Chapter 88: The End
Bang! A pale blue chakra light shone in Kabuto's palm.
"Ninja Art: Chakra Scalpel!"
In close-quarters combat, Kabuto subconsciously used his best close-range combat technique.
The Chakra Scalpel and the Monstrous Strength Technique were both high-difficulty, powerful ninjutsu developed by medical ninja, but their development philosophies were completely different. If a comparison had to be made, the difference between them was like the difference between the Gentle Fist and the Strong Fist.
Regardless, since these two ninjutsu were developed, this was likely the first time they had ever clashed head-on. Neither Kabuto nor Haruno Sakura knew whether the Chakra Scalpel would first cut Sakura's muscles and interrupt the Monstrous Strength Technique, or if the Monstrous Strength Technique would first kick and break Kabuto's palm bones and crush the Chakra Scalpel.
For the latter, she simply believed that when two brave foes meet on a narrow path, the braver one wins, and she was unwilling to back down.
For Kabuto, it was another matter. Some people believe that "if the certainty of a matter exceeds sixty percent, then it is worth doing," but Kabuto's life creed was "if the probability of failure is greater than forty percent, then don't gamble." Regardless of who was right or wrong, at least Kabuto had survived until now.
So, when he realized that Sakura really intended to clash with him head-on, Kabuto immediately made a decision. He dispersed the pale blue chakra light in his hand, and the corners of his mouth curved up slightly.
BOOM—!
The girl's mercilessly heavy kick directly smashed through several dozen centimeters of the earth layer, leaving a sunken pit in the ground.
With a splash of chaotic earth, Kabuto's tattered corpse lost its chakra support and, under Sakura's grave gaze, turned into a puddle of soft mud.
Clearly, Kabuto had already escaped through a Substitution Jutsu.
The forest suddenly fell silent. Sakura was on guard, Hinata was taking the time to recover her stamina, and Kabuto was thinking.
After spending so much effort and losing several high-quality corpse puppets, not only did I fail to injure Haruno Sakura, but I didn't even force out her ultrapure water. Does it seem like I've suffered a great loss?
No. Sometimes, no answer is an answer in itself. Not using it at a critical moment already said a lot.
Of course, it's best to confirm it again.
It was just that the probing in battle was too dangerous. Both the Monstrous Strength Technique and the Water Style: Wind Blade Raging Stream were extremely dangerous ninjutsu. With Kabuto's cautious and meticulous personality, he didn't want to take such a risk again.
Kabuto's voice suddenly sounded from the woods: "It seems that ninjutsu of yours also has its limits!"
Sakura's delicate brow furrowed slightly as she carefully tried to distinguish the source of the voice. However, the voice was layered, and for a moment, she couldn't tell where it was coming from.
"Is it distance? The number of people? The quantity? A special sealing formula or special water?"
He's probing me? When she heard the first sentence, Sakura was still a little confused about Kabuto's intention, but after a barrage of keywords, the girl quickly reacted. Kabuto didn't even need the girl to answer; he just needed to see her reaction to the keywords to know which guess was correct.
But this exposes Kabuto's position. Sakura realized that he must be located in a place where he could observe her expression well!
"Water Style: Wind Blade Raging Stream!"
The invincible silver line was Sakura's silent answer. The silver line spread into the depths of the woods. A black shadow suddenly twitched, then a crow abruptly flew up, and then there was no more sound.
"He's gone," Hinata, who had managed to extract another trace of chakra, said after opening her Byakugan and scanning the area. She walked over, one foot deep and one foot shallow, supported by the ultrapure water shield. In the Byakugan's vision, Kabuto had already retreated in the direction of Konoha and had soon disappeared at the edge of her vision.
Haruno Sakura immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
She hadn't felt it while fighting, but once the alarm was lifted, she immediately felt her limbs go weak, and a bit of lingering fear. She had used too much ultrapure water recently and hadn't had time to replenish it. Just now, she had used up all her stock to protect Hinata, and as a result, she had almost been in danger herself.
That Ice Style jutsu was definitely her performing above her usual level.
Against an opponent of Kabuto's level, even she would find it extremely tricky. Kabuto's interlocking offensive had indeed left her a bit breathless. In the end, she had bitten the bullet and used the Monstrous Strength Technique against his Mystical Palm Technique. To be honest, she had no confidence in her heart; in the manga, even Tsunade had been tricked by the Mystical Palm Technique. It was just that she felt she had to catch her breath first, after which she could transfer some of the ultrapure water over, and it would be much easier to fight.
In her previous life, she had heard that Kabuto still had a role in the later part of Shippuden. He was clearly not an easy opponent. Perhaps he was even a minor boss in the later part of the manga. Just as Kabuto was wary of her unfathomable water jutsu, she was also wary of his trump cards. If the fight had gone on to the end, it would have been hard to say who would win. In the end, Kabuto's choice to retreat was acceptable to both sides. It was better not to fight to the death if possible.
As for the intelligence he had gathered, Haruno Sakura was very confident that it would be outdated in a year and a half. She didn't care about it at all. Wrong intelligence was worse than no intelligence at all!
Thinking of this, the taut skin on Sakura's face instantly relaxed. She took a deep breath to calm her slightly trembling body.
She turned her head to Hinata, pulled the corners of her mouth, and managed a smile. "...Are you okay!"
"I'm fine, not injured." Hinata showed a serene smile. After all, she was from a great clan. Even after just being forced into a desperate situation, she could still face it calmly.
She found a relatively clean spot at Sakura's feet and sat down. The two exchanged what had happened after they had separated.
"...So you deliberately chose a wrong direction to mislead Kabuto? Then according to this estimate, we're now more than ten kilometers away from Sasuke and the others, right?" Sakura held her chest with one hand and tapped her lips with her index finger, calculating silently.
"Hn, seventeen or eighteen kilometers, at most not more than twenty. I'll know when I open my eyes in a bit," Hinata said, carefully applying medicinal ointment to herself. "Don't worry about them. The two boys in your team are very skilled, and Shikamaru is also very smart. They'll be fine."
"I didn't realize you had so much confidence in them~~~" Sakura said, dragging out the end of her sentence with a hint of a smile. "Tell me, Sasuke or Naruto!"
"What?"
Hinata raised her head at just the right moment, her blank white eyes filled with confusion.
"The person you like!" Sakura's mouth curved up. "Spring has come, all things are reviving, and it's time again for... ahem,"
She had almost blurted out Zhao Zhongxiang's lines. Sakura hastily changed her words, "...It's the age again when a young girl thinks of love. The cold and extraordinary genius youth, the hot-blooded and striving comeback dead-last, which one is my dear Hinata's true love?"
"Go, go, go!" Hinata rolled her eyes—well, they were white eyes even if she didn't roll them—Sakura couldn't help but think of this cold joke.
Speaking of which, although the Hyuga clan's eyes were called the Byakugan, they were not truly white pupils. Hinata's eyes had a faint touch of pink, and the color of her pupils was a pure, light blue, not deep, just light and faint. When she looked at you quietly like that, she had a girlish tranquility and gentle approachability, like a clear spring, transparent and clear.
When she first met her, Sakura had thought it was a bit strange, but after looking for a long time, she discovered the charm of the Byakugan.
Even when a beautiful girl rolled her eyes, it was still a pleasing sight. Sakura continued to tease the beautiful girl beside her with a sneaky smile. "Shy? Don't be. It's just the two of us here. Tell me quietly, I'll keep it a secret for you~~"
She said in a soft, coquettish voice. This was a routine to deliberately lower the other person's guard.
Actually, Sakura herself was quite curious.
As a transmigrator, she of course knew that in the original story, the one Hinata liked was Naruto. But in this Naruto world she had transmigrated to, it was uncertain whether Hinata would still like Naruto. Analyzing it seriously, there were two reasons why Hinata liked Naruto. First, when Hinata was being bullied as a child, Naruto had helped her. Second, in the original story, Hinata was quite self-abasing and weak, and she was very eager to become stronger inside, so she admired Naruto for his strong self-confidence.
But now, in this Naruto world, because a certain person had been the king of the kids for several years after transmigrating, the incident of Hinata being bullied had not happened. Secondly, after a certain person had gotten close to Hinata, her mature inner world had helped Hinata shed her self-abasement and cowardice. The common point of the Hinatas in both worlds was that they were gentle, kind, and reserved, but the Hinata of this world was more confident and independent, and her psychological maturity could be compared to the grown-up Hinata of the original story. So would such a Hinata still like Naruto? Or would she be like an ordinary girl and like the young, rich, handsome, and cool Sasuke? For Sakura, who had been a single dog for many years, this question had been itching at her, and she couldn't figure it out.
Haruno Sakura's trick to get information was too childish. Hinata got goosebumps listening to it, and she was both helpless and amused. "Alright, alright, I don't like either of them, okay!"
Seeing the look of disbelief on Sakura's face, Hinata had no choice but to continue explaining, "As teammates, they're both very good. They're strong and have good personalities. Even Sasuke is a person who will silently keep his friends in his heart. But if we're talking about dating, I still prefer someone more mature and stable, hn."
Alright, Sakura had to admit that what Hinata said was the truth. Sasuke and Naruto were not really associated with "mature and stable." Not to mention Naruto, whose favorite thing was to play pranks and cause trouble. Sasuke, who looked cool, was just as frivolous from an adult's perspective. But according to this requirement, not many boys in the Rookie Twelve could be considered mature. The only one who could give Hinata a sense of security was probably Neji, who had only recently found his brotherly consciousness.
But there was no incestuous feeling between these two.
And among the eligible youths above them, there were more oddballs than good catches. Those whose strength could match Hinata's were few and far between, and Hinata probably wouldn't be interested in them.
If this went on, would she be another older, unmarried young woman?
Not necessarily... Matters of the heart cannot be judged by rational analysis.
When it comes to matters of the heart, there are many people who say one thing and mean another. And the stronger a person usually is, the more likely they are to be dishonest at such times. As if admitting it is a kind of weakness... On this point, Hinata and Sasuke had a certain identical characteristic.
"What about you then?"
Hinata lightly kicked Sakura's calf, pulling her attention back from her delusions to reality.
"Ah? Me? Hmm..." Sakura was stunned for a moment, then grinned slyly. "I don't like men! This Great Lord likes cute, pink lolis like you, hehehe!"
"You're talking nonsense again!"
Hinata rolled her eyes at her. Being teased like this every day, even the most delicate girl would turn into a rough tomboy...
However, Hinata also knew that unlike herself, who hadn't met a boy she liked, Sakura seemed to be more interested in being single and had no interest in dating.
Or were her standards just too high? After all, there were not many boys who were worthy of this genius kunoichi. At least the so-called true genius, Sasuke, in Hinata's eyes, was nothing more than having a pair of Sharingan. In terms of talent and sentiment, he was worlds apart from Sakura.
As for how much of this thought originated from the innate hostility of the Byakugan towards the Sharingan, please leave it to the readers to judge...
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