Naruto looked in the direction from which the Sand Spear had flown. At a point beyond the reach of his vision, there was an extremely powerful aura.
It's a strong figure.
At the very least, someone much stronger than the likes of Kakuzu or Kisame.
But in his memory, that red-haired kid with constant dark circles under his eyes was nowhere near this strong.
'Even if the other party called out the Tailed Beast inside him, it should be the same.'
'Could it be that he also had some strange encounter like myself, training for decades in another world?'
"I'll go check the situation over there. You all stay here and don't move."
After saying that, without waiting for anyone's reply, Naruto's body levitated.
Then, accompanied by a sonic boom in the air, his figure shot out at extreme speed.
The Ultralight-Weight Rock Technique combined with Geppo granted Naruto extremely high aerial mobility.
Now he could easily fight mid-air, his mobility greatly enhanced.
Watching Naruto's figure quickly disappear, everyone looked at each other.
Sasuke, without a word, immediately chased in that direction. B looked around, thought for a moment, and followed behind.
Yugito and Roshi clearly hadn't yet grasped the essence of this team. Watching the two's actions, they were a bit slow to react.
"Naruto... didn't he tell us to wait here?"
When she said this, Yugito's face showed a lack of confidence, thinking she might have misheard.
Roshi just shook his head, saying nothing outright, found a surviving large tree, and sat down cross-legged with his back against the trunk.
'Every single one of them, so willful.'
Onoki probably couldn't even dream that the notoriously difficult Roshi would make such a comment about others.
Whoosh-
Garuda's figure descended, then transformed into human form.
"Yugito-nee, where did Naruto-san go?"
Karin asked Yugito.
She had just delivered the villagers of Takigakure to a safe place and upon returning saw Naruto, Sasuke, and B rushing off in another direction, not understanding what had happened.
Hearing her question, Yugito, though somewhat hesitant, honestly recounted what had just happened.
Sure enough, the next moment, Karin transformed into her hybrid form and chased after them with equally fast flight.
"Could it be... that I'm the one with the problem?"
Yugito began to doubt herself. As someone who always adhered to the principle of 'follow orders and complete the mission', she now felt out of place with this team.
"It's fine, you'll get used to it later."
Jiraiya slowly stepped forward, patted her shoulder, and then unhurriedly walked in that direction.
...
"Hey! Dark Circles, why did you suddenly attack!"
Kousei, disregarding the attempts of Zabuza and Haku to stop her, jumped directly in front of Gaara and asked loudly.
But Gaara acted as if he didn't see her at all, his gaze fixed on the direction of the attack, showing no intention of replying.
The matter started from when they entered the forest sea area.
Perhaps because he grew up in an arid climate and rarely saw such endless forests, even though Gaara had lost his memory, he felt an instinctive joy.
It was as if he was naturally drawn to such an environment.
At that time, the three adults walked side by side, while Kousei sat on Gaara's shoulders as if riding a giant horse.
This bit of weight was nothing to Gaara in his semi-Sage state.
More importantly, since being saved by Kousei, Gaara had been absolutely obedient to this little girl's words.
He seemed already accustomed to a way of living by following others' instructions.
But that didn't mean others could treat Gaara like this.
At the very least, Haku and Zabuza couldn't get close to him.
As soon as they approached, sand would spontaneously float up, blocking them.
Only Kousei, this little girl, not only wasn't repelled by the sand, but when she wanted to jump onto Gaara's shoulders, the sand would even actively form steps for her to step on.
-Although, given Kousei's physical fitness, she didn't really need it.
Their mode of interaction was basically Kousei chattering away, Gaara listening silently, and the remaining worried duo dealing with the messes the two created.
Compared to Kousei, who at least had some common sense, the amnesiac Gaara actually caused more problems.
For example, not knowing he had to pay for things when shopping, or directly picking up food from others' tables and eating heartily during meals.
At this moment, Gaara was like a naive infant just born, only following his instincts.
His original personality only 'took over' the body occasionally.
However, the direction of this strange little team was decided by Gaara, the amnesiac.
There was no other way.
Kousei only said she wanted to find her dad.
But she didn't even know where her dad was, let alone what he looked like or what his name was.
Since leaving the Land of Vegetables… no, since landing in this world, she had been completely clueless.
As for Haku and Zabuza, needless to say, they basically went wherever Kousei went.
And honestly, during this time together, these two 'first-time parents' seemed to have tasted a feeling they originally couldn't have experienced.
Troublesome, but also a kind of warmth.
Completely different from their previous lives.
Originally, everything should have developed gently like this.
The group advanced in a certain direction like a pilgrimage team, experiencing various events along the way, ultimately each obtaining the ending they desired.
-Until today.
Gaara, who had been honestly acting as a mount, suddenly changed expression, standing rooted to the spot.
Then, intense energy fluctuations erupted from around him.
If Kousei hadn't reacted quickly, she might have been sent flying by that shockwave.
Haku and Zabuza immediately assumed fighting stances.
To be honest, they had been wary of this mysterious guy from the start. If it weren't for the fact that they couldn't persuade the little girl, they would have long since parted ways with him.
After sending Kousei flying, countless energies undetectable to the naked eye began autonomously enter Gaara's body, starting to combine with his inherent Chakra.
Externally, this manifested as keratinous layers like 'sand armor' growing on his skin. The short horn on his forehead continuously extended, and another horn grew on the opposite side.
Dark red patterns, combined with sand-colored sage Chakra, formed a robe covering Gaara, whose appearance had greatly changed.
Then Gaara stretched out a hand and clenched it empty-handed, and a [Sage Art: Sand Spear] with far greater energy density than the normal version materialized out of thin air.
Then, ignoring Kousei's shouts beside him, Gaara, as if he had become a different person, directly threw the spear into the distance.
At this moment, he also seemed able to observe the target's condition from a long distance.
After sensing the spear was caught, Gaara didn't hesitate at all and immediately condensed another Sand Spear and threw it.
"Hey-"
Kousei wanted to continue asking something, but the moment her eyes met Gaara's, her tone suddenly changed.
"Who are you!? Why are you hiding in Dark Circles' body! Are you an enemy!"
Hearing this, the gazes of the three present shifted over.
Haku and Zabuza were surprised, but they didn't doubt the little girl's judgment much.
Kousei's intuition had always been very strong, something they both knew well.
In contrast, Gaara, who now seemed like a different person, looked down at the angry Kousei with an emotionless gaze, then suddenly spoke.
"Not bad perception. As expected, you and that man..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the Sand Spear coated in Armament Haki flew back at a speed faster than when it was thrown, aiming straight for his chest.