The journey to the Land of Waves was long.
Along the way, the five of them admired the lush scenery; the road was lined with thriving, dense trees, and the sound of cicadas rose and fell in succession.
Watching the wild rabbits darting past and butterflies fluttering by, Sakura stretched, feeling exceptionally relaxed.
During a break, Tazuna chatted with them about the history of the Land of Waves and the reason he wanted to build this cross-sea bridge.
The Land of Waves was originally an island nation surrounded by mountains and sea.
The islanders mostly made a living by fishing, and their hard work allowed them to live quite comfortably.
But ever since that source of all evil, the “tycoon” Gato, arrived, earth-shattering changes occurred.
Gato, relying on the resource advantages he gained from years of dealing with black-market forces, gradually seized control of the maritime traffic of the Land of Waves, and subsequently took control of its politics and economy.
This led to the islanders no longer daring to go out fishing, and they were even deprived of the opportunity to do small business in neighboring countries.
The reason Tazuna wanted to build this cross-sea bridge was to reopen the connections between the Land of Waves and other countries; this had been his long-standing wish.
“That Gato is simply despicable!!
If I run into him, I will definitely give him a good beating!” Naruto was filled with righteous indignation after hearing this, and even the hair on his body couldn’t help but stand on end.
“But Mr.
Tazuna, Gato will likely do everything in his power to stop you from building this bridge, right?” Sakura looked at the kind old man in front of her and frowned slightly.
“Yes, not only will they stop it, they might even send Ninjas to assassinate me.” Tazuna said earnestly, which was exactly why he needed to hire Konoha Ninja as guards.
“Rest assured, with us here, we definitely won’t let Gato succeed.
We will protect you until the bridge is finished.” Kakashi also felt great sympathy for the islanders of this country.
Tazuna was moved by this sudden concern, and tears shimmered in his aged eyes.
It seemed he had chosen the right people.
After walking for several hours, the group arrived at the seashore.
Tazuna pointed to the island across the sea and said to the four people beside him: “We will take a boat across.
That small island opposite is the Land of Waves.” Sakura looked at the mist permeating the sea; following the direction Tazuna pointed, she couldn’t see anything at all.
The thick sea fog exuded a chilling coldness, and Sakura had a bad premonition.
The group boarded the boat one after another.
To better protect Mr.
Tazuna, the four members of Team 7 sat separately.
Kakashi and Naruto sat at the bow, Sakura and Sasuke sat at the stern, and Tazuna and the boatman were in the middle.
This way, even if enemies suddenly attacked, the Ninjas at the bow and stern could protect the two in the middle at the first opportunity.
The wind was strong today, and the small boat bobbed on the turbulent sea as if it would capsize at any second.
The six of them didn’t communicate much throughout the journey, each holding their breath and waiting.
They knew that the signal of danger could arrive at any moment.
The boat had traveled for about an hour when Kakashi suddenly ordered the boatman to stop.
Sakura also keenly felt several dark shadows flash by nearby, even though the fog was so thick she couldn’t see her own fingers!
Naruto and Sasuke took out Kunai from the Ninja pouches at their waists one after another.
“They’re here!” Kakashi muttered.
Immediately, several Shuriken shot out from the thick fog, mixed with the sound of the sea breeze, making it impossible to distinguish.
“Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!!!” Sasuke crossed his hands, and the Shuriken thrown from the boy’s hands immediately split into numerous clones, attacking the rain of blades in front of them.
After a series of metallic clashing sounds, hundreds of Shuriken were deflected and fell into the sea.
“Good job, Sasuke.” Kakashi looked back at Sasuke; this kid’s Shurikenjutsu was getting smoother and smoother.
Before the group could recover, four black iron chains suddenly extended from the mist, and at the end of the chains, four meteor hammer-like Ninja tools attacked Tazuna in the middle.
Tazuna looked at the meteor hammers in front of him, his pupils constricted, and he froze in place, unable to move.
It looked like he was about to be hit.
Sakura leaped forward in a diving motion, holding a Kunai in each hand, her legs split to the sides, forming an “well” shape, knocking away the meteor hammers attacking from the four cardinal directions.
The enemy’s target was already very clear: it was the bridge builder, Tazuna.
Just as Sakura landed back on the boat, four masked Ninjas also crawled out of the mist along the chains.
“Water Release: Water Transport Jutsu!” Kakashi formed seals with both hands, manipulating the water current under the boat to push it out of the enemy’s attack range, and turned to look at Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura on the boat: “Sasuke, Naruto, stay on the boat and protect Mr.
Tazuna and the boatman.
Sakura, we are responsible for killing the attackers.” These four assassin Ninjas all had strength above Chunin.
It would likely take a lot of time for Kakashi to take them on alone, but calling Sakura would make it much easier.
“Okay!” they said in unison.
The pink-haired girl’s emerald eyes shifted.
Chakra condensed into blue water droplets at her fingertips.
The droplets slowly expanded, becoming thinner and thinner.
In the end, they split into two transparent water garments, floating straight toward the vital points of Tazuna and the boatman.
At a critical moment, these two water garments could save their lives.
“Do you still have time to think about others?” Two dark Ninjas, as if they had discussed it beforehand, swung their meteor hammers at Sakura again.
This time, the rotation speed of the meteor hammers was faster and their lethality stronger than before.
The girl curled her lips, not panicking.
The blue Chakra gathered at the soles of her feet helped her leap with all her might; this was her talent.
Even on the sea, she could still move freely.
At this moment, the turbulent sea surface was not much different from land for Sakura.
The Sakura from the original work could already surpass Naruto and Sasuke in the first tree-climbing practice; even more so now that Sakura had mastered Water Release.
Walking, or even running, on the water surface was a piece of cake for her.
The meteor hammers missed.
Instead, Sakura used the hammer as a stepping stone with her toes, her body leaping lightly into mid-air.
Now it was Sakura’s turn to counterattack.
The girl muttered something, quickly forming seals: “Water Release: Hard Whirlpool Water Blade!” With such a good environmental advantage, it would be a shame not to use Water Release.
Dozens of sharp water blades shot out from the whirlpool under the sea, attacking the dark Ninjas.
“Swish, swish, swish!!!” Bloody gashes were immediately cut into the enemies’ bodies, accompanied by painful wails.
“Alright—game over!” Sakura clapped her hands and slowly landed on the water surface from mid-air.
On the other side, Kakashi also walked over, carrying two unconscious dark Ninjas.
Sakura tore off the dark Ninjas’ masks.
“They are actually rogue Ninjas from Hidden Mist!” Kakashi looked at the forehead protectors of the four Ninjas.
It was the Hidden Mist Ninja Village’s protector: four small waves, just with a scratch mark in the middle.
It was the mark of a rogue Ninja.
“Hidden Mist, is it?
Heh, it seems those two guys will be coming soon too.” Sakura muttered.
“What did you say?” Kakashi looked back at Sakura.
This girl really didn’t disappoint him; she had solved two Chunin so easily.
Her strength had probably reached the level of a Special Jounin, Kakashi thought to himself.
“Aha, nothing.
Let’s go.” Sakura touched her eyebrow and waved her hand.
The group continued to travel by boat.
Along the way, Naruto kept clamoring for Sakura to teach him Water Release; the girl’s brilliant performance just now made both him and Sasuke gasp in admiration.
Sakura agreed perfunctorily…
Naruto’s Chakra attribute had nothing to do with water at all.
Water Release required the highest level of Chakra control for a Ninja, which was also the reason why Naruto could never use Water Release from beginning to end.
As a cheat user, he didn’t need precise Chakra control at all, and neither did Sasuke.
Only civilian geniuses like Kakashi and Sakura needed to rely on Water Release to deal with various combat environments.
Imagine a boy wrapped in Nine-Tailed Chakra, firing Tailed Beast Balls one after another, flying into the sky and burrowing into the ground—where would he need Water Release to provide him with convenience?
Kishimoto isn’t stupid…