Ice Release (2)

At midday, Sakura went back to Tazuna's house to bring lunch to Naruto and Sasuke, who were training so intensely they forgot to eat and sleep. In contrast, Sakura, who was casually waving a fallen leaf around, seemed much more relaxed. Of course, the reality was that Sakura could practice anytime, anywhere, and after reaching a certain level of proficiency, practicing wind Nature Transformation no longer required full concentration.

While Naruto and Sasuke were eating, Sakura observed their progress. They were still using the same training methods from the original story, and the large tree they were practicing on was covered with crooked marks, recording their progress. Compared to the original story, they were progressing much faster now; Sasuke was almost halfway up the tree, and Naruto was close behind.

Seeing Sasuke wolfing down his food, Sakura chuckled. Knowing Sasuke very well, she knew he wasn't usually this diligent in his training. His unusually intense effort this time was probably spurred on by her and Sasuke's Naruto pursuit.

Among the three Genin of Team 7, the ranking of strength is quite obvious: Sakura is the strongest, Sasuke in the middle, and Naruto is the weakest. However, in the eyes of outsiders, Naruto, as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, has the greatest potential. Sasuke has the Sharingan, and once he awakens the Mangekyō Sharingan, he will be guaranteed to reach Kage Level. Only Sakura, as the descendant of an ordinary ninja, has neither Kekkei Genkai nor a family Secret Technique, and is the least favored. Many people believe that in a few years, Sakura will be far surpassed by Naruto and Sasuke.

But at least for now, Sakura's strength far surpasses Sasuke's.

Especially after graduation, under Kakashi's guidance, Sakura successfully integrated Nintaijutsu and Water Release into her fighting system, and her strength improved by leaps and bounds. After that, Sakura hadn't sparred with Sasuke for a long time, not for any other reason than that Sasuke had no way to deal with Water Blade Technique and Nintaijutsu, and would only be defeated without any suspense, so such sparring was meaningless.

In contrast, although Sasuke has also made remarkable progress, the gap between him and Sakura has widened further. Sasuke hadn't noticed this for a long time since he had sparred with Sakura until the battle against Zabuza, when Sakura unleashed her full power, Sasuke realized that Sakura had gone much further.

The Water Clone that Sasuke had to be wary of were easily defeated by Sakura. While he was still hiding to protect Tazuna, Sakura had already gained the ability to Zabuza injure Zabuza. After the battle, Sasuke recalled this scene with mixed feelings. There was disappointment, surprise, anger, and also a sense of anxious urgency.

They yearn to grow and become stronger.

In particular, when he saw Naruto's training progress closely following his own, and when he saw Naruto chasing after his back with all his might, the anxious sense of urgency became even stronger, as if a whip was being forcefully lashed from behind, striking his back hard, making him dare not stop for a moment!

Naruto and Sasuke put down their chopsticks almost simultaneously, swallowed the last bite of rice, and then got up to continue Tree Climbing. Sakura quickly stopped them, saying that strenuous exercise right after eating would be too much even for ninjas. As their teammate, Sakura sometimes felt like a nagging housekeeper, having to follow them around constantly reminding them of common sense.

Naruto had been stopped by Sakura, rubbed his full stomach and wandered around the woods listlessly. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he stopped, grinning mischievously as he asked Sakura, "Sakura, what's the trick to Tree Climbing? How come you climbed up so easily?"

Sakura noticed that Sasuke, who was resting nearby, pretended to be indifferent, but secretly pricked up his ears.

Sakura chuckled inwardly, but remained outwardly calm, saying, "Kakashi, didn't you say you wanted to figure it out yourself? Fine, since you asked, I'll teach you a couple of moves!"

"Watch closely!" Sakura first Hand Seals to create a Shadow Clone, then slightly adjusted her Chakra to transform the Shadow Clone into a transparent human body without facial features. Through the body, one could see the meridians that covered the entire body. This special clone was the tool Sakura used for teaching.

Unlike ordinary ninjas who practice Ninjutsu to achieve higher proficiency, Sakura is more interested in exploring the principles behind the Ninjutsu. So far, she has already achieved something, and this transparent clone is a prime example.

Under Naruto and Sasuke's astonished gazes, the Shadow Clone both hands, mimicking the human body's Chakra refining process. Then, it concentrated the Chakra in the soles of its feet and began Tree Climbing step by step. From its transparent body, one could see that the Chakra flowed calmly and rapidly through its meridians, and the amount of Chakra gathered in the soles of its feet remained just right, providing the Shadow Clone with the strength needed to Tree Climbing.

Sakura knew that compared to explaining things to them at length, they might not be able to absorb much. Instead, this kind of intuitive demonstration would leave a deep impression on them and allow them to quickly understand the key points.

As expected, after watching the Shadow Clone's performance, Naruto and Sasuke both showed thoughtful expressions, indicating that they had indeed grasped some of the techniques. It's likely that they will soon be able to complete this Tree Climbing exercise, after which they can learn how to precisely utilize Chakra in battle.

Sakura greatly envied Naruto and Sasuke. They were undoubtedly very lucky to have someone with such strong Chakra control as her to guide them. In contrast, Sakura's Ice Release training lacked such guidance. Kakashi's Sharingan could not successfully copy the Kekkei Genkai, and the copied Ice Release Ninjutsu turned into a few half-finished ice needles when used. The aura of Ice Release was faint, making it difficult for Sakura to gain any insight.

Kakashi also said he was powerless to do anything about it.

Sakura could only use the most rudimentary method to try to simultaneously perform two Nature Transformation and combine them. In the past few days, she has created a Shadow Clone each time to help with her training. The white Shadow Clone goes out to train with Naruto Sasuke, while her main body stays at Tazuna's house to train, so that she can balance her missions and training.

Sakura quickly realized that the key to the problem lay in multitasking. Those who possessed Kekkei Genkai instinctively knew how to perform two Nature Transformation simultaneously, while those who wanted to learn Kekkei Genkai through practice had to master both Nature Transformation to a certain degree in order to subconsciously maintain the other Nature Transformation performing one.

It's easy to do, but difficult to do.

Sakura was confident that she could perform water -Nature Transformation "subconsciously." However, she was not capable of performing wind -Nature Transformation simultaneously with water -Nature Transformation. The reason for this was simply that she was not yet proficient in wind -Nature Transformation, which involved too much of her mental energy, making it impossible for her to perform water- Nature Transformation, which she could do "subconsciously."

Therefore, Sakura focused all her energy on practicing the Nature Transformation of wind. Simply cutting leaves was far from enough; she needed to practice to a deeper level.

Kakashi told Sakura that highly skilled Wind Release ninjas could transform their hand blades into incredibly sharp blades simply by covering their palms with Wind Nature Transformation Chakra. Cutting leaves was just the simplest beginning.

How long does it take to reach that level? Kakashi knows that Asuma, who specialized in wind-style techniques, spent nearly five or six years mastering Wind Release before achieving the ability to cut through stone shards. So, how about Sakura?

Seven. Go all out.

Kakashi wasn't shocked by the result. When someone is mentally prepared for everything, they can face anything with equanimity. Actually, thinking about it carefully, there's nothing surprising about it. Kakashi was used to Sakura practicing Ninjutsu dozens of times faster than others. Asuma had immersed himself in Wind Release for five or six years, but in reality, the total time spent practicing Wind Release over those five or six years wouldn't exceed six months. Sakura, on the other hand, had devoted herself entirely to it for seven years, so it wasn't surprising that she could achieve what others could in six months. That's the difference between talent and ordinary people!

After that, the initial mastery of Ice Release training proceeded naturally.

The seventh night.

Standing before Kakashi, Sakura clasped her hands together, using her left hand to control her Chakra water -Nature Transformation and her right hand for wind -Nature Transformation. The Chakra in her hands intertwined, and the two Chakra Nature Transformation collided and merged in her palms. In Sakura's perception, a completely new Chakra texture appeared.

Sakura spread her hands, and a wisp of white mist rose from her palms—the mist formed when water vapor condensed at low temperatures. Kakashi saw that a transparent crystal lay quietly on Sakura's pale palms.

That was a piece of ice.

Her lips involuntarily curled up slightly, and a matter-of-fact smile appeared on her pale face. Beneath her heavy dark circles, a pair of tired, emerald eyes looked at Kakashi with smug satisfaction, and she spoke in a hoarse voice.

"How was it? Ice Release isn't that difficult!"

"Alright, alright, I know you're amazing!" Seeing Sakura's face lose its rosy glow and become bloodless from practicing, Kakashi said helplessly, "Don't worry about that now, you're exhausted, go and rest first!"

Kakashi was alright, but this sudden movement caused Sakura to feel all the fatigue rush to her head, making her sway and unable to stand steadily.

Sakura originally planned to train step by step, but seeing Naruto and Sasuke training so diligently inspired her. More importantly, Sakura genuinely enjoyed this kind of training, often having the illusion of leveling up all night while training. With her talent, she could make significant progress when focusing intently on a single task, and this positive feedback loop of immediate reward made her unconsciously become addicted to training.

Now that she had finally successfully unleashed the Ice Release Nature Transformation, even the most basic Ice Release gave her a sense of satisfaction akin to beating a game after grinding levels all night. Sakura removed the ice from her palm and sat down. She was still excited to share her Ice Release insights with Kakashi, but as the excitement gradually faded, the combined physical and mental exhaustion made sleepiness increasingly irresistible, and she actually fell asleep sitting up.

Seeing Sakura suddenly stop talking and start snoring, Kakashi felt both amused and heartbroken. He shook his head, carried Sakura to the bed, covered her with the blanket, and left alone.