Chapter 20: Zabuza's Attack

Chapter 20: Zabuza's Attack

This port city, named Sapporo, once had trade with the Land of Waves as one of its main businesses. As Gato gradually took control of the Land of Waves' shipping, Sapporo was also affected and became somewhat depressed, but its foundation was still there, and the hustle and bustle had not diminished.

The day Team 7 arrived seemed to coincide with some kind of festival or celebration. Sapporo's night market was extremely lively; a thousand lanterns were released into the night, their flowing light casting shifting patterns, brocade hats and fine clothes were everywhere, and visitors were as numerous as a woven tapestry, a picture of prosperity.

After dinner, the exhausted old Tazuna washed up briefly and went to rest early.

Sakura wasn't used to resting so early, so after informing Kakashi, she went out onto the streets alone. In Konoha, she rarely went out to stroll like this, but here she suddenly felt the urge. Sakura herself didn't understand this psychology. Perhaps it was the stimulation of the unfamiliar environment.

All her spare clothes were being washed, so Sakura wore a kimono rented from the inn. The plain white robe was embroidered with a few pink plum blossoms. Her damp hair was tied up high in a ponytail. Without any makeup, she looked even more pure and charming. After hiding the sharp look in her eyes, she no longer looked like a bloodthirsty ninja, but rather an elegant and simple ordinary girl.

Since she was dressed this way, Sakura put away her ninja's edge, intending to properly experience the mindset of a young girl. After being reborn as Sakura for so many years, she had already dispelled those纠结 thoughts. In this dangerous world, just being alive was happiness enough. As a ninja living from one day to the next, she really didn't have the energy to worry about other things.

I'm a girl now too, Sakura thought. Why should I feel ashamed for dressing like this? Besides, my dignity isn't worth anything anyway, it's all going to be lost sooner or later!

Mustering up her courage, she went out onto the street just like that. Naturally, the pedestrians on the street didn't give her any strange looks; on the contrary, they looked at her with admiration. Without heavy makeup, she possessed a fresh and natural beauty that was unadorned.

With her dignity value hitting a new low, Sakura's steps were light as she lingered in the marketplace.

The night market in Sapporo was in full swing. The lights were like flowing fire, casting dancing shadows. The pedestrians were like a swimming dragon, lost in a world of hedonism. The lanterns and candles shone as bright as day, the crowd was bustling, and the air was intoxicating.

Sakura's childish heart was stirred. When she saw something delicious, she wanted to taste it; when she saw something fun, she wanted to try it. The festival in Sapporo was different from those in Konoha. The night market here didn't need to cater to so many ninja, so there were many stalls with a non-ninja flavor, as well as various games, such as ring toss for dolls. If someone dared to set up this game stall in Konoha, they would be waiting to go bankrupt. Any random kid in Konoha could play him into bankruptcy.

Fortunately, Sakura was kind-hearted and didn't push the stall owner to the brink. She left all the prizes she won for him—it was impossible to carry them as luggage anyway—and only took a finely crafted cat mask. The stall owner was so moved that he returned all her money and was just short of kneeling down to her.

Playing with the mask in her hand, Sakura hadn't walked more than a few steps when she was captivated by a goldfish scooping stall. It wasn't that she liked the game, but that a cute little girl who was trying hard to scoop up goldfish had attracted her attention—Sakura wasn't a lolicon, but she believed that lolis were the cutest creatures.

The game of goldfish scooping was very technical, and it was clear this little girl hadn't mastered the trick. Although she really wanted to catch a small goldfish, she kept using too much force and breaking the paper net. The stall owner was smirking as he watched the little girl turn her pocket money into his income. Clearly, this man was not a lolicon. Pop! The little girl puffed up her cheeks and looked angrily as she broke the paper net again. With a sad face, she took out the last of her change from her pocket, counted it, and handed it to the stall owner, muttering to herself with a pout, "Just one last time..."

This time, the little girl held her breath and stared at the school of moving fish. She carefully aimed at a lone small fish and slowly, bit by bit, scooped it up—it was going smoothly! However, just as she was about to succeed, the little goldfish suddenly jumped. Just as it was about to break the paper net, a slender, delicate finger suddenly reached out from the side and gently pressed on the handle. The paper net instantly turned at a subtle angle, cleverly deflecting the force and avoiding the fate of being broken.

The little girl looked up and saw that a slender figure wearing a cat mask had appeared beside her at some point. The figure turned her head and took off the mask. It was the smiling Sakura. "Do you want big sister to help you scoop one?"

The little girl nodded in a daze.

Sakura took the paper net. It seemed she didn't even need to observe carefully. She just gently swiped the net through the water and scooped up a small goldfish, pouring it into the fishbowl. Then, without stopping, she gently swiped across the water surface again, scooping up a second small fish, then a third, a fourth... The stall owner looked as if he had seen a ghost. He could clearly see every move the girl in front of him made, but he just couldn't understand why she could scoop them up like that! Her movements were very fluid, without any pause. It felt as if the lively little fish had become dead fish, allowing her to scoop them up at will. How was this possible!

Of course, Sakura didn't use chakra to kill the small fish, nor did she use chakra to cheat. After watching from the side for so long, she had completely understood the technique. This time, she was purely using her taijutsu skills to scoop the goldfish. These few moves looked simple, but they contained extremely profound skill. A few months ago, she would have had no way of doing this. Ultimately, Sakura's mastery of taijutsu had reached a new level.

After getting the small goldfish, the little girl said her thanks and left happily. Looking at the stall owner's expression, which had changed from a sly grin to a mournful look, Sakura playfully played for a while longer, scooping up dozens of goldfish. Seeing the owner hastily add a new rule to a sign—"Payment required for scooped goldfish"—and waiting only for Sakura to leave before hanging it up, his eyes on the verge of tears, she finally stopped her prank and returned the net and goldfish to the owner.

She turned to leave but didn't notice a person coming from behind her. He bumped right into Sakura. Compared to him, Sakura's slender figure was like an egg to a rock. Unexpectedly, in this collision, it was the rock that cracked. The man was knocked to the ground by Sakura, while she only swayed a little. The man's companion, a yellow-haired, non-mainstream punk in strange clothes, walked up to Sakura aggressively to demand an explanation.

"Are you f***ing blind when you walk? Huh? You knocked over my big brother! I'm telling you, my big brother is injured now. If you don't pay up a thousand ryo, I'll sell you to a brothel!"

Sakura directly ignored his foul language. A thousand of him wouldn't be a match for one of her little fingers. If these two punks knew Sakura's identity as a ninja, they would probably be so scared they'd pee their pants on the spot.

The only thing Sakura was worried about was how to deal with them without revealing her ninja identity. There might be Gato's spies here; it was best not to expose herself casually.

Just then, Kakashi's timely appearance saved her from the predicament. "What do you think you're doing to my friend?"

The two punks looked at each other. Kakashi's 180cm height and bulging muscles made them have second thoughts.

"I'll remember you. Watch your step from now on!"

After leaving a harsh word, the two of them left without looking back. Just as Sakura was about to leave with Kakashi, she noticed that Kakashi was looking at the two departing figures with a thoughtful expression, watching them until they disappeared from sight.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, it just feels a little strange... Forget it, let's go!"

The next day, Sakura and her group continued on their way.

"After we cross this river, we'll be close to the point where we cross the sea," Tazuna explained.

Just as Kakashi was about to reply, his expression suddenly tensed. "No... wait, something's not right!"

The attack came at this very moment, without warning.

Before his words had faded, a giant decapitating carving knife came whistling and spinning towards them!

"Get down!" Kakashi reacted extremely quickly, grabbing old Tazuna and pushing him to the ground, shouting! "Sakura, don't be reckless!"

A faint blue film of water appeared on her hand. With her strong confidence in her ultrapure water, Sakura steadily blocked the giant blade!

"Kakashi of the Sharingan, is it..." A cold voice seemed to come from the sky. Sakura looked up and saw a tall, thin figure with a bare upper body, suddenly standing on a tree in front of them.

Kirigakure S-rank rogue ninja, Momochi Zabuza!

"And, that little brat, could you trouble yourself... to give me back my sword?" Zabuza's voice seemed to carry a chill from hell, making Sakura shiver involuntarily!

Before his words had faded, the figure on the tree had already disappeared. Sakura's heart tightened. Zabuza's figure suddenly appeared behind Sakura, the kunai in his hand swiftly cutting an arc through the air, viciously stabbing towards her!

Turning her body and lowering her waist, Sakura's reaction was not slow either. She dodged Zabuza's sneak attack and, with her chakra-enhanced strength, delivered a fierce spinning kick that struck Zabuza. With a splash, Zabuza's upper body scattered into countless water droplets!

Swish— Another Zabuza appeared. The subtle difference in chakra fluctuation indicated that this was not a water clone! He snatched the decapitating carving knife and swung it, intending to cut Sakura in two!

Having just performed the spinning kick, Sakura's body had no way to generate force to dodge this slash! In that life-or-death moment, Sakura jumped up in an unbelievable way! No, it wasn't a jump; she had basically used her chakra-infused water to lift herself up!

But Kakashi's movement was faster. Before Zabuza's great sword could even land, he was hit by a heavy kick from Kakashi. The sharp force sent Zabuza, along with his sword, flying back more than ten meters!

At some point, Kakashi's forehead protector had been pulled up high, revealing his bright red three-tomoe Sharingan!

"Form a manji formation and protect Mr. Tazuna! None of you are to interfere in my fight with him. Now is the time when teamwork is most needed!"

Kakashi stared deadly at Zabuza with cold eyes and said icily.