Chapter 339: Sword Technique VS Sword Technique
The plan had changed somewhat from what was originally envisioned.
However, since the First Elder's side had made the first move, the Fifth Mizukage's side naturally wouldn't fail to respond.
The whole plan was originally an undefined one of adapting to the situation.
If anyone was to blame, it was Haruno Sakura, a variable outside the plan, who was so big that the strength and identity she displayed were enough to affect the balance. So the Mizukage simply decided to go all the way and use the most direct means.
But the First Elder's side was obviously not a blockhead without a brain. They also had their own plans.
Since the attempt to win her over failed, they immediately changed to suppression. It was enough to splash a basin of dirty water on the name of the Konoha ninja. Of course, to splash this dirty water, in the ninja's way of thinking, they first had to defeat her.
Trash talk only works after defeating the enemy. Even Naruto had to abide by this rule.
It had to be said that their reaction was fast enough, from the initial disguise as reception staff, to the late-night visit, and then to the sudden attack today.
Every step was taken at the most critical moment.
But... every step was a wrong step.
Including this step.
In the eyes of the First Elder's faction, they felt that they had already estimated Haruno Sakura's strength as high as possible—at most, the level of an elite Jonin. To have such strength at this age was already very remarkable.
As for Tomoaki Sōno being instantly killed in one move? That was definitely because he was careless. That piece of trash couldn't do anything right!
This estimation of strength was in line with their underestimation of Mei Terumī.
If they had a little more reverence for the Mizukage, they probably wouldn't have made such a fuss.
The First Elder didn't play any tricks of a wheel war (fighting multiple opponents in succession) this time. Haruno Sakura's very cooperative suggestion to solve the problem by fighting suited him perfectly. He simply appointed a ninja who had been waiting on the side since the beginning of the act just now.
"Since you say so," the First Elder said with satisfaction, "to save time, why don't you let him fight you?"
He pointed to the stage: "Suikazan Pufferfish, come here."
A tall and fat ninja stood up.
The audience immediately burst into an uproar!
Some were surprised.
"Why him?" "Is he going to fight right from the start?" "If it's him, it's dangerous..." "Suikazan Pufferfish's strength is much stronger than an ordinary Jonin!"...
Some were regretful.
"That girl probably won't survive ten minutes..." "What a pity..." "I heard that Suikazan Pufferfish likes to torture his opponents the most. Fighting him is simply a nightmare! Now the Konoha envoy is in trouble..."...
There were also rational analyses.
"The opponent is the Hokage's disciple. Her strength shouldn't be too bad. It might be another fierce battle!" "Not necessarily. No matter how talented she is, she won't be too strong at this age. She's not a ninja from those famous Kekkei Genkai clans." "In any case, Lord Mizukage won't watch her be killed by Pufferfish, or even seriously injured. Once the winner is decided, the battle will definitely be stopped immediately." "Do you think a person like Suikazan Pufferfish will really be that obedient and stop just because he's told to? I doubt it."...
Generally speaking, everyone thought that although Suikazan Pufferfish was not as powerful as his brother, he was also an elite Jonin-level ninja. His sword skills were superb, his combat experience was rich, and his strength was extremely strong.
On the contrary, the Konoha envoy looked powerless, and her chakra fluctuations were not obvious.
A wave of discussion suddenly arose. The ninja below the stage were all looking over with strange eyes, looking at the girl and the tall, fat man.
As if they had already seen the outcome of this battle.
Even a high-level Mizukage official beside the First Elder on the stage frowned slightly and turned to ask the First Elder, "Is it a bit too much to let him go up? Once a disturbance is caused, Konoha will be very troublesome."
The First Elder waved his hand broadly. "Don't worry, I'll tell him to be careful!"
As he spoke, he gave a hand signal to Suikazan Pufferfish; the latter nodded knowingly, but the killing intent on his body became even stronger.
On Haruno Sakura's side, Hagura and Mei Terumī both knew her strength was very strong, so they remained calm.
The only one who spoke was Haruno Sakura: "Can I kill him?"
She looked full of confidence. Indeed, with her current strength, apart from Mei Terumī, the entire Mist probably couldn't pick a second person who could sit on equal footing with her.
Hagura glanced at her. She didn't seem to be joking, so he whispered, "It would be best if you could kill him!"
Having sparred with Sakura informally, he knew that the girl's strength was no less than Suikazan Pufferfish, but he didn't know where her upper limit was. Seeing Sakura's nonchalant appearance, he couldn't help but remind her, whispering almost in her ear, "He is very powerful. Be careful! After the fight, pretend to rest, and then leave it to Lord Mizukage to stall their people in the meeting. We will immediately turn around and raid their secret base!"
Haruno Sakura nodded.
It was inconvenient to fight in the meeting room, so the group went to a nearby training ground.
The facilities of the Mist training ground were even more complete than Konoha's. This field was very wide and had a river, which was very suitable for Water Style ninja.
The others stood aside to watch, leaving only Haruno Sakura and Suikazan Pufferfish on the field.
One was a burly man over two meters tall, and the other was a slender girl just over 1.6 meters tall; the two stood face to face. Just looking at the contrast in body shape, Suikazan Pufferfish should have the absolute advantage.
The First Elder and others nodded secretly, revealing smiles of victory in hand.
Suikazan Pufferfish drew the big sword from his back and planted it on the ground. His face was painted with thorny patterns, and the blade was dark red, as if soaked in dirty blood. The whole person looked quite ferocious.
Haruno Sakura looked into his eyes. He squinted slightly, his eyes sinister and vicious, full of violent killing intent. the aura emanating from his body was so thick it was almost suffocating.
However, this level of aura... for Haruno Sakura, who had seen people like Sasori of the Red Sand, Orochimaru, and Kakuzu, was far from being enough to move her!
"Interesting... Konoha brat, your strength seems to be pretty good too!" Suigazan Pufferfish was slightly surprised to find that the girl opposite him was completely unaffected by his killing intent.
He licked his lips and revealed an excited and ferocious smile.
"I heard you are the brother of Fuguki Suikazan, the previous user of 'Samehada'," Haruno Sakura said faintly. "Is this sword you are using now also a replica of Samehada? Just right, I want to see the sword skills of Samehada. I hope you won't disappoint me."
"That depends on how long you can last... I don't like to hide myself with the Hidden Mist Jutsu like those gutless ninja, nor do I use Water Style to bombard the enemy crazily. My fighting style prefers to cut people directly, first the limbs, and then when your blood is drained, I'll finish you off with one slash!" the tall, fat man sneered. "So if you can last until your limbs are cut off and you're still not dead, then I definitely won't disappoint you..."
"You are very confident..." Haruno Sakura's expression remained unmoved, calm and composed, and she said calmly, "Then let me see the sword skills of the Mist. I happen to be very curious!"
If she fought Kisame in the future, this battle could serve as a reference.
According to the etiquette of sparring, she formed the Seal of Confrontation and bowed slightly.
And then—
The sharp whistle of a sharp weapon cutting through the air suddenly sounded!
Suikazan Pufferfish actually completely ignored the etiquette and did not form the Seal of Confrontation. Taking advantage of the moment the girl bowed, his figure suddenly erupted like a mad bear. He swung his long sword, drawing a dark red blood light in the air, cutting through the air with a thunderous whistle, slashing at Haruno Sakura!
This slash was fast and dangerous, heavy and powerful, with an imposing manner like a rainbow!
The sound of metal colliding rang out suddenly before the big sword hit her body.
At some point, the girl had two butterfly dual swords in her hands, crossed to block above her head, blocking the opponent's head-on slash!
Pufferfish's pupils shrank violently. This woman looks thin and weak... how can she have such great strength? I've used my full strength, but she hasn't moved at all!
"Is a sneak attack all that's left of your sword skills?" Haruno Sakura turned her head and looked at him calmly.
Even for a sneak attack, Pufferfish's movements were still too slow... Compared to the sharp offensive of a Kage-level, an attack of this level was just child's play!
"As long as I can achieve final victory, the process doesn't matter, let alone these boring etiquettes...!" Pufferfish, unaware of his own inadequacy, sneered and said sarcastically, "There's one more thing."
"Hn?"
With a turn of the blade in Pufferfish's hand, the dark red long sword in his hand turned into a bewitching, long blood light with a swish, slashing across Haruno Sakura's body and shaving off a large piece of flesh!
"This kind of large long sword can not only hack people, but also shave people!" he sneered.
In an instant, a deep, bone-deep bloody opening cracked open on the girl's face and shoulder, blooming into a few blood flowers, and blood immediately gushed out!
"Haha, how does it feel to be disfigured?"
Pufferfish laughed wildly. Destroying a beautiful face that was almost perfect and leaving permanent ugly scars perfectly satisfied his tyrannical desire for destruction!
Haruno Sakura's clean and cold voice sounded from behind him just as he was laughing: "Is this your Sword Technique attack? It's all sneaky moves. To be honest, it's boring!"
The smile on Pufferfish's face suddenly froze, and then—
BOOM!!
"Ice Style: Ice Clone Explosion Technique!"
Pufferfish's face changed dramatically—what was in front of him was actually a clone, and it suddenly exploded in front of him!
In an instant, Pufferfish subconsciously formed hand seals: "Ninja Art: Needle Jizō!" His long hair instantly became hard and long, protecting his vital points, while the long sword was suddenly retracted and blocked in front of him.
Fast reaction...
When the thick smoke kicked up by the explosion subsided, Suikazan Pufferfish's figure was revealed: he was covered in wounds, several broken ice shards were deeply embedded in his body, and even the part of his body protected by the long sword was full of fine scratches.
"Ice blocks... you are a Kekkei Genkai ninja of Ice Style! When did you use the Clone Jutsu?" Pufferfish turned around, gritted his teeth, and said weakly, "Why didn't I notice at all!"
"Of course you couldn't notice," Haruno Sakura sneered. "Because from the beginning, it was a clone on the field!"
She condensed butterfly ice blades in her hands and walked towards Pufferfish.
"Just now I saw your offense. Now, I want to see how you defend!"
The moment she spoke, Haruno Sakura disappeared from Pufferfish's field of vision. The next moment, she instantly appeared behind Pufferfish, her dual swords whipping up a fierce wind, slashing towards Pufferfish's back!
One inch longer, one inch stronger; one inch shorter, one inch riskier.
The shorter the weapon, the greater the risk.
However, when Haruno Sakura, holding short weapons, closed in on Pufferfish, the "risky" party became Suikazan Pufferfish, who was holding a long sword!
The long handle couldn't turn around in time for defense at this moment. Pufferfish's face changed. Before he could delve into why the enemy's Body Flicker was so ridiculously fast, he hurriedly rotated the long sword. As the dark red blade rolled, the hilt of the long sword blocked Haruno Sakura's short blade with a clang!
"Defending with the hilt?" the girl raised her eyebrows and said faintly.
Haruno Sakura did not use the Monstrous Strength Technique. Her wrist turned nimbly and lightly. The silver-white, crystal-clear short blade in her hand moved and flew, silently drawing a beautiful arc in the air, bypassing the opponent's long sword hilt, and going straight for Pufferfish's head!
"So how do you dodge this move?" she sneered.
Pufferfish had already used up his sword momentum. At this moment, he couldn't turn around to intercept Haruno Sakura again. His burly body suddenly paused, and he crouched down to dodge this blow. However, Sakura's sword momentum happened to be extremely fast, instantly carving a deep, bone-deep wound on his back.
In an instant, a brilliant blood flower bloomed on the man's back!
This was only the second move!
As a Kage-level master, Haruno Sakura's taijutsu was definitely not bad; even if she didn't use Monstrous Strength and only used Sakura Rush, relying on the advantage of short weapons in close combat, she could beat Pufferfish into a pathetic state!
Pufferfish snorted coldly, beads of sweat suddenly popping out on his forehead. This face-to-face close-quarters combat was too disadvantageous for a long sword. In just two moves, Pufferfish was already tottering, beginning to be unable to withstand the damage.
Enduring the severe pain, Pufferfish turned the sword light in his hand, swinging the dark red long sword in a circle, whipping up a biting wind, twisting his body and backhand slashing at Haruno Sakura! This slash was not to kill the enemy, but only to force the enemy back. The long sword was too strenuous in close-quarters combat!
The blood sword was raised, the whistling sound sharp and ear-piercing.
However, this seemingly sharp move might be effective against an ordinary Jonin, but in the eyes of the girl who had activated Sakura Rush, the intention was too obvious, and the speed was too slow!
Are these the only two defensive moves? Pufferfish had run out of tricks... The girl's eyes suddenly turned cold. He was no longer valuable.
Haruno Sakura used nin-taijutsu, jumped up, and boldly swung her blade to block Pufferfish's long sword!
With an ear-piercing clang, Pufferfish's face changed. The girl once again displayed strength far beyond his imagination, actually suppressing his long-brewed horizontal slash with the strength of one hand!
A dangerous smile appeared on Haruno Sakura's face, but the movement of her hands did not stop. Then, with a flick of her left wrist, the butterfly ice blade suddenly slashed out. A strike as fast as thunder, the blade forced open the air, emitting a chilling screech, slashing down at Suikazan Pufferfish's head!
"Nin-taijutsu: Eight-Slash Sword!"
Pufferfish was horrified. He suddenly pulled the long sword over to block this blow, while instinctively turning his head away.
The next second, a wrist, along with the long sword it held, flew out with a swish, spinning, and crashed into the ground far away!
"You're finished," Haruno Sakura said coldly.
She closed in on Pufferfish's chest with a single step. While Pufferfish was still in shock, the long sword in Sakura's hand had already pierced through his chest!
The First Elder's face changed, and his right hand suddenly waved high!
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