Chapter 132: Tried to Act Cool But Got Wrecked Instead
The airflow stirred up by the swift attack blew the hair on her forehead, but Sakura did not move.
The kunai stopped abruptly at the center of the girl's brow.
"Why didn't you dodge?" the ninja in the darkness asked.
"Killing intent," the girl said faintly, standing quietly. "Because you have no killing intent."
Katsura-U's kunai had not made her retreat even a single millimeter.
As if she was certain that it would stop at the last moment.
"Is that so...?" Katsura-U narrowed his eyes. "A reason like that is not very convincing."
Indeed, if one chose not to dodge an enemy's attack simply because the opponent had no killing intent, it would be far too arrogant. Such a ninja would probably not last long in the Anbu... The Fifth Hokage's disciple, is this all she is?
In any case, even with the Hokage's recommendation, he could not let a flower vase with only an outer appearance join the Anbu. Otherwise, he would be harming the Anbu and his colleagues, and also harming this little chick with only a glamorous surface...
I can only pray that Lady Tsunade won't be too angry. Thinking this, Katsura-U secretly made a decision. He was just about to speak when he heard the girl's voice sound from another place—
"So..."
Katsura-U's eyes narrowed. Sakura's voice had actually come from behind the girl in front of him!
"Is this reason convincing enough for you?"
Another Sakura, that is, the real one, appeared behind the girl, leaning on her shoulder and smiling faintly.
Crack—! The girl that the kunai was pressed against turned into a block of ice before Katsura-U's eyes.
"A clone... in just that instant?" Katsura-U was in awe. He had not noticed at all that the girl had used a clone jutsu!
What a skilled ninjutsu!
Is this the so-called genius? Katsura-U had to admit that he had misjudged. This so-called Hokage's disciple did indeed have some skill. She was not the kind of person who had really gotten into the Anbu through connections to gild her name. Lord Fifth Hokage was indeed not an unreliable person. The person she recommended, even if she was a newly promoted Chunin, was a first-class, skilled operative!
A commoner ninja like Katsura-U, who had come this far without relying on a family's inherited secret techniques, valued some practical or fundamental things more, not some flashy, high-level ninjutsu to show off.
This effortless clone jutsu of Sakura's was full of concealment and practicality. Even he, who was right next to her, had not reacted. It was exactly to his taste, and his impression of Sakura had skyrocketed, from a beautiful flower vase to a ninja who was stunning in every sense of the word.
He, who had been cold to the girl at first, was now silently nodding his approval of Sakura in his heart.
Under the mask, the face that had been straight all along also began to show an expression.
Not bad, this girl!
Of course, if he knew that Sakura usually liked to follow up an ice clone with a Clone Explosion Technique, Katsura-U's expression would probably be even more brilliant...
When he had retracted his hand, he had no idea that he had just narrowly escaped death...
"You were distracted when you turned just now," Sakura explained at this time. "And you were hinting at me from the very beginning."
That's right. Although Katsura-U's attack was sudden, it was not without a trace.
In fact, before testing Sakura's vigilance with a surprise attack, Katsura-U had already reminded her with words:
"As long as you stay vigilant, you can pass the test," and "The test is just past this corner."
If the girl had really listened to his words, then she should have "stayed vigilant" and paid attention to Katsura-U's hint that "the test is just past the corner." When he passed the corner, she should have raised her guard.
If someone really understood "the test is just past the corner" as "taking the test in the house after the corner," and then failed to react to Katsura-U's surprise attack, then it could only mean that they were stupid, unsuitable for Anbu work, and would fail the test directly.
Sakura was, of course, not such a person.
Although she hadn't understood the ulterior motive in Katsura-U's words at first, only feeling that he seemed to have put a little extra force into them, she had still raised her guard as instructed. When passing the corner, she had felt that the atmosphere was a bit off and had realized that there might be a problem, so she had quietly used an ice clone.
"Hn, so this was the test?" the girl then asked.
Katsura-U nodded and said with a smile, "This was a test of your vigilance. It's over now. You performed well! Next up is to test your strength. Follow me to the test site."
Alright, this seemed a bit like child's play... Used to the various solemn and formal exams of her previous life, Sakura always felt that the tests in the Naruto world were a bit too crude. But this kind of test was indeed quite concise and effective. You couldn't have people just stay vigilant and write an 800-word essay, and then give them a score to determine if they passed, right!
Ignoring the Haruno Sakura who was complaining despite having benefited, Katsura-U fumbled on the wall for a few moments, and with a click, he turned on a switch, lighting up the lamps on the wall. The darkness at the corner immediately dissipated without a trace.
Appearing before Sakura was a short passage, and at the end of the passage was an iron door.
Katsura-U opened the iron door and led the girl in. Outside the door was a small courtyard. Traces of various ninjutsu still remained on the courtyard's surrounding walls.
The two of them walked into the empty courtyard.
"Another rookie?"
Suddenly, a flat voice came lazily from behind the two of them!
"Shino, you still like to scare the rookies so much," Katsura-U said calmly, turning his head, not at all startled by the suddenly appearing ninja.
Katsura-U was very calm because he was already mentally prepared.
This guy with the codename "Shino" was an old friend of his for many years. He had a mischievous hobby of liking to use his advanced concealment techniques to quietly appear behind rookies, and then hold a kunai to their necks to scare them and see their embarrassing reactions. Most people, having their vital points controlled by someone else so silently, would be so scared they'd break out in a cold sweat.
Katsura-U had seen Shino use this trick to intimidate many rookies.
But this one today might be a little different from the usual rookies... Katsura-U thought to himself.
What kind of scene will I see? Katsura-U turned his head with a faint sense of anticipation.
"Sorry... I don't like having a kunai held to my neck."
Katsura-U heard the girl say.
The girl hadn't even turned her head, but Shino's supposedly unpredictable blow had been firmly caught by her wrist.
Shino was defeated by a rookie? Katsura-U found that he wasn't surprised at all, as if... he had expected it.
Not only that, Shino had already used all his strength, but his wrist was still as if it were being pressed down by a ten-thousand-ton rock, and he couldn't pull his hand out at all.
Shino couldn't see at all how that slender, fair wrist could exert such a massive force. His right hand felt as if it were caught in an iron clamp, and his bones were beginning to ache faintly!
The force applied by the Monstrous Strength Technique was often in the dozens of tons or more. It could even shatter the earth. How could he possibly resist it easily? If she hadn't held back, his bones would have been crushed on the spot.
Katsura-U could almost see the sweat starting to form on Shino's head.
"...How did you find me?" Shino asked in a hoarse voice.
Although no one could see it, an elegant smile appeared on the girl's face under the mask. "This question... is a fail. Your chakra fluctuation is so obvious, how could I possibly not discover you?"
"So that's how it is..." The face under Shino's mask had already turned a faint red, his voice growing more muffled. "You're a sensory-type ninja!"
That's right. With his concealment ability, only a sensory-type ninja could catch him so accurately!
The girl didn't explain. Under her mask, the corners of her mouth curled up, and she snickered.
Being ambushed by people one after another had left her a little annoyed. Katsura-U could be said to be testing her vigilance, but what was up with this guy named Shino?
Although she hadn't used the full force of the Monstrous Strength Technique, it could still be considered a small lesson for him.
"Tobi, let him go," Katsura-U said, seeing that Shino was really in a bit of pain and coming to his rescue. "Also, Shino, she's a combat-type ninja!"
Sakura let go as he said. After all, the other person was an Anbu senior. She wouldn't really make him lose face, to avoid awkwardness when they met in the future.
Shino finally pulled his hand back. A purple handprint was on his arm. He shook his hand, feeling as if his right hand no longer belonged to him.
She's actually not a sensory-type ninja... He felt a little gloomy and embarrassed for his misjudgment.
"So you're a taijutsu-type ninja," Shino said, rubbing his bruised arm, his tone carrying a trace of resentment. He felt that he had misjudged. Although the other person was still a little girl, her strength was really great!
However, he was still wrong... Sakura was not a taijutsu-type ninja!
Sakura shook her head and was just about to speak to prevent him from misunderstanding, but Katsura-U spoke first:
"Shino, Tobi is a ninjutsu-type ninja!"
His words carried a faint hint of a smile.
In fact, the expression hidden under Katsura-U's mask had already turned into a smile. He really couldn't help but laugh: Shino liked to tease rookies, but today he was the one being teased by a rookie. It was truly a case of the biter being bit.
What was that phrase that was popular in Konoha recently?
That's right, it was "tried to act cool but got wrecked instead." Thinking of this phrase, Katsura-U couldn't control his urge to laugh. It was just too fitting.
Shino's move was a case of trying to act cool but getting wrecked instead. Failing to act cool wasn't all. He had also misjudged what type of ninja Sakura was twice in a row. It was as if he had done something wrong and was forcefully trying to find an excuse to explain it, only to be exposed one by one.
It was incredibly awkward.
Shino must be wanting to find a hole to crawl into right now. Katsura-U complained about his good friend in his heart, but said aloud, "Alright, Shino, Tobi, stop wasting time. Let's start the test."
"Ahem, ahem, that's right," Shino cleared his throat twice to cover up his gaffe and took the out that Katsura-U had given him. "Let's just start the test."
"I'm not a type of ninja with obvious specialties," he said, standing in the open space. "I have some knowledge in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu, and am well-balanced. Please be sure to remember this when we fight."
Sakura also walked over and made the Seal of Confrontation to Shino in respect. "I'm a ninjutsu-type ninja. I don't know any genjutsu, and my taijutsu is also average. I know a few water jutsu."
"The rule is that besides not dealing a killing blow, the fight will stop immediately if one side surrenders or loses the ability to fight. So..." Katsura-U stood to the side, raised his right hand, and acted as the temporary referee for this battle. "Let the fight begin!"
His right hand swung down sharply.
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