Chapter 81: Domination
The young girl, Haruno Sakura, stood alone on the ground, waiting for the enemy's arrival.
Watching her teammates depart, leaving her to face the enemy alone, a unique feeling arose in the girl's heart. Perhaps she was used to playing the role of the genius girl Haruno Sakura when others were around. Only when she was rarely alone would she remember her true self.
But what was her true self?
A transmigrator? The unmarried man in his twenties from before she transmigrated?
Sakura had once thought so. She had once thought that she was still that same self, just wearing the disguise of Haruno Sakura. But at this moment, when she was alone and could show her true self, she discovered that her former self, that older youth from before transmigration, had already disappeared from her heart like a dream-like bubble.
Conversely, if it had been her former self, in a situation of fighting eight enemies alone, his legs would have probably gone weak with fear, right?
But the current Sakura was leisurely and at ease, without a trace of fear.
A person is the sum of all their social relations. A baby raised by wolves is not a person but a wolf-child. Only after returning to society is he called a person. As a transmigrator, he certainly missed everything before he had crossed over, but when he learned to accept everything in this world—the love of his parents, the expectations of his teachers, the care of his comrades—he had also become her, the genius girl Haruno Sakura.
So when she was alone and wanted to show her true self, she found that her true self had quietly changed.
However, there were also things that remained unchanged amidst the change. The young man from before transmigration and the genius girl after were also of the same line, weren't they! A master with 8000 MMR, even if he perfectly integrated into a 2000 MMR fish pond, a Trash-Talk King, even if he fell to Bronze I, his sharp skills would still be retained.
Therefore, the huge difference between the Haruno Sakura the transmigrator had become and the original Sakura was also because she had inherited his pride, strength, and sharp mind.
Change and no-change are a dialectical unity. Although she rarely had the mood to think about such questions, and had come to the conclusion that she had unknowingly integrated into this time and space, Sakura did not have a feeling of great enlightenment because of it, nor did her thoughts and actions undergo a world-shaking change.
All changes were happening silently. Whether it was the unmarried older youth of her past life or the current Haruno Sakura, they were both herself. As long as she lived a brilliant life, that was enough.
In the eyes of others, this kind of personality, this kind of temperament, also gave her a unique charm.
However, in the eyes of the enemy, she was a person who was ruthless and almost cold in her actions, making one both shocked and afraid...
"So, I am who I am. Why think so much! Truly, a petty person worries for nothing!"
This was the scene the Sound ninja saw when they caught up: a pink-haired girl laughing at herself, muttering incomprehensible words to herself.
"Being ordered to stay behind alone as the rearguard, so you're starting to talk nonsense out of fear?" the leading Sound ninja said with a smile, narrowing his eyes.
A look of "I understand you very well": perhaps he had seen such things many times among the Sound ninja.
The Sound ninja following behind him began to laugh sinisterly—whether it was funny or not, just laugh along with the captain—and then, with a high wave of the captain's hand, they launched their attack on the girl!
With a sharp blade upon her, the girl did not dodge. Instead, a memorable smile curved her lips.
Then, with a swish, she turned into a pool of clear water on the ground.
At the same time, a clear female voice sounded from behind the Sound ninja.
"Water Style: Super Water Gun Jutsu!"
It was Sakura's real body, leaping gracefully down from the cover of the trees. A silver-white line of water shot out from between her slender fingers towards the Sound ninja!
Bang, bang, bang, bang—!
The instant the silver line passed, the Sound ninja also turned into clouds of smoke and mud and dispersed.
Swish, swish, swish!
In the next instant, the Sound ninja descended from the sky, surrounding Sakura in a circle!
The Sound ninja had used clones to scout the path, while their real bodies had waited until Sakura's main body appeared before instantly descending on her in an encirclement!
One, two, three, ..., eight. Eight Chunin-level enemies! Sakura silently judged in her heart. The strength of her opponents seemed to be a bit stronger than the few Sound ninja she had instantly killed before, but they were still far from being able to threaten her.
"Haha, you didn't really think we'd be fooled by such a simple clone, did you?" one of the Sound ninja, who thought he had victory in his grasp, said with a triumphant laugh.
"Sure enough, your ninjutsu is indeed powerful..." a second Sound ninja said, still clicking his tongue at the sight of the ravaged forest after the Water Gun Jutsu had swept through. Then he said with a sinister smile, "Unfortunately, you've already been surrounded by us. See the situation clearly. You've already lost for sure! If you know what's good for you, then surrender obediently. Maybe you'll suffer a little less!"
Indeed, in the usual sense, if a ninjutsu-type ninja was closed in on by the enemy, to the point of close-quarters combat, and was surrounded, then their skills would be greatly diminished.
Compared to Sakura's stunning ninjutsu, her taijutsu seemed mediocre. Both Orochimaru and Kabuto had come into contact with her, so this information had also spread among the Sound ninja. Therefore, they had chosen to fight her up close.
However, the girl's gaze was still calm and composed, without the panic the Sound ninja had imagined.
That mocking smile seemed to say: You think you used a little trick to lure out my real body and break my ambush, but in reality, wasn't it I who looked down on your strength and didn't want to waste time playing hide-and-seek, and instead turned your plan against you?
That's right. Although they had locked onto the girl's main body, conversely, their real bodies had also been exposed.
More importantly, Sakura's so-called mediocre taijutsu, was it really... as weak as they imagined?
The mocking intent in the smile at the corner of the girl's mouth grew even thicker.
"I happened to have learned a little of the ultimate principles of nin-taijutsu from Master Tsunade..."
The faint tone was as if she were just talking to herself, but the leading Sound ninja was stunned. "What? Tsunade?"
Sakura let out a cold laugh.
Immediately after, she moved.
A blue light flashed, and the girl's figure shot up! With the enhancement of her chakra, she stomped hard on the ground, actually creating a small, shallow crater, and bypassing the Sound ninja on her sides, she rushed towards the Sound ninja captain standing directly in front of her like an arrow from a bowstring!
Just one step, in less than a tenth of a second, the distance of several meters was crossed by the girl. The Sound ninja captain only had time to subconsciously raise his hand to block his chest. It was caught by the girl's left hand. Then, the blue light seemed to flow, lighting up from her waist to her fist along with her movements. Twist the waist, press the shoulder, sink the elbow, and punch!
"Monstrous Strength Technique: Star Cannon Hammer!"
The so-called Monstrous Strength Technique was a nin-taijutsu where Tsunade, with her exquisite chakra control, used a unique method to enhance the body, especially the muscles, thereby gaining terrifying explosive power in an instant. Although she had not yet formally become her disciple, in the few days since Tsunade's return to the village, Sakura had already had several meetings with her and had learned a few moves. And the Monstrous Strength Technique, this unique skill exclusive to one of the Sannin, Tsunade, had now bloomed on a Genin!
A simple lunging punch, after being enhanced by the Monstrous Strength Technique, became a devastating killing fist! Compared to the girl's commonly used water-style nin-taijutsu, although Tsunade's Monstrous Strength Technique had a huge burden, its power was also greatly increased, making it more suitable for instantly killing an opponent!
A short and heart-stopping dull thud.
In the instant the Sound ninja captain had no time to react, the girl's fist had already imprinted itself on his chest. The point of contact was the center of his chest, where the nerve plexus was dense. The moment of contact, the violent force of the Monstrous Strength Technique surged out. The sternum collapsed like cardboard. The originally flat chest was instantly deeply caved in, and the soft internal organs and heart were crushed into a pulp like tofu.
In an instant, the Sound ninja captain felt a great force slam into his body. The sound of his bones breaking and his internal organs rupturing seemed to ring in his ears. Intense pain and dizziness washed over him like a tide, and then, everything returned to silence.
The next moment, the Sound ninja captain was thrown into the air like a broken doll. Before he even landed, he had already breathed his last, leaving only a hollow and terrified look in his eyes.
A one-hit kill.
For Haruno Sakura, who had already far surpassed the Chunin level, when dealing with such an opponent, whether she used ninjutsu or taijutsu, the result was no different. It was just domination.
One was like this, seven or eight... it was just a matter of dominating a few more times.
Sakura did not stop at all.
Her feet shifted slightly to the right. Like a fluttering butterfly, her figure flashed and appeared at the side of a nearby Sound ninja. As her right hand retracted, her left hand extended from under her ribs and struck the Sound ninja's side. The Sound ninja instinctively retreated, but caught off guard, he had no way of dodging this thunderous blow.
A blue light flashed slightly, and the Monstrous Strength Technique was activated again. The force of her palm was unleashed, penetrating his chest. Flesh and blood were mangled, and broken bones protruded from his body, revealing white bone fragments and bloody muscles. In less than half a second, the Sound ninja's heart had completely stopped beating.
The second one!
A line faster, boundlessly fast. In the most dangerous close-quarters combat, being a line faster than others often meant a huge advantage. This was also why melee-type ninja placed special importance on speed. The famous ninja in history, none of them were slow. And Namikaze Minato, known as the Golden Flash, had pushed speed to its extreme, killing Jonin as easily as killing chickens. Even Kage-level powerhouses were in danger when facing him.
Sakura's speed was certainly not as exaggerated as the Fourth Hokage's, but when she used her nin-taijutsu to enhance her leg muscles to increase her speed, the instantly erupting speed was still enough for her to easily one-shot these probably Chunin-level enemies. In front of her movements, the Sound ninja often only had time to subconsciously block or dodge once before they were hit by her violent fists, and then they would fall powerlessly!
Then, the third and fourth Sound ninja, perhaps stunned, hadn't even reacted before they were once again taken down by the girl in one move and sent flying with a boom.
At this time, the first Sound ninja's corpse had only just hit the ground.
Written in text, it was a long passage, but in reality, the entire process had only taken two or three seconds.
The girl's sharpness and swiftness were evident!
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