Naruto: The Strongest Suiton User

Chapter 27: The Deeper Meaning of Kekkei Genkai

Sasuke found himself on a boat heading out to sea, seemingly on his way to find Itachi for revenge.

Then the boat sank, and Sasuke fell into the sea. The water was incredibly cold, and icebergs floated on the surface. Sasuke found an iceberg and climbed onto it. The part of the iceberg pressing against his neck was unbearably cold. I can't, I have to get away from here, Sasuke thought, pushing hard against the iceberg, only to find that it seemed to be stuck to his neck, clinging tightly, unmovable.

The icy feeling on his neck grew stronger and stronger. Sasuke desperately pushed against the iceberg, but he couldn't move it at all. So cold, so cold...

"So cold!" Sasuke shouted, his eyes flying open.

Before him was not an iceberg and the sea, but Sakura's mischievous grin and Naruto's cheeky smile. Sasuke reached for his neck and pushed the iceberg—Sakura's small, frosty hand—away, letting out a dissatisfied grunt.

"Blank-face, don't be angry. I was just waking you up in a different way!" Sakura said with a grin. She extended her index finger and gently poked Sasuke's puffed-up cheek. Pop! Like bursting a balloon, all of Sasuke's anger was released.

I'm angry! Although he subconsciously thought this, Sasuke didn't feel a trace of annoyance in his heart. Watching Sakura's crescent-shaped eyes smiling at him, a tingling, sour sensation rose from the spot on his cheek where her slender fingertip had touched, as if all the blood in his body had rushed there. Seeing Naruto's bright smile, all of this caused a warm current to well up from the deepest part of Sasuke's heart, who was used to living alone in a large, cold house.

Sasuke quickly suppressed the emotions in his heart. He was an avenger; he couldn't indulge in such weak feelings! But a smile couldn't help but appear on his face.

"See, Sakura-chan! Sasuke didn't recognize it either!" Naruto said with a frown.

"Tsk! This just proves that both of you are unlearned fools!" Sakura was a little dissatisfied. The moment she woke up, she had taken her piece of ice to show off to them, but neither of them recognized it as Ice Style! It was like wearing gorgeous clothes for a blind man to see.

"Recognize what?" Sasuke asked curiously.

"Ice Style, you two!" Kakashi said, pushing the door open, a look of headache on his face.

"Ice Style? What's that?"

"To understand Ice Style, you first need to know what a Kekkei Genkai is," Sakura took over the topic. By now, she was the default lecturer for Team 7. After briefly introducing the concept of Kekkei Genkai, Sakura continued, "The so-called Ice Style is a type of Kekkei Genkai, a new nature transformation produced by the combination of wind and water nature transformations."

"Isn't a Kekkei Genkai a talent inherited by blood? Does Sakura also have the bloodline of an Ice Style ninja?" Sasuke, bearing the Uchiha name, was the first to think of this.

Sakura shook her head.

"Besides being inherited innately, a Kekkei Genkai can also be acquired through training, it's just that the difficulty is extremely high. The founders of most Kekkei Genkai clans were geniuses like that," Sakura said lightly.

Sakura said it casually, but in the ninja world, there were tens of thousands of ninja who had developed two or more affinities, yet how many possessed a Kekkei Genkai? Based on Sakura's successful experience, to develop a Kekkei Genkai through training, one must be very proficient in both affinities, and one of them must be mastered to the point of being able to use it subconsciously without diverting attention. Sakura had practiced solidly in Water Style for seven or eight years. With her talent, she had long since reached a level that most people could never reach in a lifetime. With such a foundation, she was able to complete the training for a Kekkei Genkai in one go.

Of course, if someone possessed the special talent of being able to multitask and could control two nature transformations at the same time, then it wouldn't be a difficult task for them to develop a Kekkei Genkai either.

"From now on, I am also a Kekkei Genkai ninja," Sakura announced seriously.

Kakashi gave Sakura a look with a hint of deep meaning. He keenly sensed that this statement from Sakura was far from simple.

Kakashi's intuition was right.

Both Kakashi and Sakura had underestimated the term "Kekkei Genkai." The change that mastering Ice Style brought to Sakura was far more than just mastering a new affinity. The words "Kekkei Genkai," or "Bloodline Limit," implied inheritance through the bloodline. Mastering a Kekkei Genkai meant that this ability could be passed down to descendants through heredity.

To put it bluntly—the Ice Style chakra was changing Sakura's body, changing the DNA of every cell.

From the moment she mastered the Ice Style chakra nature transformation, an irreversible change had begun. As the ice-natured chakra flowed through her body, Sakura's body was also slowly but surely changing under the power of Ice Style, constantly adjusting itself to adapt to the power of Ice Style, to better produce the power of Ice Style. And this change was deeply engraved in the depths of her body's cells, recorded in the DNA of every cell.

The body determines the chakra, and the chakra in turn acts upon the body.

In the past, Sakura had only known the first half of this as common sense. Now, Sakura had discovered the second half, which had been tacitly hidden.

At this moment, Sakura began to view chakra from a higher perspective. What exactly was chakra? What was the nature of chakra? Beneath the chaotic and complex surface, the simple yet profound essence of chakra seemed to have revealed a small corner to Sakura.

However, compared to these questions that might take a lifetime to answer, Sakura was currently more concerned with a pressing problem: what is the nature transformation of Ice Style? Although she had already completed the nature transformation for Ice Style, Sakura still hadn't figured out this question. This wasn't strange. Many people master chakra nature transformation in a state of confusion, but if you ask them to explain it, they might not be able to do so clearly.

Give engineers all the data and materials, and they can build an atomic bomb that can explode. But if you ask them what the principle of the explosion is, those who haven't studied nuclear physics wouldn't be able to answer.

Without understanding this question, there could be no talk of cracking Haku's Ice Style. Sakura still remembered Haku's Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals from the original story. It was a very powerful ninjutsu. Against her, Sakura didn't have any good methods. Although she wouldn't lose, she might not be able to win quickly either. What if Haku trapped her inside the ninjutsu, or even trapped her, Sasuke, and Naruto inside, and then went to deal with Tazuna?

Sakura couldn't guarantee that Haku wouldn't try to kill Tazuna.

The changes in the details of Zabuza's previous attack had already made Sakura realize that the butterfly effect was becoming more and more obvious. The advantage of being familiar with the plot had faded and was about to disappear completely.

However, there was no point in worrying about this problem. Without guidance, there was no way to further master Ice Style. Nevertheless, in Kakashi's view, being able to master the Ice Style nature transformation in such a short time was already a great benefit to completing the mission. Having a ninja on the team who understood Ice Style nature transformation made Kakashi, who was still worrying about how to deal with the enemy's Ice Style, feel much more at ease.

On the other hand, Naruto and Sasuke's tree-climbing training had long been completed. Now they were learning how to use bursts of chakra in battle to instantly increase their strength, speed, and other abilities. Having made up for their biggest weakness, Naruto and Sasuke's strength was also progressing by leaps and bounds!

After breakfast, Kakashi announced that the training was temporarily over. For the next few days, Zabuza could attack at any time, and everyone had to maintain their best condition to deal with a possible attack. Taking various factors into consideration, Kakashi took Naruto and Sasuke with him to protect Tazuna, while Sakura, who had the strongest self-preservation ability among the three, stayed behind to guard the house alone, protecting Tazuna's daughter and grandson, just in case.

This also allowed Sakura to experience the life of an ordinary person in the Naruto world.

Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, was a reasonably young and beautiful woman. She wasn't portrayed much in the original story. After a few days of contact, Sakura found that she was easy to get along with, a person who was gentle on the outside but tough on the inside. It was just that Sakura wasn't sure if this fortitude was inherited from her father's stubbornness or stemmed from her husband's death.

In the world of Naruto, it was truly difficult for commoners, especially those from small countries, to live a happy and fulfilling life. In an era where world wars frequently occurred, without power, one could not protect their happiness. Even a paradise far from war like the Land of Waves could not escape the fate of being oppressed without sufficient strength.

While accompanying Tsunami to the market to buy groceries, this decaying country left a deep impression on Sakura. The wide streets and the rows of shops hinted at its former prosperity. But now, that prosperity was gone. Most of the shops were closed, the few supermarkets that were open were deserted, and the shelves were sparsely stocked. The few goods available looked like they had been sitting there for a long time without being sold, and they were very expensive. Even a high-level engineer's family like Tazuna's couldn't afford to buy much food.

"The Land of Waves wasn't like this before..." Tsunami sighed, looking at Sakura who had just gotten rid of another beggar. Unlike the "professional beggars" on the streets of her previous life, Sakura knew very well that the beggars here were on the streets because they couldn't make a living and had no other choice. Their faces were sallow, and their steps were unsteady, a stark contrast to Sakura's rosy complexion and smooth skin. But Sakura couldn't stop to be kind to them. With one glance, she could already see that more than a dozen beggars on the street had noticed her. They probably thought that Sakura, with her outstanding presence, was a rich person.

If she really gave money, she and Tsunami would be surrounded by these beggars.

Tsunami continued helplessly, "Ever since Gato came here, everything has changed. After he monopolized all the maritime transport in our country, he began to crazily exploit us for huge profits. The Land of Waves has no ninja or ninja village, so even an ordinary person like Gato can bully our country. That's why my father is working so hard to build a bridge. It's not just to break Gato's maritime blockade, but more importantly, to awaken the courage to resist in the hearts of the people!"

Sakura remained silent.

This topic, if delved into, seemed a bit too heavy.