Rondo

It's getting closer.

The sounds of battle could already be faintly heard; a deep, rumbling roar echoed heavily through the air.

The storm was about to subside, but the sky remained overcast, with low-lying clouds drizzling a light rain that blurred the view.

He could feel the clash of Ninjutsu in the distance, far beyond the horizon. Every sudden burst of Chakra from Sakura Haruno and Minami made Rondo's heart pound like a drum.

A tension began to build in the heart of the Kirigakure Ninja. As they drew closer, an invisible and heavy pressure was pulling that tension tighter and tighter, as if it might snap at any moment!

He gripped a Kunai tightly in his hand, his palms beginning to sweat, the sweat dampening the non-slip fabric strips on the handle.

In the oppressive atmosphere, Chōjūrō followed closely behind Rondo, walking silently amidst the turbulent waves.

Suddenly, Rondo stopped abruptly.

A surge of Chakra suddenly erupted in the distance like a torrent, with unprecedented power. Rondo was shocked and his heartstrings snapped. Almost instinctively, he waved his Kunai in front of his chest, his body tense, and his Chakra was about to burst out.

Almost instantly, Rondo was ready to defend, demonstrating his strength as an Elite Jonin the Mist Ninja.

The awkward thing was that the object he was supposed to guard against was dozens of kilometers away. Rondo only realized he had been too sensitive and nervous when he finished forming the hand seal on the Water Formation Wall halfway Rondo his left hand, and almost made a blunder.

"What's wrong?" Chōjūrō approached nervously, his face tense as he asked, his expression equally terrified.

He also felt that astonishing burst of Chakra.

Rondo calmed down and shook his head. "That's their fight... it has nothing to do with us."

He paused, squinting, gazing into the distance, silently sensing the changes in Chakra in the distance.

At the edge of the sea, the clouds were dispersed, and beams of light poured down, extremely bright. Travel another twenty or thirty kilometers, and you might see a wall of water stretching across the horizon, standing on the sea line, gray and transparent, like the edge of the world.

In the perception of a ninja, all of this was as clear as if it were happening right before their eyes.

"Let's stop here. Any further..." Rondo said in a low voice, "It's too dangerous."

The distance was already close enough. After Rondo and Chōjūrō finished transmitting the first round of intelligence, they risked moving sixty or seventy kilometers in the direction where Sakura Haruno and Minami were fighting, reducing the original distance to half.

Sakura's intense and vast Chakra fluctuations were clearly perceptible at this distance, and Rondo could "see" them. That grand Ninjutsu fluctuation represented a Water Release, similar to Water Formation Wall, only much larger and more magnificent, and its function was more offensive than defensive.

This Ninjutsu was improved by Sakura Haruno.

Rondo imagined tens or hundreds of thousands of tons of seawater, infused with the girl's Chakra, rising from the sea surface to form a towering wall of water that seemed to reach the clouds. The surging waves from before were merely ripples at the base of this massive wall. Standing before it, the transparent seawater would fill the entire field of vision, so vast and magnificent it was breathtaking. This was not something an ordinary Water Release could achieve; Water Formation Wall couldn't support such a massive amount of seawater. The caster must possess an astonishing amount of Chakra, and even more astonishing understanding and control over Water Release techniques.

He was amazed by this Water Release -Water Release Ninjutsu, and also by the talent behind it.

Including this time Rondo had only met Sakura Haruno twice in total. His initial impression of this Konoha Ninja was that of a pretty but rather thin girl. Although he knew she had some strength and was quite skilled in Ninjutsu, Rondo and most of the Mist Ninja shared the consensus that strong people were ruthless, vicious, cold-blooded, and unsmiling, like the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of yesteryear, or at least like Mei Terumi who could melt people at the drop of a hat.

This prejudice vanished from Rondo's mind the moment he witnessed Sakura Haruno's Ninjutsu.

Chakra is a combination of physical and mental power. For Rondo, who is proficient in perception, it is easy to understand the user's spirit and will through Chakra. Even without mentioning her powerful Ninjutsu, Sakura Haruno's tenacious will and tangible killing intent can easily subdue Rondo —she is by no means a hothouse flower, but a true strongman.

She has fought against most of the people in the guild and escaped unscathed.

"Amazing!" The words of praise remained unspoken, yet echoed in my heart.

However, Akatsuki's enemies, who fought against Sakura Haruno, were no pushovers either.

Sakura Haruno's Water Release technique, which had completely rendered him helpless, was skillfully and easily neutralized by her. Rondo sensed that the woman named Nan had evaded this shocking attack with a magical and strange Secret Technique; her Chakra was evenly distributed into many fragments, making her immune to the damage from the Water Release. Then, the millions of fragments returned to one, and the woman reappeared on the battlefield almost unharmed, except for a slight decrease in her Chakra level.

Rondo frowned slightly.

This kind of enemy is practically invincible! This kind of battle is beyond Rondo's imagination!

"Senior, how is the battle going?" Chōjūrō noticed the change in Rondo's expression and stepped forward to ask.

As they were speaking, a deep, rumbling sound that made one's heart ache came from afar.

That was the sound of the Water Release from before; it took several minutes to reach this area.

"They're evenly matched," Rondo replied, then after observing for a moment, changed his mind, "No, that's not right... Sakura Haruno should have a slight edge!"

After a brief respite, the battlefield over there was once again agitated by fluctuations in Chakra.

It was still a clash of Ninjutsu.

Sakura Haruno's Water Dragon Bullet was exquisite yet enormous, its Chakra Shape Transformation and Nature Transformation perfectly executed. On the other side was an unknown Paper Release Secret Technique, likely a type of Yin-Yang Release, equally powerful, condensed into a spear shape, directly confronting Sakura Haruno.

The clash between the two forces created an even greater spectacle than the previous Water Release technique, causing Rondo's heart to skip a beat. Before he could calm down, a new round of combat began. The pace of battle between Kage Level ninjas was so fast that even watching from afar, Rondo found it difficult to keep up.

Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet, Water Severing Wave (actually Wind Blade Torrent), Exploding Water Colliding Wave, Water Formation Wall...

Sakura Haruno unleashed a variety of intermediate and advanced Ninjutsu. Her Chakra manipulation and unique understanding of Water Release techniques gave her the power to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, making Isshiki she made incredibly powerful.

More often than not, Sakura Haruno doesn't limit herself to existing Ninjutsu. She simply Hand Seals casually, her Chakra flowing with an almost instinctive feeling. With a light step, the seawater transforms into various shapes, such as lions, tigers, dragons, roc, or kun, roaring as it charges forward!

Sakura Haruno's Water Release, in Rondo's "eyes," were pleasing to the eye and aesthetically pleasing; while Minami's Secret Technique were mysterious and powerful.

Billions of sheets of white paper danced alongside the Akatsuki's messengers, coalescing into spears, shields, and even weapons like swords, clubs, and other martial arts under the influence of Chakra. These countless forms clashed fiercely with Sakura Haruno's relentless and powerful Water Release. Occasionally, Nan would transform herself into paper to conceal her presence, become immune to attacks, or launch surprise attacks from hidden locations, making her defenses incredibly difficult to counter!

After several rounds of this exchange, the battle was fierce, but neither woman could inflict any real damage on the other. Conventional Water Release were ineffective against Nan, and ordinary Paper Release were equally useless against Sakura. The two were truly evenly matched and unable to determine a winner.

However, upon closer inspection, Nan's Chakra had begun to decline from its peak, while Sakura Haruno's power showed no signs of diminishing. Only then did Rondo realize that the balance of victory had quietly begun to tilt!

"Sakura Haruno's stamina... is simply unfathomable! Is it because of the Yin Seal?" Rondo thought to himself, "Meanwhile, the enemy's morale and strength are beginning to decline..."

The dawn of victory has broken.

Sakura Haruno remained calm and composed. After trying out all the conventional Water Release techniques, she began to use Ice Release and other Secret Technique to probe Nan's weaknesses. The latter's Paper Release were always the same few moves, just variations on the same theme, which Sakura gradually became familiar with and understood.

The Paper Angel began to show signs of decay.

[PS: Yes, I just randomly came up with the name Rondo after watching the NBA.]