Chapter 333: Invitation to Battle
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As they left the conference room, the moment the door closed, the sound of intense discussion from inside leaked out through the crack. They could still faintly hear it even after walking far away.
Hagura's always open-minded face couldn't help but show a wry smile. "Sorry for letting you see such a scene."
The worst and ugliest side of the Mist Village at the moment had been seen by outsiders.
However, he quickly comforted himself that even the most embarrassing scene right now couldn't compare to the ugliness of the Village of the Bloody Mist in the past. From this point of view, the Mist Village had already taken a big step forward.
Of course, they couldn't relax yet. They had to continue to move forward and couldn't be hindered by people like the elder.
The closed-door policy and the old-fashioned ideas were no longer suitable for the development of the ninja world today!
Did he really think that the Mist Village could still rely on closing its borders and developing quietly for ten years to participate in the hegemony war of the great nations on the mainland?
Not to mention anything else, if the problem of the Akatsuki isn't solved together with Konoha and other countries, and if the Mizukage is controlled again, the Village of the Bloody Mist, where the sun never shines, will reappear in the Mist in minutes!
Hagura didn't say these thoughts in his heart.
He braced himself and led Sakura and the others out of the Mizukage's building.
As the Mist Village of one of the five great nations, despite experiencing war and years of turmoil, the foundation of a great nation was here, and this ninja village still had a prosperous and vibrant side.
Walking on the streets of the core area, the crowd coming and going was a mix of ordinary people and ninja, almost making the members of Team Haruno Sakura think they were still walking on the streets of Konoha.
The only difference was the Mist ninja. In addition to the black bodysuits, many ninja also liked to wear that kind of vertically striped sweater, which seemed to be the popular clothing in the Land of Water. This reminded Haruno Sakura of the rogue-nin Zabuza they had met back then. It seemed that even the Demon of the Mist couldn't forget the clothes of his hometown.
In addition, the Mist ninja seemed to like using swords very much. Most of the passing ninja had a long sword slung on their bodies, regardless of whether they were men, women, old, young, strong, weak, healthy, or disabled. Correspondingly, their eyes, probably because the influence of the Village of the Bloody Mist still lingered in people's hearts, were all cold and quite unfriendly.
Especially when they saw ninja from other villages walking on their streets.
The moment they saw the Konoha forehead protectors, most people raised their vigilance and stared at Haruno Sakura and the others with dangerous eyes, making them feel like they were sitting on pins and needles.
If not for Hagura leading the way, there would probably have been a few overly nervous people drawing their swords and attacking them on the street.
"Sorry, although their eyes are a little fierce," walking onto a street with sparse figures, Hagura looked back at Haruno Sakura and the others, who looked uncomfortable, and explained with a wry smile, "but actually they are all very good people."
The corner of Haruno Sakura's mouth twitched. In the two days since entering the Mist Village, she had lost count of how many times Hagura had apologized.
"It's fine, I understand you." Although she said this and put on a serene smile, which reassured Hagura a lot; what Sakura was thinking in her heart was fine my ass!
According to the data, this batch of ninja were all people who had graduated from the bloody exam of killing each other back then. Those who survived had all killed their own deskmates with their own hands. Is it too much to describe such people as ruthless?
Of course, they were also forced to do so.
In short, the eyes of these people were quite creepy. But the most terrifying one was still Hagura. To have experienced such cruel things and still be able to act like nothing happened and be happy all day long, it was simply terrifying to think about. He was even scarier than those ninja with cold eyes!
Haruno Sakura quietly increased the distance between her and Hagura.
"Here is our ninjutsu training ground." After wandering around for a while, Hagura brought the four of them to a flat and wide field. "Eh, why are you standing so far away?"
"Ahem, it's fine." Haruno Sakura led Konohamaru and the others forward. The training ground that Hagura had specially brought them to visit had some tricks. It was indeed quite different from Konoha's.
A small river flowed around the training ground, encircling half of it. On the field, a dozen or so ninjutsu targets made of scrap iron stood from small to large.
From the pitted surface of the iron block, it could be seen that it had been through a hundred battles and could still stand on the field. It seemed to be some kind of particularly hard metal. The Land of Water was able to create seven special ninja swords, which showed that their forging technology was at least very strong back then.
In comparison, Konoha's training grounds didn't have such good conditions. To practice Water Style, one could only run outside the village—unless one could tolerate that stinking ditch of the Naka River branch. The targets were also made of wood and couldn't be used as props for ninjutsu training at all.
"Mr. Hagura," Konohamaru asked, seeing the obvious traces left by Water Style on the field and the small river nearby, "do all the ninja in your Land of Water know Water Style?"
Before he could finish, he was knocked on the head by Moegi. "Idiot, if you say that, doesn't it mean all the ninja in the Land of Fire know Fire Style?"
Hagura chuckled and affirmed Konohamaru's statement. "Actually, we Mist ninja really are mainly Water Style ninja. Because we are close to the sea and the water network is dense, it is easy to cultivate Water Style, and the power of Water Style is also very strong. So everyone either has Water as their first affinity, or chooses to cultivate Water Style as their second affinity. So we have always had many very powerful Water Style ninja."
"However," Hagura changed the subject and looked at Haruno Sakura, "when it comes to Water Style, I'm afraid your teacher is the strongest!"
"Eh?" The three children were stunned. "Is she that strong?"
Although they knew that Sakura-sensei was very strong and had Kage-level strength, they had never had a concept of how strong she was. Probably the illusion of being in the mountain itself. (1)
"Whether she is or not, you will soon..." Hagura said faintly.
Before he finished speaking, Hagura suddenly drew a kunai!
"...know!" He shouted, turned around, and launched a surprise attack. The kunai turned into a cold light, fiercely stabbing at Haruno Sakura behind him!
The kunai pierced the air, making a sharp whistle, seeming to want to kill the girl in one blow, but it stopped at Sakura's forehead.
The sharp tip of the kunai stopped on the smooth skin, only a hair's breadth away from piercing the skull and killing her instantly.
"It's better not to make such dangerous jokes casually." Haruno Sakura reached out and pushed the kunai away, saying faintly, "Otherwise..."
"People will die." Her clear and cold voice came from behind Hagura.
It was Haruno Sakura's main body. In the instant Hagura made his move, she had swapped places with her clone and flickered behind him.
Hagura ignored the kunai Haruno Sakura held against his neck. His face remained unchanged as he smiled faintly. "Your Water Style is indeed very powerful!"
Haruno Sakura put away the kunai and the clone, frowning as she watched him walk to the middle of the training ground.
Hagura's calm attitude seemed to indicate that he still had a chance to turn the tables in that situation. He was probably a tough nut to crack.
She glanced at the three students who were nervously hiding behind her—seeing Hagura attack Haruno Sakura just now, Konohamaru and the others were already scared into drawing their kunai and preparing for battle—patted their shoulders and said, "Don't be afraid. Sensei will protect you."
However, she was also somewhat relieved in her heart. At least they dared to take out their weapons to prepare for battle. The mission before departure had still been effective.
"You are the disciple of the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade," Hagura said in the field. "Tsunade said in her letter that your strength is very strong."
"So what if I am?" Haruno Sakura frowned and asked back.
"Then, fight me!"
"Why?" Sakura asked, puzzled. "We don't seem to have a reason to fight."
"No, both you and I do." Hagura said with certainty. "Your purpose in visiting the Mist Village is to facilitate the establishment of diplomatic relations and cooperation between the two villages, right!"
"Indeed, but what does that have to do with fighting you?"
"I want to verify your strength. Defeat me, prove your strength, and I will tell you everything," Hagura said faintly. "If you lose, just stay quietly aside and wait for the result!"
Haruno Sakura looked straight at him.
She had never expected that a simple envoy mission would become so troublesome.
Judging from Hagura's actions, it seemed that the two sides in the Mist were already incompatible like fire and water. It seemed that the Mizukage had the intention of completely solving the problem. And she was roping in the Konoha ninja as assistance.
It was just that, did she want to solve the problem, or solve the person who created the problem?
It was too complicated. This place was simply in deep water and scorching fire. The time Konoha chose for the mission seemed not very good.
For an instant, Sakura had the urge to refuse him: not fight him, return to the residence, wait for everything in the Mist to settle down, and then come out to accept the result.
However, she thought about it again. Being timid was not her style. As Hagura said, although she was an outsider, she had the same stance as a certain side in this matter. If the Mizukage failed, her mission this time would also fail.
In the fight against the "Akatsuki," and on the road to peace between the two ninja villages, she seemed to have become an important determining factor.
History might change because of a difference in her thoughts. For the first time, Sakura felt her important status so clearly.
In short, Haruno Sakura had a reason to fight.
Moreover, Tsunade had also mentioned in the letter that her strength was very strong. besides warning the Mist ninja not to judge a book by its cover and have crooked ideas, did it also imply something?
It was just that, was it really okay to involve herself and three students in this vortex?
The expression on the girl's face was uncertain, her eyes moving, thinking quickly.
"Don't hesitate," Hagura urged. "Come on!"
"Alright." Haruno Sakura finally made a decision. "You three step back a bit."
Taking three children on a mission to the Mist was just to hint to the other party that she was not here to cause trouble; this did not mean that she had no spare energy to do other things while protecting the students.
She separated two ice clones to protect the three students on the left and right, and then walked slowly onto the field.
"When you passed that bridge this morning, I knew your Water Style was very strong." Hagura said. He watched the girl take off the vest containing the luggage and miscellaneous items storage scrolls, revealing her slender figure wrapped in a bodysuit. He could easily judge that Haruno Sakura was indeed a ninjutsu-type ninja.
Haruno Sakura walked up to him, rubbed her knuckles, looked at him faintly, and remained silent.
"Perhaps you are the strongest Water Style ninja I have ever seen," Hagura also finished his warm-up exercises and crouched slightly. "However, my Water Style is definitely not bad either!"
The girl nodded slightly. "Among the five elemental styles, my favorite is Water Style, and I have always believed that Water Style is the strongest... Since I've met a fellow Water Style practitioner, let's compete in Water Style!"
The two formed the Seal of Confrontation, and the battle officially began...
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