Is it good or bad to teach a clever student? Mizuki couldn't really say, but at least Sakura hadn't given him too much trouble. He just needed to think carefully about what would be most suitable to teach her.
After more than half a month, it felt like he'd already taught her just about everything he could. How well she used it was another matter, but at least she had learned most of it. What remained now was simply more practice and flexible application.
"Mizuki-sensei, do you think I should learn how to fight like Gaara from Suna?" Clever people always let their imagination run wild when they have free time. Yesterday Sakura wanted to study [Puppet Technique] tricks; today, she was already eyeing Gaara's fighting style.
Mizuki shook his head and replied, "Are you sure you want to learn this? It's not an easy thing by any means. Why exactly do you want to study sand ninjutsu?"
"Not sand—that's so dirty! I don't want to learn that. I want to use water to imitate his fighting style instead. His defense and attacks looked reallllly powerful~"
Sighing deeply, Mizuki said, "Putting aside whether you can even learn it or not, I wouldn't know how to teach you since I don't possess that skill myself. Also, you've made a mistake—one you won't be able to overcome even if you master shape transformation for Water Attribute chakra. After all, chakra-mimicked elements aren't the real thing. Many of Gaara's techniques use actual sand, not chakra-generated material. If you don't mind carrying a super-heavy water gourd everywhere you go—and possibly stunting your growth—you can certainly give it a shot."
Many ordinary people believe ninja are magical because they can create various elemental jutsu—like fire, water, wind, lightning, and earth—that look spectacular. But they don't understand that chakra is still just chakra. Even if you replicate the Five Elements as realistically as possible and your shape and nature transformations closely mirror real phenomena, they're still just cheap imitations in the end.
Take Mizuki's Fire Attribute, for instance—he could use nature transformation to create flames indistinguishable from real ones. They emitted intense light and heat, could ignite other objects, and even combine with naturally occurring flames to create greater effects. There was no difference at all between this and real fire. However, once Mizuki stopped controlling it, the chakra-generated flames would vanish completely, returning to nature.
So if Sakura wants to learn Gaara's fighting style, she first needs to master shape transformation for her Water Attribute chakra. Then she'll have to carry large quantities of water on her person at all times. Normally, she'd use chakra to maintain and enhance the water's vitality and control over it. Then, during actual combat, by combining her chakra with exceptional control skills, it might actually be possible to achieve abilities similar to Gaara's sand-based techniques.
Then, Mizuki emphasized one further point: "I suppose you must've heard me mention before that Gaara is considered the strongest genin participating in the Chunin Exams, so now you're interested? That part isn't worth envying. You might not realize something—even if you eventually master Water Attribute chakra to the same level of fluidity as Gaara's sand techniques, you still wouldn't match their power. If I'm not mistaken, that automatic defensive sand isn't actually a normal ninjutsu technique. It's very likely a Kekkei Genkai."
"A Kekkei Genkai? So besides Sasuke's [Sharingan] and the Hyuga clan's [Byakugan], and advanced techniques like [Ice Release], even that sand-based defense is also a type of Kekkei Genkai?"
"Right," Mizuki said with a smile. "You still have much to learn. There are many Kekkei Genkai in this world—far more wondrous than you can imagine."
Gaara's Sand Control Techniques were said to result from his mother's soul protecting him after her death, and even Gaara's name supposedly originated from his mother.
Mizuki scoffed at this explanation. How could someone who had been dead for years still possess such abilities? To withstand Rock Lee's attacks even after he activated five of the Eight Gates—he must have been an incredibly powerful person in life.
As for the Sand Control Secret Technique, judging by Suna ninja's unremarkable reactions, it wasn't surprising at all; chances were high that Gaara's mother also possessed this ability and passed it on to him.
After hearing Mizuki's words, Sakura hung her head in disappointment.
Seeing Sakura's expression, Mizuki said, "The third stage of the Chunin Exams is coming soon. I understand your eagerness, but recently you've become far too restless without taking time to reflect on your own growth."
During this period, Mizuki indeed taught Sakura quite a bit, though the main purpose had been to offer another option back when Sakura was weaker, helping her make full use of her intelligence.
Sakura replied with frustration: "I know, Teacher Mizuki, but the competition is getting closer, and I still feel like I'm falling short."
Hearing Sakura's frustrated words, Mizuki corrected gently, "There's something you might have misunderstood. Do you really think you haven't improved much during this time?"
Sakura nodded and said, "I know all the ninjutsu you've taught me are valuable techniques, but how can I reach the level of chunin within such a short time? I really don't want to lose." Even though a month ago Sakura herself chose a long-term strategy, abandoning any shortcuts to defeat Dosu immediately, watching her teammates compete openly while she could only suffer defeat quietly felt terrible.
* Sigh, she's still such a competitive child.*
Rubbing his forehead, Mizuki looked at Sakura and said, "First of all, let me tell you—you still haven't realized exactly what level your current strength has reached. Let me put it this way: if we go back a month ago, you'd already stand a great chance of defeating Sasuke Uchiha."
What was Sasuke's strength level a month ago? [One-tomoe Sharingan], basic ninjutsu plus some Fire Release techniques—that's all he had besides what he learned back at the Ninja Academy. With Sakura's current capabilities, as long as she planned her tactics well, there were plenty of ways to defeat Sasuke. Of course, if Sasuke activated the Cursed Seal and gained massive physical enhancements through sheer power and speed, then Sakura likely wouldn't stand a chance.
"Defeat Sasuke? That's impossible!" Sakura gasped in disbelief. To her, Sasuke was the epitome of perfection—the idea of surpassing him had never even occurred to her.
"You need to believe what I say, and more importantly, believe in yourself. The Sasuke now may be much stronger than before, so whether you can beat him remains uncertain—but one thing's certain: you've definitely grown stronger compared to the past."
"Oh." Good thing it wasn't about surpassing Sasuke, Sakura thought, letting out a sigh of relief.
"You've come to believe you're not strong enough—and I'm partly to blame for that. You've always trained with me, relying solely on the techniques I taught you. I can predict every move you make. That's why you inevitably feel powerless during our training."
Taking a sip of water, Mizuki continued, "But understand this—you're facing a Chunin, not just another Candidate. His strength is leagues above yours. Still holding onto delusions? If you think you can defeat me just by using what I've taught you, then you're even more naïve than I thought."
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