Chapter 264: One Against Two
"Water Style: Wind Bla—"
"Stop!" the slug shouted anxiously. "It's useless! Quickly put up a defense, Lady Sakura!"
Sakura had just reached the last hand seal, and the ninjutsu was about to be released, when she was hurriedly interrupted by the slug.
She was extremely puzzled in her heart, but she unhesitatingly followed the slug's advice, stopped the Wind Blade Raging Stream, and turned to use all her strength to cast the Ice Style: Absolute Defense.
Under the spur of her chakra, the ice wall grew crazily, making a creaking sound, and in the blink of an eye, it had wrapped Sakura in a thick, large ball! The slug opened its mouth wide and swallowed the ice ball, which had quickly grown to a diameter of more than ten meters.
In the next instant, the giant doll had already landed on top of the slug's head.
This was a white doll made of explosive clay, mixed with Deidara's highest level of chakra. It was Deidara's masterpiece, and its power was extremely terrifying.
BOOM—
The doll exploded with a roar, blooming with endless sound and endless light!
The huge roar echoed between the sky and the earth, as if the heavens and the earth were resonating;
The dazzling white brilliance outshone the bright midday sun high in the sky, and in an instant, the world changed color!
"Heehee... I never thought Sasori-danna would also be in a tough fight!" Deidara, standing on the giant bird flying in the sky, looked down at the scene of the doll's explosion below and revealed a cold smile. "A direct hit, un!"
"Did I get her?" Under the strong light, the expression on Deidara's face was split into pieces by the light and shadow, and his smile became ferocious and terrifying.
Very quickly, the wind blew and the clouds scattered. Deidara, who was staring intently at the ground below, saw the results of the explosion.
"Un? An ice ball?" He widened his eyes slightly.
On the ground, the body of the slug that had swallowed Sakura had been completely roasted into charcoal by the explosion and had broken into two pieces, revealing the giant ice ball it had been protecting!
The ice ball, which had a diameter of several dozen meters, had firmly protected Sakura inside. It was just that the side that had been close to the explosion had already been half-evaporated, and it was only a thin layer away from reaching the girl.
The giant slug was actually still alive.
"My apologies, Lady Sakura. I have to go back. You must be careful..." the slug said with difficulty.
It spat out a final mouthful of acidic liquid, drowning a puppet that was secretly approaching the girl. Then, without waiting for Sakura's reply, it turned into several puffs of smoke with a poof and dissipated into the air.
Sakura didn't have time to say goodbye to it either.
The chakra of that white doll was completely different from Sasori's, indicating a new enemy!
And it had descended from the sky... The new enemy was very likely on that giant, white, strange bird.
It was just that she couldn't find the opportunity to raise her head and search for the enemy in the sky!
Swish, swish! Dozens of kunai, faintly glowing with a green light, suddenly attacked her.
Sakura waved her hand and used the Water Formation Wall, turning the acidic liquid that the slug had just spat out into a water wall, blocking in front of her.
Another puppet leaped to the top of the ice ball, and as it was swinging its long sword to attack her from behind her head, a figure silently grew out of the ice ball behind it. A blade pierced into the human puppet's heart—its only vital point.
"Ice Style: Legion Ice Clone!" Sakura completed another ninjutsu in an instant, turning the ice ball into dozens of ice clones that met the puppets behind her.
In front of her, three puppets had already rushed over while she was forming the hand seals.
Sakura's face was grim. Her hands were not forming hand seals. In her haste, she had completed a weakened Water Gun Jutsu in each hand. Two water lines just barely cut off the first two puppets, and the sharp blade in the third one's hand had already cut through her clothes, wanting to go straight for her heart from her side ribs.
"Ice Style: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
Her skin could already feel the chill from the puppet's long blade. Sakura's scalp tightened, and in the nick of time, she completed the Body Flicker. With a stumble, she appeared behind an ice clone.
The puppet that had just pierced that ice clone's heart was stunned for a moment by the sudden appearance of the figure. By the time Sasori had reacted, Sakura had already squatted down. Then, the upper body of the ice clone in front of her had exploded with a roar, completely blowing the puppet to pieces!
There were no enemies in front of her for the time being. She could finally take a short break.
Haruno Sakura half-squatted up.
She quickly touched the side of her left ribs with her left hand. There was no wound or blood. She finally breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.
Her right hand was pressed against the remaining lower half of the ice clone. The chakra of the Ice Style: Frost Armor ninjutsu circulated, turning the remains of the clone into a frost armor, protecting her chest and vital points.
Sakura glanced around. The defensive line formed by the ice clones was already in a precarious state. The number of clones that could still stand was rapidly decreasing, and more and more puppets were swarming over.
And in the direction in front of her, because there were no ice clones to intercept, the number of puppets was even more dense.
She had only just caught her breath when a few more puppets pressed in.
Sakura pursed her lips, and with a leap, she charged forward. She used the "Nin-taijutsu: Star Cannon Hammer," and with a punch from her right hand, she smashed the one charging at the very front to smithereens. At the same time, she formed a hand seal with her left hand alone, shot out a water line, and reaped the second one!
And then the ninjutsu of the third and fourth puppets had already arrived, and the sound of something cutting through the air came from behind her again!
"Hmph!" The girl let out a muffled grunt, braced herself, and activated the Ice Body Flicker, dodging their pincer attack.
She had no idea of the situation at her landing point. Only after the Body Flicker was completed did Sakura discover that the ice clone had already been pierced in its vital points by two puppets at the same time.
The girl was practically pressed against the puppets—face to face, chest to chest, waist to waist, leg to leg as she landed.
Her mind was almost a blank. At this distance, let alone casting a ninjutsu, there wasn't even room to use taijutsu!
There was no time to think. In a flash, her hands had already made an attacking motion—
Rasengan!
This was a ninjutsu that Sakura was very familiar with, but had never used in actual combat, or even in a spar.
The casting time for a no-seal ninjutsu was zero. Sakura finally understood its benefits.
BOOM— The two puppets were hit at point-blank range by the fatal chakra sphere. They were instantly sent flying several meters away and had become two shapeless lumps of iron by the time they landed on the ground!
No wonder Naruto likes to rub meatballs—this thought flashed through her mind. While her thoughts were running wild, she suddenly bent down, dodging a sneak attack from a puppet behind her, and with a fierce returning kick, she kicked it back into its component parts!
And then, another chaotic battle!
The chaotic battlefield was filled with flying ninjutsu and weapons. Haruno Sakura was besieged from all directions. Her fists and feet did not stop. She constantly used the extremely fast Water Gun Jutsu and the even faster Rasengan and Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals. Each attack could destroy a puppet. And then, what awaited her was even more puppets swarming up!
"Hah!" The Star Cannon Hammer smashed the puppet in front of her to smithereens. Sakura finally cleared out a small, safe area and lowered her head to take a few heavy breaths.
When she looked up, the last few ice clones had already been submerged in the sea of puppets.
At this moment, Sakura finally felt a bit of what it was like for an ant swarm to bite an elephant to death.
Even in her absolutely calm state of Ice Style, for an instant, she also felt a bit of despair.
No, there's still a chance...! she gritted her teeth and suppressed the dejection in her heart.
She suddenly raised her right hand, forming a hand sign in front of her chest. Chakra once again poured out in a large gush—"Ice Style: Clone Chain Explosion!"
The clones in the puppet swarm, which had already turned into blocks of ice, played their final role. Amidst Sakura's fierce gaze and the surging chakra, they exploded with a roar!
A small area of puppets was instantly cleared by the explosion!
"Finally, I have room to cast a large-scale ninjutsu!" Sakura said, licking her dry lips and letting out a sigh of relief.
As she spoke, she continued to extract the already insufficient chakra from her Yin Seal, and was just about to cast a ninjutsu—
An object with an unfamiliar yet vast chakra fluctuation rushed into her perception range.
No, it's not unfamiliar... This is a ninjutsu cast by that enemy who used explosives just now!
Sakura's face tightened, and she turned her head to look.
Another white doll...
"You've got to be kidding me..." she said, slightly dazed, and muttered.
BOOM—!
The second C3 No. 18 exploded.
The power of the second Daruma-bomb was not weakened in the slightest. It exploded next to Haruno Sakura's ice ball, blooming with endless light and a huge sound, leaving behind a thick cloud of dust.
In the rolling thick fog, a fireball was launched from somewhere, crashing into the center of the explosion.
BOOM—
The strong wind from the explosion dispersed the dust, revealing Haruno Sakura's unharmed figure.
As well as the ice fragments that were scattered all over the ground.
It seemed that in the explosion, her only loss was the consumption of a lot of stamina—at this moment, the girl had already begun to pant continuously.
Just as Deidara's offensive had ended, the puppets charged up again.
BOOM— A Rock Pillar Spear rose up from under Sakura's feet and was shattered by her stomp. With this as a signal, several more puppet figures emerged from all around, rushing towards Haruno Sakura.
Swords, ninja tools, and all kinds of ninjutsu came whistling, instantly drowning the girl's... afterimage.
The next moment, Sakura had already appeared on top of a large piece of broken ice that had been sent flying in the explosion just now.
He shouldn't have noticed this piece of broken ice! she prayed in her heart and activated her Body Flicker.
The space-time transformed. What appeared in front of Sakura's eyes was a puppet that Sasori had long since set up in ambush!
BOOM! The puppet was smashed to pieces by Sakura's fist—the girl in her Sakura Rush state, her reaction speed was even faster than Sasori, who had set up the ambush in advance!
Just you... Haruno Sakura let out a breath and had just revealed a cold smile, when the whistling sound of a sharp blade came from behind her.
She was ambushed by another puppet!
Damn it...
The girl sharply leaned forward and fell to the ground, her posture extremely pathetic. The puppet's long blade cut through the corner of her clothes, but Haruno Sakura had, in the end, dodged this blow.
And then.
Sakura condensed a Rasengan in her left hand, already prepared to exchange an injury for the puppet's life, but she heard a loud bang from behind.
She turned her head to look.
BOOM—!
An extremely fast figure had suddenly rushed over and had smashed the puppet that was raising its long blade to pieces!
Sakura's eyes widened.
This is...!
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 400 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!