Chapter 44: ...And a Verbal Advantage
"...Shikamaru, Choji, and little Ino, good morning!" the girl said with a sense of helplessness.
"Hmph, you violent maniac! It's too late to try and get friendly now!" Ino's triumphant voice came from behind. "We've seen it clearly. Your stamina and chakra are almost used up. You were just bluffing to scare those other guys away. We're not as stupid as those Sound ninja! Now, your scroll is ours!"
"Hey, hey, don't be so heartless. We were classmates, you know!" the girl sighed. "Shikamaru, can you really bear to bully a weak and helpless girl who can't even tie up a chicken? Choji, say something too!"
Recalling his impression of Sakura over the many years he had known her, Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He couldn't for the life of him figure out how Sakura was in any way connected to "unable to tie up a chicken" or "weak and helpless."
"Sorry, Sakura! With your strength, getting a scroll is a simple matter. But for us, fighting a team at full strength is too risky. With you in your weakest state, we are confident we can get the scroll!" Shikamaru said with a wry smile. "We'll just take the scroll and go!"
"Uh, this..." Choji echoed while eating chips. "I'll listen to Shikamaru!"
"Tsk tsk tsk! A tiger stranded on a plain is bullied by dogs, I see!" the girl said faintly. "But..."
A clear, cold voice came from behind the three of them.
"Are you sure you've got me cornered?"
With a splash, the girl who had been controlled by the Shadow Imitation turned into a pool of water. The girl's real body emerged from the shadows behind Ino!
"How is that possible? After being controlled by Shikamaru, you shouldn't be able to form hand seals!"
"A ninjutsu like the Water Substitution, I can activate it without hand seals," the girl said with a faint smile. "Shikamaru, I hear that high-level binding jutsu can also bind chakra. It seems your Shadow Imitation isn't quite there yet! So, what are you going to do now?"
"Damn it, don't underestimate me!" Ino bit her lip and formed a seal towards Sakura—
"Secret Jutsu: Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
Sakura's body swayed for a moment, then returned to normal. Ino, on the other hand, suddenly stumbled and almost fell to the ground.
The pale-faced Ino had forgotten: within Sakura's body, there were three spirits. Her spiritual strength was far beyond that of an ordinary person!
"Ino, your ninjutsu doesn't work on me. Have you forgotten again?" Sakura said leisurely.
"The situation isn't looking good, is it, Shikamaru? Your Shadow Imitation and Ino's Mind Transfer are both ineffective against me. Without your support, it's difficult for Choji to hit me. Now, you guys are at a complete loss!"
Choji and Ino's faces turned a shade paler.
From the beginning, Choji was a pacifist who was against making an enemy of Sakura. But he was rather indecisive and had always followed Shikamaru's arrangements. And Shikamaru had a personality that hated trouble; if Ino insisted on doing something, he wouldn't object too strongly. Thus, on the surface, Ino had become the leader of the Ino-Shika-Cho team.
The Delinquent Four had a good relationship with Sakura, but Ino and Sakura had the relationship of mortal love rivals—at least, that's what Ino thought. So when Shikamaru analyzed that Sakura was a paper tiger, Ino had proposed the idea of snatching Team 7's scroll.
To be able to defeat the genius Haruno Sakura for once—such a temptation was very attractive even to Shikamaru.
As a genius with an IQ of over 200, it was impossible for Shikamaru not to know the true strength of Sakura, with whom he had spent six years. Based on his understanding of her, she could fully grow to Kakashi's level, and might even reach the "Kage-level" of the Sannin.
For the ninja of the same year, this was both an exciting and a sad thing. The sad part was that many people would be overshadowed by a woman for their entire lives, only able to watch as the distance between her back and themselves grew larger and larger.
Shikamaru quickly realized that this might be the only chance in his life to defeat Sakura. The slightly chauvinistic Shikamaru didn't want to spend his whole life just looking up at a girl's figure. If he could snatch Sakura's scroll, at least when he was old, he could still boast to others: When I was young, I defeated Haruno Sakura and took a scroll from her!
Although he felt a little guilty about taking advantage of her situation and snatching a friend's scroll, Shikamaru believed that Sakura would forgive them. Hmm, if worst comes to worst, he could just say that Ino forced them to do it!
Of course, with Shikamaru's intelligence, since he had decided to make a move, it meant he was sure of it.
At the very least, although Sakura's words had shaken Choji and Ino's confidence, Shikamaru still believed that their chances of winning were greater.
Shikamaru knew that Sakura's perception was very sensitive in a small area. He couldn't yet conceal the chakra fluctuations of his Shadow Imitation Jutsu well enough, so a sneak attack would be difficult to pull off against her. What's more, even if a sneak attack succeeded, she could escape with a Water Substitution. Ino's jutsu was ineffective against her, and Choji's jutsu was too clumsy and would be difficult to land without their support. It sounded like the three of them really had no way to deal with Sakura.
However, they also had a winning advantage.
First, it was not yet dawn. The pitch-black Forest of Death was a natural home field for the Shadow Imitation Jutsu. Because there was no light, there were shadows everywhere, so Shikamaru could attack Sakura from any position in the forest!
More importantly, whether it was using a Water Substitution to escape the Shadow Imitation, breaking free from the Mind Transfer Jutsu, or dodging Choji's attacks, all of it required the most basic stamina and chakra, which were precisely the things Sakura lacked most right now!
And in terms of offense, Sakura wouldn't use her lethal moves on them, just as Choji wouldn't use his three-colored pills in a fight against Sakura. And conventional tactics consumed more chakra and stamina than Sakura could afford!
The eastern sky was already showing the fish-belly white of dawn. In the faint morning light, Shikamaru saw beads of sweat forming on Sakura's smooth forehead. Although she had deliberately controlled it, Shikamaru could still hear her breathing had become heavier.
This girl, to be so weak and still be able to put on a show of being nonchalant and confident...!
Shikamaru calmly analyzed their advantages and Sakura's disadvantages for his team.
"...So, the ones who truly hold the decisive advantage are us! I have a question, Sakura! If you really have such a great advantage, why haven't you attacked yet?" Shikamaru said with a relaxed smile. "Or is it that you don't even have the stamina to attack?"
"Even though you talk as if you have the complete advantage, do you, in your current state, have the stamina to realize that advantage?" Shikamaru asked loudly!
Shadow Imitation Jutsu, activate!
Sakura let out a wry smile and allowed Shikamaru to bind her.
In terms of fighting, Sakura could still struggle with all her might and fight Shikamaru's team to a mutual defeat, but the problem was that if she did that, the next time they encountered an enemy, they would truly be at their mercy. It was better to just give the scroll to Shikamaru's team.
Sakura had used the same trick again, trying to bluff them, but in front of Shikamaru, these little tricks were indeed useless.
In this battle, Sakura had indeed lost. Shikamaru's judgment was spot-on. He had crushed Sakura with a straightforward strategy, which was much more effective than clever tricks. Shikamaru was truly smart!
However, Shikamaru had overlooked one fatal point!
"Ino... are you really going to take our Team 7's scroll?" Sakura asked, blinking her eyes at Ino, who was walking over to take the scroll. "If I tell Sasuke that you were the one who stole our scroll and caused Team 7 to be eliminated, do you think Sasuke will hate you for the rest of his life?"
Ino's footsteps instantly stopped.
Shikamaru's eyes widened. This despicable woman! To actually threaten Ino with something like that! And from the looks of it, Ino is actually falling for it!
Looking at Ino, who was frozen in place with a stormy sea raging in her heart, Sakura struck while the iron was hot. "But, if you turn around and help us, take care of Sasuke, Sasuke will definitely be very grateful to you. And, I can also put in a few good words for you. Maybe Sasuke will even agree to go on a date with you! Also, when we recover our strength, we'll share any scrolls we get with you, to ensure you can pass the exam!"
The fatal blow!
Under the temptation of a double harvest in love and career, after considering for only five seconds, Ino nodded without hesitation!
The Ino-ship... has committed treason!
Staring dumbfounded at Ino, who had changed sides faster than one could flip a book, Shikamaru was speechless. You were the one who said to snatch the scroll, and now you're the one who says not to. What the hell is going on!
Women really are a drag!
The Shikamaru-ship... has fallen silent!
To think that a perfectly legitimate, straightforward strategy was defeated by a few words from a woman... Shikamaru felt his heart break! He could only comfort himself: In terms of the result, not having to stand against Team 7 and instead latching onto them was actually quite good!
As for things like dignity... of course, the more you throw away, the less of a burden you have!
Just then, Ino shot a sharp glare back at him. "Shikamaru, are you not going to release the binding jutsu yet!" Then she turned her head and gave Sakura a fawning, love-struck smile. "Sakura, you have to help me put in a good word with Sasuke!"
"Of course, you can count on me!" Sakura said magnanimously, patting her own flat chest!
And thus, a bizarre six-person squad was formed.
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