Gaara stared at Sasuke, his expression wild. "You can die together with this guy." Sasuke frowned. He wasn't keen on fighting Gaara here, worried it might affect Lee, who was lying in bed.
"If you fight here today, you won't be eligible for the finals," Sasuke said coldly. Gaara paused.
Although he really wanted to kill Sasuke right now, the village still had plans. Even if he was unwilling, he suppressed the urge to kill Sasuke. "I'll kill you during the finals."
Sasuke replied coldly, "If you have the ability, then go ahead." After giving Sasuke a cold glance, Gaara left the hospital room. Sasuke, Naruto, and Shikamaru quietly watched as Gaara walked out of the room.
Once Gaara was gone, Naruto and Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief. Both of them knew how strong Gaara was, so they had been extremely tense. They both understood that they couldn't stop Gaara.
Even though Naruto was stronger than in the original story, he still wasn't a match for Gaara. However, Sasuke now had the strength to defeat Gaara without him entering the Tailed Beast state. "That was terrifying. If he had really attacked, we wouldn't have been able to stop him," Naruto said, patting his chest.
Shikamaru looked at Sasuke, who had already deactivated his Sharingan, and asked, "Sasuke, are you awake?" Sasuke nodded, still pondering over Gaara.
He felt that the chakra inside Gaara was somewhat strange. "That guy probably has a monster inside him, just like the one inside Naruto." Sasuke's words made the two, who had just calmed down, tense up again.
Naruto looked at Sasuke with a serious expression. "You mean that guy also has a Tailed Beast inside him?" Sasuke nodded. "I'm not sure, but his chakra is very similar to yours."
"Moreover, the amount of chakra he has is abnormally large. For someone his age, he shouldn't possess such a vast amount of chakra."
"Aside from that anomaly, Yoruha, I can't think of any normal person who could have such a massive amount of chakra." Even now, Sasuke couldn't help but mention Yoruha. After awakening his Sharingan, Sasuke could see the chakra inside Yoruha, though not very precisely.
But he could get a rough idea. And that was enough. The amount of chakra inside Yoruha was even greater than Naruto's.
If he didn't know that Konoha only had one Tailed Beast, Sasuke would have thought Yoruha was a Jinchuriki too. Shikamaru's expression was serious upon hearing this. "Sasuke, are you saying that guy has a demon fox like Naruto?"
Naruto corrected him, "The demon fox inside me is called the Nine-Tails, and it's very powerful."
Although the Nine-Tails' rampage had caused him distress, after Yoruha added another seal, Naruto no longer had that risk. To him now, the Nine-Tails wasn't just a demon fox but a power he was about to master.
Naturally, he couldn't let Shikamaru speak of it that way. However, Naruto didn't know that the Nine-Tails' real name wasn't Nine-Tails, but Kurama. Shikamaru was momentarily stunned.
"However, since Naruto doesn't like it, he corrected his way of addressing him. 'But why would the Sand Village send a ninja with such power hidden inside him to participate in the Chunin Exams?'
Shikamaru still didn't know about Orochimaru. Only the Jonin in the village were privy to that information. Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were informed by Kakashi.
Shikamaru's words sparked a thought in Sasuke. 'Could it be that the Sand Village wants to use his power for something?' Sasuke didn't believe that the Sand Village sent Gaara to the Chunin Exams just for the sake of the exams.
Shikamaru looked at Sasuke, and both nodded simultaneously. 'It seems they might be planning to attack the Leaf Village.' After all, sending a Jinchuriki into another ninja village is bound to raise suspicions.
It's important to know that every Jinchuriki is like a weapon of mass destruction for their village. They are extremely dangerous. However, Naruto had a different perspective and said, 'I don't think they have that many plans. What I'm concerned about is that guy seems to be able to control the power of the tailed beast inside him.'
'Although he's a bit unhinged, it's clear that he can control that power.' Sasuke nodded, 'That's true. He can utilize the tailed beast's power, which is much stronger than Naruto at this point.' Naruto nodded subconsciously, then realized and angrily retorted, 'What the heck, I'll eventually control the Nine-Tails' power too.'
Sasuke ignored Naruto and said to Shikamaru, 'Should we report this to the Third Hokage?' Shikamaru thought for a moment and replied, 'I think the Third Hokage must already know about Gaara's identity.' Sasuke considered this and agreed with Shikamaru.
'How did that guy manage to injure Rock Lee so badly?' 'I saw that Rock Lee's chakra flow was abnormal; it might be difficult for him to recover.' Shikamaru glanced at Naruto.
The two recounted the battle between Gaara and Rock Lee to Sasuke. After listening, Sasuke's expression turned serious. 'Rock Lee is really strong. It seems that not only are we improving, but others are making significant progress too.' 'Now I understand why Yoruha instructed you and Sakura to learn taijutsu from Guy-sensei.'
'It's indeed quite suitable for you,' Sasuke analyzed. 'Gaara's strength has likely surpassed that of a Chunin, possibly reaching the level of a Jonin.'
Naruto looked at Sasuke and asked, 'Do you have the confidence to defeat him?' Shikamaru also turned his gaze to Sasuke. After spending more time with Sasuke, his relationship with him was no less than with Naruto.
However, he still didn't know how strong Sasuke truly was. Back in the Ninja Academy, it was hard to tell. After all, the academy mainly focused on teaching ninja theory, basic taijutsu, and kunai throwing techniques.
Ninjutsu lessons included the basic three techniques, which some students failed to master each year. As the top student of their class, Shikamaru was most curious about Sasuke's true strength.
Since Shikamaru had never seen Yoruha fight, he didn't know how strong Yoruha was. Sasuke shook his head, 'It's unlikely. If that guy can really control the power of the tailed beast inside him, I wouldn't be able to defeat him.' Naruto frowned, 'Even you aren't confident?'
Sasuke shook his head again. Shikamaru looked at Sasuke and asked, 'In the finals, you'll be facing him. Judging by his demeanor, he genuinely wants to kill you.' 'I think if you really aren't confident in defeating him, you should consider forfeiting.' 'After all, he's not an ordinary ninja, and there's no need to risk your life against him.'
Sasuke fell silent. Of course, he didn't want to do that. But if Gaara could truly control the tailed beast's power, fighting him would be unwise. After a long pause, Sasuke finally said, 'We'll see when the time comes.'"
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