In the arena.
After the appearance of Naruto's army, Gaara's reaction was also quite swift.
Sand Shower!
The stopper of the gourd behind Gaara, which was larger than himself, automatically opened, and a several-cubic-meter sand sphere emerged.
In an instant, the sand sphere released streams of sand pellets like raindrops, attacking all the Narutos.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!...."
One by one, the Narutos began to jump left and right, trying to avoid the sand spheres, but many ultimately failed to dodge in time and quickly performed hand signs to dispel their clones before death.
Normally, Naruto wouldn't bother with such an extra step; if a clone was blown up, it was blown up, and he could even take the opportunity to gauge the attack's intensity.
A true man should ignore pain.
However, the various bizarre and comical expressions of the Shadow Clones before death would significantly lower their prestige.
So, under Tomoki's forced correction, Naruto also changed that rather unfashionable combat tactic.
With his teacher and two teammates all being from the Uchiha clan, Naruto, at the very least, understood a simple truth.
Whether he could win a fight was secondary; at the very least, it had to look good!
Amidst the white smoke caused by the dispelling of a multitude of Shadow Clones, a few Naruto Shadow Clones quietly assessed the power of the Sand Shower.
Before the white smoke had fully dissipated, one by one, Narutos burst through it, each holding a glowing blue Rasengan in their hands.
Rasengan Barrage!
Tomoki taught Rasengan after Naruto had mastered the Nine-Tailed's power, so there wouldn't be any embarrassing scenes of him having poor Chakra control and needing clones to assist in forming the Rasengan.
Naruto, by himself, created a grand scene akin to a thousand soldiers charging.
This caused the audience, who had been rather displeased by the Byakugan obscuring their view, to erupt in thunderous applause once more.
"Kid, charge! Take him down!"
"Are you stupid? If he takes him down in one hit, the match will be over, what's there to watch then?!"
"Poor guy, I bought five matches; when this one ends, I'll just watch the next one!"
"Who are you looking down on? I bought five matches too!"
"...."
On the Presidential Platform, including Rasa, the four Kage besides Tomoki, seeing Naruto holding Rasengans in both hands, completely confirmed their previous suspicions.
His age, yellow hair, Chakra volume, and the Uzumaki surname—to say he wasn't Minato Namikaze's son, Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, no one would believe it.
Those who had initially been watching with a casual attitude also became serious.
The battle between two young Jinchuriki allowed them to infer their combat power as adults, and the Kage present all possessed exceptionally keen insight.
It wasn't that the leaders of the smaller Ninja villages were much dumber than the Five Kage, but apart from Takigakure, those without a Jinchuriki lacked a direct understanding of the Tailed Beast.
However, this didn't prevent them from becoming serious; battles between Jinchuriki usually only allowed for inferences from battle reports released by major nations, but this was a rare and excellent opportunity.
Gaara's fighting style had always been stationary output, and he faced Naruto, who was charging with overwhelming momentum.
He unhurriedly controlled the sand sphere, firing even denser sand pellets than before, and the gourd on his back continuously replenished the consumed sand spheres.
As for defense?
With his absolute defense, Gaara had no intention of defending at all; his mind was solely focused on how to attack.
The dense sand pellets formed an impassable wall, and one by one, the Narutos were dispersed during their charge.
The Narutos behind changed their strategy, placing the Rasengan in front of them to smash the oncoming sand pellets.
At a visible speed, the boundary formed by the Sand Shower and white smoke shifted towards Gaara's position.
This scene...
Ordinary people were incredibly excited, all identifying with Naruto and cheering him on.
Konoha's Ninjas, however, were silent; since the establishment of the Ninjutsu Pavilion years ago, the inexpensive and practical Shadow Clone Technique was something almost everyone knew.
Only those who had used the Shadow Clone Technique knew how much suffering this fighting style entailed.
Tomoki, looking down from above, couldn't be happy; Naruto's transformation still had a long way to go!
It was always like this; at first, it was fine, but once he got too hyped up in a fight, he completely disregarded his teachings.
In the arena.
The Sand Shower could no longer prevent Naruto from getting close; one by one, the Narutos, once near, immediately launched two Rasengans at Gaara without a word.
However, each time they were about to hit Gaara's body, they were blocked by a sudden layer of sand.
Sand Shield!
Gaara's mother's gift, a cheat, demonstrated unparalleled defensive power at this moment.
The Rasengan was not the Chidori; in terms of armor penetration, they were worlds apart, and no matter how many Rasengans were thrown, they were all blocked by Gaara's automatic defense.
Subsequently, Gaara used a sand pellet to blow up a Shadow Clone, and behind it, numerous Narutos continued to charge forward, but the area around Gaara was so limited that they couldn't all rush in and strike him simultaneously.
Having consumed half of his Shadow Clones with no results, Naruto also halted his offensive, no longer sending Shadow Clones to their futile deaths.
This round completely captivated all the spectators.
Especially the keen-eyed Ninjas, who were also contemplating how to counter Gaara's perfect defense.
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