Having made up her mind, Sakura no longer concealed her strength. She released the seal on her forehead, unleashing all the chakra she had been storing over this period.
But the power of the Byakugō no Jutsu was far more than a simple burst of chakra.
As the energy coursed through every fiber of her body, the wounds covering Sakura began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"This power…"
Even the proctor overseeing the match froze where he stood, staring in disbelief as the gaping holes across Sakura's body closed one after another.
His understanding of ninjutsu—and of what genin should be capable of—was utterly shattered in that moment.
Was it simply that his own vision was too narrow?
Or was this year's generation of genin filled with monsters in human skin?
One after another, their techniques had defied common sense—their destructive power exceeding even that of many jōnin.
And this healing ability… most jōnin in Konoha couldn't even dream of achieving something like this!
"Sakura's wounds… they're gone!" Naruto, seated with the other competitors, could hardly believe what he was seeing. His own ability to heal came from the bloodline of the Uzumaki clan—and, more importantly, from the Nine-Tails sealed inside him.
But Sakura wasn't a jinchūriki. She wasn't even from a special clan.
"Don't tell me… Haruto-nii taught you this too?" Naruto swallowed hard, his throat bobbing, and turned toward Sasuke.
Back when Naruto and Sakura had been training side by side, he had been occupied with Kakashi, working to develop a new technique. What Sakura and Sasuke had been learning under Senju Haruto, he didn't know.
He had asked them before, but never received an answer.
"…Yeah."
For the first time, Sasuke gave a firm nod, confirming it outright.
"With that monstrous strength, and now this rapid regeneration… in this state, Sakura just might have the chance to win." His voice was low, his eyes flicking deliberately toward Kankurō and Temari.
Both of the Sand siblings had gone pale.
To them, the genin from Konoha were completely unreasonable—each one a nightmare beyond logic.
And worse, they hadn't even come here to take the Chūnin Exams for promotion.
Their true mission had been assigned directly by the Kazekage.
Everything was supposed to go smoothly… yet seeing Sakura's terrifying growth, Temari couldn't help but feel a pang of unease.
Meanwhile, the spectators in the stands erupted in wild cheers.
They had assumed Gaara would crush Sakura quickly, that the match would be over before it even began. Nobody had expected much.
Yet the fight they had dismissed as the least interesting had suddenly turned into the most exciting—and Sakura had emerged as the dark horse!
"I'm coming!"
With a sharp cry, Sakura stomped her foot against the ground. Violent chakra exploded outward, splitting the arena floor into cracks, leaving a crater where she had stood.
Her raw power was staggering.
Though she didn't possess Rock Lee's blinding speed, her momentum was every bit as unstoppable.
And Gaara, sealed inside his sphere of sand, couldn't see anything outside. His "absolute defense" extended spikes by instinct, trying to impale Sakura before she reached him.
But under the Byakugō no Jutsu, Sakura no longer feared injuries. Unless it was an instant kill, any wound would simply knit closed within moments.
"Haah!"
Her voice echoed through the arena as she twisted her body in midair, slamming a palm strike down against Gaara's defense.
Even the sharpened spikes were crushed flat beneath her overwhelming strength.
BOOOOM!
The deafening crash shook the entire arena. Gaara's "absolute defense" shattered to pieces. The force of Sakura's strike slammed directly into his chest.
The sand armor shielding his body cracked apart, fragments crumbling away.
"This one's for Lee!"
Sakura pressed her advantage without hesitation.
That strike wasn't enough. Not for Gaara.
The way he had maimed Lee… even if she doubled her strength, she would never match the cruelty he had shown.
Still, her strike had broken through his sand armor, exposing his flesh to the open air.
Gaara's gourd disintegrated, the sand rushing forward in a desperate attempt to shield its master.
But it was just a fraction too late.
"It's over!"
Sakura lunged forward with a powerful step, drawing every ounce of chakra into her fist. She prepared to unleash her monster strength again.
Surely even Gaara's sand couldn't endure this blow.
But in that instant, something unexpected happened.
Not only did the sand from his gourd surge to protect him, but fresh sand seeped directly from Gaara's body, layering over him in a second barrier.
And then—
Sakura's eyes widened in shock.
Gaara's eyelids had fallen shut.
In the middle of battle… he looked as though he had fallen asleep.
"It's starting!"
Temari gasped from the competitors' area. As Gaara's sister, she knew exactly what was happening.
This was the Art of False Sleep—the technique used to release Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast.
It was, in fact, the Kazekage's will.
Gaara was to unleash the tailed beast within him… and destroy the Leaf Village.
A violent surge of chakra exploded outward, forcing Sakura to retreat despite her unstoppable charge.
The entire arena trembled. Sand whipped through the air in a frenzy, storms reaching all the way into the stands.
"What's going on here…?"
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, rose abruptly from his seat, his sharp gaze falling on the chaos below. A heavy dread coiled in his chest.
"Kazekage-dono, I must insist on—"
But before he could finish, a kunai pressed cold and sharp against his throat.
In the blink of an eye, Sand shinobi appeared all throughout the stadium, clashing with ANBU and Root operatives alike.
And in the arena, Gaara's body swelled grotesquely. A raging gale erupted around him as his form transformed—
Into the monstrous shape of a Tailed Beast.
The One-Tail, Shukaku of the Sand!
His size alone dwarfed even the tallest buildings of Konoha.
"What the hell is that…?"
Sakura stared up at the towering monster, swallowing hard.
She had never dreamed Gaara's true form would be so monstrous.
How was she supposed to fight something like this?
"Sakura!"
Naruto leapt from the stands without hesitation, landing in the arena.
He didn't know exactly what was happening, but this was no longer a match.
He couldn't let Sakura face it alone. He planted himself protectively in front of her.
Up in the competitor's box, Sasuke's gaze swept the chaos, noting the sudden appearance of countless Sand shinobi. His eyes finally locked onto Kankurō and Temari.
"What the hell is going on?" His voice was low and dangerous, his hands buried in his pockets.
And from his tone, it was clear—if they didn't give him a satisfactory answer, he was ready to kill them where they stood.