Chapter 176: Shikamaru
Haruno Sakura's tone was so fierce that it startled the black-haired youth who was wrapping bandages around his hand.
"Using lightning chakra to stimulate your body and accelerate wound healing, you're really something, aren't you?! Don't you know you'll shorten your lifespan by doing this!"
"You're calling me a busybody," Sasuke said with a smile. Although he was the one being scolded, his mood was instead very good. "Aren't you meddling in my business right now?"
Haruno Sakura's momentum instantly stalled.
The number of times a human cell can divide, with the exception of certain stem cells, is limited... Using lightning-natured chakra to stimulate the body, increase physical activity, and accelerate cell division followed the same principle as medical ninjutsu, and carried the risk of overdrawing one's life limit and reducing one's lifespan.
On this point, Master Tsunade was the most experienced.
For general injuries, if the body could heal on its own, letting the body heal naturally was the most appropriate method. Every medicine is a double-edged sword, and medical ninjutsu was not an omnipotent thing, let alone Sasuke's crude use of lightning chakra to accelerate healing.
This was why Haruno Sakura had spoken so angrily when she learned what Sasuke had been doing on his own.
However, after the battle with Kimimaro last time, she had yelled at Sasuke, and now, so quickly, he had thrown it right back at her. Karma really comes around fast.
"That's different, okay?" the girl retorted stubbornly. "That time was a matter of necessity. You have no reason to be discharged from the hospital immediately right now!"
"I also have a reason why I must recover quickly!" he said seriously.
He finished wrapping the bandages, put on his shoes, and jumped down from the hospital bed.
"I can't stand lying in a hospital bed for several weeks... That would just be a waste of time. I don't want to be lying in a hospital bed doing nothing while you guys are all making rapid progress!"
The black-haired youth looked at her with burning eyes, an unchangeable determination in them.
Sakura felt a little uncomfortable being stared at by him.
"Alright, alright! I get it!" She raised her hands in surrender and said irritably, "When did you become as hot-blooded as Naruto!"
"Also, just this once! If something like this happens again, you go find Yuki Haku to help you heal. Don't use a body-harming method like Lightning Style. It's too reckless!"
"I know, I know. You're such a nag," Sasuke said with a smile. "Also, the new training for Lightning Style must be carried out immediately. These past two days lying in the hospital bed, I suddenly had an inspiration. Will you accompany me?"
"Sure, and I also have a favor to ask you."
Sakura had no objection.
It had been a long time since they had trained together.
"Hn, my thing is about training. Have you ever heard of... cough, nuclear fusion?"
"Hmm? I haven't... what's that?"
"It's nothing. I'll explain later." Sakura shook her head. She had expected this answer from Sasuke, so she changed the subject. "Let's go get something to eat first. To celebrate your discharge from the hospital! There's a new snack shop that just opened recently. Their beef balls are quite good. Hmph, hmph, Naruto's not here. It's time for us to break free from Ichiraku Ramen and try something new!"
The shop Sakura mentioned was a small storefront in the commercial street.
The previous owner had unfortunately died during the invasion by the Sound and Sand. His small shop had also been destroyed by the flames of war. After the reconstruction here was completed, another person had opened a small restaurant here.
"What do you think? Not bad, right?"
She bought two large bowls of beef balls, along with some side dishes, and sat with Sasuke at a small table in the corner.
She picked up a meatball and, while eating gracefully, she watched with some amusement as Sasuke wolfed down his food without any regard for his image.
After gobbling down a large mouthful, Sasuke first closed his eyes to savor the taste, took a sip of water, wiped his mouth, and then said with satisfaction, "It's really good. In any case, it's a hundred times better than the hospital food!"
"Our shop's signature beef balls are meticulously made, rosy in color, tender and springy, fresh and fragrant, with a smooth texture." The advertisement slogan on the wall was hard to make out in the dim light of the small shop, but this was no challenge for Sasuke. He directly activated his Sharingan and read it out.
He stuffed another ball into his mouth and said indistinctly, "This slogan isn't an exaggeration. How did he do it?"
"The shop owner is a ninja," Sakura said, tilting her head to look towards the kitchen window. Through the glass, one could see the figure of the owner busily handling the ingredients.
He was probably a tall and thin middle-aged man. The sleeve of his right arm was empty, and he had a clone helping him with the work.
"Hn... can a ninja also be the owner of a snack shop?" Sasuke asked, carefully chewing the ball in his mouth, while turning his head to look in the direction the girl was looking.
Many of the people eating here were ninja. He hadn't noticed at first that the owner was also a colleague.
"He's probably a recently retired ninja..." the girl speculated. In the battle of the Chunin Exams, Konoha's casualties had not been light. Some people, due to disability, had no choice but to retire from the ninja ranks and become ordinary people. This uncle was clearly in this category.
She then patted Sasuke to get his attention. "See that? He's using Wind Style chakra that has reached a high degree of nature transformation to process the beef balls. No wonder..."
Truly delicious beef balls need to be pounded with just the right amount of force, a full ten thousand times or more, taking an hour, to break down the cells in the beef, release the cytoplasm, and pound it into a paste without a single trace of fiber. Only then can the texture be so wonderful.
However, using wind-natured chakra to directly penetrate the beef and cut all the cells inside... this method seemed to be even more effective than simply pounding it with force. But this required extremely high attainments in Wind Style, to be able to push the wind nature transformation to the point where it could even cut up tiny cells.
"Hn, processing the beef with wind chakra, all the cells inside have been torn apart by the wind. The juices are all flowing out. No wonder the aroma of the beef is so rich!" Sasuke nodded and said, the corner of his mouth curling up. "In any case, that idiot Naruto definitely can't do this."
"He should be able to after he comes back, right?" Sakura also smiled. She looked at the shop owner a few more times and made a new discovery. "Also, look at how he stir-fries. He almost never uses a wok, but directly roasts the food with Fire Style chakra!"
"Tsk..." This powerful display of Fire Style immediately awed Sasuke.
He hadn't studied Wind Style, so he didn't know how abnormal that move of using wind chakra to cut beef cells was. But he understood Fire Style and was considered a connoisseur in that regard. For this uncle's Fire Style to be able to stir-fry vegetables so deliciously, it required the temperature to be controlled with pinpoint accuracy. It was clearly not something that could be done easily.
The black-haired youth praised from the bottom of his heart, "Amazing!"
"Integrating chakra training into daily life, this is a living example! Sasuke, if you can reach his level, the power of your Fire Style will definitely go up to another level."
"But my main study is Lightning Style. It doesn't seem so easy to integrate into daily life. At least it can't be used for cooking."
Sasuke said, as he reached his chopsticks towards the last beef ball in the bowl. "So, after I finish this, I'm going to train!"
Clack!
The youth's chopsticks were blocked by another pair of chopsticks. Just as Sasuke was stunned, that pair of chopsticks, with the speed of a thunderclap, had already snatched the last ball from the bottom of the bowl.
"Sasuke, I'm the one treating today. Shouldn't the last ball be for me?" the pink-haired girl said, dangling the ball held in her chopsticks.
She opened her mouth, just about to put the ball in.
The force in her chopsticks suddenly loosened, and the ball had already appeared in the chopsticks held in Sasuke's hand.
"Girls gain weight very easily if they eat too much meat. You've already eaten a lot this meal. I'll reluctantly help you finish the last one!" he said with a smug smile, the corners of his mouth slightly curved.
It was that "wicked smile," the feeling of an overbearing president. Of course, when this smile appeared in front of Haruno Sakura, she only had the urge to punch him.
"To think you'd even use lightning chakra to activate your muscles just to snatch a meatball. You've really grown, Sasuke..." the girl said with a cold face and a fierce expression. "Take this!"
Smack—Her nin-taijutsu struck out and achieved success. Sasuke clearly couldn't withstand this monstrous strength. The beef ball changed hands again and appeared between Sakura's chopsticks.
"Tch, aren't you using nin-taijutsu too!" Sasuke said, rubbing his aching wrist, pouting, and glaring at Haruno Sakura with disdain.
Then he suddenly struck out. A blow as fast as lightning, catching the girl off guard, knocked the ball back into the bowl.
"Sharingan - Open!"
"Now you can't block this, right!" Black tomoe suddenly appeared in Sasuke's eyes.
"Hmph, so what if you have the Sharingan? Don't I have a secret technique?" Haruno Sakura's eye twitched, and she snorted coldly.
"Sakura Rush - Open!"
A dazzling chopstick battle thus began.
Clack, clack, clack—The continuous sound of chopsticks colliding almost blended into one.
One side had the Sharingan plus lightning-activated body; the other had Sakura Rush plus nin-taijutsu. Although neither was using their true abilities, it was a battle of titans, a truly exciting fight.
Crack! Sasuke suddenly exerted force. His chopsticks, deliberately strengthened with chakra, fiercely clamped down on the chopsticks in Sakura's hand, forcefully snapping the latter. This move was inspired by his battle with Kimimaro. Sometimes, directly destroying the enemy's weapon can have a miraculous effect!
"Now you don't have chopsticks!" Sasuke smiled smugly and reached for the ball in the bowl—
Clack! But he was suddenly clamped by a pair of ice chopsticks. The hardness of the latter was clearly higher than the chopsticks Sasuke had specialized with chakra. With a little force from Sakura's nin-taijutsu, she had also snapped the chopsticks in Sasuke's hand.
Returning the favor with his own medicine!
Sasuke looked up at the pink-haired girl sitting opposite him. The latter said with a half-smile, "Now who's the one without chopsticks? My Ice Style can conjure chopsticks at any time, you know!"
"..." Sasuke was speechless.
His face also became very dark.
No, wait, this darkness was entirely because a strong light had suddenly appeared nearby, illuminating his face and making it look dark—
"Lightning Style - Chidori Sharp Spear!"
Two solid, slender lightning pillars extended from Sasuke's fingertips, blooming with a dazzling blue light.
Under the flickering lightning, Sasuke's curved lips looked somewhat smug.
"I also have Lightning Style chopsticks... so—"
"So are you two planning to demolish someone's shop over a single meatball?"
A voice suddenly cut in, interrupting Sakura and Sasuke's fight.
Haruno Sakura looked up. It was Shikamaru, wearing a mesh bodysuit and a Chunin vest, looking at them with the kind of expression one uses to care for the intellectually disabled.
The two of them were instantly stunned and somewhat embarrassedly retracted the ninjutsu in their hands. Their actions just now were indeed a bit like children fighting...
"Ahem, we were just... discussing ninjutsu!" Sakura said, sitting up straight with a serious expression.
"That's right, that's right. We were researching what would happen if we added shape transformation to the Chidori!" Sasuke also quickly chimed in.
"Alright, stop pretending," Shikamaru said, casually placing the balls in his hand on the table, and said lazily, "I was watching you guys just now. To use such high-level ninjutsu just to snatch a meatball is truly unscrupulous. Tsk... there are too many people here. I'll share the table. Sasuke, move over a bit."
"That's the table-sharing fee. You're welcome." Sakura completely gave up on fighting with Sasuke over the last ball and unceremoniously snatched a hot beef ball from Shikamaru's bowl.
That clean and neat food-snatching action made Shikamaru's eyelids twitch violently. This girl's thick skin is probably even more impressive than her ninjutsu!
"Hey! I say, isn't your table-sharing fee a bit too expensive?" Shikamaru said, guarding the bowl in his hand, his eyebrows raised, and complaining unceremoniously.
"We're the Truant Five, who are we to each other?" Haruno Sakura said casually, patting Shikamaru's shoulder.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her, speechless at her skillful way of pulling connections.
Back in the Ninja Academy, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and Naruto were the Delinquent Four and often skipped class. Haruno Sakura was just very familiar with them but had never joined them. The so-called "Truant Five" was just something she had made up on the spot.
However, Shikamaru felt that it was better not to argue with a woman. That would be very troublesome, especially when facing a girl he couldn't beat...
Although Haruno Sakura was usually quite reasonable.
"By the way, Sasuke, is this your new jutsu?" Shikamaru asked vaguely, skewering a ball with a bamboo stick and swallowing it whole.
"More or less!" Sasuke said, picking up the last beef ball in the bowl with a new pair of chopsticks. He chewed it with great relish and said, recalling, "But it's not too new. Actually, the idea for the Chidori Sharp Spear was there long ago, and the training for the lightning shape transformation has been ongoing."
"The foundation of this ninjutsu is Kakashi-sensei's Chidori. The advanced version of Chidori is Raikiri. Above Raikiri, the preliminary addition of lightning nature transformation is the Raikiri Raging Stream. And above that, there might be more," seeing the "tell me more" expressions on Sakura's and Shikamaru's faces, Sasuke counted on his fingers like an expert. "So the other evolutionary path for Chidori is to add shape transformation, turning it into the Chidori Sharp Spear. If the Chidori Sharp Spear is further strengthened in shape transformation, there will be even stronger advanced ninjutsu on top."
"This is something Kakashi-sensei and I thought of long ago. But after the battle with Kimimaro, I just felt that the Chidori Sharp Spear could be developed first."
"So the final form of this jutsu is to take nature and shape transformation to the extreme, and then merge them into the Chidori?" Shikamaru asked curiously.
"It should be something like that," Sasuke said, somewhat uncertainly. "This ninjutsu will develop in the direction of nin-taijutsu later on, but it's not the kind of nin-taijutsu that Sakura has, which is fused with the Monstrous Strength Technique. It should be a... hn, how should I put it?"
"A secret technique that can both amplify the power of taijutsu and be used as a ninjutsu, is that right?" When they were walking back from the hospital and chatting, Sasuke had also discussed this topic with her. Sakura probably knew his intention.
"I understand..." Shikamaru said languidly. With his intelligence, understanding what the two of them were saying was as easy as flipping his hand. "In the end, it will form a lightning chakra battle suit covering the whole body as a defense, and can also extend or shoot out lightning spears as an attack? In short, it's a terrifyingly strong ninjutsu, right?"
But understanding was one thing. Shikamaru still couldn't resonate with these two training maniacs who were so keen on developing ninjutsu. He slumped on the chair with an unmotivated look. "You two are really always so full of energy!"
"Of course! I have a goal that I must complete. Before that, I can't stop my footsteps!" Sasuke said solemnly.
He swallowed the last bite of food and stood up. "Let's go, Sakura. Let's go test out how to develop this new ninjutsu! Shikamaru, interested in giving us some pointers?"
"Forget it! I have things to do this afternoon," this pineapple-headed boy said, waving his hand lazily. Just hearing about it sounded like troublesome training. He wasn't interested.
Haruno Sakura quickly drank the tea in her cup.
Shikamaru was dumbfounded as he watched this tomboy chug a full cup of water in one go with a crude posture—she tilted her head back, completely exposing her long, fair neck to his eyes, and drank the water in large gulps, her throat bobbing up and down.
"Hey, watch your image!" Shikamaru said, feeling worried for this girl's image as he watched her casually pull a few tissues from the tissue box and wipe her mouth.
But in reality, Sakura was worried about him. "Shikamaru, are you going to go play again this afternoon? Spend more time practicing ninjutsu. If your strength is too weak, no matter how complicated your schemes are, they won't work!"
"See you later~ Let's eat together again when we have time!"
Shikamaru looked at Sakura with a complicated expression as she patted him on the shoulder, quickly said these words, and then waved goodbye and left. He felt a faint touch in his heart.
He couldn't help but think of the pursuit battle during the Chunin Exams... and the battlefield he had seen a few days ago, left behind after Sakura's great battle with Kimimaro.
"I hear these two have become very strong recently..." Shikamaru said to himself with a sigh.
"Hmph! If the strength gap gets too big, even friends will feel uncomfortable! What a troublesome thing!"
He finished the remaining balls in his bowl in a few bites and then packed four servings of balls to go.
"Hn... the beef balls here are really good. Sakura didn't lie to me... I'll pack a few servings to bring back for Choji and Ino to try! We can try to have a meal here next time."
Outside the shop, the brilliant midday sun made him instinctively squint his eyes.
"With such good weather, should I find a rooftop to take a nap, or find Asuma-sensei to play shogi?"
He pondered for a moment.
He inexplicably thought of the sentence he had just said, "I have things to do this afternoon."
"Tsk! What the hell, I actually think going to train this afternoon is a good idea!"
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