Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals

The girl with long, straight black hair had a flushed face and was covered in fragrant sweat.

The continuous high-speed attacks were extremely taxing on her physical and mental strength. She still held the crystal-clear Senbon tightly in her hand, but her arm was getting weak.

After a fierce battle, no victor could be determined.

This is a very rare occurrence.

White's Ice Release technique, Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, has always been invincible whenever it is used.

Even when he faced Sasuke and Naruto in a two-on-one fight, if he hadn't held back, Haku could have easily defeated them both in just a few moves.

But they returned empty-handed.

Because she was fighting a powerful ninja who also possessed the Ice Release.

Beneath her short pink hair lay a delicate, unadorned face, and between her refined brows lay a hint of dignified heroism.

The gentle grace of a young girl and the dashing confidence of a young man are perfectly blended in her, and this contradictory quality makes her seem to possess a unique attraction.

Bai had a feeling that the more time he spent with her, the more he would unconsciously become attracted to her.

She is none other than Sakura Haruno, Shiro's only friend now.

Sakura used the same Ninjutsu to counter the White Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.

Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals vs. Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!

On the training field, the two simultaneously unleashed the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!

Ding, ding!

The crisp sound of ice Senbon colliding with ice Kunai first appeared sporadically. Then, it became more and more urgent and dense, eventually forming a continuous sound.

The stunningly beautiful girl with black hair moved with a light and graceful gait, her body twisting and turning like a deer, agile and nimble.

The pink-haired, spirited girl is swift and fierce, her movements as fluid and graceful as a cheetah, full of a unique beauty.

Within the nested Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, two figures rose and fell at high speed, gradually moving so fast that only pink and black shadows remained.

In the open space surrounded by Ninjutsu, they repeatedly collided, separated, and merged into the mirror, only to mysteriously emerge from another mirror in the next instant, colliding, separating, and merging into the mirror once more...

The battle has entered a super-fast combat phase from the very beginning!

Even Bai and Ying began to feel that their reaction speed couldn't keep up with the pace of the battle. The ever-accelerating high-speed duel caused their physical strength to drop rapidly, and their mental state to become increasingly tense.

In an instant, the pink-haired girl, whose stamina was slightly inferior, was the first to give in and, with a light leap backward, withdrew from the battle.

He shrugged, acknowledging defeat.

Bai, who won the duel, showed no sign of pride. Her gentle and averse-to-competition nature made it difficult for her to feel such emotions.

Besides, Bai didn't feel there was anything to be proud of in winning the duel simply because he had three more years of physical development and therefore more stamina.

Following Zabuza's habits from Zabuza wandering days, Haku subconsciously compared the two's strength.

On the surface, Sakura's strength was slightly inferior to hers in this duel. However, both of them had saved up many powerful moves that were not suitable for use in a friendly spar.

The Super Water Gun Technique impressed Bai and struck first despite being a latecomer.

Bai personally tested this Ultra-Pure Water, which has extremely high physical defense capabilities.

Haku couldn't think of a way to counter these two moves from Sakura's core Ninjutsu system.

The Water Gun Technique doesn't consume a lot of ice, and Sakura could use it eight or ten times in a battle without much trouble. But Shiro wasn't confident he could dodge it every time.

Such Ninjutsu, if it hits, will render the user incapacitated.

Under this deterrent, most of Bai's tactics appeared too flawed to be effectively implemented.

If it were a life-or-death struggle, the only way Bai could think of was to bombard him with powerful moves from the start until he ran out of Chakra and surrendered obediently.

This is a deduction based on her current abilities.

Although she dislikes conflict, this kind-hearted girl will strive to cultivate herself in order to protect the people she cares about!

In fact, Haku's strength has improved to a whole new level compared to when he was in the Land of Waves.

Before the mission to the Land of Waves, although Haku was exceptionally talented, he didn't learn much from Zabuza.

Zabuza is strong, but he is rather clumsy when it comes to explaining theories and is not good at teaching.

The training Bai received from following him was nothing more than applying his skills in actual combat. The rest was up to Bai to figure out on his own.

Compared to ninjas who graduated from the Ninja Academy, Haku was largely self-taught.

After joining Konoha, Haku received formal ninja training for the first time, and the obstacle that had long hindered his progress was finally removed.

A precious pearl covered in dust, once polished, shines brightly and radiates a dazzling brilliance.

Before this, she wasn't even very good at gathering Chakra to unleash speed and power in battle. In fact, Zabuza wanted to teach her properly, but his teaching method of just yelling "Follow me" was really not going to teach a student well.

Having been poisoned by Zabuza's brutal educational methods for so many years, Haku's ability to grow to her current level is a testament to her astonishing talent.

For Bai Lai, the two or three months of isolation were also an important process of focusing on his studies, systematically reviewing everything he had learned in the past, consolidating his foundation, and filling in any gaps in his knowledge.

After that, Bai's strength improved by leaps and bounds, and he gradually showed the potential to soar to new heights.

The path to becoming Jonin has opened up for her. Even growing into a ninja of Zabuza's or Kakashi's caliber is no longer a pipe dream.

But compared to the still somewhat immature girl opposite her, this was nothing.

"You learned my signature move Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, in just three weeks! You're truly amazing, Sakura!"

Bai smiled and said.

In just over twenty weeks, Sakura mastered the Ninjutsu from scratch. Although her application was still somewhat clumsy, this astonishing learning speed was enough to shock Haku, who was witnessing her talent for the first time.

However, Sakura was still not satisfied.

Compared to how quickly she mastered Water Release, her progress in Ice Release was incredibly slow.

However, unless she spends another six years practicing Ice Release day and night, she can forget about learning Ice Release like Water Release.

The speed at which she could learn it was secondary; what Sakura was truly dissatisfied with was that the effect of this long-awaited Ninjutsu was somewhat different from what she had imagined.

The original idea was that this move could compensate for Sakura's inability to deal with high-speed ninjas.

This idea only came to me after watching Lee's match against Gaara. After opening the Five Gates, Lee practically thrashed Gaara. Even the sand, which was supposed to be Absolute Defense, seemed so weak and powerless against Lee's absolute speed and strength.

Although Sakura wasn't afraid of Lee, who could achieve superhuman speed in three minutes, this reminded her that Ninjutsu- based ninjas are easily put on the defensive when facing ninjas with extremely high speed.

She had hoped that the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals technique would increase her speed and rhythm.

It creates a special Ice Release Mirror, allowing the user to hide inside the mirror and move rapidly between them to attack the enemy. This is a Space-Time Ninjutsu. Of course, even the most basic Substitution Technique is Space-Time Ninjutsu, so the name isn't actually very impressive.

However, after truly mastering it, Sakura realized that she was somewhat unable to control this technique.

I just had a speed contest with Bai, exchanging dozens of blows in just a few seconds! Before long, I was exhausted and defeated.

The pace is too fast.

With this kind of fighting style, Sakura would be worn down before she could even defeat her opponent. Trying to fight speed with speed is extremely unwise.

To integrate this technique into her Ninjutsu system, it would probably require major modifications.

I just don't know if I'll be able to make it to the Chunin Ninja Exams!

Sakura's training encountered setbacks, while somewhere in the Land of Fire, far from Konoha—

Sakura's opponent in her first match, Naruto, also encountered a bottleneck, and even had to undergo life-threatening training!

Two weeks ago.

Knowing Tsunade, Jiraiya found Tsunade in no time.

Tanzaku Town, Izakaya.

A table, cups and glasses of wine, a scene of utter disarray.

A blonde, mature woman and a dark-haired, youthful girl were sitting at the table.

"Hmph, long time no see... What are you doing here?"

The blonde beauty suddenly stopped eating, turned her back to the door, and spoke calmly.

The white-haired man pushed open the door and entered, sitting directly opposite Tsunade.

"Long time no see, Tsunade!" the white-haired man said solemnly. "Let's skip the formalities and get straight to the point! Tsunade, the village needs you now. Return to Konoha!"

The burly middle-aged man before me, though plain-looking, possessed an extraordinary heroic spirit despite his serious expression!

Tsunade scoffed.

"Hmph, Konoha... what's wrong now, Jiraiya?"

"Orochimaru has returned to Konoha. He's here with ill intentions. I'm worried; he wants to overthrow Konoha!" Jiraiya casually revealed a piece of news that could keep countless people up at night. "Konoha is currently holding the Chunin Ninja Exams, so we can't afford to be careless. The old man has to keep an eye on the exam venue, and I have to watch over things outside... So Konoha is currently short-handed."

"Especially the old man, he's very likely to face Orochimaru or even the Kazekage. He's already so old, and if he keeps pushing himself like this, he could easily die! So, I hope you can stay by his side and lend a hand!"

"How is it, Tsunade?"

Tsunade frowned slightly, her beautiful eyes tightly closed, as if she were struggling intensely inside.

There was a long silence.

Finally, she parted her lips slightly.

"Konoha has nothing to do with me anymore... I'm sorry, Jiraiya, but this request—"

The blonde beauty Tsunade looked indifferently at Jiraiya and said coldly.

"I refuse!"

Jiraiya stared intently into her eyes for a long time without uttering a word.

"Konoha really needs you... Tsunade! I'll come back to you! Please reconsider!"

With that, Jiraiya stood up gracefully, pushed open the door, and left.

P. S. [The "soy sauce" option in the voting section was for me. You guys should vote for the girls or guys options above. Those who voted for the "soy sauce" option are so shy, are they all girls? Those reading on other sites, come vote on Qidian too!]