Most eyes were glued to the arena. Very few people had noticed what was happening up at the Hokage's platform.
"How come I've never gotten a shoulder massage from Hanabi?!"
Hiashi, on the other hand, had noticed. He stared at Hanabi's hands on the Kazekage's shoulders looking thoroughly aggrieved.
"Hanabi..."
Hinata had noticed too.
She'd wanted to go find Hanabi right after the match ended, but for some reason, Hanabi had gone straight up to the Hokage and Kazekage's seats instead.
Meanwhile, the Anbu on guard detail were sweating bullets.
—When exactly had a Genin slipped past them and waltzed right up to Hokage-sama?!
But then they saw the two Sand escorts get juked just as easily, and the Anbu breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
At least they weren't the only ones who got clowned.
"Hokage-sama, shall I bring her back down?" Hokage Guard Raidō Namiashi asked the Third in a low voice.
"No... since our Kazekage-sama hasn't objected, there's no need to do anything unnecessary."
[This whole world is just one big clown show]
[Holy crap, the Kage's personal guards got juked that easily—it really IS a clown show]
[Gotta admit though, that was cool]
[Wait, isn't she kind of stealing the spotlight?]
She was not stealing the spotlight.
This was necessary setup.
"Heheheh. Hokage-sama, the Hyuga heiress really is quite interesting." Orochimaru already knew she'd seen through him.
Otherwise Hanabi wouldn't have used a phrase like "meeting again."
And to any outside observer, what Hanabi was doing didn't seem like a big deal at all.
A Hyuga child offering a friendly shoulder rub to the honored Kazekage-sama? Perfectly normal.
"Kazekage-sama's shoulders are quite slender, aren't they? Just like a girl's." Hanabi smiled.
A stab of pain followed immediately.
Orochimaru had released killing intent at her.
It tingled, a bit numb—but Hanabi didn't care.
That was all it amounted to.
"Hanabi, what exactly are you doing here?"
The Third was also puzzled.
Hanabi was clearly probing the Kazekage. But what was the point of this suicidal behavior?
"I just wanted to chat with the two Kage-sama a little." Hanabi beamed. "Besides, I think Kazekage-sama is very welcoming."
"Heheh. If you're rude to your elders, you might find yourself on the receiving end of a lesson sometime." Orochimaru was furious, but now wasn't the time to make a move.
At the very least, he needed to locate Sasuke first.
Kabuto had gone to look. It was just a matter of when he'd find him.
"BOOM...!"
Down in the arena, another one of Naruto's Rasengan slammed squarely into Gaara.
Under the Rasengan's assault, the Armour of Sand on Gaara's body was cracking and peeling away.
"Gaara's getting pushed back again..." Kankuro was worried.
"No—wait. Gaara's chakra doesn't seem to be focused on that blond kid." Temari realized something was off.
"Man, this guy's tough. Even the Rasengan can't take him down?"
Naruto was panting hard.
"It's done."
Gaara raised both hands and pressed his palms together.
"Quicksand Waterfall Flow!"
"Hm?"
Naruto looked down. The ground beneath his feet had started to shift.
"Whoa—!"
In the next instant, the earth under Naruto's feet turned entirely to sand.
The terrifying sand swallowed trees and rubble alike. Even examiner Hayate Gekko had to leap onto the arena wall.
"Damn it!"
Naruto couldn't keep his footing.
This wasn't ordinary sand—it was quicksand.
If he sank in, there'd be no getting out. Fortunately, the water-walking technique he'd learned could be put to use here.
Gaara attacked again. His hands flew through seals, and a massive wall of sand roared toward Naruto—a tidal wave of dust and grit, fast and violent.
Naruto's eyes hardened. He formed his own seals. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Countless Narutos burst into existence, scattering in every direction to dodge the sand assault.
The clones scattered in what looked like a chaotic retreat, but their movements had purpose. After evading Gaara's attack, they pressed forward in unison.
"Rasengan!"
Under the clones' cover, Naruto drove another Rasengan straight at Gaara.
Gaara didn't retreat. He advanced.
"Sand Binding Coffin!"
The sand around them surged to life, eager to obey, writhing as if it meant to bury Naruto alive in an endless sea of grit.
Seeing the danger, Naruto's expression tightened. He had no choice but to slam the Rasengan into the sand binding his legs, freeing himself before leaping up to the arena wall.
[Holy crap, the entire terrain changed]
[That raccoon-eyed kid is actually this strong?!]
[Hanabi beat him so hard I thought he was a pushover, but think about it—outside of facing Hanabi, Gaara's never lost his cool once]
[Dude's legit]
Forget the viewers at home—even the dignitaries in attendance had rarely witnessed a battle that could reshape the terrain itself.
"What the heck? That Sand ninja is this powerful?"
Sakura was dumbstruck.
Beside her, Ino looked equally rattled. "Wait—Choji's supposed to fight on this field. He's not gonna sink, is he...?"
The battle plunged into a white-hot frenzy.
Naruto's Rasengan wasn't fully polished yet, but it was more than enough to crack Gaara's Armour of Sand.
Gaara's sand was formidable in its own right, but Naruto's chakra reserves seemed bottomless. He could even use Shadow Clones mid-air to kick off them and change trajectory—pulling off tricky maneuvers and dodging attacks that should've been impossible.
This was no longer a simple fight.
"Heheheh. Heheheh. You really are strong. Stronger than that Uchiha."
Gaara recalled what Hanabi had said.
"So—here, right now—I'm going to ask you my question."
"Whatever it is, bring it!"
Naruto wasn't backing down.
But then Gaara pulled the sand inward, wrapping himself entirely in a massive sphere.
The sand on the ground gathered too, layering onto the sphere, making it thicker by the second.
"Here it comes..." Kankuro swallowed hard.
"Is this really a good idea?" Temari tensed up.
"What's there to be afraid of? Gaara said it himself—if he can't find his answer, he won't cooperate with us."
—So Kankuro and the others would have to wait until Gaara found his answer before they could act.
"I see." Kankuro understood. "So that's why he needs all this sand. He's using sheer thickness to block that annoying chakra ball!"
The Rasengan was a problem, and Gaara's Absolute Defense couldn't handle it.
So: raw thickness in exchange for time.
A thin layer of chakra defense wouldn't cut it—but a sand sphere several meters thick?
"Besides... that woman is right there, isn't she?"
Others were hard to say, but Hanabi seemed to have some secret technique for suppressing Shukaku.
With her present, even if Shukaku really appeared, it should be fine... right?
On the other side, Gaara had already begun forming hand seals.
"Ren... Monkey... Snake... Monkey..."