Water Release 9: Chapter 9: Fire Release vs.
Water Release A Kunai flew straight at the girl, whistling through the night wind.
Sakura’s lips curled slightly upward.
“Heh, that guy is here again.
It’s always the same routine.” Applying force with her hands, the girl, who had been doing push-ups, stood up instantly.
Almost in the same second, she backflipped, and the Kunai grazed the tips of her hair.
“You’re still just as sharp, Sakura.” The boy’s voice was crisp, cutting through the silent night sky.
“It’s really boring that you have to pull this stunt every time you come.” Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who was walking over from behind, and rolled her eyes.
If it were anyone else being ambushed like this constantly, they probably would have ended up in the hospital hundreds of times by now.
Ever since she had accidentally discovered Sasuke and Itachi training together last time, the girl had been training with Sasuke from time to time.
They sparred with and encouraged each other.
But since Sakura won every time, the boy was very unconvinced and would take the initiative to challenge her every time.
“Sakura, I’ve mastered a new Ninjutsu.
This time, I’m going to show you properly.” Sasuke had one hand in his pocket, his tone upbeat; it was clear he was here to challenge Sakura again.
Sakura shrugged indifferently.
“Whatever works for me.
It seems your brother has taught you a new Ninjutsu again.
In any case, the outcome will be the same, right?” The girl teased Sasuke deliberately.
“Hey, no way!
I developed this Ninjutsu myself, alright?” Sasuke said, sounding a bit guilty.
“It’s fine, it’s all the same.
Let’s begin then.” Sakura also wanted to see the new Ninjutsu Sasuke had learned.
The girl walked a few steps toward Sasuke; the distance between them was now four meters.
According to the formulas learned in school, before one can determine what Ninjutsu an enemy might use, it is best to maintain a distance of four to five meters from them.
Because this distance is moderate, it allows one to clearly observe the opponent’s hand seals while leaving enough space and time to respond to the enemy’s Ninjutsu and Taijutsu attacks.
“Then I’m starting.” A mischievous smirk flashed across the corner of Sasuke’s mouth.
He pulled three Shuriken from his waist and threw them at Sakura, the sound cutting through the air.
Yet the girl stood motionless, with no intention of dodging.
In a flash, the girl bent backward.
Her waist was flexible, arching her body into a bridge shape, and she supported herself with her hands, dodging the attack.
“It’s not over yet!” Sasuke took the opportunity, clenching his right fist, his footsteps swift as the wind, and continued to attack the girl.
Sakura didn’t have time to get up.
She hadn’t seen this kid in a few days, and his speed had increased quite a bit.
The girl gripped the ground tighter with her hands and used the strength in her legs to kick in the direction Sasuke was coming from.
“Pop, pop, pop—” Her legs and his fists engaged in a fierce exchange.
For a moment, they traded blows, evenly matched.
Sasuke seized the opportunity and did two backflips.
He was about two meters away from Sakura and began forming hand seals at the girl.
“Oh?
Are you ready to use your new Ninjutsu so soon?” Sakura chuckled.
Applying force with her palms, she sprang upward and landed steadily back on the ground.
After all, the person opposite her was Uchiha, so she had better be careful.
“Rat — Ox — Hare — Monkey — Boar — Dog” Sasuke’s hand seal speed was not slow.
The boy pinched his nose, his mouth wide open.
“Fire Release!
Fireball Jutsu.” “Oh ho…” Sakura was all too familiar with this Ninjutsu, the unique Fire Release of the Uchiha Clan.
It was just the Fireball Jutsu, a Ninjutsu that had never successfully killed anyone in the original work, which seemed a bit useless in Sakura’s eyes.
Especially since it had encountered her, the natural enemy of Fire Release.
It seemed she was going to win this spar again.
“Water Release, Water Dragon Bullet Technique.” Sakura no longer hid her own strength.
She had never used Water Release during her previous training with Sasuke, and now that she was facing the Fireball Jutsu, she couldn’t dodge it in time.
Water Release was the best strategy to counter it.
Sakura looked at the lake surface less than ten zhang away and her fingertips flew, quickly forming hand seals.
A splash suddenly erupted from the lake surface, and a blue, transparent water dragon shot out from the bottom of the lake, rushing straight toward Sasuke’s high-temperature fireball.
“Hiss—” Water and fire met.
Without a doubt, the Fireball Jutsu was instantly extinguished, and a cloud of white steam rose between them.
Sasuke was stunned.
The boy had never expected that Sakura would be able to use Water Release.
Previous training had always been an exchange of Nintaijutsu and Shuriken.
How many secrets did this pink-haired girl have that he didn’t know about?
Sakura didn’t give her opponent a chance to be surprised.
While the steam hadn’t yet dissipated, she immediately focused her Chakra to the soles of her feet.
The girl’s body, like an arrow released from a bowstring, shot toward Sasuke.
Her right leg struck toward the boy’s waist.
Sasuke didn’t have time to dodge, so he could only raise his left hand to take the force of Sakura’s whip kick.
“Heh, it’s not over yet.” Sakura’s left leg followed closely behind, and Sasuke was beaten back repeatedly.
Just as he was about to take a Shuriken from his waist to ambush her, Sakura’s Kunai had already landed in front of the boy’s eyes, a mere hair’s breadth from his face.
“Alright, I lose.” Sasuke looked at the Kunai pointing directly at him and silently lowered the Shuriken in his hand.
After his newly learned trump card was countered by Sakura, the boy was left with no more tricks.
“That was already quite good.
The Fireball Jutsu is a B-rank Ninjutsu; the fact that you can learn it now shows that your strength has long since surpassed that of your peers,” Sakura said to Sasuke triumphantly.
“Tch, that still doesn’t mean I can defeat you.” Sasuke had lost, but he was a good sport about it.
“But by the way, when did you learn Water Release?
You hid it so deep!!” The boy’s sharp gaze was fixed on Sakura.
“That…
it was about…
a year ago.” Sakura rolled her eyes, trying to recall the time; she couldn’t remember exactly when it was.
But she must have learned it a long time ago; it was just that she had been focusing on muscle training for the past year or so, which caused her to neglect practicing Water Release.
Moreover, Sakura’s current amount of Chakra was limited; she could only use Water Release by the lake or in places with water.
She was still far from being able to create Water Release in waterless places like Kisame and Mei Terumī.
This was also an area she would need to focus on in her future training.
Sasuke looked at the teasing look on Sakura’s face.
He had used his full strength in this spar, yet the girl in front of him seemed to have used only seventy percent of her power.
It was really infuriating the more he thought about it.
“Damn it…
you really are stronger than I imagined.” Sasuke’s competitive spirit was stirred up again.
“Don’t rush.
After all, your brother is Itachi.
You can ask him to teach you a few more moves; you’ll definitely be able to defeat me.” Sakura teased.
“Tch—” Sasuke pursed his lips.
“But by the way, Sasuke, your brother is really good to you.” Sakura couldn’t agree with some of Itachi’s later actions, but she had to admit that the man was definitely the number one younger-brother-obsessed person in the Hokage series.
“You don’t have to tell me that.” Sasuke had always regarded his brother as his idol.
“If…” Sakura paused here and continued, “If one day you encounter people or events that are irresistible, you must not lose hope.
No matter what happens, life must go on.” Sasuke didn’t understand what Sakura was talking about.
The boy looked at the girl in front of him.
She often said things he couldn’t understand, and she especially liked to mention his brother, Itachi.
Sasuke didn’t know what was going on in her head.
“Alright, I’m leaving.
My brother is coming back from a mission tonight, and I’m waiting to go back so he can teach me a new Ninjutsu.” After saying this, Sasuke turned and left.
Before leaving, he didn’t forget to turn back and make a face at Sakura: “Bleh—”