Chapter 33 (Patreon)

Mihawk drew his sword in a single swift motion.

The blade moved so quickly that the others could not follow it with their eyes.

His swordsmanship closely resembled Hawkeye’s.

There were no flashy techniques or complicated movements. Every swing pursued the same goal—to cut through whatever stood before him.

A black arc flashed from the blade.

In the next instant, it expanded into a dark-red Ranged Slash nearly five meters high and tore straight toward Gaara.

The attack ripped open the ground as it advanced. Dirt and buried roots were thrown into the air, while a wave of dust rolled through the clearing behind it.

It rushed toward Gaara with enough force to crush everything in its path.

Gaara’s pupils contracted.

The sand protecting him reacted automatically, forming a thick, dome-shaped wall in front of his body.

The Ranged Slash struck it.

Boom!

The wall shattered immediately.

Gaara had little experience dodging attacks because his sand had always protected him before he needed to move.

For the second time, Mihawk’s attack struck him head-on.

The Ranged Slash continued for more than ten meters, cutting through trees and plants before finally dispersing.

A straight trench nearly two meters deep had been carved into the ground.

“Was that really kenjutsu?” Kankurō exclaimed.

His face was filled with disbelief.

“How can someone do that with a sword?!”

Temari was just as stunned.

Like Kurenai and Zabuza before them, neither had imagined that a swordsman could produce an attack on that scale.

The dust slowly cleared.

A figure emerged from within it.

Gaara’s Sand Armor looked like a shattered clay shell that had barely managed to hold together. Cracks covered his entire body, and chunks of hardened sand fell away with every step.

For the first time, parts of his real face were visible beneath the damaged armor.

Gaara’s expression had twisted with rage.

His eyes were bloodshot, and the killing intent coming from him had become far stronger.

A thin line of blood ran down his forehead.

Kankurō and Temari stared at it.

Their bodies immediately tensed, and fear appeared on their faces.

Gaara had been wounded.

“O-Oh no…” Kankurō muttered. “He’s losing control.”

“This is bad,” Temari said, her expression turning pale.

Hinata and Shino looked at them in confusion.

Neither understood exactly what Kankurō and Temari meant, but they could see that the two Sand genin had lost all interest in continuing their own battles.

Hinata and Shino did not attack.

As long as Temari and Kankurō did not interfere with Mihawk, there was no reason to fight them.

Mihawk tightened his grip on his sword and moved first.

Whoosh!

Chakra gathered beneath his feet.

He shot toward Gaara like a gust of wind.

“Blood…”

Gaara raised one hand to his forehead and stared at the red stain on his fingers.

“This is my blood…”

Half of the Sand Armor covering his face began repairing itself, but the madness in his eyes only grew stronger.

“Mother… I’ll kill him.”

He formed a hand seal.

A large amount of sand surged from the gourd on his back and mixed with the soil beneath his feet.

The ground broke apart.

The sand rose into the shape of a massive hand and reached toward the approaching Mihawk.

“Too slow.”

Mihawk shifted one step to the side.

His blade flashed.

The giant sand hand was cut cleanly in half and collapsed into a loose pile on the ground.

Gaara immediately raised both hands.

“Sand Binding Coffin!”

The fallen sand surged upward again.

It spread around Mihawk like a wave, closing in from every direction.

Mihawk did not slow down.

He did not even look behind him.

His arms and legs darkened beneath a layer of Armament Haki.

Boom!

He drove straight through the wall of sand before it could close around him.

The sand exploded outward.

Mihawk appeared directly in front of Gaara.

Rather than using his sword, he twisted his body and delivered another kick to Gaara’s stomach.

His leg, strengthened with Armament Haki, struck the damaged Sand Armor.

Boom!

Gaara was launched backward once again.

His body became a blur before disappearing into the forest.

Mihawk watched the trees for a moment and returned his sword to its sheath.

“Let’s go,” he said to Hinata and Shino. “There’s no reason to keep fighting.”

Through Observation Haki, Mihawk could clearly feel that Gaara’s emotions had gone completely out of control.

Continuing the battle might force out the One-Tail, Shukaku.

Once that happened, the situation would become far more serious.

Mihawk was not afraid of Shukaku.

He was confident that he could defeat Gaara even after the transformation began.

He also believed he could kill him if necessary.

The problem was what would happen afterward.

Hiruzen was still Hokage, and Gaara was both Sunagakure’s jinchūriki and the Kazekage’s son.

If Gaara died, Sunagakure would almost certainly demand that Konoha hand over the person responsible.

Mihawk had no intention of allowing himself to become another Hyūga Hizashi—someone sacrificed to settle a conflict between villages.

He now had Hinata waiting for him.

He had no desire to become a missing-nin and abandon the life they had built in Konoha.

For now, there was no benefit in pushing Gaara any further.

Mihawk left the clearing with Hinata and Shino before Gaara returned.

After witnessing the difference in strength, neither Kankurō nor Temari dared to stop them.

Besides, they had a much larger problem to deal with.

They would have to calm Gaara down before he completely lost control.

That was no longer Team 8’s concern.

With both the Heaven Scroll and Earth Scroll in their possession, Team 8 headed directly toward the central tower.

Using Hinata’s Byakugan to avoid other teams and choose the shortest route, they became the first group to arrive.

The entire journey had taken only fifty-five minutes.

Their time was far faster than the record Gaara’s team would have set without their interference.

Once inside the tower, Mihawk and the others opened the Heaven and Earth Scrolls together.

Smoke burst from the two scrolls.

Iruka appeared in front of them through the summoning formula.

For several seconds, he stared at Team 8 in disbelief.

“You’re already here?”

Only fifty-five minutes had passed since the second exam began.

After recovering from his surprise, Iruka smiled proudly.

“You three have really grown.”

He explained the meaning behind the words written on the two scrolls and officially confirmed that they had passed the second stage.

Iruka then led Team 8 into a sealed room deeper inside the tower.

A large transportation formula had been drawn across the floor.

It was a short-range transfer seal prepared by Konoha to move successful teams outside Training Ground Forty-Four.

Space-time ninjutsu existed throughout the shinobi world, though techniques capable of transporting people were rare.

Kumogakure possessed Mabui’s Heavenly Transfer Technique, which could transport objects at extreme speed.

Konoha had once been famous for the Fourth Hokage’s Flying Raijin Jutsu.

Although Minato Namikaze was dead, the three members of his Hokage Guard Platoon could still perform the Flying Raijin Formation together.

The formula before Team 8 was nowhere near that level.

It could only transport people between two fixed locations, but it was enough for its purpose.

The second exam would continue for five days.

There was no reason for a team that had already passed to remain trapped inside the central tower for the rest of that time.

Iruka activated the transportation seal.

Light spread beneath Team 8’s feet.

Their surroundings distorted, and all three disappeared from the room.

A moment later, Mihawk, Hinata, and Shino reappeared outside Training Ground Forty-Four.

Iruka reminded them of the time and location for the next stage before leaving.

The three members of Team 8 remained where they were for a few moments.

Their expressions were slightly uncomfortable.

It was the first time any of them had experienced transportation through a space-time seal.

The sudden pull of chakra and the feeling of their bodies being moved between two locations left their muscles aching and their senses briefly unsteady.