Chapter 68: Sakura VS Naruto (Part 2)
The raging flood, mixed with broken branches and stones, rushed across the field. After a long while, the turbid, yellow water finally calmed down.
Only a few惨 green leaves were left spinning in the water, with bubbles of various sizes occasionally rising to the surface.
The result was in.
Naruto's battered figure emerged from the murky water. His clothes were stained with various broken branches, fallen leaves, and dirty mud. There were also many purple-red bruises on his body, and a trace of blood remained at the corner of his mouth.
Although he was not lightly injured, the fighting spirit in his azure eyes was undiminished, still staring spiritedly at the girl in the sky!
Looking at the calm Naruto, Haruno Sakura let out a long breath.
Even though she had used the water from the scroll, this ninjutsu had still consumed a large amount of her chakra.
Fortunately, in the year since her graduation, as her body entered its developmental stage, her chakra amount and her ability to control ninjutsu had been growing by leaps and bounds. Using this kind of super-large-scale ninjutsu no longer left her completely drained and unable to stand, as it had when she had just become a ninja. Of course, even though her current chakra amount was several times that of the original Sakura, using this move was still a bit strenuous, and her stamina had dropped significantly.
However, it was all worth it.
By using this ninjutsu, she had eliminated all of Naruto's shadow clones at once, avoiding being swarmed to death by them, and had also caused a certain amount of damage to the real body.
Even for Naruto, having several hundred shadow clones eliminated at the same time was a huge drain, leaving him breathless for a moment.
Sakura noticed that Naruto's breathing had become a bit disordered.
An outstanding result!
Next, before Naruto has recovered, should I use nin-taijutsu to forcefully suppress him and then defeat him in one go?
The girl pondered in the air. Her combat thinking was not profound. Against a ninja like Naruto, who was prone to surprises, complex tactics were not necessarily effective.
The wind made the hem of her clothes flap loudly.
Naruto's visible recovery speed urged her to make a quick decision. So, after just taking two breaths to slightly calm her breathing, she had decided on this simple and direct strategy.
She leaped down from mid-air, landing gracefully on the muddy water.
Stepping onto the water's surface as if parting flowers and brushing aside willows.
Her slender, beautiful feet lightly touched the calm water surface. The turbid yellow water gently kissed the girl's delicate arches, creating circles of fine, lingering ripples that spread out across the calm pool.
Then, in the next moment, her graceful steps suddenly transformed into an explosive charge!
With a leap, her feet consecutively stomped several huge and increasingly spaced-out deep pits in the calm water surface. The water instantly exploded and splashed wildly!
Under the immense reactive force, the pink-haired girl shot forward like a nimble cheetah, constantly accelerating. In an instant, her figure was already so fast that it disappeared, leaving only a plain white afterimage on the spectators' retinas!
After a month of training with Haku, Sakura had learned more than just a single Ice Style jutsu!
Naruto's pupils lost their focus at this moment—he had lost sight of Sakura!
Naruto's heart tightened.
A completely different speed from when they had sparred a month ago!
"So fast!" Neji's eyes widened. Even with his astonishingly observant Byakugan, he had to concentrate fully to keep up with Haruno Sakura's speed.
"Sakura-chan... when did she get so fast?" The same question popped up in both Naruto's and Hinata's minds at the same time!
They didn't know that the nin-taijutsu Sakura usually displayed was only a part of the jutsu's potential. Limited by Sakura's physical endurance, nerve reaction speed, and her taijutsu level, the nin-taijutsu still held a huge amount of power that had not been unleashed.
For example, speed.
The nin-taijutsu could completely raise her speed to another level, but if her reactions couldn't keep up with her speed, then greater speed would only bring danger to herself, just like when Kakashi had first developed the Chidori.
During the days of training with Haku, Haku had imparted a lot of high-speed combat experience to her. The constant high-speed battles within the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals had allowed Sakura to truly turn the experience she had absorbed into her own comprehension. In just one short month, the speed Sakura could handle had greatly increased, and the speed potential of her nin-taijutsu had truly been converted into her strength.
The current Sakura could already handle the speed of a Lee who had removed his weights!
The fast-paced battle did not leave the audience much time to marvel.
With her suddenly increased speed, Sakura caught Naruto completely off guard.
The girl's graceful figure flashed past Naruto. In the instant Naruto lost sight of Sakura, she had circled around behind him. Sideways turn—spin waist—press shoulder—kick!
The suddenly erupting chakra and the ultrapure water that forcefully activated at her joints raised the power of this kick to the extreme.
The water surface beneath Haruno Sakura exploded with countless splashes. Her raised left foot cut through the air resistance, bringing with it a sharp whistle as it kicked towards Naruto's waist!
Naruto sensed the strangeness behind him. He turned his head and watched with a pale face as the girl's slender, beautiful foot kicked swiftly towards him. Sakura's movement was too fast; he had no time to block!
Bang! Naruto was unsurprisingly hit by Sakura's kick and was sent flying back in a sorry state.
However, Naruto's counterattack was faster than anyone could have imagined!
"Wind Style: Great Wind Break!"
A fierce wind mixed with sharp air blades roared and erupted from the mouth of the mid-air Naruto!
Haruno Sakura's delicate face instantly changed color!
No hand seals, no chakra fluctuation. Naruto was actually able to launch a counterattack the moment he was kicked!
And at such a close distance!
Without time to think about why Naruto could cast a ninjutsu, Sakura forcefully stopped her pursuit and retreated explosively.
The momentum of offense and defense was reversed!
Haruno Sakura's speed was fast. However, the speed of Wind Style: Great Wind Break was even faster!
Within a few tenths of a second, it caught up with the madly retreating Sakura, cut off the corner of her clothes, and the wind blade, which could cut through iron like mud, imprinted a trace of defeat in her emerald pupils!
With the sharp blade upon her, Haruno Sakura's tense little face suddenly revealed a cold smile.
In this moment, she finally understood where Naruto's ninjutsu had come from. Just now, when she had cleared the field with her super-giant water dragon bullet, Naruto had already completed the hand seals for Wind Style: Great Wind Break, and the ninjutsu was in a state where it could be activated at any time.
When he discovered that his shadow clones couldn't complete the wind jutsu in time and couldn't gather into a group to counter Sakura's water jutsu, Naruto had already thought of this move, deliberately suppressing the wind jutsu, waiting for Sakura to approach before giving her a surprise!
And Sakura, being careless for a moment and not seeing Naruto's main body forcefully suppress the ninjutsu, was actually forced into such a sorry state by this move!
The proctor, Genma Shiranui, who had been watching coldly from the side, was one of the only two people present who had seen what was happening.
Even when he's about to be defeated, he still firmly believes he can win and immediately thinks of the next plan... This child is born with the potential to become a first-class ninja!
The corner of Genma Shiranui's mouth, which was holding a senbon, curved up slightly.
So, how will you respond?
Genma stared intently at Sakura.
On the arena floor, she was already in a desperate situation!
Swish! The corner of her clothes that had been cut off floated into the storm of wind blades and was instantly turned into countless tiny fragments that scattered in the air, flying gracefully.
Gasp! The audience gasped in shock, the sound converging into a deafening roar.
Unavoidable!
The next moment, the violent wind mass swallowed her thin figure in one gulp, and then exploded with a boom!
Splash! The invincible wind blades cut the nearby water body into countless water droplets, which were swept up by the fierce wind and scattered in all directions, turning into a summer rain that fell wetly on the ground.
Those with sharp eyes could already vaguely see, through the sparse raindrops, the girl's slender figure standing proudly under the cover of a pale blue water shield, completely unharmed.
In the final moment before the wind blades approached, Sakura's most skillfully used ultrapure water had finally transformed into a water shield in time, steadily blocking the attack of the Great Wind Break.
The fact that the Great Wind Break was ineffective was completely within Naruto's expectations. He had never expected a simple wind jutsu to defeat Sakura. Forcing out her final line of defense—the ultrapure water—was enough!
The opportunity was only for an instant!
Naruto's intelligence in battle was more than double his usual. Having sparred with Sakura many times, he knew how difficult it was to defeat that seemingly weak girl. With his quick-witted wind jutsu, he had seized the initiative. However, with just a moment's carelessness, the girl in front of him could seize the opportunity to turn the tables!
Can't give her a chance.
Naruto, who was flying backward, didn't bother to adjust his posture and forcefully continued to cast ninjutsu!
While Haruno Sakura was blocking the wind jutsu, the second wave of attacks quietly began.
The offensive came from... underwater!
A kunai aimed at the girl's bare soles suddenly stabbed out from underwater; at the same time, two figures leaped out from the bottom of the water. One shot several shuriken at Sakura, while the other unhesitatingly pounced towards her!
The timing was chosen very well.
The tacit cooperation had locked all her escape routes.
The ultrapure water was currently being transformed into a water shield to block Naruto's ninjutsu and couldn't block the shadow clones' attack in time.
Falling into such a disadvantage, the girl's delicate face remained indifferent. She stared at Naruto's shadow clones with a blank expression.
With a lift and stomp of her right foot, she lightly avoided the kunai, then viciously stomped the shadow clone under her foot into oblivion! She turned sideways to dodge the speeding shuriken, but the shadow clone on the other side had already rushed in front of Haruno Sakura, a kunai stabbing fiercely towards her abdomen!
"I got her!" the shadow clone said.
The two figures crossed paths. In an instant, no one saw clearly what had happened.
All they saw was the smugness on Naruto's shadow clone's face turn into helplessness.
"No... you're too slow!"
Naruto's shadow clone fell to the ground dejectedly.
The seemingly flawless attack was thus easily resolved by Sakura.
The expression on Sakura's face did not change in the slightest. On the contrary, her emerald eyes became even colder, like frost.
The offensive just now was just a prelude to Naruto's fatal blow.
She turned her gaze to the water below. Under the water, Naruto's chakra was circulating madly, quickly taking shape while Sakura was fighting the shadow clones.
Then, one after another, shadow clones, from all directions—underwater, on the water surface, and in the air—holding various sharp weapons, pounced towards Haruno Sakura!
An endless number of shadow clones!
As if they wanted to wear her down to death!
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