Ice Clone

Sakura was naturally happy to receive this unexpected benefit, but she didn't care too much about it.

Given Sister Sakura's pride, she's confident she'll find better ways to improve herself in the future, so she naturally doesn't think much of this little bit of accumulation. However, all of that is several years away; Sister Sakura's predicament lies in the present.

She has now entered a plateau phase in her growth.

To put it simply, there's not much room for improvement in his physical attributes, and the Ninjutsu he recently developed is just icing on the cake, not playing a core role. New Ninjutsu is still under research, so his strength can't grow as rapidly as it did before.

Many of the Ninjutsu developed and learned Chunin Ninja Exams, after being tested in actual combat, showed that most of them did not have the potential for further development.

Her two core Ninjutsu are practically at their highest level. With the Ultra-Pure Water, she can only work on its preparation; the Water Gun Technique, from its initial high-pressure water blade, has been upgraded to increase pressure and range, and later, with the addition of Water Release Wind Release Nature Transformation, it became Water Release: Wind Blade Torrent. In terms of enhancing its destructive power, this Ninjutsu has gone far enough.

But this doesn't mean Sakura can rest on her laurels and live off these two Ninjutsu.

No matter how strong the Ninjutsu is, it's useless if the user is incompetent. It's like a child holding a gun; it looks intimidating, but in a life-or-death struggle, it might not be more dangerous than an adult with a knife.

For example, what would happen if Sasuke used Lightning Blade and Sakura used Wind Blade Torrent? Sakura had thought about this question a long time ago.

Water Gun Technique is a mid-range Ninjutsu, Lightning Blade is a close-range Ninjutsu, so of course Sasuke would be taken down first?

Sakura had once been certain of this, but after witnessing Sasuke's battle against Gaara, she gradually developed some unease. A ninja capable of fighting at extremely high speeds is a formidable counter to Ninjutsu- based ninjas; even a ninja like Gaara, with his Absolute Defense, was Sasuke so vulnerable by Sasuke. Come to think of it, Gaara's Absolute Defense is quite similar to his Water Release defense, isn't it? Once the enemy's speed exceeds a certain limit, even jutsu defenses or a person's thinking may not be able to keep up with the enemy's pace.

Yes, when Sakura was standing in the stands Chunin Ninja Exams, she could keep up with Sasuke's speed. But Sasuke's speed still had a lot of room for improvement, while she really didn't have much talent in speed, even though Ice Release had improved her a lot... After a year or two, would she still be so sure she could keep up with Sasuke?

Will high-speed combat become her Achilles' heel?

After Sasuke activated the Mitsudomoe, Sakura gradually found herself struggling during sparring. Sakura's reaction speed was definitely not slow, but Sasuke's was getting faster and faster. Admittedly, the girl was confident that she could keep up with the pace of Jonin- level battles, but in the future, she would almost certainly encounter Kage Level or even Super Kage Level opponents—like that mysterious Akatsuki.

She needs to be faster, at least her reaction time needs to keep up!

Otherwise, just like Minato Namikaze's enemies back then, they would be instantly defeated by an opponent with Minato's super speed, and no matter how strong their skills were, they would not be able to use them.

However, speed-type ninjas are almost born with it. Their dynamic vision and reaction speed will quickly reach a limit after training. Most ninjas stop at being a little fast, while those with special talents or cheat codes can do even faster, so they are called speed-type ninjas, such as the Fourth Hokage and Sasuke with the Sharingan.

Unfortunately, it's not Sister Sakura.

Actually, there's nothing to regret. Compared to her two teammates, Sakura's gap in stamina, Chakra reserves, and Kekkei Genkai is despairingly large. In comparison, the fact that she's not a speed-type ninja is nothing at all.

More importantly, in Sakura's plan, these gaps are not insurmountable. Yes, the talented Sakura certainly won't give up easily; there are always more solutions than problems...

"So this is your solution?" Hinata raised an eyebrow, posing a question to her best friend with deep doubt.

In the empty room, a low table covered with a plain white cloth was placed in front of the girl with the Byakugan. Apart from that, there were no other decorations. Its length and width were just enough for a person to lie down.

And there was indeed a person lying on the table.

A young girl with vacant eyes and an expressionless face lay motionless, staring quietly at the ceiling.

What is particularly striking is that she is completely naked, covered only by a layer of white cloth, barely concealing her body, revealing only her fair and tender limbs.

Her pink hair was casually scattered on the table, and her light green eyes had lost their usual liveliness, but judging from the girl's appearance, it was undoubtedly Sakura Haruno.

However, Sakura, lying on the low table, remained unmoved by Hinata's question. Her lips were slightly parted, and she didn't even glance at her friend. She just lay there quietly and without any reaction. If it weren't for the faint rise and fall of her chest, she might have been mistaken for a corpse.

But the room didn't fall silent. "Don't rush, Hinata... this is just a necessary preparation for developing a new technique."

Of course, the one who was talking wasn't the one lying on the table, staring blankly at the ceiling, pretending to be a corpse.

Hinata raised her head, her slightly hazy white eyes darting around as she looked at the other Sakura Haruno standing across the table from her.

The graceful young woman before her, with her bright eyes and charming smile—and, more importantly, dressed impeccably: a light blue short-sleeved shirt and mauve trousers—was clearly the real her.

"Necessary preparations?"

Hinata raised an eyebrow, said nothing, and moved her gaze from the girl's feet peeking out from her white mid-heeled sandals to her fair cheeks, waiting for Sakura's explanation.

She was mysteriously pulled into the lab by Sakura, who wanted Hinata to do her an important favor. Then she spent the whole morning working on it, with Sakura constantly summoning clones for her to analyze... She was really curious about the meaning of what they were doing.

Hinata actually knew what Sakura was troubled about lately. In the history of the Hokage world, there have been almost no famous female ninjas with speed. Whether it is reaction or movement, it seems to be common knowledge that women are a step slower than men. On the other Hinata also knew Sakura's temperament. Her strong ambition did not allow her to succumb to this common knowledge or accept that she had such a fatal shortcoming.

Perhaps challenging common sense is a foolish thing in the eyes of ordinary people... but Sakura is someone who can break the rules, Hinata is looking forward to seeing what her friend will do.

But what do these things have to do with this strange clone in front of us?

This kind of clone is really strange; it's even more solid than Shadow Clone. The Ice Clone formed by Ice Release definitely looks much more advanced than a regular Water Clone...

"Hmm, let's use the Byakugan, Hinata," Sakura released her hands from the Tiger Hand Seal and smiled with satisfaction. "This time, the Chakra control was perfect; the effect should be quite noticeable."

"Playing mysterious?" Hinata glared at Sakura speechlessly, then turned her gaze to the Ice Clone on the table.

Instead of opening her Byakugan immediately, she carefully examined the clone: upon closer inspection, her eyes were clear and cold, her nose was delicate, her lips were slightly upturned, and her cheeks were so white that they were almost transparent. Although it was a clone, it had a unique aloof temperament, like an ice goddess.

If Hinata hadn't seen it with her own eyes every day, Hinata would have suspected that her friend had asked Lady Tsunade to do some minor cosmetic surgery on her. On another note, it's also quite strange that a clone has more charisma than the original.

She still remembered when she first graduated from the Ninja Academy. Sakura was just a carefree kid with Billboard Brow, whose features hadn't fully developed yet and could only be described as pretty. Two years had passed, and she had unknowingly grown into a beautiful young woman. Judging from her appearance alone, the leap from a 4 to a 7 was far beyond what the saying "a girl changes drastically at eighteen" could explain. This growth was even faster than her increase in strength. Although at first glance, her features hadn't changed much—her eyes were still the same, her nose was still the same—only close observation revealed subtle changes, such as a slightly higher nose bridge and a thinner chin, etc., which made her appear much prettier, somewhat reminiscent of Yuki Haku.

Hinata did hear that Sakura's Ice Release training had an effect on improving her physique, but did that improvement also include her appearance? Hinata was a little envious: She really wanted to learn Ice Release too!

Hinata silently sighed in her heart, her gaze following the girl's slender neck, across her delicate collarbone, and landing on her slightly sized, yet barely enlarged, chest.

Hinata involuntarily straightened her body.

"Hinata, open your Byakugan," Sakura gently reminded her.

Hinata readily complied. She activated her Byakugan, her incredibly penetrating gaze piercing through the thin fabric, past skin, fat, and bone, and she saw... a beating heart?

Yes, a vibrant, living heart beating and pumping blood.

Astonished, Hinata scanned the Ice Clone's entire body with her Byakugan. Its internal organs, blood vessels, meridians, nerves, and so on were all revealed under the Byakugan's scan, and there was no omission or error compared to a real human body!

"Wow, it really is... a complete simulation of a real body! You actually managed to do it." Yes, unlike ordinary clones, this clone that Sakura created with so much effort was actually Ice Clone that completely simulated the original body, including flesh, organs, and meridians!

"How is it? Can you take a close look for me? Is there anything I've missed?"

"Hmm, not yet... It's perfect!" Hinata with a touch of admiration. "Impressive, impressive! Creating a clone like this must be extremely difficult, right? No wonder even you struggled so much, managing to perfectly replicate the original. What's next? Are you going to use the clone for some dangerous experiments?"

Sakura nodded. Hinata wasn't stupid; of course she could guess what she wanted to do.

"Yes... The main goal is to develop a technique that, if successful, will greatly improve reaction speed! It's about using Ninjutsu to strengthen the nervous system, just like Chakra strengthens muscle strength. However, the details will be much more complicated. And since it involves the nervous system, it's too dangerous to test it on myself directly. Also..." Sakura paused meaningfully.

(How can anyone still remember this book's dark history? Forget about it! Aaaaaaah!)