From the night of genocide, marching towards the strongest.

Water splashed and sprayed everywhere.

Sakura stared intently at the splashing water, her entire body tense.

Her battle with Kakashi initially took place in the dense forest.

However, Kakashi wanted to test her water-style technique, so he deliberately led her into the lake during the battle, and the perceptive Sakura noticed this.

She naturally wouldn't refuse, after all, for a water-style ninja, the combat power exerted in places with water and places without water are two completely different concepts.

The splashing water gradually subsided, but Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.

"Disappeared?"

Sakura was startled and was about to look for Kakashi when she suddenly sensed a whooshing sound behind her.

Kakashi suddenly appeared behind Sakura on the surging water without warning, and launched a fierce punch at Sakura's back. Sakura's reaction speed was not fast enough to defend or dodge.

Bang!

Sakura was hit directly in the back by Kakashi, and the force of the blow sent her flying far away.

'wrong!'

After knocking Sakura down, Kakashi's expression showed no relief; instead, he appeared wary, because it seemed as if he had hit not a person, but a resilient mass of water.

really!

As soon as Sakura fell onto the water's surface, she transformed into a pool of clear water and merged into the lake.

Water clone technique!

'It seems that, just as the intelligence reports indicated, Sakura is indeed very skilled in Water Release techniques!'

As Kakashi pondered silently, he was about to leap away from his spot when the water beneath him suddenly rippled, transforming into several water whips that tightly bound Kakashi's body, making it difficult for him to move.

"Water Release: Water Whip, successful!"

Sakura appeared, and upon seeing Kakashi tied up, she flashed a bright smile.

'Water Release: Water Whip? I remember this is a technique used by the Hidden Mist Anbu to capture enemies.'

'She even knows this trick? Was Sakura's teacher a spy who infiltrated Kirigakure before?'

Kakashi swept the water whip binding him and thought to himself.

"Sakura, your chakra control is excellent."

Although he was tightly bound, Kakashi still had the leisure to praise the fact that the originally surging water flowed without making a ripple as it passed under Sakura's feet.

This exquisite control of chakra is almost on par with my own.

"Hmph!" Sakura snorted, annoyed. "If I'm not mistaken, Kakashi-sensei is currently using a shadow clone, right? His real body must be dealing with Sasuke, right?"

Kakashi smiled slightly and asked, "Why do you say that?"

Sakura looked at Kakashi and said calmly, "After all, in Kakashi-sensei's eyes, Sasuke is the strongest of the three of us, right? Although that is indeed the case, it's a bit of an underestimation of me that Kakashi-sensei thought he could defeat me with just a shadow clone!"

Hearing this, Kakashi felt a little embarrassed and was about to say something to explain when Sakura continued, "Although it's unpleasant to be looked down upon, it's okay if it's Sasuke."

Um! ?

What kind of strange thought process is this?

Kakashi was taken aback, rolled his eyes, and couldn't understand what these girls were thinking.

Fortunately, this saved him the time and effort of explaining.

"Since it's a shadow clone, then I don't need to worry too much. I'll just eliminate you first, and then deal with the real body!"

Sakura gave a soft hum and clasped her hands together, preparing to form a hand seal.

Kakashi smiled slightly, his chakra surged, and he shook off the water whip that had been binding him. Sakura then formed two hand seals: Hao-Chou-Shen.

'Ugly-Monkey? It should be Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique! In that case…'

Kakashi's gaze sharpened, and his hands quickly formed hand seals. He also knew the Water Dragon Bullet Technique, and he wanted to use the same move to clash with Sakura, to show her what the real Water Dragon Bullet was!

Kakashi's hand seals were incredibly fast; his fingers were so nimble and swift that they were like afterimages, dazzling the eye. In a mere instant, he formed more than a dozen hand seals.

At this moment, Sakura had only just completed four hand seals. Seeing this, Kakashi gave her a piece of advice:

"Sakura, I must say, you've surprised me a lot, whether it's intelligence gathering and analysis, chakra control, or water-style techniques. But from what I see now, you still have a fatal flaw, which is that your hand seal speed is still... What!?"

Before he could finish speaking, Kakashi exclaimed in shock, only to hear a soft shout from the pink-haired girl.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

The lake's flow suddenly became incredibly turbulent, and a large amount of water was instantly drawn from the lake behind Sakura, transforming it into a lifelike water dragon.

It roared like a giant dragon and charged towards Kakashi with incredible ferocity!

"this...."

Kakashi quickly retreated, his hands forming hand seals rapidly, but the water dragon remained like a leech, relentlessly chasing after him with a whooshing sound.

Kakashi had no choice but to retreat again. By this time, he had completed three-quarters of the hand seals and was about to finish. Kakashi finally stopped.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

A similarly enormous water dragon rose from behind Kakashi and crashed head-on into Sakura's water dragon.

However, the moment Kakashi's Water Dragon touched Sakura's Water Dragon, most of its body was destroyed as if it were made of tofu.

Kakashi was taken aback and quickly increased his chakra input to maintain the Water Dragon form.

The two giant dragons roared and howled as they clashed once more.

With a deafening roar, the water surface trembled, the air vibrated, and layers of shockwave-like waves surged out in all directions accompanied by tearing winds.

The impact made the pebbles on the shore rattle and crash; anyone who got hit like that on the shore would suffer serious injuries!

Splash!

Two water dragons transformed into raindrops that fell from the sky and dripped onto the two people.

Sakura's Water Dragon Bullet seems to be much more powerful?

Kakashi was about to sigh, but before he could utter a sound, his body suddenly went numb, and he was startled.

'These raindrops are absorbing my chakra!'

In shock, Kakashi quickly used the Body Flicker Technique while he was still able to move to escape the raindrops' reach.

"A simple hand seal, a stronger impact, and the ability to absorb chakra—this is the Second Hokage's Water Release technique!"

'But who exactly is her teacher, Maruboshi Kosuke? Not only does he know the Third Hokage's Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, but he also knows the Second Hokage's Water Release technique!'

Sensing the dwindling chakra within the shadow clone's body, Kakashi thought to himself, then looked towards the splashing water.

A figure burst through the water and rushed over at an extremely fast speed.

Chapter 60 The True Successor of the Hokage.

'My shadow clone's chakra is running low; I can't fight her head-on. I'll find an opportunity to subdue Sakura.'

Thinking this, Kakashi was about to move when he found himself unable to move at all. In a daze, he seemed to see crystal-clear water droplets rising from the lake and dancing in the air.

Leaf-like Willow!

This is a technique created by Kosuke Maruboshi that combines illusion and swordsmanship, requiring no hand seals and allowing for close-quarters combat.

First, unleash a sword technique on the enemy, then cast an illusion to make the enemy appear as if they have disappeared into the leaves dancing in the wind.

It simultaneously binds the enemy, rendering them immobile, and launches a sudden attack from the enemy's blind spot, piercing through with a single strike to eliminate the opponent. It is a deadly move capable of killing the enemy in one blow, and an unavoidable lightning attack technique.

However, Sakura didn't like swordsmanship and preferred to use her fists to attack. So, with the help of her teacher, Kosuke Maruboshi, Sakura modified this technique, turning it into a move that suited her fist attacks.

'This is... an illusion!'

Kakashi was taken aback. He quickly used his remaining chakra to activate his Sharingan and release his body from its restraints, preparing to dodge Sakura's attack.

"Trying to run away?"

"What are you kidding!?"

Sakura roared and burst out of the pouring rain, her already incredibly fast speed increasing even further, creating huge waves in her wake, before unleashing a powerful punch.

"That's the teacher's Instantaneous Movement Technique!?"

Upon seeing Sakura's familiar high-speed movement, Kakashi could no longer contain himself and exclaimed in surprise.

The shadow clone, which already had very little chakra, could no longer evade Sakura's attack and could only watch helplessly as Sakura's punch landed on him.

Bang!

Kakashi's shadow clone was shattered by Sakura's punch and disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

........

"Hu, hu, hu."

After Kakashi's shadow clones disappeared, Sakura took several deep breaths. Using several difficult ninjutsu in succession was quite exhausting for her at this point.

However, it was all worth it.

Although it was just a shadow clone of Kakashi, this shadow clone was no less powerful than an elite Chunin. In fact, based on Kakashi's combat experience, it played a role in battle that surpassed that of an elite Chunin.

Sakura's ability to defeat Kakashi's shadow clone in a one-on-one battle already proves her strength.

Sakura gave a faint smile, then quickly regained her composure and began analyzing Kakashi's last words before his shadow clone disappeared.

"Kakashi-sensei was referring to 'the teacher's Body Flicker Technique'? Could it be that the Body Flicker Technique that Grandpa Kosuke taught me was passed down by the Fourth Hokage?"

Sakura frowned, muttering to herself in confusion.

Over the past two years, Sakura has been training under Kosuke Maruboshi, where she has been taught many techniques, such as Konoha Ryuu, Shadow Clone Technique, Shuriken Shadow Clone, Water Release techniques taught by the Second Hokage, and the Body Flicker Technique she just used.

Sakura initially thought that the Body Flicker Technique she had learned was just a common high-speed movement technique, but judging from what Kakashi-sensei said earlier...

The Body Flicker Technique that Grandpa Kosuke taught her didn't seem to be an ordinary Body Flicker Technique, but rather the Body Flicker Technique of the Fourth Hokage!

Maruboshi Kosuke's Body Flicker Technique was naturally taught to him by the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. During the Third Shinobi World War, he and the Fourth Hokage carried out missions together many times, and they were trusted comrades-in-arms.

During a mission, Kosuke Maruboshi was too slow to dodge and unfortunately suffered a leg injury. The Fourth Hokage personally bandaged his wound and even advised him to give up being a ninja.

Seeing that Maruboshi Kosuke still refused to give up, he was moved by the old man's dedication and taught him his unique technique of teleportation.