Sakiya stood in the stands, her gaze fixed on the Fourth Kazekage, whom she had spotted earlier that morning.
From her perspective, his presence exuded a cold, snake-like aura that sent a chill down her spine.
"A snake, huh?"
Her right eye glowed faintly red for a brief moment.
"I'm guessing you recognized me a long time ago."
On the field, Hayate called out, urging the next match to begin.
"Please enter the arena."
Gaara stepped forward, his expression unreadable.
Without hesitation, Sakiya pulled out a scroll.
Poof!
A burst of smoke cleared, revealing a long, sheathed sword.
Her friends in the stands watched her actions with mixed reactions.
Ino shook her head, exasperated.
Unlike her, many others in the audience watched with eager anticipation.
Everyone remembered this girl—the one who had made such a dramatic entrance earlier.
Without pause, Sakiya tossed the sword high into the air.
At the same time, she took a step forward. A glowing circle appeared beneath her feet.
Then, in an instant, she shot upward, soaring into the sky.
Magical-looking patterns traced the flight path of both Sakiya and her sword.
Gaara observed the display with mild disinterest, unimpressed by the theatrics.
Sakiya caught up with the flying sword and landed lightly on top of it, balancing as if it were solid ground.
The battlefield came into view below her.
Without hesitation, she kicked off.
The sword, still sheathed, plummeted downward.
A second later, Sakiya followed, descending gracefully like a bird of prey.
The sword struck the ground with a sharp thud.
Sakiya landed a moment later, her toes barely touching the earth before a massive glowing circle spread out beneath her.
She crossed her arms over her chest, staring at Gaara with a confident smirk.
"The eye of death—Sakiya! Come at me!"
Gaara instinctively responded in his usual cold tone.
"Gaara."
Then, he blinked.
Wait… why did I even respond to that?
---------
On the high platform, the Third Hokage watched the girl below with a sense of pride.
He had long recognized Sakiya as the strongest new student in this generation.
That bloodthirsty Sand ninja—Gaara—was undoubtedly the most formidable among the Sand Village's new generation.
But Sakiya was a powerful shinobi, someone capable of defeating opponents even Kakashi couldn't handle.
Although her personality was a bit unusual, the Hokage believed in her.
After all, no matter how strong that Sand ninja was, he couldn't possibly surpass Kakashi.
---
At the same time, Orochimaru observed the girl in the arena with interest.
Of course, he remembered her. She was the one who had given him a beating that day.
Her strength was almost unnatural.
He leaned forward slightly and asked, "Lord Third, what do you think of that ninja?"
The Hokage smiled, clearly pleased.
Even after witnessing Naruto and Sasuke's impressive fights, the Fourth Kazekage had remained silent.
But now, he was the one asking about Sakiya.
Could it be that he's noticed just how exceptional she is?
The Hokage didn't hesitate to answer.
"She is the most powerful among our rookies."
Orochimaru nodded.
Just as I thought. That girl is a monster.
---
Meanwhile, Ino couldn't help but feel anxious.
She had seen Gaara fight before. He was terrifyingly strong.
In that battle, Gaara had nearly killed his opponent within seconds.
The victim had been left critically injured—so badly that they might never walk again.
Ino clenched her fists and whispered a silent prayer.
"Sakiya… please, don't push yourself too hard."
---
At that moment, Sakiya was struggling to pull her sword from the ground.
Since most of the blade was buried deep in the earth, it took some effort to yank it free.
So, everyone present stood silently, watching as she tried to extract her weapon.
Sakiya gripped the scabbard with both hands, her face turning red from exertion, her body arching forward.
A full minute passed.
Hayate's eye twitched slightly before he finally spoke.
"Uh… Sakiya? Can we start?"
Hearing this, Sakiya gritted her teeth, applied more force—and suddenly, the sword came loose, dragging with it a massive chunk of earth and jagged rocks nearly a meter wide.
To the spectators, it looked as if she had just picked up a boulder.
The crowd stared in stunned silence.
They had assumed this girl was weak. But now? Weakness was the last word that came to mind.
This is insane…
Even Sakiya herself seemed momentarily taken aback.
This… wasn't part of the plan.
Oh well.
With a shrug, she raised the slab of earth and slammed it onto the ground. The rocks shattered instantly, leaving only the gleaming blade of her longsword.
Satisfied, she slung it over her back.
Hayate exhaled sharply, then wasted no time.
"Begin!"
The moment the words left his mouth, silence fell over the arena.
Sakiya locked eyes with Gaara.
Gaara stared back at her.
Neither moved.
Thirty seconds passed in complete silence.
Hayate glanced at the strange standoff and hesitantly repeated,
"Uh… the battle… has begun?"
Gaara narrowed his eyes slightly. He couldn't make sense of the bizarre technique this girl was using.
Because of that, he chose not to make the first move.
But this deadlock… was she waiting for him?
Just as Gaara was about to strike, Sakiya suddenly raised her right hand in a scissor-like gesture over her eye. Peering through the gap, she spoke in an eerily calm tone.
"So, you really are the Black Claw… Fate has chosen us. Let my Eye of Death face you in this world's ultimate battle!"
In the next moment, a glowing circle of light rapidly expanded beneath Sakiya's feet.
Gaara's sand instinctively rose beside him, ready to defend.
The glowing circle spread across most of the battlefield in an instant.
Upon closer inspection, the pattern was an intricate seal, covered in strange runes and designs.
Gaara frowned.
He couldn't sense anything unusual about it.
Was this all just an illusion?
Sakiya covered her left eye dramatically, extending her other hand toward Gaara like a claw.
"All sins! Supreme darkness! I am the incarnation of the world's inevitable demise! The end of all things! Let my Eye of Death shine with the brightest light in this final battle!"
With that, she ripped off her blindfold.
Gaara tensed.
Her words were nonsense, but something about them put him on edge.
His sand was ready—his absolute defense prepared to block any incoming attack.
"Here she comes!"
A burst of multicolored light erupted from Sakiya's left eye.
Gaara instinctively reinforced his sand shield, blocking his line of sight.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Cautiously, he let his sand part slightly to peek through.
Sakiya was gone.
Whizz! Whizz!
Two kunai shot from behind him, only to be effortlessly stopped by his sand.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted her—Sakiya was already dashing in a wide arc around him.
Gaara didn't hesitate. He immediately commanded his sand to attack Sakiya.
"Sand Shuriken!"
The sand condensed into sharp, spinning projectiles and shot straight toward her.
But to his surprise, Sakiya didn't even attempt to block.
The sand shuriken passed right through her as if she were a phantom.
Gaara frowned.
"An illusion?"
He silently reached out to the monster inside him for confirmation.
No. This wasn't an illusion.
"A mirage? A decoy?" Gaara observed her carefully, searching for an opening.
Sakiya, seeing his attack fail, grinned smugly.
"It's useless! I'm already inside an invisible boundary—your attacks won't reach me!"
Gaara remained unfazed, his sharp eyes continuing to analyze her movements.
Sakiya's proud voice carried on.
"Did you see this sword on my back? This is my Blade of Destruction! A cursed weapon—once drawn, an enemy must perish! Otherwise, it cannot be sheathed again!"
The audience gasped at her bold declaration.
From the stands, Tsuchiya turned to Sakuragi.
"leader Is that sword really that strong?"
Sakuragi glanced at him, his thoughts drifting for a moment.
(Did he just casually call me 'leader'?)
Outwardly, he remained calm.
"I don't know… maybe it really is something special."
But some people in the audience did know the truth.
Like Ino.
She was well aware that it was just a regular sword.
She even recalled a time when Sakiya had been using it to practice cutting trees—and got it stuck.
Her face twitched involuntarily at the memory.
(This girl is really good at bluffing.)
Meanwhile, Gaara stayed on guard, wary of Sakiya's next move.
At the same time, he was trying to figure out how to pinpoint her actual location.
"Feel the terror of death!" Sakiya declared dramatically.
Gaara tensed. His sand armor thickened instantly, and a reinforced sand shield formed in front of him.
Then… three shuriken flew at him.
They struck the shield and bounced off harmlessly.
Gaara's expression darkened.
(…That's it?)
He suddenly had the distinct feeling he was being tricked.