Sakura vs. Sasuke, Poor Uchiha Sasuke

"Damn it!!!"

Uchiha Sasuke was furious. His mindset had changed.

Sakura was too fast.

Even if he could see her clearly, his body could not keep up.

Moreover, as the dust spread toward him, his vision was severely impaired.

His Sharingan was starting to fall behind.

In his rage, Uchiha Sasuke retreated, backing onto the rubble Sakura's fist had smashed apart earlier.

He panted wildly, the anger and humiliation in his heart rising without end.

His Sharingan began to spin.

The effects of his special training appeared.

As his Sharingan continued to spin—

His Two-Tomoe gained another tomoe.

Both eyes opened into the Three Tomoe Sharingan.

Uchiha Sasuke was not surprised by this at all.

The reason he had not awakened that power until now was to prove that he did not need to go all out against Sakura.

But now, he realized just how absurdly wrong he had been.

Without realizing it, his strength had already fallen to the bottom.

"I can only borrow Naruto's power. I can't lose!"

Uchiha Sasuke's gaze sharpened.

"Shadow Clone Technique."

Bang—

He created four Shadow Clones.

The four clones swiftly dashed toward the four corners.

Sakura looked up at him, then toward the positions of the four Shadow Clones.

Her delicate brows furrowed slightly. What was Sasuke planning?

Even the Sharingan could not identify the Original due to the special nature of Shadow Clones.

Naturally, her perception could not distinguish which one was the Original either.

"Five against five."

Naruto-kun, I'll seize the future.

Her Chakra surged.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Sakura also created four Shadow Clones.

At that moment, Uchiha Sasuke sneered.

"Chidori!"

Whoosh—

All five Sasukes unleashed Chidori at once.

They raised their hands simultaneously.

Zzzt—

Lightning-nature Chakra underwent Nature Transformation.

In an instant, the Chidori of the five Uchiha Sasukes connected together.

"Chidori Stream!"

Then they all formed hand seals with one hand.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

Phoenix Sage Fire shot out from five directions at once.

Facing the Fire Style that spread in every direction, blanketing the sky and earth—

Sakura decisively stopped and slammed her fist into the ground.

Rumble—

Countless chunks of rubble blocked all the incoming Phoenix Sage Fire.

But Uchiha Sasuke moved as well.

The five Uchiha Sasukes acted at the same time, continuously shrinking Sakura's space to maneuver.

One of Sakura's Shadow Clones tried to break through, only to be destroyed by the lightning arcs of Chidori Stream.

"That's a pretty good idea."

Naruto offered a word of praise.

Kakashi also nodded slightly.

With a hint of envy in his voice, he said, "I didn't expect Sasuke's Chakra reserves to be this massive too."

"Sigh... the pressure of being a Lead Jonin is really immense."

If Kakashi knew that even Kurenai Yuhi could probably fight him to a draw now, he would likely cry.

Kurenai Yuhi had a great talent for Genjutsu. Naruto had mastered the Uchiha Clan's Genjutsu, as well as countless Genjutsu from the Scroll of Seals.

Naturally, he would teach them to Kurenai Yuhi.

Combined with Super Strength no weaker than Sakura's—

Her combat power had risen by far more than a single level.

As for being instantly defeated by Filial Son's Tsukuyomi like in the original story, that simply would not happen.

If Filial Son underestimated her, the tables might even turn completely.

On the other side, after Uchiha Sasuke threw out Kunai tied with steel wire and used Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique—

The battlefield completely turned into a sea of flames.

"Sakura, admit defeat. You can't win."

"Hmph, don't celebrate too soon!"

"Then I can only ask Naruto to treat you later!"

Uchiha Sasuke's eyes turned cold as all five figures leaped toward Sakura.

Seeing this, Sakura smiled.

"That's right. You shouldn't celebrate too soon either. Someone as careless as you can't possibly beat me."

With that, she punched the ground, and countless rocks jutted upward.

"It's useless!"

Uchiha Sasuke sneered.

But the next instant, the imagined scene of rubble flying everywhere did not happen.

Narrowing his eyes, he saw Sakura create several more Shadow Clones within the dust.

Their hands rested on enormous boulders.

"Useless?"

Boom—

The massive boulders flew through the air at terrifying speed!

Uchiha Sasuke could not dodge and could only shatter them with Chidori.

But what about the shattered rocks that followed?

All four Shadow Clones were destroyed.

Meanwhile, a faint Chakra glow appeared around Sakura's fist.

Chakra Scalpel.

This time, it was Uchiha Sasuke's turn to face attacks from five Sakuras.

Chidori was a single-target attack. He could not strike all five Sakuras at once, and the Sharingan could not tell which one was Sakura's Original.

If he wanted an area attack, he could only choose Chidori Stream.

But Chidori Stream required stimulating a massive amount of bodily energy.

It could only be used once a day.

Then he could only take a gamble.

"Lightning Release: Earth Flash!"

Zzzt—

Bang—

He had guessed correctly. The small-range Lightning Release: Earth Flash indeed destroyed Sakura's Shadow Clones.

"What a pity. If you had chosen Phantom Clones, I really wouldn't have had any way to deal with you."

"Now, it's over. You've already lost."

Chidori gathered in Uchiha Sasuke's hand as he looked at the last Sakura, a smile curling at his lips.

He had won!

Yet the sudden "bang" caught him completely off guard.

"A Shadow Clone?!"

"When... damn it!"

Uchiha Sasuke turned around. Sure enough, Sakura's Original stood not far behind him.

She was even hefting a boulder taller than herself.

"What a shame, Sasuke. I won."

However, Uchiha Sasuke shook his head. "You may think you won, but..."

As he spoke, Uchiha Sasuke raised his hand, revealing a strand of steel wire nearly invisible to the naked eye.

A Kunai was embedded in the ground not far from Sakura's feet.

"When I attacked, I left dozens of Kunai tied with steel wire behind."

"As long as I use Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique, you won't have time to react at all."

Sakura shook her head. "If I throw the rock in my hand, you won't have any chance to turn things around with your back exposed."

"Maybe your Fire Style would burn me, but I'm a Medical Ninja. I won't die, and my combat power won't drop by much either."

"But if you take this attack to the back, you'll be crippled even if it doesn't kill you."

"Enough!"

Uchiha Sasuke snorted coldly. "I didn't lose, and you didn't win either. Otherwise, we can keep going right now!"

"Alright, that's enough. Both of you performed excellently."

"Hmph!" x2

Neither Sakura nor Uchiha Sasuke was willing to concede.

Seeing that he could no longer control the situation, Kakashi had no choice but to seek help from Naruto beside him.

Naruto was still sensing the source of that Chakra.

There's another Chakra nearby that isn't weak... and another one... a pig?

The plants' message... it really is Tsunade, Shizune, and Tonton.

The only possibility for them to return at this time is that Mom sent them a message.

Is it because I casually mentioned last time that the Scroll of Seals was incomplete and that the Wood Release Scroll mostly contained basic Wood Style techniques?

Forget it. At their speed, it'll still take quite a while for them to return. They're probably preparing themselves mentally.

Coming back to his senses, he saw the pleading look Kakashi gave him.

Naruto could only step in.

He walked up to the two of them.

He glanced at Sakura.

Sakura's face was full of anticipation.

"Not bad. You've improved a lot."

Sakura immediately smiled. "Yes~"

Then he looked at Uchiha Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke turned his head away, but his ears twitched.

"Sasuke did well too. Chidori Stream combined with Shadow Clones... did you take inspiration from Kakashi-sensei's Lightning Transmission?"

Uchiha Sasuke nodded almost imperceptibly.

"The weaknesses are obvious. Sakura, you lack pursuit ability."

"Sasuke, you lack close-combat ability."

"Sasuke, with your talent... no, the Uchiha Clan's talent, perhaps you should learn the White Fang Sword Style from Kakashi-sensei."

"Swordsmanship combined with Lightning Release... and the Chidori Stream you developed yourself may be able to make up for your close-combat weakness."

"Of course, once you awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan in the future, this weakness won't exist anymore."

Uchiha Sasuke nodded slightly. When he heard Mangekyō Sharingan, his gaze instantly turned icy.

"My Sharingan can see through all Genjutsu!"

"Including that man's Mangekyō Sharingan!"

Naruto shook his head. "Bringer-of-Darkness Technique."

He formed a hand seal with one hand.

Then Uchiha Sasuke fell into the dark environment created by the Genjutsu.

Even with his Three Tomoe Sharingan active, Bringer-of-Darkness Technique completely sealed off his vision.

Uchiha Sasuke panicked, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not break free from Bringer-of-Darkness Technique.

In the end, he could only calm down and use his Sharingan in tandem with a series of hand seals to break free of the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique.

"Rather than relying on your current Sharingan to fight a Mangekyō Sharingan, you might as well hope the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique can hold him for a few seconds."

"Sakura knows this Genjutsu too. She just hadn't used it until now."

Uchiha Sasuke froze on the spot.

He desperately wanted to say that this Genjutsu was far too unfair. It was absolutely designed to counter the Uchiha Clan.

Tobirama: It's as if I heard someone calling for this old man?