Chapter 6: Sakura VS Sasuke
To Naruto, Sakura was special. She was the first person to show him kindness and who still treated him as a good friend after learning his identity—even though she had beaten him up in their first two encounters and demanded to be his boss.
Naruto had made more friends at the Ninja Academy. Most students from ninja families held no prejudice against him. Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba had even formed the "Delinquent Four-Man Group" with him, often skipping class and sleeping through lessons, giving Iruka-sensei a huge headache. However, even with many new friends, in Naruto's heart, Sakura, his "first friend," still held a special place.
To Naruto, Sasuke was also special. Because Sasuke was also a lonely person without parents or a family. Lonely people are drawn to each other, hoping to embrace one another for warmth because they understand the pain of solitude.
However, it was impossible to expect Naruto, the troublemaker and dead-last, to find an appropriate time to sit down with Sasuke for a heart-to-heart talk by candlelight. With Naruto's intellect, he couldn't come up with such a clever method. Based on some logic he had picked up from somewhere, reasoning that if he defeated the number one student, he would become number one himself, Naruto began to tirelessly challenge Sasuke, specifically seeking him out for sparring during taijutsu class.
The results were predictable.
When Naruto first started picking fights with Sasuke, Sakura had breathed a sigh of relief.
Previously, during taijutsu class, Naruto's usual sparring partner of choice was Sakura. Among the Delinquent Four, Shikamaru and Choji were a fixed pair of slackers, and Kiba looked down on a weakling like Naruto, so Naruto had no choice but to find Sakura. However, Sakura had grown tired of dominating him. It had to be said that the biggest flaw of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was his one-track mind. His chances of winning against Sakura, who had already skillfully integrated chakra into her taijutsu, were zero. Moreover, Sakura's taijutsu training focused on technique and flexibility, so every time they sparred, he couldn't use his full strength. Sakura found the fights dull, and Naruto found them frustrating. It was a headache for both of them.
If Naruto hadn't pestered her, Sakura would have actually preferred to spar with Hinata. In her previous life, Sakura didn't know martial arts, though she had seen plenty of martial arts films. However, watching any number of films couldn't turn her into a master, especially not in this world of superhuman abilities where even a legend couldn't beat a ninja. The closest she had ever come to martial arts was enrolling in a training class as a child, but she had only learned the basics of the style she was trying to learn to look cool, and the progress was too slow.
After transmigrating, Sakura discovered that she couldn't find a good taijutsu teacher. Her father, a Chunin, was an amateur at taijutsu and didn't want to lead his daughter astray. As for other ninja, forget someone like Gai-sensei; even an average Jonin who specialized in taijutsu wasn't someone a commoner ninja family like Sakura's could just meet, let alone ask for guidance. This was why it was so difficult for ninja from ordinary families to grow strong—they lacked the guidance of a master. To this day, Sakura was still fumbling her way forward in taijutsu. That was why Hinata, who had received formal training at home and was willing to help, was so important to Sakura. It wasn't that she wanted to steal her family's Gentle Fist style, but for someone like Sakura who was still exploring on her own, even a casual word or two from Hinata, who came from a taijutsu powerhouse clan, was extremely helpful, not to mention face-to-face sparring!
Sakura's wishful thinking didn't last long. Just a few days after connecting with Hinata, she discovered that she had been too naive.
Because Sasuke soon grew tired of being harassed by Naruto / dominating him, and so, in order to get rid of Naruto / challenge his rival, he actually sought out Sakura.
One day in taijutsu class.
"Next is free practice time. Please form your own groups and practice."
As soon as the taijutsu teacher's voice fell, Naruto, as expected, immediately went to find Sasuke. "Sasuke, Sa—!" Then he noticed a pair he had never seen before: Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke.
"I've been wanting to practice with you for a long time, Haruno-san. Practical taijutsu isn't like ninja tools or culture class; you can't get by with cheap tricks! Let me show you the gap between number one and number two!"
Holding two fingers together like a sword, Sasuke solemnly formed the Seal of Confrontation. His eyes seemed to shine with light as he spoke in an unprecedentedly serious tone.
Sakura raised an eyebrow in surprise, looked at Sasuke, and then also formed the Seal of Confrontation with her fingers.
She smiled lightly.
"Then show me with your fists!"
Before her words had even faded, Sakura bent her left leg slightly and pushed off the ground with explosive force. Her small body shot out like an arrow from a bowstring. Her right fist pulled back to its limit, then whipped forward with vicious speed like a rebounding bowstring!
These were simple movements, but with Sakura's exquisite chakra enhancement, they had the form of a fierce tiger and the irresistible force of splitting bamboo.
If she had used this move on Earth before she was reborn, perhaps even a so-called boxing champion would have taken notice and been alarmed by it.
However, Sasuke calmly extended his left arm, steadily blocking Sakura's attack. A dull thud, like muffled thunder, erupted where their fist and palm met. His right fist, however, snaked out silently from his waist, striking directly at the opening on Sakura's left side!
With her exceptional agility, Sakura, whose attack had been turned against her, managed to recover her center of gravity in time. She dodged to the side and used a hand-chop to parry Sasuke's right fist, which had shot out like a venomous snake.
In this probing exchange, the two quickly understood each other's strength and, with a tacit understanding, went all out. Fists and feet flew, their figures intertwined, and they quickly exchanged dozens of blows!
As expected of the young master of a great clan, Sasuke had received professional training at home. Every movement was methodical and followed a pattern, his advances and retreats well-grounded. In contrast, Sakura, who was self-taught, had no system to her punches and kicks. Her movements were filled with imaginative but ineffective moves! Sasuke's fists and kicks were sharp and powerful, his angles tricky. He was completely different from Naruto, full of威力. The moment they made contact, Sakura was immediately put at a disadvantage.
Sakura, who had not received proper taijutsu education, had a style that could basically be described as full of spirit but riddled with holes. Many of her movements were inspired by the martial arts movies she had watched in her previous life, so they either looked very stylish or very powerful, full of creative ideas. However, most of these creative ideas were flawed. Just like Sakura's first move, it was fierce but had too big of an opening, which Sasuke immediately seized to counterattack.
From the very beginning of this fight, Sakura was completely suppressed by Sasuke. She only managed to defend against his counterattacks thanks to the extraordinary agility granted by her superb chakra control.
Sasuke once believed that Sakura would soon be defeated by him—for instance, after she revealed her next flaw.
But it didn't happen.
One move passed. Ten moves passed. A minute passed.
Sakura was still full of life, but the more Sasuke fought, the more alarmed he became. At first, it was Sakura's attacks that were full of holes, and Sasuke would seize every opportunity to counter. Initially, Sakura struggled a bit to deal with it, but she soon discovered that Sasuke's counterattacks couldn't threaten her either. She would clearly lose her balance, or clearly have no angle to dodge, yet Sakura could always exert force to avoid Sasuke's fists and feet. It looked like Sakura's attacks were failing and she was repeatedly being countered, but Sasuke's offense was equally ineffective against her. Sasuke quickly understood that this was because Sakura could manipulate her chakra-infused water to help her generate force, allowing her to repeatedly defend against his attacks with unbelievable movements. However, setting aside the difficulty of multitasking like this during an intense taijutsu battle, what was more terrifying was that Sakura was using this real combat to filter out her irrational moves. She was taking this opportunity to rapidly shed the flashiness from her taijutsu!
That's right, Sakura had never forgotten her original intention for taking this class—not to compete for victory, but to train her taijutsu. It was a rare opportunity to have someone as skilled as Sasuke come to her as a whetstone; of course, she had to cherish it!
As for winning or losing? Sasuke cared a lot, but Sakura didn't have to. As long as she could improve her taijutsu, that was enough.
What is the gain in victory? What is the harm in defeat? Sakura only needed to focus, free of distractions, on the insights this battle brought her.
Ironically, sometimes, the more one cares about victory, the more it eludes them.
"Heya!"
In the middle of the fierce battle, Sasuke actually had time for his mind to wander. In that momentary lapse, his retracting left arm was half a beat too slow. The fleeting opportunity was seized by the rapidly improving Sakura. She closed the distance, her movements no longer excessively forceful but just right. Her left hand served as a feint to draw Sasuke's attention, while her right hand quietly rose from below. She threw a punch, like scooping the moon from the sea, like a fish leaping from the water. With a soft cry from Sakura, her fist lightly struck Sasuke's right chest!
Although Sasuke did his best to avoid it, and though the hit wasn't heavy, the blow still destroyed his center of gravity. As he teetered, desperately trying to regain his footing, Sakura's right foot shot forward, subtly wedging itself between his legs. Power comes from the roots; if the feet are unstable, how can one generate force? Sakura deftly parried his weak counterattack. Sasuke's centerline was wide open, his defeat already apparent!
Sink the hips, power rises from the waist, through the abdomen, back, shoulders, pausing for a moment in the forearm, then raise the elbow, and punch! The punch from her left hand shot out like a cannonball, hitting Sasuke's face. Then, she retracted her elbow, the chakra-water at its base erupting with force, and her right fist shot out without hesitation, its momentum not weakening in the slightest!
Thwack, thwack, thwack—a left punch, a right punch, a left punch, a chain of attacks!
Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack—a dense flurry of fists rained down on Sasuke's face!
Like a storm assailing a flower!
Although she held back her strength and didn't aim for vital points, in just two short seconds, Sakura had thrown more than a dozen punches! With the final punch, she unleashed a one-inch burst of power, striking him heavily in the chest and sending him flying!
The match was decided. Sasuke—
A complete and utter defeat.