Naruto: The Strongest Suiton User

Chapter 14: Battle

Training Ground 7.

"Naruto, Sasuke, remember what we talked about yesterday? Battle Plan B!"

With Kakashi's shout of "Begin!", Sakura and Sasuke quickly exchanged glances and formed hand seals in perfect sync!

"Water Style: Spreading Water Plain!"

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A large amount of clear water shot out from Sakura's hands, quickly spreading across the ground to form a pool. Then, Sasuke spat out a giant fireball that shot towards Kakashi!

BOOM—

Kakashi was slightly surprised, then calmly leaped up to dodge the great fireball. To be able to use this fire jutsu at his age, he's truly from the Uchiha clan, Kakashi praised inwardly. However, such a direct attack will never work on a Jonin. So, what is their intention?

The fireball crashed into the pool of water. The high temperature instantly evaporated all the water, forming a large, thick cloud of mist in the clearing!

"I see. A combination of Fire Style and Water Style. So the real purpose was to create mist to obscure my vision? And then hide and wait for an opportunity to attack. But, while the mist obstructs my vision, how will you find me?"

Sakura heard Kakashi's voice as if it were coming from all directions, making it impossible to pinpoint his location. Kakashi was right. According to their plan from last night, they would first create chaos, then Naruto would use his Shadow Clones and Transformation Jutsu. Sakura, with the strongest frontal combat ability, would lead a direct assault with some of Naruto's clones, while the real Naruto and Sasuke would hide and wait for a chance to launch a sneak attack!

Now, although it was a bit unexpected that Kakashi had also hidden himself, everything was still within Sakura's plan. They had a way to find the enemy!

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Hundreds of Narutos appeared simultaneously, instantly crowding the small clearing. Then, the shadow clones scattered in all directions, conducting a carpet search for Kakashi.

"A shadow clone in that direction disappeared! Let's go!" Hundreds of Narutos simultaneously rushed towards a dark figure in the distance. The scene was quite spectacular!

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" Taking advantage of Naruto's shadow clones tying up Kakashi, Sasuke decisively used his kill move!

BOOM— The giant fireball, carrying a scorching heatwave, annihilated the dark figure and the shadow clones. After the fireball dissipated, the mist was also blown away, but the empty ground revealed nothing at all!

"What? Where did he go?!" Sasuke said in surprise.

"Below you!" A voice came from underground. Three Kakashis simultaneously pulled the three on the ground into the earth!

"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"

Poof! Poof! Poof! The three figures that were pulled into the ground simultaneously vanished into white smoke. Shadow Clones!

He took the bait! After Sakura and Sasuke had used their ninjutsu, they had immediately swapped places with shadow clones and hidden themselves. The clones then took on the appearance of Sakura and Sasuke and deliberately made noise to attract Kakashi. Meanwhile, the real Sakura had transformed into Naruto to disguise herself as a shadow clone. When Kakashi attacked the shadow clones, she would turn the tables on him!

"Water Style: Super Water Line!" In less than a second, Sakura completed the ninjutsu. A line of water slashed towards the unprepared Kakashi!

Poof, poof, poof! The three Kakashis also simultaneously vanished into white smoke.

Kakashi's side was also using shadow clones!

Tricks of this level really can't fool Kakashi, Sakura thought with a sense of resignation. Fortunately, everything was still going according to plan for now. Naruto and Sasuke were hidden, and Sakura was to confront Kakashi head-on to create an opportunity for them.

But could the plan really work? To be honest, so-called plans could never be completely comprehensive. The plan the three of them had made was nothing more than setting a few broad tactical directions. The specifics all depended on the situation. Even if they were all geniuses with IQs over 200, it was impossible to set a trap for a Jonin. As for how to get the bells next, Sakura couldn't say for sure what they would do. She could only do her best to create chances for them.

However, in this wave of attacks, the three of them had already used all the cards they could play. Sasuke's two Great Fireballs, Naruto's Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, and Sakura's two water jutsu. Concealment, searching, luring the enemy, and ambush—it had all gone very smoothly. Unexpectedly, after consuming so much chakra and stamina, all they had managed to do was take out three of Kakashi's shadow clones.

The battle-hardened Kakashi's ability to read the battlefield was far beyond what a little cleverness could match. Sakura already realized that the success rate of their so-called plan was basically zero. The difference in strength was too great, and the difference in wisdom and experience was also too vast.

At this moment, Sakura herself was exposed. Sasuke needed to recover after using two Great Fireballs. Naruto, on the other hand, had plenty of stamina and could come to support at any time. But for now, they were still in hiding. Before support arrived, it seemed she would have to face Kakashi alone.

Thinking of this, cold sweat appeared on Sakura's smooth forehead, and she could feel her hands and feet trembling slightly.

Am I scared? Sakura asked herself.

No, I'm not scared. I'm—shaking with excitement!

This would be the first time she fought with all her might! In the past, when sparring with Naruto and Sasuke, she always had to limit her strength. Her nin-taijutsu, and even her Water Gun Jutsu, were too dangerous for them. She had been suppressing it for too long. Today, she could finally fight to her heart's content! Sakura could even feel her blood flow quicken!

"No need to look for anyone else, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said loudly to the empty clearing. "I'm the only one here."

"Since this is a test, then let's have a proper test. Let's see if I'm qualified to be your student!"

There was no movement for several seconds. Just as Sakura was about to make a move, she suddenly sensed something abnormal behind her!

"Haruno Sakura, I hear you got perfect scores in both ninjutsu and taijutsu classes at the academy. Let me see if you live up to your name!"

Kakashi appeared behind Sakura without any warning. A fierce whip kick swept towards Sakura's waist. Sakura had no time to parry!

SPLASH! Water exploded everywhere! At the last possible moment, Sakura moved a mass of water to her waist, blocking Kakashi's powerful kick! Her body couldn't react in time, but her chakra control was nimble enough!

Integrating ninjutsu into taijutsu, her nin-taijutsu that imitated Gaara's automatic sand defense fully demonstrated its significance in that moment. The chakra-filled water, based on the principles of the Water Prison Jutsu that restricts movement, had extremely high viscosity. A Jonin-level sneak attack was rendered useless by its protection!

Splitting her mind in two, Sakura simultaneously mobilized a large amount of chakra-water to form a defensive water shield while forming hand seals:

Tiger—Ox—Monkey—Rooster—Ox—Horse—Dog!

"Water Style: Water Gun Jutsu!"

Under the effect of ultra-high pressure, a line of water shot out from Sakura's hand at a speed of over five times the speed of sound. With unstoppable power, it cut through everything it touched—trees, rocks, and Kakashi—sweeping out a fan-shaped arc with a radius of several dozen meters! A moment of silence, followed by a continuous series of rumbles as dozens of tall trees fell to the ground in unison. A patch of forest over a thousand square meters was turned into a field of one-meter-high stumps!

Phew—! Sakura let out a long breath.

Fighting with such a massive burst of chakra in a short time for the first time, Sakura felt a burning sensation all over her body, as if she were on fire. This made Sakura even more excited!

Thud! The body of Kakashi that had been cut in two also turned into two pieces of wood and fell to the ground.

"What a dangerous jutsu, Haruno Sakura!" Kakashi landed in front of Sakura with a grave expression. A shallow, long, bloody gash on his thigh was particularly conspicuous. "Just a graze for a single moment, and it left a wound of this degree... This is not the kind of strength a ninja your age should have!"

Long before the Water Cutter series of jutsu was truly completed, Kakashi had heard about it. A Water Style ninjutsu with low consumption but immense power was the dream of every Suiton user. Even the knowledgeable Lord Third had praised it endlessly. But he had only heard of people practicing it, never that someone had succeeded—

"The principle is extremely simple, but its completion is extremely difficult." This was the unanimous evaluation of all who had practiced it.

The core of this jutsu was to use chakra to create high pressure, and the most difficult part was to open a small hole in the water mass to create a nozzle. In principle, the finer the nozzle, the more powerful the jutsu. And Sakura, who had created this ninjutsu, had set the standard for completing it at a nozzle diameter of 0.05 millimeters—the thickness of a single strand of hair. If the diameter failed to meet this value, the power of the jutsu would decrease exponentially. With a diameter of one centimeter or more, the jutsu would degenerate into the Water Severing Wave.

Kakashi had always been a little skeptical. But now, having finally witnessed the power of this ninjutsu firsthand, Kakashi didn't know whether to feel honored or exasperated.

"It's not just that it's incredibly sharp. More importantly, the speed at which the water stream is ejected is extremely fast. You absolutely cannot dodge it after the jutsu is complete, because it's absolutely impossible to dodge!" Kakashi had unknowingly started to get serious. This was no longer an ordinary test. This was a battle where a single moment of carelessness could lead to death!

"So, the key to this fight is to not even let you have time to use your ninjutsu—"

Kakashi's figure moved faster than the sound of his voice!

The kunai in his hand, glinting with a dangerous cold light, first broke through Sakura's hastily gathered mass of chakra-water with unstoppable force, and lunged towards her chest!

"—High speed!"

Sakura could almost feel the chill of the kunai. It seemed that in the next moment, her life would end here!