Chapter 47: BSWS CH-47 The Chunin Exams XV - Preliminary Second Match
Sakura calmly walked towards Kankuro, who had jumped into the sparring area. As Sakura reached the area, he untied the large wrapped-up object on his back and deposited it on the ground with a slam.
"Last time we met, you were so cocky with your logic and threats." Kankuro said as he put his hand on top of the object he held "Let's see if you can run your mouth again like that and hide behind some rule."
Sakura cocked an eyebrow in surprise. She didn't think he really would be so arrogant at this point in time.
"Aren't you misunderstanding something here, weird Tattooed Person?" Sakura asked calmly as if teaching a child. Kankuro looked at her with confusion, not understanding what she meant
"I didn't quote rules and resolve the issue without fighting because I was afraid of you three chumps. I did so because I didn't want you all to be beaten up even before the Chunin Exams started." Sakura clarified.
Kankuro's eyebrows scrunched together and he clenched his teeth in anger. This was a blatant insult, something he was not used to getting from anyone other than Gaara.
"I am going to rip you apart.." Kankuro growled as he grabbed the bandages wrapping up the large object he held.
"Give it your best shot," Sakura said as she took a sideways Taijutsu stance. She planned to win this fight with minimal display of her abilities so that she can save a few trump cards for the future.
"Alright, since both participants are ready, *cough* begin the fight!" Hayate said and gave the signal.
Before Kankuro could make a move, Sakura flickered next to him, a Kunai in each hand. She attacked with a rapid flurry of strikes while strengthening both Kunai with Earth Chakra.
'She is fast!!' Kankuro thought as he abandoned the object in his hand and defended against the Kunai with metal plates on his gloves. However, in a few moments, the metal plates on his gloves were showing deep gashes that almost cut through the plate to reach his hand.
'Ugh, damn it!!' Kankuro thought as he tried to use his trump card to escape this flurry of attack. However, Sakura had other plans and refused to let him do it.
"Water Style: Urumi!!" Sakura said as five of her ribbon-like swords emerged from her fingers. With a gentle flick, the five ribbon-like swords danced around Kankuro before retreating back to Sakura. However, not a single wound could be seen on Kankuro.
'Did she mess up in trying to show off?' Hayate thought, not able to decide whether to stop or continue the match.
Right at that moment, 'Kankuro' fell down like a sack of potatoes. Under everyone's astonished gazes, 'Kankuro' cracked, and its outer coating flaked off into pieces, revealing a puppet underneath.
Immediately, Sakura slapped a sealing tag onto the chest of the Puppet. It was Chakra Draining Seal, preventing any chakra string from connecting to the puppet further.
Stepping on the puppet with one leg, Sakura smirked in the direction of the 'wrapped up bundle' lying on the ground.
"Are you going to come out of your own? Or should I kick your ass too just as I did with your puppet?" Sakura asked.
As everyone looked at her with confusion, they saw the 'Bundle' moving suddenly. A human hand emerged from and clenched the bandages. With a flurry of motion, the bandages were unwrapped and they swirled around the real Kankuro, who emerged with a pose of kneeling on one knee.
However, there was no happiness on Kankuro's face despite emerging in a 'cool' pose. He had prepared all this to impress everyone when he revealed that he was the Puppeteer all along who fooled everyone. But currently, he just felt like a kid who was caught cheating in the exam.
Kankuro glared at Sakura as he clenched his fists. She had disabled his puppet thoroughly. All of its hidden weapons were useless until he could control his puppet, which she had somehow severed from his control. Without a Puppet, a puppet master loses over 80% of combat ability.
Reluctantly, Kankuro raised his hand, "Proctor, I give up!"
Hayate nodded to Kankuro's admission of defeat. Even he had been fooled by this lad's Puppet arts, but the girl somehow had seen through it. While it was brief, this was a great match between Shinobi.
It was all about seeing through the deception and finding the accurate counter to the opponent's abilities. Sometimes, that was all it took to win a battle, just one timely counter to opponents' strength.
"Defeat by Surrender. Kankuro from Suna Loses. *cough* Winner is Sakura of Konoha." Hayate said as he announced the result.
Sakura turned and walked back to the stands while leaving behind a final line for Kankuro.
"I told you, I was only afraid of you all getting beaten up even before the fight started. I was never afraid of you posing a challenge to me."
-x-x-x-x-x-
Hokage watched as Sakura walked back to her place in the stands. He had been impressed by her performance despite the lack of any flashy moves that Sasuke presented.
Fuinjutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu; She had won without displaying even one of the specialties she had been recorded for. It was as if they were watching an elaborate trap where she lured her opponent into thinking he was safe, before removing his strongest weapon from his arsenal.
'She is showing strategic thinking. Keeping trump cards saved for necessary moments instead of just using them up at the first moment possible. That is a quality needed by a Chunin… but even more by an ANBU. Should I really allow her to be trained into the corps?' Hokage mused in silence.
-x-x-x-x-
"Utter trash!!" Gaara muttered as he saw Kankuro give up. If it was him out there then he would have got the blood that mother required. But that Kankuro not only lost, but he also lost by surrender. So humiliating!!
Gaara started shaking in a mixture of excitement, anger, and bloodlust. He could not wait to fight his opponent and see some blood.
Temari shook in fear as she watched Gaara's bloodlust climb higher. She was afraid for both her and Kankuro now. She cursed her father in her mind, whose rash decision had turned her little brother into a monster to be feared.
While she knew that it was his duty as Kazekage, that didn't excuse the atrocities he committed on his own family. She just wanted her little brother back, who in his early years used to walk around with an innocent and sweet expression on his face instead of the bloodlust that saturated those eyes now.
-x-x-x-x-x-
"Good job," Sasuke said as Sakura came back and stood next to him.
"Hmm, it was nothing much. If he had displayed something out of what I expected of him then I would have been surprised. Instead, he pulled the same trick that he had used during the first phase, thinking that I would not have noticed."
"Basic rule of a Shinobi: 'Never expect the same trick to work twice'. You should always expect it to fail if used a second time and prepare a backup. Yet, he was just too arrogant, leading to his defeat." Sakura said with a shrug.
"Next match ought to be interesting though, Naruto against Choji." Sasuke said, "Who do you think will win?"
"Well, if all goes well then I would say Naruto." Sakura said "However, I just hope he doesn't end up pushing Choji's buttons. Choji has a ton of hidden potential."
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
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