As I keep defending here, Gaara was totally holding back on all these guys. He went full camp mode vs. Sasuke in order to summon Shukaku. He could sand coffin any of their asses as long as he can touch them. His defense is impenetrable and he has insane offense not even counting sand coffin.... I mean have people forgotten how strong he was in Part 1?
I don't agree. ''Holding back'' is generally not a good argument unless outright stated or shown. Berserk Gaara was ''toying'' with Naruto because he was just that - berserk, not thinking, wanting to kill. It has nothing to do with him holding back. Gaara was camping against Sasuke because he saw that none of his counter-attacks were working, and that his speed was too much to handle without an omnidirectional defense.
Would Sand Coffin even manage to encase KN1 Naruto because of his cloak, considering Kurama chakra feats like these [
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], and CS2 Sasuke because of his wings, especially since he tanked a direct strike from KN1 Naruto with no damage [
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]? How will it even catch them in the first place, when both have more than the needed reactions to avoid it, Naruto has clones for fake-outs and Sasuke can just fly? How will Gaara even react and defend to the speed VoTE 1 Naruto and Sasuke were capable of? This is what happened when he got in CQC range with Kimimaro:
1. Gaara puts up a sand barrier: [
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2. Kimimaro busts through it: [
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3. 2T CE Sasuke was shown to be able to easily
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, VoTE Sasuke can also just bust through it or fly above it. Naruto also has chakra arms even in KN1 [
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] just for this kind of situation or a ranged attack.
Floydical said:
Sasuke is not fast enough to rival a 4th or 5th gate Lee.
Gaara was getting absolutely destroyed against 5th Gate Lee, don't know what that proves. Lee's type of damage is also blunt and heavily relying on that final thrust to the ground, which Gaara cushioned, while Chidori is piercing. Gaara was basically just as damaged
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, as he was
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, even though a Chidori obviously can't compare to 5th Gate, not to mention that he had to be carried for a while by Kankurou and Temari after he took the blow.
Anyway, the biggest threat Naruto and Sasuke are facing is Ryuusa Bakuryu, which I argued earlier that they'll just beat Gaara before he attempts it, or interrupt and pressure him in close range so that he wouldn't do the rather large number of seals that technique required at that time.