Techniques/ Jutsu

Defence
Gaara has two ways of manipulating the sand for his protection: the "Shield of Sand" and the "Armor of Sand" - the two each protect Gaara in a different way: The Shield of Sand protects Gaara of its own free will and can create a dome around him for protection from Ninjutsu and Taijutsu type attacks; The Armor of Sand is a thin layer of sand, that Gaara controls with his own Chakra to stay around his body like a mould. It offers little protection from powerful Taijutsu type attacks like the Initial Lotus, but, because it is like a mould, Gaara can use the Transformation or Body Switch Technique to transport himself out of the sand. In doing this, whatever attack is being used on Gaara only damanges an empty shell of sand.

Because the sand around Gaara moves on its own to protect him, it also saves him when he falls. For example, when Rock Lee punched him to the ground, the Sand automatically flew underneath Gaara to soften the blow.
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Rather amazingly, and unknown until the end of his battle with Rock Lee, Gaara's gourd is also made out of sand. Gourds usually consist of a large hollowed out vegetable of sorts, but this one was entirely constructed of sand (possibly held together by Gaara's chakra.) Note: When Lee was using his new Extreme Lotus combination on Gaara, the gourd also exploded onto the ground under him to save his body from the damage which the fall would have caused him.

The Shield of Sand is an amazing defense mechanism. During a battle, when the sand has already been released from Gaara's gourd, the sand automatically protects Gaara from any oncoming physical attacks. It also keeps his enemey at a distance from his body.

Also, Gaara has another defensive type move that takes the Shield of Sand to a new level. He uses his Chakra to completely incase himself in a giant dome of sand which is hardened to the level of concrete - making it near impossible to elude. There are no openings or holes on the edge of the dome, so Gaara is completely in the dark. However, in conjunction with Gaara's Eye of Sand (Third Eye), he can see what is going on outside the dome by having it float around the sphere. This technique, however, does have a weakness as Gaara finds out when confronted with Sasuke's Lightning Edge.

Offence
As a means of offence, Gaara's most useful techniques are the Desert Graveyard and Desert Coffin. The Desert Coffin technique encases the opponents body in sand and constricts them like a snake, either suffocating them or leaving them to be killed later on by Gaara himself. Desert Graveyard is the finishing move of the Desert Coffin: once the opponent is encased in sand, Desert Graveyard is used to kill them. It clamps down on their body and crushs them violently, making them literally explode in a shower of blood. Although Gaara could easily kill his victims very easily using other methods (like strangulation), he prefers Desert Graveyard since it lets the sand he uses get mixed with blood. Note: The Desert Coffin technique does now necessarily need the sand to cover the opponents entire body, as seen with Rock Lee, where Gaara crushs only his arm and leg together.

Another useful skill is his power to make projectiles out of hardened sand, such as shuriken-style weapons.

Gaara can also create a kind of Bunshin with the sand that surronds him, moulding it ito the shape of his body. And, presumably, since Gaara can create a third eye out of sand, the Sand Bunshin can see for Gaara.

Since Gaara can manipulate the Shield of Sand that surrounds him, he would most likely be extremely powerful in his own country since he would be surronded by Sand. In a desert, he could most likely beat even the most powerful of Ninjas.
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The Demon Within
When Gaara was born, within him was sealed the Sand Demon, Shukaku. While Gaara is awake, the demon has little control over his actions which is why Gaara rarely sleeps. This is the main cause of the bags around his eyes. However, when Gaara is angry and the demon is excited, it can begin to take physical form. Particularily on nights of a full moon, the demon, Shukaku, craves blood.

To perform the physical transformation, Gaara may encase himself in the concrete-hard Sheild of Sand in order to gather Chakra for his monstrous form, which can safely take shape in a short amount of time in the shelter of Gaara's protective Sand Dome.

When Gaara transforms, his body mixes and bonds with the sand, so the two are now a single entity, making it easy for him to regenerate and giving him more control over the sand. It also physically alters him, making his limbs and body bigger, and soon it is difficult to tell where Gaara starts and the demon sand ends. The fully formed demon can even grow to the size of a giant summoning creature (such as Gamabunta, Katsuyu or Manda.) The power of the demon rivals that of these creatures also, though it is not up to the same standard as Kyubi.

In demon form, Gaara can use an extensive range of new attacks. One of these is the Sand Shuriken, which creates deadly throwing weapons which are thrown all around the surrounding area, making it similar, but far more deadly, than Gaara's Shuriken Shadow Clone. Another area-spread move and a good defensive skill is the Great Sand-Blast Breakthrough, which again combines the earth elemental power of Gaara's sand with the great range of wind to do what appears to be the Shield of Sand only in explosion format, which scatters the entire area surronding Gaara, and works well as a defensive move much like Heavenly Spin. His other new attack involves using his enhanced demon lungs to shoot out a powerful wind blasts from his mouth, which is similar too, but far more powerful than, Zaku Abumi's Air-Slicing Blast (except without the cannons.) Besides these, Gaara also can reveal his final trump card: the Spell of Fake Sleep. The human Gaara, who reappears after the demon body is completely formed, then preforms this Justu, making himself fall asleep, which in effect gives the demon full power. By then, the enemy is no longer facing a Gaara-controlled monster but the sand demon itself, Shukaku.
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