The two young women exchanged glances. Under the life-or-death crisis, the grievances buried from past arguments dissolved one by one.
Thanks to their mental link, they could even occasionally see each other's thoughts during their squabbles. Their sisterly bond was sublimated in this very moment.
They recalled much, but according to the Law of Naruto, no matter how much you replay the story of you and your best friend from six to sixteen years old for the world to see, outside, only an instant will have passed.
The next second, they were glaring at each other again, because they had both simultaneously thought of a certain show-off.
Sisters are sisters, but try to steal my man? Hmph!
Then, the two secretly discussed how to confront their enemy.
The emotional dynamics between women are truly so hard to fathom.
Because Ino had opened a private chat mode, Naruto watched their expressions shift and their glares throughout. He also knew what they were saying and asked with a smile, "Done conferring?"
He didn't care what methods they used against him; at most, it would just mean exposing his identity.
"Yes, we are," the two girls said in unison.
Whoosh.
Naruto instantly appeared before them and asked, "What did you say?"
He had covered more than ten meters, yet the two girls only managed to retreat a single step each.
"We said this!" Ino pulled out an Explosive Tag, only a fifth the size of a regular one, from Sakura's ninja pouch and threw it at Naruto.
These were Sakura's characteristic small Explosive Tags, which had once appeared in the original Land of Snow movie.
Their destructive power was less than that of a normal Explosive Tag, but their advantage was their cheapness.
As the only one among the Konoha 12 Genin who wasn't a "rich woman," Sakura was truly poor. She wasn't just poor now; she was still poor in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, raising her daughter alone and paying off her mortgage, so poor that she only used one Explosive Tag when fighting Shin Uchiha. Her only period of wealth was during the time she made Military Rations Pills for Naruto.
Then look at Tenten, who casually launches hundreds of millions of Explosive Tags with her Manipulating Rising Dragon.
However, small tags had their own benefits; even if they exploded near you, they wouldn't cause significant injury.
When Ino took out the Explosive Tag, she had already infused it with Chakra, igniting it. The moment she threw it, the tag was already on the verge of exploding.
Sakura, meanwhile, lifted a stone from the ground to shield them, her other hand gathering strength to punch the ground.
The two girls didn't have many combat experiences, and their experience was limited. They could only learn how to fight from past battles.
The general direction of this battle strategy was conceived by Sakura, mimicking her certain blond teammate's strategy when fighting Zabuza: suffering injuries alongside the enemy, then out-healing them.
They were both Medical Ninjas; they could heal themselves if injured.
They had also considered that the enemy might possess strong healing abilities, but what difference would that make? They couldn't defeat him anyway, so they might as well give it their all.
Their cooperation was good, their movements swift, but Naruto was faster. The instant he saw the Explosive Tag, his blade was already infused with Wind Release Chakra, and he slashed towards the Explosive Tag.
Rumble...
The Explosive Tag didn't explode, but the ground did.
Sakura's Monster Strength Fist had once again smashed through the ground. The shaking of the ground caused Naruto's body to sway, making his slash miss its mark.
Too late to make a second slash, Naruto flicked his index finger on the hilt of his blade. The sword flew from his hand towards the Explosive Tag. Uncertain if it would strike, he pushed off with his legs and retreated backward.
The Wind Release's cutting power was formidable. It cleaved through the Explosive Tag and pierced into the stone they used to block it.
"Sakura! Ino!" Naruto's voice echoed in their minds, pulling a stack of normal Explosive Tags from her pouch. After igniting them with Chakra, she affixed them to the stone.
She was a rich woman; she had plenty of tags.
Here it comes. Sakura lifted the large rock that had just been torn from the ground, placing it on top of the first stone, sandwiching the Explosive Tags in between.
This move was inspired by Kakashi's words when Naruto blasted open the Land of Snow castle gate: "Concentrate the power!"
"Shannaro!" Shouting her unique catchphrase, Sakura forcefully pushed the two rocks towards Naruto.
Naruto had already been alerted by the sizzling sound of the Explosive Tag. When he saw Sakura stack the large and small rocks together, he knew what they were planning.
They intended to use the explosion of the Explosive Tags as propulsion to blast the shattered smaller rocks through their enemy.
He had seen this move before.
The moment he saw Sakura push, Naruto had already leaped into the air. Upon reaching his apex, he began to descend, his pink long hair fanning out naturally behind him. To stay airborne a little longer, Naruto even used Chakra to control his hair, spreading it like wings, gliding for a distance.
Like a bird, yet also like an airplane.
I refuse to believe you can blow an airplane out of the sky with two measy rocks.
The rocks, empowered by immense force, flattened all protrusions in their path, plowing a short furrow in the ground.
Ino and Sakura had timed their distance perfectly; the explosions occurred precisely when the Explosive Tags inside the rocks detonated, two meters behind where Naruto had leaped.
With a deafening boom!, rock fragments splattered.
Panting... Sakura leaned on the ground, breathing heavily. After using her Monster Strength several times consecutively, her available Chakra balance was low again.
Looking at the fox-eared woman who had already landed opposite them, both Sakura and Ino felt a touch of despair. She was still completely unharmed.
Clink.
Swinging his blade to deflect a kunai thrown by Ino, Naruto walked towards the two with elegant steps, his unchanging smile on his face. "Not bad, you're having a lot of fun, aren't you?"
Their tactics were decent. Working together, their attacks came in waves. Given the limited conditions, they had managed to achieve a pretty good effect.
Continuously throwing the kunai from her pouch, a feeling of powerlessness welled up from the depths of Ino's heart. Then she violently shook her head, making up her mind, and spread her arms, blocking between Sakura and Naruto.
At this moment, the three people present thought of the same image.
A group of children bullying a pink-haired little girl, and another little girl rushing to help, standing between her and those children.
Through their mental link, sensing Ino's heart, Sakura shed tears, and Ino also had tear tracks in the corners of her eyes.
She knew this time was different from that time. She truly would die, but she had no regrets.
Naruto fell silent.
He also wanted to cry.
I came to increase your strength, not to increase your sisterly bond! What in the world are you two doing?!
Seeing Sakura slowly stand up, gripping a kunai, Naruto inwardly complained.
Sakura-sis, you're not planning to shave your head to show resolve and then burst into a power-up, are you?
However, the situation was different; in the end, Sakura still felt it was pretty good to be a woman and didn't shave her head.
She threw two kunai with small spheres attached to their ends. As they neared Naruto, the spheres at the back of the kunai burst open, unleashing a flurry of small Explosive Tags.
This move, too, Naruto had seen: the Cherry Blossom Blizzard.
"Cherry Blossom Impact!" Squeezing out the last of her Chakra for one final punch, Sakura lunged towards Naruto.
Good, I was waiting for that move.
Naruto held his sword in one hand, performed a flourish with the blade, and then slid it back into its sheath. "Cherry Blossom, scatter!"
As someone who had lived two lives, though his rationality told him that showing off like this when others were bursting with power was wrong and very bad, his intuition told him, This is incredibly satisfying; I absolutely must do it!
After sheathing his blade, Naruto exploded with speed. In this second, time seemed to stand still. Explosive Tags floated slowly downward, and grains of sand on the ground leaped upward from the vibrations.
At first, Ino could still perceive his movements, but as Naruto continuously accelerated, she found herself unable to fully track his trajectory.
There was a limit to perceiving an enemy's movement. Even Naruto in Nine-Tails Sage Mode, Sasuke with Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, and Obito in Ten-Tails Jinchuriki state took a long time to perceive even a trace of high-speed opponents, otherwise, their normal attacks wouldn't land.
Ino had no choice but to concentrate her mind to pinpoint Naruto's location.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Naruto continually weaved around, slicing tears in their clothes and even making shallow cuts on their skin, though none were deep.
At the same time, he observed their reactions. The moment Ino showed signs of falling behind, he would reduce his speed slightly, allowing her to catch up.
Going all out was exhilarating, but that was for dominating weaker foes, not for training beginners, and it didn't align with his original intention.
When everything settled, Ino had only sustained two cuts, but since she was wearing a midriff-baring top, Naruto hadn't known where to strike and had just cut her sleeves twice.
He hadn't intended to attack Ino initially, but thinking about it, it seemed unfair to only target Sakura. Moreover, Ino's actions just now had changed his mind.
You moved me so much, I've decided to give you two cuts.
Shaking off non-existent blood from his blade, Naruto's expression became solemn: "The path to the Underworld has been opened for you."
Flexing must be done completely.
In his mental world, Naruto looked up at the Nine-Tails. "Big Fox, have the clone whistle."
The flexing was done; time for a change.
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