Chapter 26: Ice Style (Part 2)

Chapter 26: Ice Style (Part 2)

Around noon, Sakura returned to Tazuna's house to bring lunch to Naruto and Sasuke. Those two were really training with a single-minded focus, forgetting to eat or sleep. In comparison, Sakura, who was just fiddling with a fallen leaf, seemed much more relaxed. Of course, the reality was that Sakura's practice could be done anytime, anywhere. After reaching a certain level of proficiency, practicing wind nature transformation no longer required her full concentration.

While Naruto and Sasuke were eating, Sakura observed their progress. The two of them were still using the practice method from the original story. The large trees they were using for practice were already covered in crooked slash marks, recording the progress they had made. Compared to the original story, their progress now was much faster. Sasuke had already climbed nearly halfway up the large tree, with Naruto following closely behind.

Looking at Sasuke gobbling down his food, Sakura chuckled. Knowing him very well, she knew that Sasuke was usually far from being this excessively motivated in his training. The reason he was working so hard this time was probably because he had been spurred on by her and by Naruto, who was constantly chasing after him.

Among the three Genin of Team 7, the power ranking was very clear: Sakura was the strongest, Sasuke was in the middle, and Naruto was the dead-last. But in the eyes of outsiders, Naruto, as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, had the greatest potential. Sasuke had the Sharingan, and once he awakened the Mangekyo, he was guaranteed to reach Kage-level. Only Sakura, as the descendant of ordinary ninja, had neither a Kekkei Genkai nor a secret family jutsu, and was the least favored. Many people thought that in a few years, Sakura would be far surpassed by Naruto and Sasuke.

But at least for now, Sakura's strength was still far beyond Sasuke's.

Especially after graduation, under Kakashi's guidance, Sakura had successfully integrated her nin-taijutsu and Water Style into her combat system, and her strength had progressed by leaps and bounds. After that, Sakura hadn't sparred with Sasuke for a long time, for no other reason than that Sasuke had no way to deal with her Water Cutter Jutsu and nin-taijutsu and would only be defeated without any suspense. Such sparring was meaningless.

In contrast, although Sasuke had also grown tremendously, the gap between him and Sakura had widened further. Sasuke, who hadn't sparred with Sakura for a long time, hadn't noticed this until the battle with Zabuza. When Sakura went all out, Sasuke finally realized that Sakura had already walked much further ahead.

The water clones that he had to face with caution were dispatched by Sakura with a single blow each. While he was still hiding on the side protecting Tazuna, Sakura already possessed the ability to seriously injure Zabuza. After the battle, recalling this scene, Sasuke's heart was filled with mixed emotions. There was disappointment, surprise, anger, and also a sense of anxious urgency.

An urgent desire to grow, to become stronger.

Especially when he saw Naruto's training progress nipping at his heels, when he saw Naruto desperately chasing after his own back, that heart-wrenching sense of urgency became even stronger, as if a whip was being swung vigorously behind him, lashing his back and not letting him rest for a single moment!

Naruto and Sasuke put down their chopsticks almost at the same time, swallowed their last bite of food, and then got up to continue climbing trees. Sakura quickly stopped them; engaging in strenuous exercise right after eating a full meal was something even a ninja couldn't handle. As their teammate, Sakura sometimes felt like a nagging housekeeper, having to follow behind them and constantly remind them to pay attention to a little common sense.

Stopped by Sakura, Naruto rubbed his full belly and wandered around the woods with a bored expression. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He stopped and asked Sakura with a sly grin, "Sakura-chan, what's the trick to climbing trees? Why can you climb up so easily?"

Sakura noticed that Sasuke, who was resting on the side, pretended to be disdainful but had quietly perked up his ears.

Sakura laughed inwardly but kept a straight face on the outside. "Didn't Kakashi-sensei say we have to figure it out for ourselves? Forget it, since you asked, I'll teach you a thing or two!"

"Watch closely!" Sakura first formed a seal to create a shadow clone, then controlled her chakra to make a slight adjustment, turning the shadow clone into a transparent human body with no facial features, through which one could see the meridians spread throughout the body. This special clone was Sakura's teaching tool.

Unlike ordinary ninja who practiced ninjutsu in pursuit of higher proficiency, Sakura preferred to explore the principles of the jutsu. She had already achieved some results by now, and this transparent clone was one example.

Under the astonished gazes of Naruto and Sasuke, the shadow clone held its hands together like a sword, simulated the human body refining chakra, and then began to climb the tree step by step by gathering chakra at the soles of its feet. Through its transparent body, they could see the chakra flowing calmly and rapidly through the meridians. The chakra gathered at the soles of its feet was always just the right amount to maintain the force needed for the shadow clone to climb the tree.

Sakura knew that compared to giving the two of them a long lecture, which they might not absorb much of, a direct visual demonstration like this would leave a deep impression on them and allow them to quickly understand the trick.

Sure enough, after watching the shadow clone's performance, both Naruto and Sasuke had thoughtful expressions on their faces. It seemed they had indeed grasped something. She believed that it wouldn't be long before they could complete this tree-climbing exercise, after which they could learn how to use chakra precisely in battle.

Sakura was very envious of Naruto and Sasuke. They were undoubtedly very lucky to have someone with such strong chakra control like her to guide them. In contrast, Sakura's Ice Style training severely lacked such guidance. Kakashi's Sharingan couldn't successfully copy a Kekkei Genkai. The copied Ice Style ninjutsu only produced a few half-finished ice needles, and the aura of Ice Style was faint and indistinct, making it difficult for Sakura to get a feel for it.

In this regard, Kakashi also admitted he was powerless to help.

Sakura could only use the most basic method: trying to perform two nature transformations simultaneously and mix them. For the past few days, she had been creating a shadow clone every day to assist in her training. During the day, the shadow clone would follow Naruto and Sasuke out to practice, while her main body stayed at Tazuna's house to practice. This way, she didn't neglect her mission or her training.

Sakura quickly discovered that the key problem was splitting her mind in two. People with an innate Kekkei Genkai instinctively knew how to perform two nature transformations at the same time. But those who wanted to learn a Kekkei Genkai through practice had to become proficient enough in both nature transformations to be able to subconsciously maintain one while performing the other.

It was easier said than done.

Sakura was confident that she could complete the water nature transformation "subconsciously." But to perform the wind nature transformation at the same time as the water nature transformation, she was not yet capable. The reason was simply that her wind nature transformation was not yet proficient enough and required too much of her concentration, so much so that she couldn't even complete the water nature transformation that she could normally do "subconsciously."

Therefore, Sakura focused all her energy on practicing the wind nature transformation. Merely completing the leaf-cutting exercise was far from enough; she had to practice to a much deeper level.

Kakashi told Sakura that an advanced Wind Style ninja could even turn their physical hand-chop into a blade that could cut through steel like mud just by covering their palm with wind-natured chakra. Cutting a leaf was just the simplest beginning.

How long would it take to reach this state? Kakashi knew that Asuma, who specialized in the wind affinity, had been immersed in Wind Style for nearly five or six years before achieving the feat of cutting stone. So what about Sakura?

Seven days of all-out effort.

When Kakashi learned the result, he was no longer shocked. When a person is fully mentally prepared, they can face anything calmly. Actually, thinking about it carefully, there was nothing to be surprised about. Kakashi had gotten used to Sakura practicing ninjutsu at a speed dozens of times faster than others. Although Asuma was said to have been immersed in Wind Style for five or six years, the actual time he spent practicing it in those years would not add up to more than half a year. These seven days, Sakura had been completely immersed. It was not surprising that she could achieve what took others half a year. This was the difference between a genius and an ordinary person!

After this, achieving the preliminary stage of Ice Style training was a matter of course.

On the evening of the seventh day.

Standing in front of Kakashi, Sakura put her hands together. Her left hand controlled the chakra to perform the water nature transformation, while her right hand controlled the chakra to perform the wind nature transformation. The chakras from both hands intertwined, and the combination of the two chakra nature transformations collided and fused in her palms. In Sakura's perception, a brand-new texture of chakra appeared.

Sakura opened her hands. A puff of white mist emerged from her palms—it was water vapor condensing upon meeting a low temperature. Kakashi saw that a small, transparent crystal was lying quietly on Sakura's pale palm.

It was a piece of ice.

Her lips couldn't help but curl up slightly. A matter-of-fact smile appeared on Sakura's pale face. Under her heavy dark circles, a pair of tired emerald eyes looked at Kakashi with pride, and she said in a hoarse voice.

"How about it? Ice Style... isn't so hard, is it!"

"Alright, alright, I know you're amazing!" Seeing that Sakura had practiced to the point where her face had lost its usual rosy complexion and was now pale, Kakashi said with a sense of helplessness. "Don't worry about this for now. You're already very tired. Go and rest first!"

It would have been better if Kakashi hadn't said anything. The moment he did, Sakura suddenly felt all the fatigue in her body rush up at once. Her body became wobbly, and she could barely stand firm.

Sakura had originally planned to practice step by step, but seeing Naruto and Sasuke training so hard, she was also a little inspired. The more important reason was that Sakura genuinely enjoyed this kind of training. When she was training, she often had the illusion of pulling an all-nighter to level up in a game. With her talent, an hour of concentrated training would result in significant progress. This positive feedback of investment yielding returns also made her addicted to training without realizing it.

Now that she had finally successfully cast the Ice Style nature transformation, even if it was just the most basic form, it gave her the same sense of satisfaction as completing a game after grinding for several days straight. Sakura dispelled the ice in her palm and sat down. She was still very excited and wanted to share her insights on Ice Style with Kakashi, but as the excitement gradually faded, the dual fatigue of her body and spirit made her drowsiness increasingly difficult to resist. She actually fell asleep while sitting.

Watching Sakura, who had stopped talking halfway through a sentence and started snoring, Kakashi felt both amused and heartbroken. He shook his head, carried Sakura to her bed, tucked her in, and left alone.