Chapter: 563 Ceasefire?
Blue chakra surged through parched meridians, vast energy precisely allocated to every muscle fiber. Every cell seemed to cheer in delight. Like a parched rice field finally welcoming spring rain, or a staggering car finally filled with fuel and the accelerator floored, the long-awaited Monstrous Strength was finally fully activated!
Rotate shoulders, twist hips. Though her hands were powerless to fight, it didn't stop Haruno Sakura from using kicks. She twisted her waist, her arched spine like a longbow drawn to full strength. With her right foot planted firmly, the force ascended from her heel. The glow of chakra shimmered along the muscle groups, and her left leg kicked high. The strength of her entire body converged within it, and a terrifying force whipped out along that long, whip-like leg!
Whoosh!
Under the staggering enhancement of Nintaijutsu, the whip kick's speed brazenly exceeded the speed of sound. At such speeds, the air became thick as a solid, producing a crisp sonic boom as it broke the sound barrier!
Pain, who had always been calm and composed, finally had a drastic change in expression! To him, Haruno Sakura, who had reclaimed control of her chakra, underwent a sudden and massive change in momentum. If the girl from before was a tigress struggling with insufficient strength, then now, she was a deep-sea beast looking down upon the ocean!
Retreat!
Every nerve in Pain's brain screamed in alarm, warning him of the danger before his eyes! The man didn't even have time to think; the sense of crisis honed between life and death manipulated his figure to retreat violently!
However, Pain had charged too aggressively before, his determination to kill Haruno Sakura too strong. Now, it was too late to pull away!
"Hah!"
Haruno Sakura gave a low shout, her voice filled with an indomitable resolve, echoing like thunder. It was as if she were pouring all her previous frustration, anger, and uncompromising killing intent into this single kick, intending to shatter Pain into pieces with a single whip kick!
Whip kick! The simplest, most direct, and most violently peerless taijutsu whip kick!
Snap!
The hard black rods shattered upon contact, as brittle as a french fry. The fragments scattered in the air, blown by the belated wind of the kick. Pain's expression changed, and though his figure twisted to the limit, he was still inevitably hit head-on. Violent force transmitted from the girl's foot as the whip kick pierced through the air, destructively tearing through the Deva Path's arm. The sound of bones shattering mixed with the whistling of the cold wind from the kick, making one's scalp tingle.
The Deva Path's pupils shrank, and he was forced to reveal the last trump card held in his hand: "Shinra Tensei!"
Two equally violent and peerless forces collided brazenly in the air!
Boom—!!!
A massive explosion erupted. Countless splashes of water burst out of thin air at the point of engagement on the sea surface, and then two figures were seen flying backward!
Splatter! Haruno Sakura and Pain stumbled a few steps as they landed on the water, standing opposite each other. The dense fog previously laid out had long since dispersed over the sea due to the disturbance of this battle. Thus, despite being separated by a distance of over a hundred meters, the two combatants could clearly see each other.
"Hmph." Pain looked at Haruno Sakura and suddenly let out a cold laugh. "You look quite pathetic!"
Haruno Sakura's figure was indeed slightly pathetic. Her arms were covered in blood and hung powerlessly at her sides, lacking their usual agility; she had clearly lost her combat effectiveness temporarily. As the price for directly confronting Shinra Tensei, her entire left leg was also riddled with injuries, her pant legs full of holes, and torn strips of cloth fluttered in the wind. She lacked all the majesty she had when teasing Konan earlier.
Haruno Sakura narrowed her eyes, her gaze as cold and sharp as a blade as she glanced at him. "You're not much better yourself. We're even!"
Four of the Six Paths of Pain had been sunk by her, and the Deva Path's arms were both broken, with half his body smashed into mush. He was merely holding his breath to speak to her now!
A complete mutual defeat! Thus, the two tacitly stopped the battle.
A ceasefire, until... one side regained their combat strength.
The seawater churned, and with a splashing sound, a giant head emerged from the sea beside Pain. Pain and Haruno Sakura turned their heads simultaneously to see the tall, thin figure of the Human Path crawling out from the King of Hell's massive mouth, giving Haruno Sakura a cold smile.
The first one...
Haruno Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly. The Naraka Path, mentioned in the intelligence for its ability to resurrect Pain, had indeed been hiding at an extreme distance, only daring to appear now.
This is trouble!
Sure enough, after only a moment's pause, the King of Hell's mouth opened again, and the Animal Path walked out calmly, silently standing behind the Deva Path.
The second one...
The speed at which the Six Paths of Pain resurrected was beyond imagination!
Meanwhile, Haruno Sakura was still mobilizing Yang Release chakra to treat her right hand. Both of her hands were temporarily unable to form seals, making her unable to use complex and powerful medical ninjutsu. Consequently, her speed in recovering her combat strength was far inferior to Pain's!
In just a short moment, the third and fourth Paths of Pain killed by Haruno Sakura had already resurrected. Only the Deva Path had yet to receive treatment, while on Haruno Sakura's side, her right hand had only just recovered to the point where she could barely form seals. Between the two whose combat strength was equal, a gap opened up in their recovery speed!
"Though it's somewhat of an unsporting victory..." the Deva Path Pain sneered, "it seems your medical ninjutsu has not surpassed Tsunade's!"
Compared to Tsunade, Haruno Sakura's Yin Seal focused more on combat, whereas the former's Strength of a Hundred Technique was famous for its seamless self-healing during battle. As a disciple, Sakura had indeed not put as much heart into medical ninjutsu as she had into her combat skills. You win some, you lose some; given the girl's youth, it was impossible to be perfect in everything. She was not a second Tsunade; although she had surpassed Tsunade, she had also made sacrifices.
In response to the Deva Path's words, Haruno Sakura could only remain silent.
The Deva Path gazed at the girl's expression and slowly stepped backward into the King of Hell's mouth, a long sigh of relief escaping his heart.
You finally lost.
He had to admit that Haruno Sakura was the first enemy in his life to push him to this extent. The balance and strength in both close and long-range combat were one thing, but the girl's extraordinary control over chakra was what surprised him most. In actual combat, the Preta Path could swallow a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken in one gulp; many powerful experts had met their end there, yet such powerful suction couldn't instantly drain Haruno Sakura's chakra! The black rods, claimed to be passed down from the Sage of the Six Paths and capable of disrupting chakra circulation, hadn't worked at all against her, being no more useful than a fire poker!
And Haruno Sakura was only 16 years old now, with huge room for growth. If she were allowed to grow fully... Pain had to admit that it was entirely possible for Haruno Sakura to surpass him, surpass "God," and become the strongest!
"Therefore, I must seize this opportunity and do my utmost to kill you!"
The King of Hell opened its mouth one last time, and the Deva Path Pain emerged from it completely refreshed, his face stern and his eyelids lowered. If a battle between the full-strength Six Paths of Pain and a full-strength Haruno Sakura was a dangerous clash between two tigers, then surely a battle between the intact Six Paths of Pain and a half-crippled Haruno Sakura would be an almost certain crushing victory?
Pain raised his head with confidence and looked at Haruno Sakura. The girl also looked back calmly.
Her clothes were intact, her breathing was steady, and there were no scars on her body. She looked as if she hadn't fought at all; she was, surprisingly, a completely refreshed Haruno Sakura as well!
The icy sea breeze blew past.
The girl stood with her arms crossed, her long hair fluttering in the wind. She stood proudly on the sea, her emerald pupils replaced at some point by eerie four-cornered windmills, spinning slowly as she looked icily at Pain.
"Round two, hmm?"