Sasuke's House
Seeing that his Dance of the Clematis: Flower had no effect, Kimimaro swiftly closed in again. Sakura was forced to draw another kunai to parry; her previous one had been shattered by Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku.
It was a huge disadvantage to be unarmed in close combat. No matter how powerful Sakura's ninjutsu were, a single blow from Kimimaro could break her bones.
The clash of bone against kunai produced a piercing sound. In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged dozens of blows. As Kimimaro swung down again, Sakura raised her kunai to block.
Both Kimimaro's bone blade and Sakura's kunai shattered. This was due to the fissure Sakura's Storm Release had previously created in Kimimaro's blade.
The Shikotsumyaku bloodline limit was truly unreasonable, allowing the user to freely adjust bone density. It was a nightmare for any opponent, whether used for defense or attack. Sakura grimaced, looking at the last kunai she had left.
Where's Sasuke's weapon stash...? Sakura truly regretted not having Sasuke give her a tour of his house.
"You're quite impressive. If you pledge your loyalty to Orochimaru-sama, I can spare you..." Kimimaro began, "Your companion will also become Orochimaru-sama's new vessel."
Kimimaro was actually trying to recruit Sakura! The Konoha Crush had resulted in the Sound Four being completely wiped out, and Kimimaro himself didn't have long to live. Thus, he was attempting to recruit subordinates for Orochimaru-sama. However, Kimimaro clearly hadn't inherited Orochimaru's talent for deception and manipulation; who in their right mind would agree to such a proposition?
"Don't you think you should work on your persuasive skills?" Sakura retorted, starting to stall for time. "Orochimaru lured Sasuke with the promise of power. You haven't offered me any benefits. Why should I join you...?"
While speaking, Sakura secretly gathered chakra, preparing to use Swamp of the Underworld. It had been a while since she'd used it; she wondered if it would be effective against an enemy like this.
Kimimaro, mistaking Sakura's words for interest, said, "Orochimaru-sama can give you power like mine."
"Power like yours? I don't see you as being much stronger than me," Sakura said. She quickly released the chakra she had been secretly accumulating.
This Swamp of the Underworld was different from the ones Sakura had used before. Its range was immense, nearly engulfing the entire Uchiha compound. Sakura was going all out to capture Kimimaro. She pressed her hands to the ground, continuously expanding the swamp's area.
Although caught off guard, Kimimaro reacted quickly. With a light leap, he jumped into the air. However, the swamp's range was vast, and Kimimaro couldn't escape its reach. He pulled another bone from his arm and threw it down, piercing the swamp.
Then, before the bone was completely submerged, he stepped onto its end, using it as leverage to jump further away from the swamp's boundary.
Sakura felt a pang of disappointment. While she hadn't expected to trap Kimimaro easily, she'd at least hoped he would struggle a bit. To have him escape so effortlessly was a little irritating.
"Sasuke, don't blame me... I had no choice," Sakura muttered silently. Steeling herself, she undid the Strength of a Hundred Seal and continued to pour chakra into the swamp. The already-stagnant Swamp of the Underworld began to expand again, furiously.
Following Kimimaro's trajectory, wherever he might land, that area would become part of the swamp.
One by one, the houses of the Uchiha compound disappeared. Under the moonlight, a young man danced continuously on bones, while the vanishing houses seemed to applaud him, sinking to leave the stage for his performance.
The two of them were in a stalemate, neither noticing anything amiss. One was desperately expanding the Swamp of the Underworld, while the other was constantly thrusting bones into the swamp to leap across. Under the moonlight, their coordination was so seamless, it created an indescribable beauty.
Perhaps Kimimaro intended to exhaust Sakura's chakra this way, while Sakura reasoned that Kimimaro couldn't fly; he would have to land eventually. The moment he touched down would be the moment of Sakura's victory.
From the sky, it looked as if, with Sasuke's house as the center point, the surrounding area was sinking. Houses vanished one after another, and the area expanded. By the time Sakura began to feel fatigued, more than half of the Uchiha compound had been swallowed by the swamp.
Finally, Kimimaro realized he couldn't continue like this. Having the entire area turn into a swamp was extremely disadvantageous to him. He launched Dance of the Clematis: Flower at Sakura. Sakura, seeing the finger bones hurtling towards her, stopped expanding the Swamp of the Underworld. However, she hadn't anticipated that her own swamp would slow her down. She failed to dodge one of the finger bones, and it pierced her shoulder.
Meanwhile, Kimimaro, with nowhere to retreat, landed in the swamp. He tested it; although he could use chakra to move on the swamp, his speed was significantly reduced. Moreover, if he remained stationary, the swamp would slowly drag him down.
Grimacing in pain, Sakura used chakra to pull out the finger bone embedded in her shoulder, then began to heal herself with the Mystical Palm Technique. She was also in danger of being pulled down by the swamp, but after a moment's thought, she found a solution.
After all, she had created the swamp herself, and she was proficient in Earth Release nature transformation. By infusing the chakra on the soles of her feet with Earth Release, Sakura could move freely. She also discovered that she could control the swamp's pulling force at any time by using the Earth Release-infused chakra.
Had she accidentally created an environment that gave her the advantage? It was just incredibly chakra-intensive; most ninja wouldn't be able to use it. Sakura smiled wryly, feeling the significantly depleted chakra reserves within her Strength of a Hundred Seal.
Ever since Zabuza, Sakura had been using the chakra stored in her Yin Seal. Fortunately, she wasn't fighting every day, so she had been able to replenish her chakra during times of peace. Her consumption and replenishment were more or less balanced.
The Chunin Exams had also consumed a vast amount of chakra, but after synthesizing her bloodline limit, her own chakra capacity had increased, allowing her to replenish more chakra each day than before. However, it had been too short a time, and she had still used more than she'd replenished.
Now, because of the Swamp of the Underworld, a large portion of her Yin Seal's chakra had been depleted. This gave a sense of just how vast the area she had affected was.
Looking at the immobile Kimimaro, Sakura let out a wild laugh. "Come and get me! ... Hahaha...!"
It was worth all the effort Sakura had put into transforming the battlefield into an environment suited to her. She was finally experiencing the convenience of environmental advantage.
Beams of Storm Release light fired from her fingertips, continuously striking Kimimaro. Due to the swamp's hindrance, he could no longer react quickly. Within moments, he was covered in bloody wounds.
After taking several Storm Release laser hits, Kimimaro stopped dodging. The curse mark on his chest began to spread, gradually covering his entire body. His appearance became even more terrifying than before. He had entered Curse Mark Level Two.
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