Chapter 71:
"Konoha's next match: Uchiha Sarada vs. Sunagakure's Shinki. Would both contestants please enter the arena."
Konoha Stadium.
Uchiha Sarada VS Shinki
"Go, Sarada! You got this!" Sakura shouted from the stands. "Sasuke, you should cheer for Sarada too!"
"...Even if I did, she still wouldn't be able to defeat her opponent this time." Sasuke replied bluntly.
"Oh, come on, Sasuke! Have some faith in your daughter. She's been training hard with me all this time." Sakura looked down at Sarada in the arena. "Sarada, show your dad the results of all your special training!"
Shinki glanced up at the stands where Sakura was cheering. "That's your mother, isn't it? She seems to care about you deeply. You should just surrender. I'd really rather not have her watch her daughter suffer a crushing defeat."
"Save your breath! I'm a proud Uchiha. And a proud Uchiha never surrenders!" Sarada struck a ready stance, poised to attack the moment Rock Lee gave the signal.
"Is that so? But the only Uchiha worthy of being my opponent in this arena isn't you."
There were only two Uchiha participating in this Chūnin Exam. If Shinki didn't mean Sarada, then his intended rival was obvious.
"Begin!"
As Rock Lee gave the command, Sarada immediately pulled out two shuriken and hurled them at Shinki from the left and right, simultaneously charging at him head-on with a kunai in hand.
"A three-pronged pincer tactic, huh…"
A typical shinobi facing this kind of assault would have no choice but to retreat, dodging the projectiles from either side before bracing for the frontal attack.
But turning around exposed your back to the enemy, while retreating straight back would throw off your balance and slow you down—just enough for the attacker to close the distance.
Either choice gave the opponent an opening.
But Shinki wasn't your average shinobi—he possessed a Bloodline Limit.
The black cloak Shinki always wore wasn't made of ordinary fabric, but of Iron Sand controlled through his Magnet Release.
Under his command, the black cloak transformed into Iron Sand that blocked the shuriken coming from both sides.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!"
The Iron Sand formed into countless tiny projectiles that launched toward Sarada like a barrage of pebbles. The attack covered a wide area, lasted a long time, and packed serious punch. Even with her single-tomoe Sharingan's heightened perception, Sarada struggled to dodge most of the incoming projectiles.
"I'm going to be Hokage! There's no way I'm going down in the Chūnin Exams!" Gritting through the pain, Sarada charged right up to Shinki. "Take this—my Monster Strength Punch!"
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Hand!"
A massive iron fist, formed by compressing Iron Sand to a high density, collided with Sarada's chakra-enhanced punch.
"Yaaahh!" Sarada shouted with all her might as her Monster Strength Punch shattered Shinki's Iron Sand Fist.
"What the—?" Though clearly stunned, Shinki reacted quickly. "Magnet Release: Iron Sand Gyro!"
Iron Sand whirled around him like a spinning top, blocking Sarada's punch just before it could connect.
Seeing her attack nullified, Sarada pulled back, grimacing as the Iron Sand scraped her already injured fist.
"Sarada… is she okay?" Sakura asked, worried as she watched from above.
"If she can't even endure this much pain, then maybe she's not cut out to be a shinobi," Sasuke said calmly.
Still, the hands resting on his legs unconsciously clenched into fists.
"So this is Magnet Release, huh? It's downright unreasonable," Sarada muttered, staring at her injured hand.
"Bloodline Limits are unreasonable by nature. Your Sharingan is one too—it's just that you haven't learned to use yours effectively."
"Since your turn is over, I suppose it's mine now."
"Magnet Release: Wings of Iron Sand!"
Highly compressed Iron Sand formed a pair of wings on Shinki's shoulders. He took to the air and fired countless razor-sharp feathers of Iron Sand from the center of the wings.
Each feather had paralyzing properties and could home in on its target—thanks to Magnet Release's core trait: magnetism.
After all, what ninja doesn't carry a few metal tools on them? These would inevitably draw the Iron Sand feathers toward them.
To evade the feather storm, Sarada began running in circles around the arena.
It had turned into a contest of stamina and chakra.
Clearly, maintaining such a large-scale jutsu consumed a lot of chakra.
Shinki seemed to realize Sarada's plan. He landed back on the ground and dispersed his Iron Sand wings.
But even without the wings, he continued using chakra to sustain the homing effect of the already-fired Iron Sand feathers.
The Iron Sand from the wings was instead arranged into traps along Sarada's escape path.
If she stopped, the feathers behind would catch up and strike her. If she didn't, she'd run straight into the Iron Sand traps.
After a moment of hesitation, Sarada chose to keep moving forward—
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Coffin!"
The instant Sarada stepped on the Iron Sand laid on the ground, Shinki activated his technique.
The Iron Sand quickly surged up, encasing Sarada in an airtight cocoon. As the oxygen inside dwindled, she would inevitably fall unconscious from suffocation.
"Sarada has lost," Sasuke said calmly as he looked down at her trapped form.
"What? How can that be? After using so many techniques, the Suna-nin's chakra should be almost depleted!" Sakura said, confused and anxious.
Sasuke shook his head. While the Sharingan couldn't sense chakra, the Rinnegan could—though not as well as the Byakugan.
Through his Rinnegan, Sasuke could tell that Shinki still had plenty of chakra left.
In fact, Shinki had possessed enormous chakra reserves since childhood. He had even injured others because he couldn't control it—until Gaara took him in and taught him how to wield his powers.
And just as Sasuke had said, even after Sarada lost consciousness from lack of oxygen, Shinki still hadn't run out of chakra.
The Iron Sand retreated from Sarada's body and returned to Shinki, reforming into his black cloak.
"Konoha's Uchiha Sarada is no longer able to fight. I declare Sunagakure's Shinki the victor!"
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