Chapter 530: New Name
Two identical girls walked out of the forest holding hands.
"Shadow Clone?"
Naruto's first reaction was that Haruno Sakura used his commonly used ninjutsu.
But if it was just a Shadow Clone, Sakura wouldn't be so solemn about it.
"No, that's not right." Naruto was also an expert in Shadow Clones. Gazing intently, he quickly discovered the unusualness of the clone.
Shadow Clones and even Ice Clones carried a stiff flavor of chakra entities.
But the cloned body seemed like a real person, with agile expressions and clear eyes, full of life's vitality.
A real person?
He walked straight to the clone—the difference in eye color allowed Naruto to recognize the clone at a glance—and poked her cheek with his finger.
Soft, smooth, and full of elasticity.
That was definitely not a feeling chakra could simulate.
"This is a real person!"
Naruto widened his eyes and cried out.
The clone slapped away Naruto's mischievous hand with a smack, glared at him with an angry look: "Could it be that I'm a fake person?"
The orange-haired boy was instantly dumbfounded.
Completely stupid.
"Too rude, Naruto!" Seeing Naruto's dazed look, the main body burst into laughter, walked over and said, "She is a cloned body, different from ordinary clones."
Looking at Naruto's blank expression, Haruno Sakura knew he completely didn't understand, and smiled: "Anyway, just treat her as another me."
"Two Sakuras?"
Naruto was half surprised and half puzzled, finding it hard to accept this reality.
He frowned deeply, scratching his chin, his gaze moving back and forth between the two Haruno Sakuras.
At first glance, the main body and the clone were almost completely identical, but after all, Naruto had been Haruno Sakura's classmate and teammate for so many years. After careful observation, he could see the differences—
The eyes.
The clone's temperament was colder than the main body's, her eyes lacking some softness and having a bit more coldness.
The body shape.
The main body exercised year-round. Although her figure was slender and beautiful, it was also well-proportioned and fleshy, definitely not the sickly thinness of being skin and bones; in comparison, the clone had a slenderness from lack of exercise that was rare among ninja.
But the biggest difference was still chakra.
Naruto's gaze finally landed on the clone's eyes.
From here, he felt a familiar, somewhat cold and evil chakra flavor...
"Heh, you felt it huh."
The clone smiled slightly, subconsciously lowered her eyelids, blocking Naruto's line of sight.
When she opened them again, those black and white clear autumn-water eyes had already turned into a pair of bright red, eerie crimson eyes.
"Sharingan...!?"
Naruto suddenly realized that this expression of opening his mouth wide and being extremely surprised had already appeared on his face countless times today.
Having suffered so many frights, the boy finally had some immunity. He supported his almost dislocated jaw, pointed at the clone beside him, and stammered: "So... you, you are actually, Uchiha Sakura?!"
The title "Uchiha Sakura" was truly earth-shattering.
"U-Uchiha... Sakura!?"
Sasuke, who was silently observing from the side, heard this name, and his little face that had been pretending to be straight instantly couldn't hold it anymore, and he burst into wild laughter: "Haha...! Uchiha Sakura!"
Exchanging a glance with the clone, Haruno Sakura shook her head, half helplessly and half amusedly.
"You idiot, I've never been of the Uchiha clan!" The clone, both embarrassed and annoyed, gave Naruto a chestnut on the head, "Don't arbitrarily change my name to something so ambiguous!"
Haruno Sakura didn't even have the black hair exclusive to the Uchiha.
Uchiha... Sakura?
Savoring it carefully, she always felt this name could easily cause misunderstandings.
Making it seem like she had some relationship with Sasuke.
Taking some effort, Sakura finally explained clearly to Naruto the origin of this pair of Sharingan.
"But calling it like this makes it easier to distinguish the clone from the main body." Although Naruto accepted her explanation, he still felt his way of calling was right, and muttered, "The clone should also have her own name right!"
"Normally I wouldn't use the clone." Haruno Sakura explained with a smile, "So no need to worry about confusion."
She waved her hand, stopping Naruto who wanted to speak but stopped.
"Alright, Naruto."
"We're here to train, right? Let's not waste time on such trivial matters." Uchiha Sakura... bah, Haruno Sakura's clone took over the main body's words and said, "Whether you call me clone body or Uchiha Sakura, it's up to you. A name is just a code name."
Saying that, the clone slowly injected chakra into her eyes, changing the three tomoe into the four-corner windmill-shaped Mangekyo.
"The main point is still the power I use... similarly, this pair of my Sharingan can also open to the Mangekyo form." The clone pointed at her eyes and said.
"Oh."
Naruto nodded lightly, indicating he understood.
Having eaten so much shock in one day, for a mere other pair of Mangekyo Sharingan, he felt he completely wouldn't be surprised anymore; speaking of which, even Sasuke awakened the Mangekyo, if Haruno Sakura's Sharingan ability couldn't compare to him, Naruto would be the one to feel strange!
"So can Uchiha Sakura also perform that jutsu of Sasuke's?" He pointed at the purple giant behind Sasuke and said.
"Hmph hmph."
The clone smiled proudly and said: "Compared to that one, I can reach a stronger level!"
"You guys step back a little."
Saying that, the girl clapped her hands in front of her chest. A surging chakra aura gradually poured out from her body, the monstrous momentum mightily covering the entire training ground.
Haruno Sakura's main body pulled Naruto back to a safe distance, explaining while walking: "Usually when the clone goes to battle, I will hide on the side, enter the 'immovable' state, and absorb Senjutsu chakra for the clone to use in battle."
Perhaps vice versa was also possible.
Of course, entering Sage Mode through a Katsuyu clone is also a method.
However, Katsuyu's drawback is that the smaller the size, the worse the ability. A small Katsuyu clone is okay for playing around, but when it gets real, facing those unconventional enemies, relying solely on a Katsuyu clone is a bit inadequate.
This is a minor drawback of Katsuyu's Senjutsu—in contrast, on Mount Myoboku, there are quite a few toads that are small in size but strong in strength, dedicated for ninja to use to enter Sage Mode.
The First Hokage went further than Haruno Sakura.
He didn't need a Katsuyu clone to absorb natural energy; obviously, he relied on his superb talent to sublimate Sage Mode, breaking free from the shackles of Katsuyu's Senjutsu.
Of course, Haruno Sakura also had her own path to walk.
The next stage of Sage Mode, Star God Mode, absorbs the energy of fission radiation—that is the essential source of the endless energy of the planet's core in the Naruto world. Leyline energy and underground magma are but a drop in the ocean of planetary energy. From the nature of energy, radiation energy is more tyrannical and domineering than natural energy. The Star God Mode born based on this is naturally stronger and higher-level than Sage Mode which absorbs natural energy.
And the even more lofty Yang God Mode, absorbing the energy generated by the eternal fusion on the sun—which is the source of all life and all natural energy on this planet—is another indescribable stage; not to mention Hashirama Senju, even the legendary Sage of Six Paths probably couldn't reach this level.
And these seemingly fantasy fairy tale-like concepts, under Haruno Sakura's efforts, are actually gradually showing the dawn.
Of course, right now the strongest power Haruno Sakura can display still remains at the level of Mangekyo and Sage Mode:
"Mangekyo Secret Technique: Susanoo!"
Following the clone's angry shout, a giant green figure rose from the ground, standing indomitably on the field!
Its body was far larger, burlier, and more majestic than the purple giant behind Sasuke.
Like a towering mountain standing before Naruto.
The orange-haired boy held his breath.
He originally thought there would be nothing else today that could shock him, but he was wrong.
This majestic, wind-and-cloud-changing light green giant before his eyes was so thrilling!
"Is it an illusion?"
Sasuke raised his head, looking at the girl standing high on top of the Susanoo giant's head, and murmured.
"I always feel... she became stronger."