Sakura Haruno's Support

"Water Release: Super Water Gun Technique!"

A silvery-white line of water cut across the sky!

Sakura Haruno launched a sneak attack from afar. The Sound Ninja, who were besieging Shino and Yugao, had no time to react and were instantly routed by this incredibly powerful Water Release.

Under the overwhelming power of the water blade, the Sound Ninja were utterly helpless. Moreover, the girl's attack was a sneak attack, and most of them were killed instantly!

Swish!

The cat-faced ninja landed gracefully on the ground.

"How's the situation?" she asked, glancing around the battlefield.

"You've finally arrived, Tobi!" Shino wiped out the few who had managed to escape the Water Gun Technique one by one. Most of them were also seriously injured, and Shino and Yugao quickly finished them off with a Kunai each.

Shino jumped down from the tree, his exhausted body even trembling slightly.

"We just fought off three groups of people, and they don't have many left. There's one more group ahead, which is probably the last one! Sasuke's Chakra sense is right ahead!"

"How are you? Are you hurt?"

"It's not a big problem. Orochimaru only sent out a lot of henchmen. Besides their sheer numbers, they don't have much fighting power. I suspect many of them aren't even Sound Ninja; they're just ninja from other villages that Orochimaru forcibly kidnapped to carry out missions..." Shino said, squatting on the ground. "But there are a lot of them. We've probably taken down over a hundred enemies, and they still have many left! The harassment tactics have consumed a lot of our time and energy..."

Snap!

The female ninja with long, straight black hair landed heavily on the ground.

"Yugao is a little exhausted."

Soaked in sweat, Yugao didn't care about the mess on the ground or her elegant demeanor, and plopped down on the ground.

She was a ninja who charged ahead and fought with swordsmanship, and she used up the most stamina.

Yugao had forgotten exactly how many people she had killed that day. Ever since leaving Sakura Haruno, she had been constantly intercepted by the Sound Ninja. She had swung her sword so many times that her arms were now sore and weak she could barely lift them. Her sword was now soaked in blood, its once gleaming silver-white now stained a somber dark red.

While these enemies, even those at the Chunin or Genin level, usually couldn't last more than three moves against her before being beheaded, their sheer numbers made the battle particularly troublesome. She had to constantly be aware of any commotion from other parts of the battlefield while cutting them down, such as a sudden Ninjutsu or a throwing star...

Close combat is the most dangerous form of fighting, especially when facing multiple enemies. Sudden dangers in battle are extremely exhausting, and even with Shino's support and assistance, she was still quite tired.

Sakura glanced at her.

The soaking wet bodysuit clung completely to Yugao's body, making her look even sexier.

"Can you still fight, Sister Yugao?"

"I just need a short rest, I still have energy..." Yugao said with difficulty, though she was already almost unable to stand.

"Yuan, do you have any more ninja tools?" Shino then tidied up his Genin tool bag and realized that the intense battle had taken a lot of damage to the tools. "I've almost run out of ninja tools."

Yugao smiled and shook her head, saying, "Yuan never carries a ninja tool pouch, so don't count on her."

Indeed, Sakura Haruno rarely uses Kunai or throwing stars in her battles.

This is somewhat similar to ninjas of Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya's caliber.

Of course, it's not that ninja tools are ineffective at that level of combat; it's just that after reaching a certain level, some ninja combat systems no longer require the use of ninja tools.

"I don't have any ninja tools, but if it's just a short-term emergency..." Sakura flipped the white elbow pad she was wearing over her elbow, and with a light stroke of her index finger on the hidden Sealing Jutsu, she extracted a ball of pure, transparent water from the Sealing Jutsu.

"Can you accept ice ninja tools?"

With simple manipulation of Chakra, one can easily condense dozens of extremely sharp ice Kunai and ice darts from water.

"These are ice ninja tools made from real water. I imbued them with some Chakra to increase their hardness and toughness, so they won't melt for at least an hour."

Ice formed from pure water at temperatures of -50 to -60 degrees Celsius is as hard as steel. Furthermore, Sakura enhanced it with her Ice Release Kekkei Genkai Chakra, making it far more effective than ordinary ninja tools. At this temperature, the thin layer of water on the ice's surface, which provides lubrication, almost disappears, so it doesn't feel slippery at all; instead, it has a slightly astringent feel. [Note]

"Hmm..." Shino picked up an ice Kunai and examined it closely. He then compared its hardness with his own Kunai, and surprisingly, the steel Kunai a disadvantage. "Very good. As expected of a ninja tool made with Kekkei Genkai. The feel is also good; it's not slippery at all. It's just a bit light, and a bit cold to hold."

Sakura shrugged. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. That's just how ice is."

Yugao also came over and casually tried out a few ice darts. They were very satisfied with the effect of the ice ninja tools, as they could be driven deep into the tree trunks without much effort. She and Shino quickly divided up the pile of ninja tools and filled their ninja tool bags to the brim.

"Yuan, can you still make ice blades?" After taking the ninja tools, she still seemed a little unsatisfied and pulled Sakura aside to ask, "I can already see a chip in this one, and the blade is dull."

The pink-haired girl winked.

Uh... ice isn't tough enough, is it? And you can't increase toughness by lowering the temperature; it reaches its limit at minus twenty or thirty degrees Celsius. She thought for a moment, but it doesn't matter. If the strength isn't enough, Chakra can make up for it. With Chakra, anything that seems unscientific is possible.

It wasn't difficult at all; it was just a small effort. Sakura easily created another ice blade.

"Okay... why don't you try this?"

Yugao took the knife and immediately tested it on a nearby tree. Her hand was still a little sore, so she didn't use much force. With just a casual swing, she easily cut the large tree, which was too big for one person to hug, in half.

"Wow, the Kekkei Genkai is truly extraordinary!" Yugao was pleasantly surprised. She had only wanted a substitute to temporarily replace Shinken.

A smile spread across her face beneath the cherry blossom mask. The more Chakra she used, the better the effect, of course. The ice sword over there used almost the Chakra equivalent of a level-one Ninjutsu.

However, in Yugao's hands, it can unleash the power of an A-rank Ninjutsu, making it more cost-effective.

After distributing the ninja tools, Sakura rummaged through her clothes and remembered that she had also brought some energy pills and Military Ration Pill. She decided to give all the energy pills to Yugao, since she had the Yin Seal and wouldn't need them under normal circumstances.

Hmm... As for Shino? Aren't Military Ration Pill enough to shut him up?

The battlefield on Sasuke's side is already very close to them.

While Shino and Yugao were resting, Sakura also took the opportunity to rest and get herself into top condition. Next, she might encounter Orochimaru...

She was still constantly monitoring Sasuke's Chakra levels. Sasuke's Chakra remained stable, so it seemed that his battle was not in any major problems for the time being.

However, soon after Kimimaro released the Curse Mark Stage Two, that evil and massive Chakra sensation wafted over.

"Did you feel it?" Shino asked in surprise.

Yugao nodded solemnly. "Yes, a very powerful and evil Chakra..."

"Sasuke's Chakra is also rising..." Sakura said with her eyes closed, "They might be going to use their last move!"

Just then, the Sound Ninja closed in, with thirty or forty ninjas partially surrounding and blocking their path.

"Captain, Yugao, you haven't fully recovered yet, so I'll take over the support mission..."

The cat-faced mask concealed the Anbu passageway.

"Please hold off these Sound Ninja and clear a path for me. I need to get to the battlefield before Sasuke and the others decide their fate!"

The girl suddenly opened her eyes.

In her green eyes, a chilling killing intent, like frost, enveloped the Sound Ninja blocking her way.

(1/. Please recommend, comment, and add chapters!)

(Regarding Chapter 100, it was banned for some reason and is currently being revised and resubmitted for review. I'm also checking the other chapters to avoid exceeding the limit. I might not have much time to carefully revise these two updates, so hopefully they won't be too jarring.)

[Note: When the temperature is above zero degrees Celsius, there is always a layer of water, 10-100 nanometers thick, on the surface of ice that never freezes. This layer of water makes the ice extremely slippery. When the temperature drops below zero degrees Celsius, the thin water layer with lubricating properties almost disappears, and the smoothness of the ice surface is significantly reduced. This surface melting mechanism is the main reason why humans can ice skate. It's been a while since I had class, I should take notes!]