Chapter 353: Sasuke's New Jutsu
"We already have very detailed information on the Five-Tails Kokuō and the Seven-Tails Chōmei," Pain nodded faintly and said. "It should be a sure thing for your team and Uchiha Itachi's team to execute the mission."
Glancing at the masked man, he continued, "The Stone Village and Cloud Village have not yet joined Konoha's anti-Akatsuki alliance. However, once we launch the Tailed Beast capture plan, they will be very sensitive about their Tailed Beasts being captured, so we must be careful of their movements."
"Hmph..." Konan sneered from the side. "These ninja villages care a lot about face. They absolutely dare not make a fuss about losing a Tailed Beast. The Stone Village and Cloud Village have feuds with other ninja villages, so it's impossible for them to join this alliance!"
"I hope so, but we can't always rely on the stupidity and short-sightedness of the enemy." Pain closed his eyes, his tone cold. "If the five great ninja villages unite against us before the Tailed Beasts are collected, it will still be very troublesome... Like that idiot Deidara, who was lost before the plan even started. Missing a main combat power will also affect the plan a lot. Before the final plan is completed, let's try not to lose any more members!"
"Do we need to recruit new members?" Obito sat leisurely with his legs crossed. "Let me give you a suggestion for a candidate. Consider Uchiha Sasuke."
"Itachi's younger brother?" Konan was slightly stunned.
"Uchiha Itachi is still in the Akatsuki," Pain reminded.
"Don't worry, the time will be ripe soon..." Obito said relaxed. "Itachi's body is starting to show signs of failing. And I will also find a way to accelerate this process!"
"What are you going to do?" Pain frowned.
"Don't worry about the Uchiha's affairs... Anyway, let's ignore the others for now. These two things are settled." Obito leaned on the sofa and concluded solemnly. "One is to increase manpower for the Isobu capture plan, and the other is to advance the capture plans for other Tailed Beasts."
Pain and Konan nodded indifferently.
"Speaking of losing members," Obito slowed his tone and chatted casually, "coincidentally, several members have already fought with that thorn in our side, the young lady. The powerful Akatsuki actually lost a lot of combat power because of her!"
"This is not a coincidence," Pain said calmly. "As long as we operate near the Land of Fire, we will encounter Konoha ninja sooner or later. It's just that only the strong can leave a record of the battle, while the weak die silently... Konoha only has a few capable ninja, either Haruno Sakura or Jiraiya."
"Jiraiya..." Obito repeated the name and asked in a deep voice, "Is he still collecting intelligence on us?"
Pain looked at Konan, and the latter nodded: "Yes."
"Although he is your teacher..." Obito's eyes turned cold, staring closely at Pain in front of him, and said, "But you must not be soft-hearted!"
"If he obstructs our plan..."
Pain gripped the armrest of the sofa tightly and said with killing intent, "No matter who he is, I will personally deal with him!"
"That's good." Obito stood up and walked out of the conference room while speaking.
"By the way. I still suggest you pay more attention to that Ice Style girl. Don't think she's a woman and take her lightly." Walking to the door, Obito suddenly stopped, turned his head and said, "I have a premonition that she will grow into a big trouble for us."
"Take care of yourself first," Konan stood up and said coldly. "I won't see you out."
Pain sat on the sofa, his hands folded on his chest, silent.
In the dark corners of the world, when undercurrents began to surge.
Haruno Sakura was still in the sun, racking her brains and taking great pains to help her three students grow.
Sakura had high expectations for the genjutsu "Sound of the Void."
Like Udon, she was a civilian ninja and knew the hardships of a civilian ninja's growth. Ninja without bloodlines or secret techniques were largely just cannon fodder in the ninja world.
Haruno Sakura was lucky: she had talent, knowledge, diligence, and opportunity. So she developed her own Kekkei Genkai, developed her own secret techniques, and with knowledge and talent, as well as some luck as a protagonist, walked her own path.
Udon was also lucky: his luck lay in being a childhood playmate of Konohamaru. Therefore, as a natural teammate, Konohamaru could enjoy many shared resources, which were allocated to him, such as the teachings of the Third Hokage and becoming a student of Team Haruno Sakura.
He had no Kekkei Genkai, and it was unlikely that he would master one in the future; so the jutsu "Sound of the Void" was a hope Haruno Sakura specially prepared for him to transcend the limitations of bloodlines—for Moegi and Konohamaru, the significance of this jutsu was only as a supplement to their combat system.
However, Udon's progress in mastering this jutsu was much slower than she imagined.
This unprecedentedly strange ninjutsu was a bit beyond the students' imagination. Although they had been told that infrasound was just sound waves with a lower frequency, the students still had a headache mastering something soundless, colorless, formless, and substanceless.
Children's ability to understand pure concepts was still relatively weak, and they accepted tangible things more easily.
This was a bit different from the teaching tasks she arranged according to individual strengths.
Udon's talent for genjutsu was real. The genjutsu and various small tricks she taught Udon were often understood instantly. At most, it would take some time, and Udon could grasp the key points himself after practicing a few more times.
Moegi's talent for Water Style wasn't bad either, and Sakura had been immersed in Water Style for so many years, so her understanding of it was comprehensive and thorough. She always knew where her students' problems lay, and thus could make targeted adjustments to her teaching methods.
As for Konohamaru... Sakura's teaching plan for him, apart from basic training, was endless practical combat training.
This kind of targeted teaching basically proceeded very smoothly; but with the jutsu "Sound of the Void," they encountered many difficulties.
This ninjutsu wasn't too difficult. With Haruno Sakura's learning speed, as long as she understood the secrets of the ninjutsu, she could probably release it the first time she used it, and use it decently the second time; so she also had a bit of a headache. Why couldn't the students understand simple things?
She didn't think about which student could persevere in training the basic skill of chakra control for seven or eight years in childhood? In general cognition, practicing until one could walk on water was enough. Wasn't practicing further a waste of time? So what if chakra control ability was god-like? If the chakra amount wasn't enough, the ninjutsu still couldn't be used!
In short, so far, Moegi and Konohamaru were very unfamiliar with this jutsu, and Udon, who had the most talent in genjutsu, could only barely use it.
"If you can use this move proficiently, you can still cause a lot of trouble for your Sasuke-niichan." After Sasuke finished his individual sparring with the three students, Haruno Sakura commented like this, with a tone of hating iron for not becoming steel.
The three students sat on the ground panting, feeling a little weak at Sakura's words. For Haruno Sakura, something that could be done as she pleased by controlling chakra slightly was a skill that required a long time of hard work for them to master.
"It's normal to have to practice hard for a long time to learn such a powerful ninjutsu, Sensei!" Moegi said coquettishly.
"I think the progress is already very fast!" Konohamaru had grasped the trick of creating infrasound and felt that he was already very smooth.
Of course, Udon could already use this ninjutsu, and his progress was faster; but Konohamaru was different. He didn't specialize in genjutsu, so he wouldn't put all his energy into this!
"They've done a good job," Sasuke said fairly, looking at Sakura. "We weren't much better back then!"
He said this against his conscience. The members of Team 7 back then were all cheats. Sasuke had already awakened the Sharingan before the Chunin Exams, and his combat power was much stronger than the three students of Team Haruno Sakura!
However, in order not to dampen the subordinates' confidence, Sakura did not refute.
"Looking at you, you don't have much stamina left. Too much is as bad as too little. That's all for today!" She shook her head and said to her three subordinates, "Reflect on Sasuke's comments just now when you go back!"
Haruno Sakura turned her head to look at Sasuke, blinking her bright eyes: "Do you have anything else to say to them?"
Sasuke smiled faintly and said indifferently, "Don't rush off. How about we spar a little?"
"Just finished warming up. It's a rare opportunity. It would be a pity not to have a match."
The burning fighting intent in Sasuke's eyes was projected onto the girl's face as if it were substantial.
Haruno Sakura stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled gracefully: "Okay! I haven't sparred with you for a long time either. Then... let's have a serious match!"
Training Ground Nine could no longer accommodate the battle of these two great beings. Their sparring venue was moved outside the village.
The place where Haruno Sakura and Naruto trained back then.
The river beach here was spacious and flat, a natural training ground.
Sasuke walked opposite her.
"I developed a new ninjutsu. Please critique it!"
He said critique, but the expression on Sasuke's face was full of confidence.
"This jutsu can't last too long, so it will end soon..." The black-haired boy said seriously. "Use your full strength!"
Haruno Sakura suppressed the smile in her eyes.
From Sasuke's eyes, it could be seen that he really intended to use his full strength...
Although he had long let go of the simple competitive heart, Sasuke had set his goal on surpassing himself. However, since Sakura was the peak of Team 7's combat power, Sasuke still wanted to know how much gap there was between the two now!
Haruno Sakura silently watched as a large amount of chakra surged from Sasuke's body, and his aura became very strong.
It's been a long time since I seriously competed with Sasuke!
She watched as Sasuke summoned the two cats, Oni and Hino, and then used the Combination Transformation Jutsu; the cute cat ears combined with Sasuke's serious eyes and sharp aura actually looked cool.
Then, covering the combined transformation body was the advanced version of the shape transformation of Lightning Style Chidori, the Chidori Cloak!
"Have you already developed this jutsu?" She looked closely at the chakra cloak glowing blue on the black-haired boy's body and said solemnly.
The Chidori armor woven from uninhibited lightning faintly emitted a calm blue light like the sky. Occasionally, a trace of unstable lightning jumped, making a crackling sound, hinting at the deep ocean-like power hidden under the surface of this jutsu!
The girl finally understood why Sasuke was so confident in wanting to compete with her.
"No, I've only completed the advancement of shape transformation, and I haven't been able to add nature transformation yet..." he said faintly. Covered in lightning, Sasuke's whole body was draped in protective chakra armor, and the deep blue cat ears also looked majestic!
"This move is called 'Lightning Style: Chidori Youkai Form,' and this is its first stage!"
"When the siblings Oni and Hino grow up completely, I will add nature transformation, and I will be able to complete its second stage!"
Sasuke introduced it to Haruno Sakura with a somewhat proud tone.
❃❃❃
⤑ 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!