Konoha: Naruto's abnormal life choices

At the far end of the road, Temari tumbled several times, propelled by the recoil of her Wind Release technique, before finally coming to a stop beside Kankuro.

The brush with death left her whole body trembling. As she looked up and saw Naruto preparing to charge again, a wave of fear and despair overwhelmed her.

That is—until she noticed the familiar swirl of sand nearby.

Gaara…

A sense of relief washed over her instantly.

Kankuro, who had been beaten so severely it was a miracle he was still conscious, tried to sit up, his body trembling from the pain. But the agony in his chest and skull was nearly unbearable.

His head throbbed as if it were splitting apart. His vision blurred and the world spun wildly around him.

Gritting his teeth, he cursed internally. What the hell… if I'd known that guy was so strong, I never would've messed with him. I've really run into a monster this time.

"Temari… is Gaara here?"

"Yeah," she replied, still catching her breath. "We're safe now."

"Good," Kankuro exhaled. "No Genin can match Gaara."

Temari nodded and helped him sit up. When she looked at his face, her heart sank. His features were completely distorted—swollen beyond recognition, like a pig's head. Several of his teeth had been knocked out.

She bit her lip, full of regret. I should've stopped him from running his mouth like that.

Thank goodness Gaara had come with them. Without him, today might have ended in disaster.

She looked around and saw Gaara hanging upside down from a tree not far ahead. He wore a chilling grin, his intense gaze locked onto Naruto. His whole presence radiated bloodlust.

Gaara raised his right hand, then slowly clenched it into a fist. In a quiet, menacing voice, he spoke:

"Sand Coffin."

Immediately, the stone tiles and dirt beneath Naruto's feet morphed into sand. Pebbles and gravel swirled toward him, moving like a living creature, trying to wrap around his entire body.

From a distance, Sakura—who had been silently cheering Naruto on—saw the sand surge and panicked. Without thinking, she sprinted toward him.

"Naruto, get out of there!"

Hearing her cry, Naruto crouched low and launched himself high into the air. The sand moved fast, but his reflexes were faster. His leg strength propelled him up with ease.

"I'm not letting you run," Gaara said darkly, still hanging upside down.

The gourd on his back opened wide, unleashing even more sand that chased Naruto with violent speed.

In combat, flashiness means nothing. What matters is being fast, accurate, and ruthless. If you're better than your opponent in those three areas, you win. Every time.

But this wasn't a clean duel anymore. With Temari still lingering nearby, and Sakura now running toward the battlefield, things were getting messy.

Naruto clicked his tongue in irritation. He quickly formed a hand seal and summoned two shadow clones midair.

The clones grabbed him from both sides and hurled him toward Sakura.

Before they could land, Gaara's sand formed sharp spikes that pierced through the clones, instantly dispersing them.

Naruto landed directly in front of Sakura and snapped at her in a low, frustrated voice:"You idiot—are you trying to get yourself killed? What the hell are you doing here?! Go hide somewhere!"

Sakura, caught off guard by the scolding, felt a little hurt. "I was just… worried…"

Before she could finish, Naruto smacked her forehead. Hard.

"Ow!" Sakura flinched. Her eyes welled up with tears. She'd only come because she cared—and he'd hit her?

"If you don't leave, I'll throw you out of here myself," Naruto growled, glaring at her. "If you stay, I'll have to protect you. That's a distraction I can't afford. You're just slowing me down."

Without another word, he shoved her aside and turned back toward the battlefield, scanning for Gaara.

Watching this, Gaara felt his pride burn. He has time to argue with a girl while fighting me? He's mocking me!

Furious, he clenched his hand, and several sand-formed shuriken flew toward Naruto.

Naruto responded immediately. He pulled a kunai from his pouch, attached an explosive tag to it, and hurled it at Gaara.

As the kunai flew, Naruto dodged the incoming sand shuriken, raised his left hand, and formed a Rasengan—then charged forward with deadly intent.

Sakura, now several steps behind, watched Naruto's back. Her chest ached.

He's right, she thought, clenching her fists. I'm just a burden…

Without saying another word, she turned and ran in the opposite direction.

Even though the truth hurt, Naruto was right. She couldn't help him here. The best thing she could do was find other Konoha ninja for support.

Naruto hadn't told her to get help because he needed backup. He just wanted her far away. Gaara's attack range was massive—if Sakura stayed close, she might get killed without Gaara even realizing it.

BOOM!

The kunai with the explosive tag exploded on impact—but didn't reach Gaara. His sand shield blocked it midair.

Still, the blast left a small gap.

Naruto saw the opening and lunged in, Rasengan blazing.

From a distance, Temari's eyes narrowed. She was confident in Gaara. No Genin had ever broken through his sand shield.

Inside the barrier, Gaara noticed the Rasengan bearing down on the gap. He frowned and concentrated, channeling more chakra to reinforce the shield.

"You're strong!" Gaara shouted with wild excitement. "You're worthy of being my opponent!"

Naruto smirked."No, you're weak. You're not even close to being my opponent.""Scorch Release: Scorching Flame Arm!"

His arm instantly turned deep red, radiating terrifying heat.

The Rasengan was just bait—a distraction. The flaming arm was the real attack.

With Gaara's sand focusing on the Rasengan, the rest of the shield had weakened. The scorching arm blasted straight through the softened barrier and slammed into Gaara's face.

BANG!

Gaara was blown clean out of the shield, his body flying backward like a missile.

"Gaara!!"

Temari panicked. She abandoned the injured Kankuro and sprinted toward her little brother, managing to catch him before he hit the ground.

Kankuro crashed to the ground, groaning in pain and disbelief.Even Gaara… even he got defeated by that Genin from Konoha?

What he didn't know was that Naruto had held back at the last moment.

Gaara was a key figure in Orochimaru's plan to destroy the Hidden Leaf. Naruto had deactivated the Scorching Arm before his fist actually hit Gaara—because if he hadn't, that punch could've gone straight through Gaara's skull.

[Ding! Congratulations! Option Three Complete.]Reward: One Physical Enhancement. This will be delivered shortly. Please prepare accordingly.

So this is what it feels like to teach someone a lesson they'll never forget…

A small smirk played on Naruto's lips. With the reward secured, he had no desire to continue fighting the three siblings.

They were key pieces in the invasion plan. Naruto didn't want to blow his cover just yet.

[Notice: Physical enhancement will activate once the host is asleep. Would you like to claim it now?]