"Taste this technique—Water Release: Water Pulse Wave!"
While forming the hand seals for the Water Encampment Wall, Sakura quickly performed another set of seals for a different ninjutsu. The moment her hands completed the final seal, the water beneath her feet swirled into a violent vortex.
"This much chakra? It's just too much!"
Kira felt somewhat helpless. He'd faced plenty of opponents before—some even with massive chakra reserves—but none used so many mid-tier Water Release techniques in quick succession as calmly as Sakura just did.
Although Mēton enables him to nullify jutsu, it only works on the parts he directly touches. Against wide-area attacks like Water Pulse Wave, the only thing Kira could do was stand there and nullify whatever came near him to protect himself; he couldn't move to counterattack at all.
"Over here!"
Suddenly, Sakura appeared behind Kira. The water beneath her surged upward in a towering wave, manipulated by her chakra, hurtling toward Kira.
[Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!]
At the same time, the Sakura in front of Kira also unleashed the Great Waterfall Technique. Both waves converged, flanking Kira from both sides and rushing forward.
"She's still got enough chakra left to make a clone?!"
For a brief moment, shock flickered across Kira's face, but he immediately focused again, frantically using Mēton to dispel the chakra approaching him.
The two Great Waterfall Techniques collided head-on. Caught between them, Kira looked like a tiny boat about to be swallowed by the ocean—utterly insignificant. Yet that small vessel stood firm, swaying with the violent surges but not budging an inch.
When the waters finally calmed, sweat was pouring down Kira's forehead. While Mēton could indeed nullify chakra, its effect was limited to what he physically touched. Facing broad-range attacks like Water Release required his full concentration just to stay safe.
Sakura lightly stepped on the water's surface, and the chakra-formed liquid quickly receded, exposing the dry ground of the battlefield.
"Running on empty already?" Kira guessed hesitantly. Water Release techniques are chakra-intensive. As a mere Genin barely ten years old, after using so many techniques consecutively, even someone with massive reserves should've run dry by now.
"Nah, I'm just getting bored."
Sakura stretched her limbs and said, "Normal ninjutsu attacks get neutralized by your Mēton anyway. Continuing with Water Release will only lead to a stalemate. So why not finish this one shot? I wanna get home and crash early too."
"One move decides the fight? How so?"
Kira asked, puzzled.
"Next, I'm going to attack you with a Fire Release technique. If you can survive unscathed, I'll consider myself defeated. What do you think?"
Sakura's eyes gleamed with a sly glint. She naturally had her own confidence in doing this. As long as Kira accepted the challenge, she was certain to win.
"Alright, no problem," Kira agreed without hesitation. If Sakura kept using Water Release techniques to entangle him like before, it would be troublesome. It was better to just finish it decisively in one move without injuring his opponent and achieve victory effortlessly.
"Well then, I'm getting ready now."
Sakura formed several hand seals, took a deep breath, and exhaled an enormous ball of flame. [Fire Release: Great Fireball]
Although Sakura herself had dual natures of Water and Earth Releases, that didn't mean she couldn't use other elemental jutsu; she simply developed them more slowly, and they weren't as convenient for her to use as Water and Earth Releases.
The Great Fireball covered a vast area. With Sakura pouring immense chakra into it, surging flames engulfed nearly half the arena. However, upon closer inspection, faint streaks of deep purplish energy could be seen flickering within the roaring inferno.
[Mēton: Suction Point Hole!]
Kira extended his palm and directly absorbed the flames. However, just as a small portion of the fire was sucked in, Kira suddenly stiffened, then spat out a mouthful of blood violently.
Looks like you're done.
At the moment Kira spat blood, Sakura also stopped channeling her chakra, instantly extinguishing the flames and leaving behind only the steaming scorched ground as evidence of what had happened moments ago.
"Your chakra... Your chakra is poisoned!"
Kira fell to his knees, body convulsing continuously, his face twisted in pain.
"My chakra isn't poisoned. I merely infused a little additional energy into it. Since your Mēton absorbed that energy together, you ended up like this!"
Sakura kindly explained. She had secretly mixed a trace amount of Power Stone energy into her fire technique—a volatile force Kira couldn't handle. The instant it entered his body through absorption, it began wreaking havoc internally, thus causing Kira's current agony.
"Don't freak out either — give it some time and it'll fade off on its own. Won't kill you!"
Luckily, Kira hadn't absorbed too much, so it wouldn't cause any irreversible damage, though he certainly would need hospitalization.
Watching Zabuza carry away Kira, Sakura sighed regretfully. Falling into the hands of these two unscrupulous quacks meant Kira would undoubtedly bleed money.
In the somewhat damaged arena, fifteen individuals who had passed the preliminary rounds stood in a line. The Third Hokage stood before them, a pipe dangling from his mouth, smiling happily. Out of these fifteen, eleven came from Konoha. Of the remaining four, three got through with some shady help, and the last one gave up on his own—such a favorable result made the Third particularly happy.
Chapter 249: Shocked—How Could a Certain Middle-Aged White-Haired Man [One]
"Congratulations on making it through the preliminary rounds of the Chuunin Exams. The official third exam will take place in one month. At that time, the Daimyo and officials from the Land of Fire, influential merchants from the shinobi world, the Fourth Kazekage from Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, the Fifth Mizukage from Kirigakure in the Land of Water, as well as many spectators, will all be present to watch your matches. I hope you all give your best performance out there."
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