Chapter 48: Acquiring Sakura's Pheromones
Wow, so this is the Great Fireball Technique that has never actually killed anyone!
Seeing the flames erupting from Sasuke, Akiyama Makoto was simply intrigued. After all, this was his first time seeing and experiencing the power of a Fire Style jutsu in reality. He was in no danger of being harmed by such a technique. The current Sasuke's control over his chakra was too poor, preventing him from fully unleashing his power. There was no way he could be Makoto's opponent.
But the two girls beside him didn't think so.
They had wanted to stop this fight for a while, but only now did they have a chance to intervene.
Sakura rushed in front of Makoto, spreading her arms to try and stop Sasuke. "Stop it, Sasuke! You can't do something so foolish!"
Although her act of protecting him with her body was heartwarming, Makoto was now troubled by how to get her out of the way. Should he reveal his Body Flicker Technique?
At the same time, Ino's voice rang out.
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
Ino could no longer care about anything else. Even with no one to protect her, she forcefully used her clan's secret technique.
Sasuke, who was already halfway through spewing the fireball, had no defense against such an attack. His consciousness was immediately replaced by Ino's. But the problem was, Ino didn't know Fire Style, let alone how to handle a half-expelled Great Fireball. She instinctively clamped her—or rather, his—mouth shut, trying to stop the jutsu. The result was the complete opposite, causing the entire fireball to explode, sending sparks flying everywhere.
Sasuke's body was sent flying by the force of the blast, but fortunately, Ino had already withdrawn her consciousness the moment she realized something was wrong.
Seeing the flames rushing towards her, Sakura subconsciously wanted to dodge. But thinking of Makoto behind her, she bit her lip and made a crazy decision. She turned and threw her arms around him, tackling him to the ground, trying to shield him with her own body.
In that moment, Sakura was acting purely on instinct. She had completely forgotten that her strength was no better than his, and she had no time to consider the consequences of taking such a hit.
Makoto's eyebrows twitched. He was about to pull Sakura out of harm's way, but a flash of inspiration struck him.
He then froze as if he had been scared stiff, forgetting to move, watching as the flames slammed into Sakura's back, igniting her clothes and hair, and hearing her scream in pain.
"Sakura!"
Ino rushed over in a panic, disregarding her own safety, and started beating at the flames on Sakura's body with her bare hands.
Makoto pulled her hands away. "Ino, Water Style!" he reminded her.
Only then did Ino snap out of it. She frantically formed hand seals and used Water Style: Wild Water Wave. As the heiress of the Yamanaka clan, she had long known she had an affinity for Earth and Water chakra and had learned this most basic of Water Style jutsu. A thin stream of water shot from her mouth, quickly extinguishing the remaining flames on Sakura's back. From behind, one could only see her smoking back and her clothes, which were mostly burnt away.
Seeing this, Ino's eyes turned red. "Makoto," she said urgently, "we have to get her to the Konoha Hospital, quickly!"
But just as her hand touched Sakura's shoulder, Sakura turned her head with difficulty and said, "Don't."
Ino thought she had misheard and insisted on picking her up, but Sakura struggled to sit up, leaning against Makoto. "I'm not going to the hospital..."
"Sakura, are you crazy?! You're..."
Before Ino could say more, Sakura looked in Sasuke's direction. He was sitting dejectedly on the ground, seemingly still in a daze. He also had many burns, and his lips were covered in blisters. Of course, compared to Sakura's injuries, his were merely superficial.
"You're... worried he'll be punished?"
As expected of Sakura's best friend, Ino immediately guessed her thoughts. But right now, she just wanted to slap her.
"You should worry about yourself! How can you possibly hide injuries like these from anyone... If your wounds get infected, you could die!"
"I..."
Sakura struggled to stand up, but Makoto held her shoulder down. "Let me treat your wounds," he said.
Sakura and Ino both looked at him.
"During my stay at the Konoha Hospital," he said calmly, "I learned some medical knowledge from the nurses and secretly watched the doctors perform medical ninjutsu... Maybe I can give it a try."
Ino wanted to protest, but Makoto cut her off. "If I can't do it, I'll knock her out and take her to the hospital myself."
"Makoto, you..."
Sakura wanted to resist, but the pain in her back contorted her face, rendering her speechless, and she fainted again.
"Then let's start. Here? But..." Ino looked at their surroundings.
At that moment, Sasuke finally seemed to have come to his senses. "There's a bed inside," he said. "There's no bedding, but you can use it."
Makoto picked up Sakura. He looked at the crestfallen Sasuke and said, "We'll talk about our business later. Right now, I have to save her."
"Okay." Sasuke didn't waste any words. He jumped onto the wall and pointed them to a courtyard in the best condition. After watching them enter, he slapped himself hard across the face. The Sasuke of today was not yet completely consumed by hatred. He understood what a terrible thing he had just done. If he hadn't run into the rational Makoto and the brave Sakura, he would probably be a prisoner in the Military Police Force's jail right now.
Having calmed down, Sasuke ran towards his apartment. He had some bandages and medicine there that might still be of use.
Meanwhile, Makoto entered the house. He took off his own kimono, spread it on the bed, and then laid Sakura face down on it.
Ino was so nervous her face kept changing color. She stared at him and asked cautiously, "Are you sure about this? Shouldn't we just take her to the hospital?"
"They're just surface wounds, though they are quite severe. Give me three minutes. If I can't do it by then, I'll give up."
Seeing his serious expression, Ino finally nodded.
Makoto recalled the details of the Mystical Palm Technique and began to act as if he were trying to perform it. It was naturally absurd for him to be able to use the jutsu with his current resume, but right now, they were in a closed environment. The only people who would know were Ino, Sakura, and Sasuke. Therefore, he felt this might be a good opportunity to display his talent for medical ninjutsu, and also a good opportunity to acquire Sakura's pheromones.
Of course, he hadn't let Sakura take the hit from the Great Fireball just to get her pheromones. He had a much more long-term plan in mind. As for what that was, the answer would be revealed in a future simulation.
Time passed, second by second. A faint blue light gradually began to glow on Makoto's palm. At first, it flickered unstably, but slowly, the light coalesced and stabilized, looking exactly like the Mystical Palm Technique Ino had seen before, only much smaller.
"He did it..."
Ino's face was a mask of disbelief. She couldn't comprehend how Makoto, who had just learned to control his chakra, could have taught himself the Mystical Palm Technique. But now was not the time to ask questions. She took Sakura's hand and held it in her own, comforting her friend in this way.
Makoto's palm slowly descended onto Sakura's back. With his medical ninjutsu experience, treating surface wounds like these was a simple matter. However, his chakra was only at the Chūnin level, and using the Mystical Palm Technique was still a bit of a strain. Sweat began to trickle down his forehead.
Ino noticed this, took out a handkerchief, and carefully wiped his sweat, her gaze shifting back and forth between him and Sakura.
Finally, half an hour passed.
After the system's notification sound, a pale-faced Makoto withdrew his hand and immediately sat cross-legged to refine his chakra. The trembling Sakura also gradually calmed down, the pain gone from her brow, though she was still unconscious. Ino quickly wrapped her in Makoto's kimono and then knelt worriedly by his side.
"I'm fine," he said with a reassuring smile. "Go find some clothes for Sakura. I don't think we'll need any more help here for now."
"But your safety..."
"I'll protect them."
Sasuke had returned, carrying a pile of medical supplies, his own lips covered in blisters. The handsome young boy had vanished, replaced by what looked like a clown.
"Uh, you..." Ino was hesitant to trust him.
Seeing this, Sasuke said angrily, "I swear on the honor of the Uchiha clan, I won't attack again!"
Ino looked at Makoto. Seeing him nod, she took the medicine from Sasuke and then quickly left the Uchiha compound alone.
Makoto looked through the supplies Sasuke had brought and found they were all common ointments, basically useless for Sakura now. He tossed the bundle back to Sasuke. "Use it yourself. We don't need it here."
Sasuke said in disbelief, "You healed her?"
"Yes."
"You said you were an ordinary person, but you're stronger than me, and you know medical ninjutsu?" The questions in Sasuke's mind were about to overflow.
Makoto glanced at him and said bluntly, "Is it possible that you're just too weak?"
Sasuke, who was applying ointment to his own wounds, immediately glared at him. He knew he was wrong, but his temper was not something he could change easily.
Makoto snorted. Then, to Sasuke's utter astonishment, he leaped lightly, placed his palm flat against the ceiling, and just hung there.
"Can you do this?"
Sasuke shook his head, bewildered. He could climb tall buildings, but he couldn't just stick to the ceiling with his hand like that.
"What kind of ninjutsu is that?"
"It's not ninjutsu. It's the most basic of basics. Any child from a clan undergoes this kind of training. Even I was able to learn it from them."
Makoto's next words were like a dagger to the heart, making Sasuke's lips tremble.
"So, you see, Sasuke, you're not strong at all. You're not even outstanding."
"It's possible that everyone is just going easy on you."
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 200 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 20+ 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!