The massive battleship that had once sailed the sea now lay thrown violently onto the shore. Its hull was shattered and torn apart, debris scattered across the sand. Piles of yellow sand filled the interior corridors where seawater once flowed.
I, Gaara, and Kankurō were moving through the wreckage, searching for any remaining enemies. Although the battle last night had ended in victory, we still knew nothing about who these attackers truly were.
"I contacted Ryoma earlier. Konoha should be sending a team soon,"
Gaara said as she stepped into an empty cabin.
A chill flashed in Gaara's eyes a moment later. She abruptly turned, raising her arm. Yellow sand surged forward, forming a massive fist that slammed toward two approaching shadows.
"Whoosh! Sou!"
Dodging the sand strike, Camilla and Ranke landed in front of Gaara and Kankurō.
"So, it was you who attacked us."
Gaara and Kankurō glared at the two women. Sand stirred beneath Gaara's feet, and Kankurō's puppet unfolded behind him, ready for battle.
Camilla and Ranke noticed the change immediately. Ranke's lips curled into a feral grin.
"No helping it… let's play a little."
With that, Ranke crossed her arms above her head. Blue lightning crackled across her body, dancing wildly across her skin. Camilla leaped aside, exiting the battle area to avoid being caught in the barrage.
Ranke swung her arms outward, gathering a ball of lightning before thrusting it forward.
"Lightning Burst!"
Blinding bolts of lightning tore through the air, blasting straight toward Gaara and Kankurō.
Gaara stepped forward, shielding Kankurō. The gourd on her back burst open, unleashing torrents of sand.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The condensed sand shield formed instantly, blocking every bolt of lightning.
"You take that woman. I'll deal with her partner,"
Kankurō said sharply, sending his puppet rushing after Camilla.
"Hmph! As if I'd let you!"
Ranke moved to chase after him—but Gaara's sand surged up to halt her steps.
"Sand Hail."
Countless bullet-like grains formed in the air and shot toward Ranke with frightening speed. Thunderlight flared again around Ranke's body, forming a shield of crackling electricity that blocked Gaara's sand bullets.
"That's not enough!"
With a sharp blast, Ranke shattered the sand attack. She leapt high, landing atop Gaara's spherical sand shield, then drove a spear of lightning downward toward Gaara.
"Double Thunder Blow!"
Her lightning-charged fist struck the shield, triggering a violent explosion.
But even though she landed the hit, Ranke frowned.
There was no feeling of striking flesh.
White smoke hissed around her feet—sand rising like a serpent. It wrapped around her, engulfing her completely.
"Sand Coffin… Sand Burial!"
All the sand contracted at once, threatening to crush Ranke into paste.
Meanwhile…
Kankurō pursued Camilla relentlessly. But her movements were extremely agile; she had already dodged the puppet's attacks seven or eight times.
"Swish!"
She evaded another volley of puppet weapons—then a mass of pitch-black shadows erupted from her body, swallowing the surroundings in darkness.
"What—!?"
Kankurō could no longer see his own hands. His head spun, and multiple images of Camilla flickered through his vision.
"Tch… an illusionist."
Back to Gaara's battle
A violent surge of lightning exploded from within the sand coffin. In an instant, it shattered into pieces.
Ranke stepped out—no, burst out—and she was no longer the same woman.
Her body had swelled to monstrous proportions. Her limbs bulged with distorted muscle, her arms so long they nearly dragged against the ground. She stood there like a deformed giant, lightning dancing across her grotesque frame.
Ranke's transformed body was grotesque—black skin stretched over bulging muscle, white hair bristling across her face, and frenzied red eyes gleaming with animalistic madness. She looked less like a shinobi and more like an enraged beast.
"Body deformation to amplify physical output?"
Gaara studied Ranke calmly, a hint of disgust in her eyes.
"That's right! Now let's finish this!"
With a thunderous boom, Ranke charged forward. Sand arrows fired toward her in a volley, but the crackling electricity surrounding her body scattered them instantly.
Bang!
Ranke's fist smashed Gaara to the ground. She leaped down to finish the job—only for her expression to twist in shock.
The "Gaara" she struck dissolved into sand.
A sand clone—damn it!
She spun around just in time to see the real Gaara with her hands clasped together.
"Quicksand Waterfall Flow!"
A massive field of churning quicksand erupted beneath Ranke's feet, sweeping toward her like a collapsing wave.
"It's useless!" Ranke roared. "Your sand can't penetrate my lightning!"
Ball-shaped arcs of electricity flared around her, forming a barrier that pushed the sand aside. She stood firm, absolutely confident.
"Oh? Is that so?"
Gaara raised one hand. Sand surged from the gourd and formed dozens of pointed pillars around Ranke.
"Sand Lightning Rods."
The rods stabbed into the ground around her, humming as they absorbed the electricity discharging from Ranke's body.
With her lightning field drained, Ranke's defense vanished.
Gaara's eyes narrowed.
The quicksand surged again—this time unstoppable.
Ranke was swallowed entirely.
Kankurō's Side
Camilla's body had also undergone a monstrous transformation—her arms replaced by leathery bat wings, a long tail whipping behind her as she hovered in midair. Cloaked in darkness and illusion, she relished tormenting her prey.
Kankurō, trapped in her dark barrier, staggered as hallucinations wracked his senses. Camilla licked her lips, seeing him weakened.
"Time to end this."
She swooped down, jaws wide, aiming for his carotid artery—
Crack.
A jolt of pain shot through her mouth.
"What—?"
The "Kankurō" she bit into fractured along the face and torso, chunks breaking away to reveal wooden joints and mechanical parts beneath.
A puppet—!
"That's sand transformation."
Kankurō's voice echoed from a narrow vent nearby.
The moment he entered the darkness, he had used Sand Transformation to disguise his puppet, Black Ant, to look exactly like himself. The real Kankurō hid, manipulating the puppet through chakra threads while luring Camilla in.
Without needing sight, he could feel her position perfectly through the puppet's chakra line.
And now—she was within range.
"Black Secret Technique… Two Shots!"
Black Ant's chest opened unnaturally wide—a gaping maw of steel.
It clamped shut around Camilla in an instant, dragging her inside.
The internal blades activated.
Camilla's screams echoed once—then stopped abruptly.
Silence filled the dark barrier. Only Black Ant's frame clicked shut as the technique completed.