Miss Sakura's Poetic Talent... Really Is Extraordinary

(The real title is: Drag it out until the clones run out of stamina, which is considered a loss due to timeout)

The sea is calm.

On the vast and boundless sea, a lone ship sails silently.

The water is a deep blue, rippling with light, the colors of the sea blending seamlessly together.

Under the brilliant sunlight, the waves were like snow, the ripples like scales, and the sea was as blue and clear as the sky.

Leaning against the railing of the cruise ship deck, Sister Sakura Haruno looked at the picturesque sea view before her and couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

"Ahem," Sakura felt a surge of poetic inspiration. How could such a magnificent seascape not be matched with a good poem? Thinking this, she cleared her throat, swayed her head, squinted her eyes, and recited with a look of rapture—

"Oh, ocean, you are all water!"

"Pfft--" Director Asama was filming not far away, spat out the water he had just taken a sip of.

"Ahem, well... Sister Sakura's poetic talent... is truly extraordinary!" The director covered his conscience with his hand and said, "Hehe, by the way, why did Sister Sakura only use a clone instead of appearing in person?"

He pointed to a spot not far away, where the camera was filming, where Sakura's Ice Clone was sparring with Sasuke as usual.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" "Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

The fireball and the water wall collided with a deafening roar. The clash of Ninjutsu created terrifying waves on the calm sea. The thunderous sound still resonated on the ship hundreds of meters away, and the aftershocks drew concentric circles of waves across the boundless sea, stretching towards the horizon.

With a whoosh, water droplets splashed onto the nearby sea, like a short downpour, instantly soaking Director Asama and the rest of the crew.

However, the chubby uncle didn't care at all. Seeing such a magnificent clash of Ninjutsu, he was already breathing heavily, his face flushed, and he was completely excited. Wiping the seawater from his face, Asama Takehiko stared at the camera with a fanatical expression. "Wow! That's gorgeous! It's perfect footage! Quick, did camera two get it? Save it!"

He buried his head in front of the camera, focusing intently on capturing the figures of the two fighting on the sea with a wide shot, even putting aside his conversation with his idol.

Director Asama is really free-spirited, but only someone so focused on film could make such a popular movie! Sakura didn't find him rude; she just shook her head with amusement.

On the sea.

Sasuke breathed slightly, loosened his hand Hand Seals, and calmed his erratic breathing.

The mist obscured Sasuke's vision, but within the vision of his blood-red Sharingan, the Chakra of his distant Ice Clone remained stable and unharmed.

"As expected, fighting Sakura in a water-filled environment is too troublesome, even if the opponent is just an Ice Clone..." Sasuke frowned slightly and muttered to himself. He glanced at Sakura herself, who was leisurely leaning on the cruise ship in the distance, "If she were to fight in person, what kind of Water Release would she use?"

He shook his head, banishing the unnecessary thoughts from his mind, and focused on the battlefield. The powerful observational ability of the Mitsudomoe reminded him that Sakura 'Chakra was circulating rapidly, and the next wave of attack was imminent.

Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!

Sasuke felt the calm water beneath his feet suddenly tremble, Sasuke expression shifted, and the spinning of his Mitsudomoe accelerated abruptly. The next moment—BOOM!

A surging current erupted irresistibly from the calm sea, shooting straight into the sky and completely engulfing Sasuke's figure!

Swish--

The explosive sound of the Body Flicker Technique suddenly rang out, and Sasuke, having dodged the Water Dragon Bullet at extremely high speed, appeared behind the clone!

He turned to the side, twisted his waist, lowered his shoulders, and raised his whip leg high.

Taijutsu: Konoha Whirlwind!

The vicious side kick mercilessly sent the stunned clone flying, crashing onto the water several meters away!

Press the attack while the momentum is high.

Stimulated by the Lightning Release Chakra, Sasuke's movements became even faster, and in the next instant, his ghostly figure reappeared beside the clone!

With a deep thud, the black-haired boy's attack was blocked by the ice block formed by his clone.

Sasuke frowned slightly. The hardness of pure ice at minus sixty degrees Celsius is comparable to that of steel, not to mention that the Ice Clone was infused with Chakra to enhance its strength. Therefore, even an attack powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks could not break through the clone's defense!

"Hmph... Not bad reaction speed!" The black-haired boy curled his lips into a proud smile.

In the next instant, his Lightning Release Chakra surged, and his already unpredictable speed increased even further. His swift, hawk-like figure flashed past in the corner of his eye, and when he reappeared, a powerful punch had already knocked the clone, who had no time to react, to the ground.

The ice defense formed by the clone appeared belatedly, but Sasuke, who had already disappeared from the spot, reappeared in a position that the clone could not reach, and attacked the clone with heavy punches and kicks like Hayate.

Slap slap slap! A suffocating barrage of punches and kicks enveloped the clone, followed by a final spinning whip kick that sent it flying.

"Is it over?" asked Director Asama, who had been holding his breath and watching the battle intently from the sidelines.

"No... not yet. When fighting a clone, the battle isn't over until the clone completely dissipates. You see, the clone is still maintaining its stability." Sakura, who was also intently watching the battle between the clone and Sasuke, explained when Asama asked her question.

"Clones are usually very fragile, right...? How come your clones can last so long?" Asama was completely unaware that his question was somewhat taboo.

"Ordinary clones are indeed very fragile, but my clones are no ordinary clones! Besides..."

"Imitating Gaara's technique for defense?"

The black-haired boy's tone was tinged with surprise. Sharingan looked at the Ice Clone lying on the water and slowly stood up. In his expectation, the attack just now should have completely shattered the clone!

The shards of ice falling from the clone's face gave him the answer; the familiar scene reminded him of Gaara Chunin Ninja Exams and the Sand Armor Ninjutsu used.

"That's right, this is the Ice Armor..." the Ice Clone said calmly.

Freezing ice on the skin to defend against enemy attacks has the drawback that the frozen ice also affects one's agility.

"No wonder you've lasted so long... However, the Ice Armor technique can't completely stop my attack. It protects you, but it also limits your counterattack, so you can only wait to die," Sasuke calmly.

"I didn't plan to use this Ninjutsu forever..."

"Hmph, no amount of Ninjutsu will work—" Sasuke sneered, then kicked off and charged at the clone once more!

Ice Release: Absolute Defense!

*Thud! Sasuke felt as if he had kicked an unmoving rock. A thick ice wall stood between the two of them. The fierce blow struck the ice wall but did not budge. Instead, the force of the recoil made Sasuke feel a tightness in his chest.

Damn it... Sasuke stopped behind the ice wall, his brows furrowed, staring at the ice Ice Clone calmly Hand Seals behind it, and the thick spherical ice wall that completely enveloped the clone, Chunin curse inwardly.

Is this going to finish Gaara off? Sasuke jumped back a few steps, dodging the ice spikes that suddenly shot out from the ice ball—this allowed the Ice Clone to advance Gaara's Ninjutsu SPLAY by another step.

For Sakura, imitating some of Gaara's Ninjutsu Water Release or even Ice Release is a piece of cake; it's just a matter of whether she's willing to do it.

However, the subsequent Ninjutsu bombardment was no longer SPLAY, but rather entirely Sakura's personal style.

Realizing that Sasuke couldn't defeat the ice ball anytime soon, the Ice Clone hiding behind the ice wall began to unleash Water Release and Ice Release with impunity: Water Dragon Bullet, Five Feeding Sharks, and other Water Release were concealed beneath the surface of the sea, ready to launch a sudden attack as soon as Sasuke touched the water. In the air, there were also Ice Release: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death and Ice Drizzle Barrage, which imitated Kimimaro's style of Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets strikes. They launched a carpet bombing of Ninjutsu against Sasuke simultaneously from the sea, land, and air.

Sasuke didn't use Fire Style to fight off clones anymore. In the ocean environment, it would be foolish to fight a ninja who was proficient in Water Release with Ninjutsu, even if the opponent was just a clone.

In this environment, Sakura's clones can easily use Ninjutsu. She can simplify large-scale Ninjutsu with dozens of hand seals into just a few, and she can even use B-rank Ninjutsu without any effort.

So Sasuke was just using his incredible speed to dodge Sakura's barrage of Ninjutsu, making him look particularly disheveled to outsiders, constantly being chased and attacked by Sakura.

"Fight back, Sasuke!" Director Asama exclaimed with the anxiety of a eunuch even though the emperor wasn't worried, he was practically sweating for Sasuke, "How can they fight like this?"

However, Sakura felt that he was actually looking forward to seeing Sasuke retaliate and witness another clash of Ninjutsu like before. Because while he was expressing his concern, he was also watching with great interest and fascination as Sakura's clones unleashed a dazzling array of Ninjutsu.

"Don't worry, Director Asama," Sakura comforted him. "Although Sasuke seems to be running away in a sorry state, he still maintains control of the pace. This is because the Ninjutsu used by my clones couldn't keep up with Sasuke 'Sasuke speed. Although it looks impressive, it's just a matter of Sasuke exhausting their stamina."

"Oh, is that so? So if Sasuke keeps running like this, his clones will eventually run out of Chakra and lose?"

"If he really does that, then the clone will definitely be the first to give up..." Sakura nodded.

Of course, if I were to take the stage myself, the answer would be different—she didn't finish the sentence, but the girl continued, "However, Sasuke will definitely not drag this out."

"Why?" The chubby uncle looked at Sakura with some surprise.

"Because for Sasuke, that would be second only to being defeated outright by a clone. He believes that winning the duel by dragging it out until the clone runs out of stamina is equivalent to losing on time," Sakura smiled. "Sasuke is quite a proud ninja, you know!"

The chubby uncle blinked, somewhat understanding Sasuke's mindset.

Sakura could understand Sasuke's thoughts very well, as could Naruto's —because they were both people who refused to admit defeat.

But what will Sasuke do next?

(Ahem, I really didn't mean to stop here, it's just that this is exactly the word count for a chapter.)

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