Naruto: The Strongest Suiton User

Chapter 13: Kakashi's Survival Exercise

Training Ground 7.

Although the twelve-thousand-word speech Sakura had prepared for their lunch gathering was ignored by the other two after only the introduction, the meal itself had still served its purpose. At the very least, the three of them could now stand together like a team to discuss the next day's test.

"As much as I hate to admit it, if Kakashi-sensei wants to take us down, he only needs one hand. So, if we treat this with contempt, we will definitely die a miserable death and be sent back to the academy to repeat the year!" Sakura held up a slender index finger, looking at the two of them seriously.

"What! I refuse to go back to the Ninja Academy!! I finally... finally earned Iruka-sensei's approval...! No matter what, I will definitely pass this exercise!" Naruto immediately frowned and yelled.

"Right!" Sasuke agreed concisely. Being sent back to the Ninja Academy to repeat a year was something the proud Uchiha could not tolerate!

Nodding, Sakura continued, "Alright then, let's start with a more formal self-introduction. Although Kakashi-sensei skipped this step, we're teammates who will be fighting alongside each other from now on!"

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like researching ninjutsu and chakra, and I hate people who aren't punctual! I'm skilled in Water Style and the taijutsu that complements it. My current main ninjutsu are the Three Basic Academy Techniques, some low-level basic water jutsu, and my self-developed Water Cutter series of Suiton. I have another powerful Water Style series currently under development, but its power is hard to say. Let me demonstrate."

Sakura's hands quickly formed the seals. "Water Style: Super Water Gun Jutsu!" A line of water shot out from a water sphere in front of her, easily slicing a nearby rock in two as if it were tofu.

"And there's the taijutsu that complements Water Style, the combination of ninjutsu and taijutsu—nin-taijutsu. Sasuke, you've seen it many times, but I rarely use it at its maximum power."

It was the same unlucky rock. Sakura took two steps back, then sprinted forward at full speed, throwing a straight punch at the large stone! Chakra simultaneously enhanced this move from both the inside and outside. Internally, chakra reinforced her body, increasing its strength and durability. Externally, a mass of chakra-infused water clung to every part of her body that was generating force—her bare soles, her hips, her waist, her elbows—pushing her body forward with immense power, instantly erupting with a force that could shatter mountains and split rocks!

In that instant, Sakura felt as if her body was tied to a launching rocket, and she had the faint illusion of her flesh being torn apart!

—BOOM! A fair, tender fist struck the hard rock. This scene looked like an egg hitting a stone, but the result was the stone shattering into countless pieces!

"I can't... after using that move, my whole body is paralyzed. The burden on my body is too great. It's impossible to use it at full power in a real battle, but I should be able to withstand it at half power for a short time."

She could feel her body being paralyzed for several seconds before recovering. Fortunately, the chakra-water supported her body, so she didn't collapse onto the ground.

"S-Sakura, so you weren't even trying when you used to fight me..." Naruto's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets!

"See? I told you I'm gentle!" Sakura replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"..." To this statement, Naruto and Sasuke, for a rare moment, both remained silent.

Next, Naruto and Sasuke also introduced themselves respectively.

Apart from the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, Naruto's Transformation Jutsu and taijutsu were the only things worth mentioning. After being beaten up by Sakura and Sasuke so many times, he had gradually developed a feel for taijutsu through his beast-like instincts, making it much stronger than his half-baked taijutsu from the original story. However, this idiot was completely unresponsive to verbal teaching; Sakura always had to use her fists to show him what was right and wrong... probably. As a result, he had also developed a knack for taking a beating.

As for the Transformation Jutsu, it was Naruto's traditional strong suit. His transformations were so complete that even Sakura, who was very sensitive to chakra, couldn't tell the difference between real and fake for a short time. In the original story, Naruto's Transformation Jutsu had fooled many people, including powerhouses of Zabuza's level! That was not something any random genin could do!

Sakura had always believed Naruto's talent was very high because of this. Sometimes, Sakura thought that if Naruto didn't have the Nine-Tails inside him, he might have been even stronger than in the original story!

As for Sasuke, his skills were the iconic Uchiha taijutsu, Uchiha throwing techniques, and the Uchiha specialty, Fire Style.

Among the three students of Kakashi's team, Sakura's ninjutsu was unquestionably the strongest. Thanks to her superb chakra control skills and her emphasis on fundamentals, she used the Three Basic Academy Techniques and several basic water jutsu very well. She also had her self-created Water Cutter series of ninjutsu, which had astonishing destructive power. Her taijutsu was the weakest—at present, Sakura could no longer beat the resilient Naruto in a pure taijutsu fight; she would always lose after her stamina ran out. But if you included her nin-taijutsu that incorporated chakra-infused water, neither Sasuke nor Naruto could take a single hit from her. She had only learned a few basic genjutsu and had little interest in it, but her resistance to genjutsu was very strong due to her far-beyond-normal spiritual power. In addition, her stamina was slightly weaker than Sasuke's, her spiritual power was far higher than both of theirs, and her chakra reserves were a notch above Sasuke's.

In a comprehensive evaluation, Sakura was undoubtedly the strongest of the three, capable of reaching the level of an Elite Chunin or even a Special Jonin.

As for Sasuke, he had already learned many of the Uchiha clan's fire jutsu, which were very powerful. His taijutsu was also not weak. Although he couldn't do what Sakura did, he had gained a lot of inspiration from her use of chakra. Combined with his family's deep-rooted knowledge, his strength was very formidable. Overall, Sasuke was second in combat power. His fire style and taijutsu were both at the Chunin level, but he still lacked experience. He was roughly at the Chunin tier.

As for Naruto, he had basically learned very few damaging ninjutsu, but he was proficient in the Transformation Jutsu and could create over a thousand shadow clones at once. Combined with his bottomless stamina, unfathomable chakra reserves, and decent taijutsu, he also had Chunin-level combat power.

In summary, Team 7's combat power was recognized as the strongest. Although this violated the principle of balancing teams by strength, this principle was just for show anyway. The ninja world had too many exceptions.

However, Sakura knew very well that although she theoretically had the strength of a Special Jonin, if she were to engage in a life-or-death battle with a real Special Jonin, she, lacking combat experience, would almost certainly be defeated. The current Team 7 was like unpolished jade, still waiting for the training of their team leader, Kakashi, to truly grow.

As an adult with a mature mind, the low-key Sakura didn't place too much importance on being the strongest in Team 7, nor did she feel particularly proud of it. Although Sasuke was greatly stimulated after seeing Sakura's true strength—he had always thought he was a cut above her.

Sakura knew very well how many "cheats" Naruto and Sasuke would get later on, like the Sage Body, the Rinnegan, and so on. Their strength would shoot up like a rocket.

In her previous life, it seemed there was a deeply rooted belief in bloodline theory. Strength was often linked to bloodline; the powerful were always of noble birth, and the transmigrator who became Sakura was unfortunately a cannon fodder without a bloodline. There was no use in self-pity. Sakura, who believed that no one is born a noble, was very disappointed that the great war that concerned the lives of countless people in the ninja world was portrayed as a centuries-long family feud of jealousy, love, and hate. The scope was very small, and she disliked it greatly.

People should be born equal; no bloodline should be inherently superior to others. A ninja world dominated by bloodline theory—Sakura was very much against it.

Sakura had a dream: to one day stand at the pinnacle of the ninja world, defeat the final boss, and tell them: The ninja world is not decided by the Sage of the Six Paths' family alone. A true powerhouse can defeat you without a bloodline cheat!

Since they didn't know the specific content of tomorrow's exercise, the three of them couldn't prepare much. They just rehearsed a few combination plans and got a feel for coordinating with each other. In the end, Sakura discovered that no matter the plan, the core was not her Super Water Gun Jutsu, nor Sasuke's Fire Style, but rather Naruto's Shadow Clone and Transformation Jutsu.

Combined with Naruto's ninjutsu, Sakura and Sasuke could attack and defend very comfortably. The guy's jutsu were just too convenient, and his stamina and chakra were monstrously large...

The next morning, in the clearing in front of the Konoha Memorial Stone.

The three of them were starving and glaring resentfully at Kakashi, who was nearly three hours late. Although Sakura was mentally prepared, the long three-hour wait was still enough to make anyone break down.

"I've set it for twelve o'clock! Next, I have two bells here," Kakashi said, ignoring the three's complaints and speaking to himself. "Your mission is to get them from me before noon!"

"Anyone who doesn't get a bell will not only be tied to a wooden post without food, but will also be eliminated for failing the mission and sent back to the academy for another year!"

"Come on, now... come at me with the determination to kill me!"

Kakashi took out two bells and tied them to his belt, speaking seriously.

He was just standing there casually, yet Sakura felt that Kakashi was completely without any openings, as if she wasn't facing a person, but an unmovable mountain!

Is this the presence of a Jonin? Just by being a little serious, he's this terrifying! Sakura could feel herself trembling, with the tremor of facing an invincible enemy, but also with the excitement of going all out in a fight!

Sakura took a deep breath and stared intently at Kakashi.

The battle was on the verge of breaking out!