Chapter 94: The 44-Hand-Seal Water Dragon Bullet Technique
"Cat's location discovered!"
"Received. Please standby at your current location."
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"Received!"
"Arrived at the designated location. Asking if we should begin the operation!"
"Execute!"
Naruto threw a specially made fishing net. The net flipped and expanded in the air. After it was completely opened, Uchiha Sasuke, who was hiding on the other side, raised his hand and threw four Kunai. They landed perfectly at the four corners of the net, carrying it toward the tree branch where the kitten was hiding.
"Meow! Meow! Meow!"
The kitten was caught squarely by the fishing net. The sudden capture scared it into constant wailing. Just then, Sakura Haruno approached the kitten carrying a cage. After pulling out one of the Kunai, she carefully shooed the kitten into the cage.
"Kakashi-sensei, the mission is complete."
"Ah... oh!" Kakashi Hatake reluctantly tore his gaze away from the contents of his little book. Looking at the cage placed in front of him, he responded with a complete lack of motivation.
"Let's go turn in the mission, and then accept a few more!"
Sakura Haruno was very enthusiastic. Although she didn't contribute much to most missions, with Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke there, the speed at which missions were completed was not only incredibly fast, but also simple and effortless. They even got mission allowances!
For Sakura Haruno, who currently had no source of income and relied solely on her parents' support, such an easy way to make money was definitely an excellent path to financial independence.
Moreover, after becoming a Ninja, this would be the primary source of their income in the future. Although it was tiring, it was worth it.
Although the mission allowance was small, given the speed at which the three of them completed missions, they could complete more than five D-Rank Missions in a single day.
"These are all the remaining D-Rank Missions for today. You can just go do them yourselves."
Kakashi Hatake decisively employed his "shirking responsibility" technique. At this moment, he had completely forgotten that he was their team leader. After handing the mission scroll to Sakura, his gaze refocused on the little book written by Jiraiya.
"What is this?!" Sakura Haruno complained, "You really are lazy, Kakashi-sensei!"
"Ah... it's just that you all are too excellent. There is nothing left for me to teach you regarding these D-Rank Missions..."
Ever since the last test, Kakashi Hatake had a very clear understanding of the strength of Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Let alone D-Rank Missions, even if a B-Rank Mission were placed in front of them, while it wouldn't be completed easily, it wouldn't be very difficult either.
As for A-Rank and S-Rank Missions... Kakashi Hatake didn't dare to think in that direction yet.
"Eww! It smells so bad!"
The three arrived at a small river near the outskirts of Konoha Village. Sakura Haruno pinched her nose to block the stench rushing towards them, but no matter how tightly she pinched, the pungent smell was always relentless.
"Scoop it up with our hands?!"
"Don't even think about it!" Hearing Naruto's words, Uchiha Sasuke turned his head away in deep disgust, "Even if I were beaten to death, or jumped in here, I would never use my hands to scoop garbage out of the river!"
"Then let's use Ninjutsu... I think it should be quick." Naruto made another suggestion, but immediately shook his head again, "Let's get this straight first, you all know I only have Wind Style Chakra, so I can't help with Ninjutsu."
"I only have Lightning and Fire." Uchiha Sasukechimed in.
"I have Water Style... but I..."
"It's okay!" Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke said in unison, "Naruto (Sasuke) will teach you!"
"Um... this..." Sakura Haruno was very bashful, "Although I would prefer Sasuke to teach me, it would be even better if Naruto joined in too!"
Quite greedy!
Naruto thought to himself. He certainly saw that Sakura Haruno's feelings for Uchiha Sasuke were genuine, and the only reason she included him was to prevent Uchiha Sasuke from refusing.
Sure enough, although Uchiha Sasuke still looked disgusted, he didn't immediately refuse, but instead turned his head to look at Naruto.
Naruto shrugged, looking quite a bit like Kakashi Hatake. Then, with one hand pulling Sakura Haruno and the other dragging Uchiha Sasuke, he moved away from the stinking little river and came to an open area where the trees were not very dense.
"I'll teach you the hand seal sequence for this technique first." Naruto showed a schadenfreude smile, "I know that in terms of theoretical grades, Sakura is second only to me, and is much better than this idiot Sasuke!"
"Who are you calling an idiot?!"
"Don't mind him, it's just impotent rage..." Narutowaved his hand, having no intention of taking the bait. If Naruto were to start arguing with Uchiha Sasuke now, let alone whether they would end up fighting, bickering also took time.
Furthermore, the Ninjutsu Naruto was teaching Sakura was the "Water Dragon Bullet Technique," which required a full 44 hand seals if performed properly!
Although there were few sensible people in the Ninja World who would honestly perform 44 hand seals to cast the Water Dragon Bullet Technique, for a beginner like Sakura Haruno, this process could not be simplified.
Naruto naturally knew how to simplify hand seals, and in theory, he was already on par with the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, who had managed to simplify the hand seal count to four.
But one must walk the path step by step, and eat rice one mouthful at a time. The path Sakura Haruno had to walk was very long!
"This Water Release Ninjutsu is a B-Ranktechnique. Although the Rank of a Ninjutsu and its ultimate power are sometimes hard to define, the number of hand seals for this technique is worthy of its B-Rank title!"
"It has 44 hand seals!" Naruto held up four fingers.
"What?!"
"44?!"
Both Uchiha Sasuke and Sakura Haruno were stunned. The person who invented this technique must have been trying to commit suicide, right!
Even if not, after finishing 44 hand seals and waiting for the technique to activate, not only would the cooked duck fly away, but the meal would have long since gone cold.
"Relax, relax!" Naruto comforted the two, "It is indeed 44 hand seals in the beginner stage, and it must not be simplified. But once you are proficient, you can learn the simplified hand seals."
"Then the simplified hand seals..." As the main learner, Sakura Haruno was the most concerned.
"The first stage is six hand seals, and the Peak is four!" Naruto revealed the final number of hand seals for the later evolution of the Water Dragon Bullet Technique, "Once you reach that point, the Water Dragon Bullet, this B-Rank Water ReleaseNinjutsu, will become a truly super-powerful technique!"
The Water Dragon Bullet Technique, in terms of both power and scale, was ranked highly among many Ninjutsu. However, because of its cumbersome hand seal sequence, while many Water Release Ninjas knew it, it was rarely applied in actual combat.
But as long as it was simplified, the Water Dragon Bullet Technique could definitely be called a "massive killer weapon at the current stage"!
However, whether it could be successfully simplified by Sakura Haruno would depend on her talent...
And Naruto wanted to use this technique to test whether Sakura Haruno's talent was enough to qualify her to stand beside him and Uchiha Sasuke!
"Listen well, watch closely." Naruto reminded Sakura Haruno. His instruction was about to begin, "Because I don't have Water Style Chakra, I'll teach the hand seals and the Chakra movement path separately. You'll have to make do with that for now."
"Ox - Monkey - Rabbit - Rat - Boar - Rooster - Ox - Horse..."
Naruto moved his hands meticulously. The 44 hand seals and the sequence for the Water Dragon Bullet Technique were presented before the two. After repeating it twice, without asking if Sakura Haruno had memorized them all, he immediately began to explain the movement path of Chakrawithin the body.
After watching the first time, Uchiha Sasukewalked aside in boredom and leaned against a big tree to rest. Possessing only Lightning and Fire attributes, he was really not interested in Water Release Ninjutsu at all.
But he wasn't idle while resting. With his pitch-black pupils, he looked Sakura Haruno up and down. Uchiha Sasuke, just like Naruto, was looking forward to Sakura Haruno's performance.
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