Sand Shield is the first part of Gaara's Absolute Defense, the second part being Sand Armor. It is an automatic defensive mechanism: sand saturated with Gaara's chakra instantly reacts to any threat, even one not noticed by Gaara himself, and places itself between him and the attack. The shield works without any effort on the user's part and can act indefinitely. It protects against kunai, explosive tags, senbon, taijutsu, explosive clay, and even the black flames of Amaterasu. The sand dampens the force of blows well, rarely deforming from them. Some very fast opponents, such as Rock Lee and Sasuke Uchiha, can outpace the shield, landing a hit before the sand has time to react. Only Chidori, an extremely fast and penetrating technique, has managed to fully pierce the shield.
At will, Gaara can surround himself with a sphere of sand to rule out bypassing the shield, and with the Third Eye keep watch over what is happening outside, as well as release spikes to drive off enemies. The shield's origin is tied to the spirit of Gaara's mother, Karura, whose love protects him even after death.
