Slash Wave Blocked?!
The three Sound ninja's eyes widened in shock as they stared at the suddenly appearing girl.
No, blocking the Slash Wave wasn't the surprising part — it was that she seemed to have done it with just one hand.
Wasn't that a bit too much?
Strangely, the three Sound ninja fell into an eerie silence, their minds blank.
Seeing no response, Erii furrowed her brow and asked again, "Do you… need help?"
At last, Sakura snapped back to reality and nodded blankly, "Y-yes."
"Alright."
With that, Erii's hair fluttered like a sprite's as she moved toward the Sound ninja.
"W-wait!"
Ignoring her wounds, Sakura grit her teeth and followed, "I'll help you. There are three of them — be careful!"
"No need."
Erii lightly Dosued out, "You're too weak. You won't be of any help."
Sputter!
Worry on Sakura's face instantly turned to awkwardness.
Though it was true, it still hurt. It felt like a knife had been stabbed straight into her heart.
"Alone? Don't get too cocky, little girl from Takigakure!"
Zaku's pride, already fragile, took a hit at being underestimated. Veins bulged on his face as he sneered in anger, "You only blocked one Slash Wave. Who gave you the guts to think you could beat me, Lord Zaku?"
"Oh?"
Erii's reaction was calm and indifferent; she was too lazy to argue with these people. She softly said, "All of you, come at me together."
Underestimated again, Zaku's anger boiled over. Gritting his teeth, he growled, "No need. I can take you down by myself!"
A violent surge of chakra exploded, whipping up a fierce wind nearby.
Zaku raised both arms, spreading his hands wide and aiming at the girl ahead. The wind holes embedded in his palms immediately began to suck in the surrounding air.
Whoosh!
Strong gusts of air rushed into the wind holes nonstop.
The intense, ultra-low pressure environment quickly enveloped a radius of several meters around him.
As more air was sucked in, veins bulged on Zaku's arms, and a bloodthirsty, cruel expression darkened his face.
"Try this move—Slash Sky Extreme Wave!!!"
As he shouted, the raging wind pressure burst out from the wind holes like a breaking dam.
In an instant, the fierce sonic wind wave covered the front like an invisible storm of blades, ravaging and destroying everything visible to the naked eye!
"It's over."
Dosu looked coldly at the girl hit by the Slash Sky Extreme Wave and sneered, "How foolish. Even a normal Jonin wouldn't dare block Zaku's Slash Sky Extreme Wave head-on."
"Hmph, still daring to provoke me?!"
Zaku laughed wildly as he looked at the dust-covered ground, torn apart like it had been ravaged by a storm.
But in the next moment, his laughter froze.
Out of the smoke and dust came the girl, completely unharmed.
Her red-and-white shrine maiden robes fluttered gently, and her long dark red hair flowed down to her waist.
Despite being hit by such a terrifying ninjutsu, not a speck of dust stained her clothes.
"How is this possible?!"
Zaku's eyes widened in shock, his face filled with terror and disbelief.
"No, impossible!" The two teammates watching from the tree also showed expressions of horror.
She was hit by Zaku's Slash Sky Extreme Wave, yet remained unharmed—what was going on?!
"Hand over your scrolls, and I might let you go."
Erii spoke quite seriously.
"Dream on!"
Zaku's forehead veins bulged wildly, his face twisted with rage as he snarled, "I don't believe you can actually block my Sky-Slash Extreme Wave!"
As he spoke, he refined his chakra again, pouring it continuously into the wind points on both his arms.
Erii's eyes grew cold. She said nothing more and took a light step forward, but it felt as if a thousand pounds of force landed, causing the ground beneath her to tremble and crack loudly.
Then, the girl's figure vanished from the sight of the three Sound Ninja.
Boom!
Like thunder exploding out of nowhere, a wave of sound and wind surged violently!
A tsunami-like storm of air pressure slammed down, rolling with crushing force.
In the midst of the roaring wind pressure, the girl shattered multiple layers of the sound barrier with a single step and appeared directly before Zaku.
So fast!
A single thought flashed through Zaku's mind.
But immediately, his face twisted into a sinister grin as he injected all his chakra into the wind points: "You actually dare charge at me? This close, let's see how you dodge now!"
He had never believed she could block the Sky-Slash Extreme Wave. She must have used some trick to avoid it.
But at such close range, this was his chance!
"Sky-Slash! Extreme Wave!"
The roaring wind pressure surged like a massive tidal wave, powerful and overwhelming, pressing down on the fragile girl with crushing force.
In Erii's deep eyes, a faint pure golden light flickered.
Then, she slid a slender hand out from the wide sleeves of her shrine maiden robe.
Her pale, delicate fingers lightly pinched at the approaching wind pressure.
Under Zaku's shocked gaze, her long fingers closed gently.
What seemed like a soft, powerless move actually crushed the Sky-Slash Extreme Wave — the very attack Zaku had poured all his strength into — as if breaking a fragile object.
Bang!
The high-pressure air blasting from his wind points was crushed at such close range.
The scattered storm struck Zaku like a heavy hammer, sending him flying backward.
His arms felt limp and weak, as if his bones had been shattered.
"Ahhhh!"
Zaku's scream pulled the two stunned Sound Ninja back to reality.
Looking at Zaku's arms, which seemed to be crushed beyond recognition, Dosu felt a chill run through his body.
His eyes toward the girl had changed — from disdain at first to shock and fear now.
What kind of monster was this?!
Sent by Takigakure to take part in the Chunin Exam... was she really just a Genin?
No matter how he looked at it, she didn't seem like a Genin at all!
She had defeated Zaku instantly the moment they faced each other.
Such terrifying strength made Dosu's heart almost stop beating.
Meanwhile, Erii appeared completely calm, as if nothing had happened.
But Zaku, lying on the ground, nearly broken, was a constant reminder to everyone that this was not a hallucination — this was reality!
"So strong..."
Sakura swallowed hard with difficulty.
When Sasuke had said Erii was strong, she hadn't paid much attention, thinking all the Genin were more or less the same.
But now... well, it turned out she had been wrong.
When would she become strong like Erii?
Looking at Erii's back, Sakura suddenly felt a mix of admiration and longing.
*******
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