Reborn!

36: Overturned

"You're up," said Naruto as he re-entered the waiting area, bumping fists with his raven-haired teammate.

"Good luck, you two!" bade Sakura, giving Sasuke and Gaara a thumbs-up.

"Just to confirm: I back Gaara into a corner, making it look like I can win if I risk a limb and surrender. Is that all?"

"Yes. Drag it out a little so that the big shots aren't too disappointed by your loss."

After all, Sasuke would be defecting from Konoha soon. It would be bad if this caused unnecessary distress because he showed off too much. He could not underperform in front of the crowd's expectations, but he had to hide the full extent of his skills such that Konoha would not be desperate to end his life after he "turns traitor".

"Gaara, help me take this guy down a peg," Naruto told Gaara, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

Gaara hesitated, sending an inquiring glance at the one in question.

He asked, "You mean to say I should go all out?"

Naruto nodded and winked at Sasuke.

The connotation? If you really get beaten up by Gaara, I'll put you through training beyond your wildest imagination.

Sasuke received the memo and gulped, nervously adjusting the sword on his back.

Gaara, who was not bloodthirsty as in the previous timeline, jumped off the platform and into the ring, avoiding the two foolish shinobi hoping to rig the match.

Sasuke unthinkingly leapt over the railing after him, landing in a neat roll not unlike how Naruto had done before.

"The second match between Gaara and Uchiha Sasuke commences now," announced the clone.

Sasuke launched a flurry of shuriken at his enemy and, under their cover, began sprinting to Gaara's unprotected side while running through a series of hand seals.

Without incanting, he blew a sizable fireball at Gaara.

Gaara sensed the incoming danger and directed more sand towards that side from his gourd, adding to the defences that automatically formed.

The outermost layer of sand was superheated, turning transparent -- the flames were so hot that his sand nearly crystallised.

"Needles," murmured Gaara.

The glassy solid, under his control, splintered into countless fragments and shot towards Sasuke.

Sasuke cursed under his breath and dashed for it, narrowly dodging the deadly glass shards.

Naruto whistled in appreciation.

Gaara's power over his chakra-infused sand was such that his control over it would not waver even if its physical characteristics changed. It was not easy for him to reach this point in the previous timeline -- he had only grasped this elusive technique halfway through the war. Since he did not have this ability during Naruto's time with him as Daiki, Gaara must have comprehended the principles of his sand manipulation ability during the month-long break. During the previous timeline, Gaara never trained before the war. In this vein, he also whiled away his time during the preparation duration -- he was busy feeling anxious about fighting mighty adversaries.

The Gaara of this time was motivated to improve, unlike his complacent alternate self.

"Disperse," Gaara intoned, clapping his hands together as sand scattered invisibly through the air.

"Sharingan!" shouted Sasuke, activating the lowest tier of his dōjutsu.

He saw the dust-like chakra suspended in the air between them, settling around his feet.