The Final Blow

Sakura Haruno gradually regained her composure and straightened her body.

Her mask, tattered and worn from the battle, was torn off her face and tossed aside.

The broken cat-face mask on the ice, missing its original design, gives it an absurd feel; but at the critical moment of life and death, the absurd mask also becomes serious, suddenly exuding an eerie aura.

The mask was removed, revealing the girl's clean and clear face.

Two thin, long bloodstains on her face, left untreated, stained the pristine white skin like ink spreading unintentionally, defiling this beautiful painting.

However, amidst the grim and desolate atmosphere of the battlefield, these two striking bloodstains added a touch of heroic spirit to her delicate beauty.

Perhaps calling it cold and stern wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Because at this moment, she is not a young girl in her prime on the street, but Anbu Ninja fighting to the death on the battlefield.

Simply standing there with his hands hanging naturally at his sides, he exuded a sharp and imposing aura.

Especially those eyes.

Beneath the icy texture of his Chakra, his gaze held no warmth whatsoever, coldly and devoid of any emotion as he stared at Kimimaro.

Then the girl closed her eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, a sharp killing intent leaked out through his exquisite, emerald-like eyes, oppressively enveloping the entire battlefield.

"Let's settle this with one move..."

She said coldly.

It's unclear why Kimimaro would make such a suggestion—in the original story, he was barely clinging to life and couldn't possibly have displayed such strength. It can only be assumed that the events after the Chunin Ninja Exams have completely deviated from the so-called "plot."

Perhaps because Kabuto didn't need to care for the severely injured Orochimaru, he could focus all his attention on Kimimaro's condition. Orochimaru was also unharmed, probably helped a lot as well. In any case, Kimimaro's condition was much better than he was "remembered." However, after being ravaged by the Lightning Blade Torrent, Kimimaro was probably close to the end of his life. The reason he was able to exert such fighting power was probably because he used Secret Technique similar to the Eight Gates Released Formation to forcibly enhance his strength.

Sakura has recently been researching Secret Technique with Hinata and Neji to amplify Chakra by opening pressure points, so she has a fairly good understanding of this Secret Technique. Judging from the extent of his power increase, Kimimaro's life is now likely to be measured in minutes or even seconds.

Therefore, as long as she continues to stall, she can win against Kimimaro without a fight. She can completely avoid battle until his body collapses, and then she will naturally win the battle.

But she did not choose to do so.

Kimimaro was pressed for time, but wasn't she as pressed for it as she was?

Orochimaru, who never showed his face, remained a Damocles' sword hanging over her heart.

They're stalling for time. Who knows how long Kimimaro can hold out? What if he holds out until Orochimaru arrives?

Therefore, stalling for time was not an option for her. Moreover, Sasuke was seriously injured and needed immediate treatment.

Sakura Haruno was even more anxious than him!

"This move will be the final blow!"

She issued a declaration.

Kimimaro's difficulty lies in the fact that while he is in the Dance of the Early Bracken, he can merge into the bone forest at any time, launching an attack or dodging an attack from any time and any place.

Therefore, this move must destroy Kimimaro along with his Dance of the Early Bracken in order to truly kill him!

Sakura Haruno took a deep breath, feeling her entire chest cavity expand to twice its size.

"The Yin Seal didn't store much energy to begin with, and we don't have much Chakra left. This time, we'll use it all up in one go...!"

Extracting such a large amount of Chakra in one go might be commonplace for Kage Level ninja, and even occasionally occurs in Jonin- level battles. However, for Sakura Haruno, who is always careful with her Chakra and dislikes using Ninjutsu that consumes a lot of energy, this was a first...

The feeling of power surging out wildly made her scalp tingle slightly.

The sheer amount of Chakra even created a vortex of air around her, causing the ripped parts of her clothes to flutter loudly.

Her pink hair fluttered in the wind, soft strands constantly brushing against her face and eyes, occasionally obscuring them, but unable to conceal the chilling, bone-chilling killing intent emanating from them.

"This time you won't have room to hide anymore..." she murmured, "Because I'm going to blow you and your Dance of the Early Bracken to smithereens!"

Sakura Haruno chose to do the same thing as the dart explosion and Ice Clone explosion... to explode all the ice layers created by the Frost Ice Burial in one go, creating an unprecedented frost explosion!

Place your hands in front of your chest and begin Hand Seals.

A massive amount of Chakra began to pour out as the hand gestures changed.

"Chakra surged into the ice below, such an astonishing amount of Chakra... What is she planning to do?" Kimimaro was startled, but he couldn't care less about that now and could only choose to attack recklessly!

As a signal from the hand Hand Seals by Sakura, Kimimaro gathered all his strength and began to charge towards the girl.

"Take this! Ice Release: Ice Prison Explosion!"

Boom--Boom--Boom--!

The ice layer, covering an area of several hundred meters, shattered at the same instant!

As the Chakra seeped in, every ice wall and every ice shard seemed to transform into a powerful explosive, detonating with a roar!

If ice darts and Ice Clone Explosion Technique are like a ripple on a calm lake;

So the ice explosion that Sakura created at this moment is like a giant wave stirred up by a storm in the boundless ocean!

This move was truly earth-shattering.

From mid-air, Sakura could see the entire earth shaking, cracking, and shattering under the weight of the storm!

The violent explosion created an earthquake in the area!

In the distance, the shockwave from the explosion formed a transparent and distorted wall of air that spread outwards from the explosion's epicenter.

Nearby flowers, trees, boulders, and rubble were swallowed up by the explosion, turning into endless dust and debris.

A little further away, although not affected by the blast wave, the air blast sent flying rocks and leaves flying, uprooted trees, and shrubs hanging tightly to the ground, appearing more than half a meter shorter.

"Tsk! I'm really being reckless!" The Ice Clone's expression tightened, Sasuke behind her, with pebbles and withered branches hitting her back.

With a devastating blow, the bone forest, tightly bound to the ice and intertwined with its underground parts, was completely blasted into countless fragments and vanished from the earth.

All that remained was a large crater nearly ten meters deep.

Boom...

The explosions gradually subsided, and the girl, breathing softly, landed on the ground.

His face was as cold and stern as ice.

"This move still can't kill him..." she gritted her teeth and said, "This unkillable monster!"

Before her stood a gigantic bone sphere composed of layers of bone shields!

Although it was dilapidated and on the verge of collapse, the person inside the bone sphere was still alive.

Pierced by several broken ice shards, Kimimaro still had his last breath. He staggered out of the bone sphere and struggled to his feet.

"That move... was indeed a terrifying blow! However, while destroying my Dance of the Early Bracken, the ice medium used in your Ice Body Flicker Technique was also completely used to cause the explosion..."

"In other words, this time, neither of us can use the Body Flicker Technique to evade the attack..."

Kimimaro stared coldly at Sakura Haruno.

His body was almost completely cold; his internal organs had long since ceased functioning due to the overwhelming strain. Only his last Chakra was forcibly keeping his brain and muscles running. His life was hanging by a thread, its final seconds numbered!

"This time, we must face their final blow head-on!"

The two launched their final charge simultaneously.

"The Dance of the Clematis: Flower!"

"Monstrous Strength Technique: Star Cannon Hammer!"

Shadows overlapped.

Dark red blood and shattered pieces of flesh burst forth from the intertwined figures.

Kimimaro's bone spear brushed past the pink-haired girl's sideburns.

Sakura Haruno's hand pierced through Kimimaro's chest, shattering his heart completely!

"You lost..."

Sakura Haruno stared indifferently at Kimimaro's trembling, bloodless lips, her voice cold and menacing.

With her Cherry Blossom Impact and Monstrous Strength Technique activated, how could she possibly lose to an enemy who couldn't even stand up straight in this Body Flicker Technique clash where there was no way to dodge attacks with a teleportation technique?

"Cough cough!" Kimimaro spat out several mouthfuls of blood that had already begun to cool, and said weakly.

"No, I won... After using that move, you no longer have the means to use Ice Body Flicker Technique Movement... You can't escape!"

She... was locked in by his body!

"This is the final blow..."

"The Dance of the Early Bracken!"

Kimimaro's flower of life blooms.

Then it withers.

(This is the third update tonight. Please recommend, comment, and add more chapters! Update times are 2 PM and 7 PM. If there's an extra chapter, I'll post it at 9 PM.)

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