The Preliminary Round Part 2
Many have been complaining since webnovel started the app only after 10 chapters. So I also upload it on Wattpad (the name is same). The chapters are uploaded at the same time so don't worry you can also read them on my Patreon. (Link in the synopsis)
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Just as Hayate announced the start of the match, Sakura rushed toward Ino. She knew that Ino depended heavily on her clan's jutsus. Sakura wasn't confident in dispelling the mind transfer jutsu so she wanted to land a hit on Ino as fast as possible.
Ino understood Sakura's plan to confront her head so she formed a triangle with her both hands and cast the mind transfer jutsu.
MIND-TRANSFER JUTSU
Sakura guided chakra to the bottom of her feet and jumped aside just in time to dodge the Ganpati. Ino made an annoyed face as the jutsu didn't catch Sakura and Ino had used a considerable amount of chakra to cast it in the first place.
"Looks like you really want to take one on your forehead." Ino gnashed her teeth and decided to get in a physical fight with Sakura.
Both of them came in front of each other but Sakura reached a second earlier and sent a fist toward Ino's chest. Kakashi hadn't taught Sakura about infusing chakra in her punches so this was only a simple punch and it was slow as well. Ino dodged the punch
and sent a kick of her own toward Sakura's stomach. Sakura didn't expect Ino to take the initiative to attack her so she could only block the kick by making a cross with her hands. Sakura was pushed only two steps by the punch. She didn't use chakra to keep
her hold on the ground as she wasn't used to expending chakra continuously.
Ino smirked as she saw Sakura go back 'After our loss against Yami, we all trained hard in hand-to-hand combat. Even though Asuma sensei isn't too good in taijutsu without his chakra knuckles, he did teach us enough for the chunin exams.' Ino thought.
Sakura performed some hand signs and quickly created 2 shadow clones of herself. One of the clones rushed at Sakura while the other two interchanged their positions to confuse Ino. The clone in the front crouched and swept her leg toward Ino to throw her off balance. Ino quickly jumped thinking she had avoided Sakura's attack again but then she saw another Sakura coming in front of her with a kick directed at her chest.
Ino couldn't dodge the kick mid-air so she had to take the full brunt of Sakura's kick. Luckily the Sakura that kicked Ino was also a clone so the damage wasn't too much. Ino fell back to the ground.
"Arghh...I didn't expect Sakura to have such a combo ready to throw me off guard." Ino muttered. She wanted to get up and attack Sakura but then she looked at the side where the 3rd Sakura who was the real one had 3 kunais in her hand.
Sakura smiled as her eyes met Ino and she threw the kunais at her. Ino quickly rolled to the side and successfully dodged two kunais. The third one gazed at her arm causing a trickle of blood to come out. Ino was wearing a sleeveless top so the cut was quickly seen by Sakura. She instantly knew that she had managed to injure Ino first.
The two girls kept on exchanging moves for a few more minutes. The spectators that were watching knew that the fight took so long not because they were equally strong but because they were equally weak. Both girls were stronger than their canon selves due to different motivations but they weren't up to mark to become chunin.
After a while, both girls were panting heavily. They had bruises all over their bodies and even some injuries which had blood dripping from them.
'Looks like even this time there will be a tie between these two.' Yami thought as he was watching from above. But he spoke too soon as the next second Sakura sent a burst of chakra at the bottom of her legs and tackled Ino directly. She planned to use her entire body to hit Ino. This was something that neither Ino nor Yami expected Sakura to do. It was a risky move but this time it bore fruit as Ino felt hard on the ground and Sakura fell on her. Sakura rolled to the side and with much difficulty stood up. Her legs were still tumbling and even she had taken some damage from this move. Ino wanted to get up but she couldn't. After trying for a few seconds, Ino fainted.
Seeing that one of the participants isn't able to battle anymore, Hayate stepped onto the stage and announced the result.
"The winner of the first preliminary round is Sakura Haruno."
Just as he announced it Naruto started shouting and cheering for Sakura. Sakura was a little embarrassed by all this but she stole a few glances at Sasuke to see whether he was impressed or not. To her disappointment, Sasuke had no change in expression and was just looking at her. But still, the fact that her prince charming was looking at her made her happy.
2 medical shinobis came and put Ino on a stretcher. Asuma came down and approached the two shinobis and asked "I am her jonin instructor. Is she gonna be alright? Is there anything to worry about?"
One of the medical shinobi who was in his 30's shook his head and said "There is nothing to worry about. She doesn't have any internal damage or broken bone. Her injuries are also superficial and will heal within her day. She is simply too exhausted which is why she fainted."
Asuma thanked the two medical shinobis for the good news. Even though Ino lost today, Asuma was proud of her. He had never seen her fight so seriously before. 'Don't worry Ino...if you keep practicing like this then you will definitely become a chunin 6 months later.' Asuma thought as he looked at the fainted Ino.
Seeing that the 1st match was done Iruka stepped forward and said "Now let's see who will be the participants in the 2nd match."
All eyes turned toward the display again.
Match 2: Neji Hyuga vs Gaara of the Sand.
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