Chapter 147: The Opening Act
While speaking, the Anbu ninja with the cat-face mask had already brought her hands together in front of her chest and was rapidly forming hand seals—
"Ninja Art - Yin Seal, Open!"
"Ninja Art - Sakura Rush, Open!"
Chakra began to boil on the small figure.
Shino and Yūgao were both a little stunned.
They turned their heads to look at Haruno Sakura in unison.
An agitated chakra surged on the cat-faced ninja's body. Her hair moved without any wind, fluttering about, as if a surging presence was rising from the ground.
"You two go and help Sasuke. He should be in the northern direction. Leave this place to me."
The not-so-tall figure said. She walked to the front of the team, blocking the path of the Sound ninja.
"They are not my opponents." Her tone carried an unquestionable confidence.
"..." Shino wanted to speak but stopped himself.
His first reaction was to refuse Sakura's request. This was simply illogical. To leave a team member alone to deal with multiple strong enemies while the captain and the others went ahead to carry out the mission—what kind of logic was that!
To abandon one comrade in order to save another, then what was the meaning of the mission to save a comrade?
But he quickly realized the reasoning behind Haruno Sakura's words.
Although Squad 14 had always treated the girl as a rookie to be protected...
But he had to admit that apart from not being skilled in team coordinated combat and lacking experience in carrying out missions, this so-called rookie was, in every sense of the word, stronger than both him and Yūgao.
In fact...
"If I'm not mistaken, Sakura should be the strongest one in our squad."
Yūgao thought as she looked at the girl's slender back. The girl's delicate figure was very deceptive. An ordinary person would find it hard to imagine that such powerful strength was contained within the thin arms and legs of this little girl.
Shino had once told her that during the rookie test, he had misjudged Sakura, thinking that her strength was average, and so in a moment of carelessness, he had been beaten up harshly by her.
Yūgao wouldn't believe Shino's self-beautifying words. She took out the words "a moment of carelessness," and felt that the rest of the sentence was basically in line with the facts.
After this girl had revealed her Ice Style Kekkei Genkai, she had become one of the hot topics in Konoha's high-level ninja circle. Shino, as a rare Jonin who had had contact and actual combat with her, admitting that he was not Sakura's opponent had stirred up a wave of reaction in the small circle.
Some of the more radical ones would even compare her to her team leader, Hatake Kakashi.
Yūgao had no interest in participating in that kind of meaningless topic of who was stronger than whom. She only knew that Sakura was balanced and powerful, without any particular bias.
—It should be specially noted that although ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu are the three dimensions for measuring a ninja's ability, generally, apart from genjutsu-type ninja, the rest of the ninja would not place too much importance on their genjutsu ability. Therefore, as long as one's taijutsu and ninjutsu were both strong, then they could get the evaluation of being well-balanced.
If it were her, dealing with these Sound ninja should be no problem, right?
And without a doubt, the suggestion of splitting up that Tobi had proposed was indeed the way to maximize the squad's combat power and to provide aid to Sasuke at the fastest speed.
Yūgao understood this feeling very well.
"Shino... let's leave this place to her," Yūgao said calmly, sheathing her sword.
Shino pondered for a long time.
He, who had fought with her, was even clearer about Haruno Sakura's combat power. Although it was very embarrassing, he had to admit that the strength of this still-young girl had already surpassed his.
The previous coordination of Squad 14 with her had not brought out her true strength. In fact, the battle she was truly suited for was a solo battlefield. Even if he and Yūgao stayed here, they wouldn't be of much help to her. On the contrary, they would tie her hands, making her afraid to use those moves that could easily cause friendly fire.
And Shino was also certain that the batch of Sound ninja before them would be no match for Sakura.
"Alright then, Tobi, I'll leave this place for you to handle... You must be careful!"
Shino finally said.
The two of them nodded slightly to Sakura, and then left this place with a Body Flicker at the same time.
"Trying to leave? Not so easy!" a Sound ninja shouted, jumping out.
He quickly formed hand seals, wanting to cast a ninjutsu to stop Shino and the other.
However, to what level had the reaction of the cat-faced girl, who was in the Sakura Rush state, been accelerated?
"Hmph!" She sneered. The Monstrous Strength Technique acted on her feet. With the help of this instantly soaring power, she used the Body Flicker. In just an instant, she had rushed in front of that Sound ninja and kicked him fiercely with a side kick, sending him flying—
A kick under the effect of the Monstrous Strength Technique had sent that ninja flying over a hundred meters away!
The opening act was a taijutsu attack that shocked the entire field. That ferocious speed and power instantly scared the Sound ninja into subconsciously shrinking back. It was clear that no one thought they could be kicked over a hundred meters and still not die...
But this was just the opening act.
"There are too many of them."
She looked around and said faintly.
The cold chakra circulated in her body, round after round. Affected by the Ice Style Kekkei Genkai, her heart, while falling into the frenzy of battle, had also entered a state of calm like an iceberg.
She scanned the surrounding Sound ninja who were staring at her with fear. Although there were many enemies, apart from the Sound Four, the others were nothing more than small bugs to make up the numbers.
However, when the number of bugs increases, it can also be very annoying...
The girl looked at the enemies who were staring at her with apprehension with a blank expression. The attack of the Body Flicker plus a heavy leg just now seemed to have made them mistake the Anbu in front of them for a taijutsu-type ninja. The enemy was putting all their attention on guarding against her taijutsu. So this was an opportunity.
An opportunity to clear the field with the Wind Blade Raging Stream.
Her next ninjutsu would teach the enemies opposite her just how they ought to respect her ninjutsu, instead of just staring at her taijutsu movements. She was a ninjutsu-type ninja, after all!
—If they were still alive by that time.
"First, let's reduce the enemy's numbers," she said softly.
Her killing intent overflowed. Her voice became colder and colder, as if every word was seeping with a chilling cold.
Hand seals. While speaking, the ninjutsu was already ready.
Killing intent was vented from the index finger extended from the girl's horizontally raised right hand!
"Water Style - Wind Blade Raging Stream!"
The Sound ninja paid the price for not taking Sakura's ninjutsu seriously:
An invincible stream of high-speed, high-pressure water, shot out under the effect of chakra, reaped the lives of the Sound ninja like the scythe of the God of Death reaping wheat!
SWISH— The water cutter cut through the air at high speed. Amidst the sharp whistle, it issued a declaration of clearing the field!
Sakura casually waved her arm.
The silver-white water line then drew a fan shape on the ground.
Wherever it swept, broken stones, severed wood, and the mutilated limbs of human bodies were instantly all mixed into one!
"Get out of the way!" a Sound ninja clutching his severed arm shouted, leaping high into the air to avoid the sweeping high-pressure water line.
Despite his warning, by the time the ninjutsu stopped, of the twenty or so Sound ninja who had attacked, there were only a handful left who could still stand.
The lucky Sound ninja who had escaped the disaster, apart from the relatively fast-reacting Sound Four, were mostly those who had been standing on the far left. When the girl's ninjutsu swept from right to left, they had had time to react and had thus avoided this move.
However, the cat-faced Anbu was still not very satisfied with the results of the Wind Blade Raging Stream...
"Tch, there are still eight left?... This opening act isn't enough!"
Meanwhile, somewhere near the border between the Land of Rice Paddies and the Land of Fire.
A hidden cave entrance.
A man in a kimono with cloudy yellow snake eyes appeared in the clearing of a valley with a white-haired youth.
"I hope today will be a fruitful day... Don't you think so, Kabuto?"
The man in the kimono said.
❃❃❃
⤑ 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!