Ino raised her arm to guard the side of her body, trying to block the kick, but she had been injured by Indra Chakra, her spiritual energy was damaged, and she hastily canceled the Mind Body Switch Technique, which led to a decrease in her strength, speed, and other attributes to varying degrees.
She was already inferior to Sasuke in taijutsu, and now the gap was even wider.
Sasuke's kick sent her reeling back three steps, her arm tingling.
Ino's eyes were focused; with a hook of her left finger, she pulled another sharp Kunai from the pouch at her waist behind her. As she rapidly retreated, she flicked her arm, and the Kunai arced through the air, aiming for Sasuke's eyes.
"Hmph," Sasuke sneered. Using Kunai throwing against a member of the Uchiha Clan? He truly felt underestimated.
He lunged forward several steps, bent his knees, leaned his body back forcefully, letting the Kunai fly past his nose. Then, ignoring the puddles and mud on the ground, he braced his left hand on the ground and kicked out repeatedly with both legs.
Ino, who was trying to create distance to use Ninjutsu, had no choice but to expend Chakra again, using the Body Replacement Technique to dodge the rather vicious kick.
After creating a five-meter distance, Ino threw a smoke bomb at the ground. As the hazy smoke just began to rise, a Kunai carrying an Exploding Tag flew in from the side.
Damn it! He's even using Exploding Tags?! Ino quickly concentrated Chakra in her eyes, relying on her sensory abilities to determine the Kunai's flight path.
After discerning the flight path, her hands immediately formed seals rapidly in the order of Dragon, Ox, Rabbit.
She activated a C-Ranked Ninjutsu belonging to Konoha Village.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
Ino gathered Chakra in her throat, inhaled, then exhaled. A stream of water shot into the sky, collecting the surrounding puddles and river water to form a water curtain. Not only did it destroy the explosive formula inside the Exploding Tag, but the powerful water, propelled by Chakra, also rushed towards Sasuke in a fan shape.
Ino quickly formed seals, repeating her old trick, preparing to use the Hidden Mist Technique again. Sasuke was more decisive than she expected; he covered his head and face with his arms, charged forward, and directly crashed through the Wild Water Wave!
Facing the surging water, Sasuke advanced instead of retreating. His forehead, neck, arms, and shoulders were covered in lacerations from the water flow, making him look like a bloody mess. Sasuke roared, and as Ino formed seals, he fiercely stabbed her throat with his Kunai.
"Madman!"
The Hidden Mist Technique wasn't fatal, and even if it were, Ino wouldn't sacrifice herself with him; that would be too much of a loss.
She could only stop forming seals, pull out her Kunai, and fight Sasuke head-on.
"Ino... Sasuke..." Sakura's face was filled with worry as she watched them fight so fiercely, with every move aimed to kill. She couldn't understand why, as classmates, they had to fight to such an extent.
Ino and Sasuke fought fast, clashing for over thirty moves.
He was wary of her Ninjutsu, and she was also finding it difficult to withstand Sasuke's ferocious, wolf-like attack style.
"Your injuries are getting worse and worse. You've bled so much, there's no need to keep fighting. Just give up," Ino panted, trying to persuade him.
Sasuke spat, glaring intently at Ino: "How much Chakra do you have left? Can you still cast another Ninjutsu?"
"I can cast three or four more without a problem!" Ino said with full confidence.
Before their words had even faded, they both clashed, Kunai in hand. Sasuke used his strength and speed advantage to suppress her, while Ino flung out three senbon coated with anesthetic. In the end, she gritted her teeth and also threw an Exploding Tag.
Ninjutsu, Ninja tools, Exploding Tags—the intensity of their battle grew higher and higher. At this point, it no longer looked like a fight between Ninja Academy students; some would even believe it was two Chunin fighting.
"Do you think I can't use Ninjutsu?" After cornering Ino, Sasuke quickly formed seals in her direction.
After completing six seals—Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger—Sasuke gathered the Chakra within his body in his throat. This was the only Fire Release Ninjutsu he had mastered.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."
Ino was a little slow in activating her technique, but she needed fewer seals, only three.
She also quickly formed seals: "Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
She once again extracted Chakra and released this C-Ranked Water Release Ninjutsu.
Both completed their techniques simultaneously, and the fireball and water curtain collided in mid-air, instantly giving rise to a large amount of white mist.
To Sasuke's slight surprise, the water curtain gained the upper hand.
"Idiot, let me teach you another lesson: Water Release counters Fire Release!"
Water counters fire, fire counters wind, wind counters lightning, lightning counters earth, and earth counters water.
Regardless of whether this is the rule in the natural world, in the world of Chakra, it is an ironclad law.
Kakashi's Lightning Blade easily pierced Kakuzu's Earth Release defense, and Uchiha Madara's Majestic Destroyer Flame was blocked by a dozen Ninja using Water Release—all because of the counter-relationships between elemental Ninjutsu.
After Water Release gained the upper hand, Ino immediately cut off her Chakra supply, letting the fireball and water curtain disappear together. She had used multiple Ninjutsu consecutively, and now only one-third of her Chakra remained; she had to end the battle quickly.
She looked at Sasuke, then, with her left hand above and her right hand below, palms facing each other, she activated a Ninjutsu: "Ninja Art: Mind Body Disturbance Technique!"
Sasuke felt a "buzz" in his head, and his body once again became uncontrollable.
Unlike with Mind Body Switch before, where he completely lost control, now he still had a little control, but what good was that little control?
He wanted to step to the left, but his right hand shot up high. He wanted to assume a defensive stance, but his right foot suddenly lost all sensation.
He glared at Ino. Is this Ninjutsu? This is a damned evil technique!
Everyone could see Sasuke's abnormality.
"Sasuke, pull yourself together!"
"Ah?! Sasuke, what's wrong with you! Come on!"
"Ino ! Are you behind this?!"
The girls were mostly condemning Ino, with Sakura's voice being the loudest.
The boys were much quieter, with only Naruto shouting: "Go, Ino! Beat that stinky Sasuke! Hit him hard!"
Hinata looked at Naruto, then at Ino, and also softly mumbled a few words: "Go, Ino."
After Yakushi Kabuto was hit by Tsunade's "Medical Ninjutsu: Art of Chakra Scalpel," he was able to overcome the effects of the Ninjutsu with his high intelligence and excellent body control. Sasuke, however, currently lacked that ability; his mind knew what to do, but his body couldn't keep up.
"Damn it!"
"Damn it!"
"How can I fall here!"
The Chakra within Sasuke's body was circulating at a frantic speed, and spiritual energy constantly impacted his eyes.
Sakura, from a distance, suddenly shouted loudly: "Sasuke, be careful, be careful behind you, behind you!"
What's behind me? Sasuke turned his neck with extreme stiffness, just in time to see Ino forming seals with a pale face and casting a Ninjutsu at him.
Ino had said before the battle that she knew two Water Release Ninjutsu, but she hadn't told the truth; she now controlled three Water Release Ninjutsu.
The moisture in the air gathered, completely surrounding Sasuke.
"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"