, he thrust his blade into it.

Shhh—Long Sword Flash plunged deep into the sphere. It wasn't that Gaara's sand defense was weak—it was that Qinggangying energy devoured the chakra within the sand, drastically reducing its defensive power.

A long blade suddenly pierced the sand sphere; Gaara inside was startled—the blade struck beside him, missing his body.

"A ninja skilled with a ninja blade."

Through floating sand eyes above the sphere, Gaara saw the outside; inside, he extended his palm, sending a tendril of yellow sand to wrap around Su Xiao's torso, trapping the still-falling Su Xiao.

"Sand Binding Coffin…"

The sand tightened rapidly; pressure crushed Su Xiao's chest—but he kept driving his blade forward, even though it wouldn't reach Gaara.

Just as Gaara prepared to crush Su Xiao's ribs with sand, an anomaly erupted.

Plosch—a dozen pale blue spines burst from within the sand sphere, droplets of blood seeping through the soil; the sand binding Su Xiao fell to the ground.

After plunging Long Sword Flash into the sphere, Su Xiao activated "Shadow Spike"—a technique he accidentally developed while refining Huan Duan: energy spikes formed from blade aura and Qinggangying.

The sand sphere surrounding Gaara dissolved; at the tip of Long Sword Flash, over a dozen half-meter-long energy spikes emerged, piercing through half of Gaara's body, leaving one arm limp.

"Sand…"

Gaara tried to manipulate sand to attack Su Xiao, but Su Xiao had already rushed forward, delivering a side kick to Gaara's abdomen.

Crack.

Like shattered porcelain, cracks appeared across Gaara's body—this was the Sand Armor, a technique using chakra-infused sand to cover the entire body.

The Shadow Spikes shattered, but didn't vanish immediately—they remained embedded in Gaara's body.

From the original story, it's clear that while Gaara wasn't weak, before Bijuu transformation, his close combat was pathetic.

Su Xiao kicked Gaara off the ground, then charged forward with his blade—if Gaara took Su Xiao's direct slash, his Sand Armor would be useless.

"Kid, transform into the Bijuu—this guy's not normal!"

A shrill voice echoed in Gaara's ear—it was the One-Tail, Shukaku.

Gaara ignored the voice—he couldn't transform; once he did, he'd immediately lose control.

Su Xiao held his blade in one hand, eyes blazing with killing intent, slashing toward Gaara's chest.

Given Su Xiao's nature, had he not needed to capture the jinchuriki alive, this slash would have targeted Gaara's neck.

Is Gaara strong now? The answer is—he isn't very strong. Not because Gaara the ninja is weak, but because the One-Tail inside him drags him down, preventing him from unleashing his full power.

The blade sliced through the air, reaching Gaara's front; his pupils contracted—he was badly wounded, but still combat-capable.

Just as Gaara prepared to counterattack, a whistling wind approached.

Bang.

A powerful gust slammed into Su Xiao, hurling him backward; he adjusted his center of gravity midair and landed steadily.

Temari stood nearby, wielding a large iron fan; though only nineteen, her figure was full-figured.

Temari had just intervened—she'd rescued Gaara from the embarrassing situation of being closed in.

Before close combat, Su Xiao wasn't Gaara's match; after close combat, Gaara wasn't Su Xiao's match.

"Suna Village won't tolerate Akatsuki's arrogance."

Temari glared at Su Xiao, her hostility unmistakable.

"Deidara, buy me five minutes—I'll deal with this woman first."

Above, Deidara stopped preparing bombs and dove downward; Su Xiao ignored Gaara—Deidara could handle him.

"Isn't it better to stay alive?"

As Su Xiao spoke, he stomped the ground and charged toward Temari at high speed.

Cough—judging by the update time, you can guess Fei Wen's time zone is off again. But trust Fei Wen—he'll fix his time zone "again," even though he's already adjusted it three times… in despair…