NOVEL NEXT Chapter 75: Chapter 74: The Test Begins
Greetings oh Grand Readers! I hope you"ve enjoyed your holidays and made cheerful memories. These are officially the last chapters for the year 2024. Thank you all for being with me on this creative journey. I had a drastic year and your support has been what's gotten me through it. I am so grateful to each and everyone one of you for your support and encouragement. You have allowed me to continue pursuing my derams for another year.
I have many new projects in the making, stories and new creatives I have taken on. So there will be plenty to look forward to.
You can get to the Poll through my Tumblr here: https://www.tumblr.com/katsura369/768599853376864256/new-poll-out?source=share
If you have any questions or you want to reach out Please do it through TUMBLR ONLY: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/katsura369
And I hope you enjoy the chapter!
CHAPTER 74: The Test Begins
Sasuke and Naruto entered the investigations building with Kakashi. Leading to a room shelved with scrolls, and people bustling about, including Shikamaru.
"You're early," Shikamaru muttered, crossing his arms. "Good. There's something you should know about the scroll."
Naruto stepped forward eagerly. "What is it? Did you find something?"
Shikamaru sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Not exactly. What we've managed to decipher so far. The scroll… it appears to explain how the Otsutsuki were able to travel between universes."
"Yeah, we know that already,"
"No," Sasuke interjected, "He said universes, not dimensions,"
"There's a difference?" Naruto asked, slow on the uptake that his peers had already realized.
Shikamaru nodded. "Right. It's not the same as what we've seen before with dimensional travel. According to the scroll, the Otsutsuki extended their reach into what they called 'replicas' dimensions. In other words different versions of the universe, with the same planets, and solar system. It's not just hopping between dimensions—it's like they could access entirely different versions of our world. Different universes. These are considered imaginative theories of physics at best, or at least they were."
Naruto frowned, trying to wrap his head around the concept, but they could already see the steam coming out of his ears.
"How did they manage to do something like this?" Sasuke asked. He had the rinnegan now in one of his eyes, and that allowed him to break the barrier between dimensions, however, he had been searching for months without finding any trace of Sakura. He was convinced that Kaguya had to have sent her through somewhere. A place that even he couldn't reach easily with his power.
Shikamaru had a tense expression, but he shared his theory, "Well from what I can guess, to get there, they essentially broke through the fabric of reality to reach those alternative worlds. The problem is finding out how exactly they did this. What we found so far, mentions something about opening multiple dimensions at the same time to create that tear in the fabric, however we don't know the sequence,"
"So you just have to decipher the rest of the scroll for that?" asked Naruto, his eyes shining with anticipation and hope. It was a gleam he always held even in the most dire of times. But right now it made things harder on Shikarmaru, who simply wished the two would accept things for what they were. But he wasn't so crass as to state it outright, not after everything they've been through. But the time was nearing for him to attempt to drag them down from the sky, and to face the ground, where they had placed the gravestone.
"Even if we did, I doubt it's going to take an average amount of chakra to pull something like this off," Kaguya was the only Otsutski that they knew of, but apparently from Sasuke's investigations into the Six Path Sage and Kaguya, there were other's of their kind. They simply hadn't reached down on earth, because if they had, undoubtedly there would be records to sketch them into history. As beings of that kind of power, would not go unnoticed.
Sasuke's eyes flickered with recognition. "So, it wasn't just a random portal. It was a calculated move."
While this might go over some heads, like Naruto's, Shikamaru instantly realized what the Uchiha was passively determining. That Sakura wasn't just attacked and launched into another world in a thoughtless move of panic in the final moments of defeat, but rather a strategic maneuver executed in hopes of baring a desired outcome. And that was the reason to believe Sakura was still alive.
No one knew the full tale of Kaguya like Sasuke and Naruto did, but they did inform those who needed the information. They told them about the history of the mother of chakra and the acts of her creation Black Zetsu that manipulated generations of shinobi into destruction and chaos and war. Sasuke was relying on an old script that Kaguya had written to free herself and considered the possibility of her writing another and perhaps including Sakura in the script.
"The Otsutsuki used a specific process. But we're still missing key pieces of the puzzle. There's a lot left that we haven't figured out yet. Even with what we've decoded, we have no idea how to recreate the sequence or if we even have the chakra capacity to pull something like that off."
Naruto clenched his fists. "So we're still stuck?"
"For now, yes." Shikamaru's voice was flat, pragmatic. "But we're making progress. Just don't expect immediate results. This is ancient stuff, and we're still trying to understand how it all works."
That was also Shikamaru's way of telling Sasuke not to do anything reckless or allow Naruto to do it either. If he said it outright, Naruto would protest and he would just make the situation worse.
Naruto's jaw tightened, frustration flickering across his features. "We don't have time for this. Every day that passes…"
"I know," Shikamaru interrupted, his eyes softening. "Believe me. But this is as quick as we can go. We'll keep working on it, and let you know when we've finished."
..
..
Naruto left the investigations building hit with the cold breeze, realizing the change in seasons. It had been so long already, and he hated that there was still more waiting to come. Although Shikamaru was helping decipher the scroll, he wasn't looking for Sakura. Everyone had turned away from checking in the dark and looked towards the tombstones for her. While he and Sasuke were still running in the dark where they had lost sight of her.
He found himself staring out into the distance, the pale light of the early morning casting long shadows over the village. Somewhere, out there, Sakura was waiting for them—at least, that's what he had to believe. But with every passing day, it became harder to hold on to that hope.
Sasuke's voice broke through the silence. "Don't worry, dumbass."
Naruto turned to look at him, startled by the sudden words. "Sasuke,"
"We'll find her,"
..
..
..
Feet were on the cold floors of Heights Alliance before dawn eveN broke through that Sunday morning. Anxiety clinging to them like oil, making their perceptions slip.
Breakfast had been a quiet affair. The usual clatter of plates and chatter was replaced with an uncomfortable silence. The food felt heavy in their stomachs, and most of them barely ate. Their nerves dulled their appetite, but still, they tried to focus and prepare.
Once dressed in their hero costumes, they made their way to the designated training area: Ground Omega, a sprawling forest and the place Sakura had chosen to be the battleground. Not typical territory any of them were used to but Izuku noted how Sakura always seemed to prefer the Omega training ground.
Sakura stood in front of the class, having arrived earlier than the rest. They were in a clearing, with her back turned to the sunrise.
Sakura's eyes scanned the group, her gaze settling briefly on each of them before she spoke. "Alright, I'll begin explaining the rules."
There was an obvious straightening in everyone's posture as they perched their ears towards her. The rustling of the trees seemed to grow quiet as they did this. Watching as she reached behind into her pouch, shuffling its contents for a second before a soft chime hit them like an echo.
"A bell?" Denki questioned as Sakura held up the object. It seemed like him, many of them thought she was preparing to pull out something that would start their training, an object that would bring them pain or at least great discomfort.
She shook the small silver bell tied to a red ribbon. The simplicity of the object seemed almost laughable compared to the tension in the air, and it only increased when a sinister gleam flashed through Sakura's eyes. She seemed intent not to hide it.
"The way this training goes is simple. You have to take this bell from me."
The entire class seemed to bulk, discontent with the explanation as if they had been preparing to walk through a blizzard only to discover it was spring.
"What? That's it?" Blurted Hanta.
Sakura nodded. "That's it. Take the bell from me, and you win, training's over and we can all go back to the dorm and call it a day,"
Katsuki couldn't bite his tongue as the annoyance seemed through, "What the hell are you playing at huh? You're up to something aren't you?"
Her thin lips twisted forward, "You're rather paranoid Katsuki. This is all there is to this training, get the bell from me."
"You implied there was going to be a fight!"
"I never said I would just stand still and let you take the bell from me," She patted her chin with her index finger, behaving coyly.
Bakugo clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Tch. This is supposed to be the hardcore training session you've got for us. Thought you were supposed to be teaching us,"
Sakura's eyes gleamed slightly, but she didn't respond to Bakugo's challenge directly. "I assure you," she said, her voice firm yet calm, "this is training and there will be lessons. But you can approach it however you like. The rules are as simple as I said: take the bell, and you win. You can use any method. You can team up or go solo. Use your quirks, use your strategy, or rely on brute force. The choice is yours. It's currently a little past 8 am. You have until 8 pm to get the bell. Of course, you can back in the next 30 seconds if you're not up for it,"
No one was stepping out of this challenge, no matter how peculiar it was. The concept of this training was strange, yes, but there was at least a tangible goal set, it was just no one could realize the main point of it. It was like being told to shoot an arrow into fog, without knowing what they were meant to hit. Still, they pulled back the string, clutched the tips of their arrows, and prepared to let them fly.
To show that she was serious about the offer, Sakura began counting back from thirty, after getting to twenty she asked, "Any takers?" Her voice was calm but also teasing, and it made the atmosphere feel dense.
"No way," Eijirou leaned forward, bashing his fists together. Everyone followed his train of thought, shifting their stances to strengthen it like a tree preparing to weather a storm. "I want to see just how far I can go, and besides we've all been training a lot since you left the class,"
That reminder of their class's efforts throughout her absence caused an emotional rift to enter between their doubts.
"Alright, let's go," Sakura composed, lowering the bell slightly, her fingers gripping it with loose confidence before she pinned it onto the waist of her kimono belt. She looked at the gathered students, and her smile widened.
That was all the permission they needed. Tsuyu was the first to move, her long tongue whipping through the air with incredible speed, aiming to wrap around Sakura's waist and snag the bell. But Sakura moved as if the attack had been predicted long before it even began. With a simple step to the side, she evaded Tsuyu's strike effortlessly, not even bothering to look at her opponent. Of course, she wasn't given a moment reprieve as another classmate moved in.
Next, Mina shot forward, sliding across the ground on a stream of acid to increase her speed, her eyes locked on the bell at Sakura's waist. With a light jump, Sakura propelled herself backward, her movements fluid, her hands raised, leaving the bell unguarded as she watched Mina approach.
"Is that all you've got?"
Mina gritted her teeth, frustrated by how easily her attack had been avoided. Before Sakura even landed, there was an attack from the air, Fumikage charged in, using his Dark Shadow to stretch across the plains in an attempt to catch her off balance while she was mid-air. It seemed like the best opportunity, to strike while the target was distracted. At least that's what he thought.
But once again, Sakura's movements defied expectation. She twisted her body in the air with a series of gymnastic moves that seemed almost unnatural in their precision. With a flick of her wrist, she pushed herself off and landed softly on the ground, sliding across the field as if she were dancing on ice.
Mashirao and Sato rushed in, attempting to corner her while she was supposedly distracted, however, Sakura caught them from the corner of her eyes before they even reached her. She sidestepped Mashirao's attempt to grapple her, ducking under Sato's heavy hand, before gripping his wrist to throw herself into the air with a flip and landing away from them.
The aim was the bell, but they were making it too obvious, "Your forms and sense of directions are just too obvious, I can read you all like open books. You're never going to win that way,"
Essentially, the message she was conveying was, that it didn't matter how fast, or how strong their attacks were, she would remain untouchable with this continued pattern. None of them were trying to trip her up but rather were just focused on obtaining the bell from her waist through their individual ability.
The entire class had entered the battle circle, except for four, Tenya, Shouto, Izuku, and Katsuki, who stood just at the edge of the fray observing their classmates and all their failed attempts to take the bell from Sakura. While it was over 15 to 1, Sakura continued to prevail against their numbers. They were Bodies collided, quirks backfired, and the battlefield seemed more like a playground than an arena of serious training at least to Sakura.
Mina slid forward on her acid, only to crash into an invisible Toru. Both girls tumbled to the ground.
Ochaco, in an attempt to use her zero gravity quirk to float above the chaos and use some of the marshall arts she learned from Gunhead, didn't even get the chance to attempt to exchange blows as she misjudged her landing and tripped over Mashirao's tail, or rather he ended up at the wrong place when she needed a free platform to land.
Meanwhile, Tsuyu's tongue whipped around, intending to grab the bell, but instead smacked directly into Eijiro's face, sending the hardened hero-in-training stumbling backward.
Frustration was becoming evident, not just with their opponent but with each other as well. However, Sakura was behaving a bit unusual. Her usual demeanor had shifted, there was always calm about her in most cases, but she was behaving outright leisurely, and arrogant. They could feel that air from where they stood, a wicked smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes every time her classmates tripped over each other and she evaded them. Mocking and deliberate. Her body language also conveyed her nonchalant expression towards their efforts. Like a child teasing you.
The bell at her waist jingled faintly but otherwise did not shift from its position she fastened it.
It was as if she was watching a game unfold, and she was the only one aware of how to win it.
'They can't attack all together like this,' Izuku thought, as he observed. Even as they had her encircled, this tactic was proving more advantageous to Sakura. As it limited the number of students that could hope to face her at a time, at the most four of them could properly reach her or they would clash, and no one could realize that from the distance they currently stood. They also all had the same goal, and there was only a chance for one of them to succeed.
So why were the four of them just standing back while everyone else went for the goal? They didn't know the reason themselves, only that something had wrapped around their ankles, keeping them in place with a weight that came on the moment Sakura told them to start.
It was growing heavier with the memories of Sakura and her previous fights. Izuku couldn't shake the image of his fighting sessions with her, seeing the same precision of her movements that were executed effortlessly.
And another thing he realized after training with Sakura. She was not currently using her quirk.
Tenya was stuck in the memory of the way she fought against Stain, her fluid movements even as her life was on the line, where a single scratch would mean the end. And yet she persevered, countering him with speed that left Tenya in awe. And he couldn't help but wonder if he could even compare their speeds after he had gone through that torturous training to improve.
There was something about the way she fought, like a river bending effortlessly around obstacles, but striking with the force of a tidal wave when necessary. Even now, as she stood across from them, her stance was casual yet commanding.
To his side, Shouto was the first to break the silence, a thought that had been stuck in their heads and refused to pass their lips.
"Should we go?"
Then a miracle seemed to occur. A small purple ball, from Minoru's quirk, managed to roll unnoticed by Sakura until it was stuck to the back of her heel. It was a small thing, but to them, it was a drop of blood in the water. The second her movements were hindered, everyone jumped in.
"I got her!"
Hanta used his quirk to bind Sakura's arms with his tape, to lock her down further, and the other's rushed seeing this as a chance.
Shouto, Katsuki, Tenya, and Izuku finally snapped in thought 'What am I doing?' Why were they hesitating when doubting wouldn't get them anywhere?
They needed to charge forward without thinking, to erase every lingering hesitation that whispered they weren't good enough. They had to paint over those doubts, wipe the slate clean, and remove their current impressions of Sakura as the strongest among them.
Izuku activated One For All, his eyes narrowing as the familiar power surged through him, crackling around his form. Tenya's engines roared to life, the heat radiating from his legs as he crouched low, ready to launch himself forward. Shouto was already gliding smoothly on a wave of ice, and Katsuki had taken to the sky, explosions propelling him through the air.
'GET THE BELL!'
This was more than just a training session, to get this bell would be claim to more than just victor of this training session. It would mark a new title of the strongest. They would be that much closer to what they had been dreaming since they could remember heroes.
Sakura, who had appeared to fall tangled into the net her classmates created, calmly spoke. "Oh there's one more thing I forgot to tell you."
Even while they were charging, it was clear they were listening to her, and Sakura didn't hesitate in her next statement.
"Come at me like you want to kill me,"
As they reached her, as their combined might zero in on the immobilized Sakura, hands of smoke covered their vision. Groans and cries of pain came from the class as they collided with each other. Except for one.
Sakura was missing. However, her voice still rang in their heads with her last statement.
'Come at me like you want to kill me,'
THAT'S ALL FOLKS! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and Remember to stay strong!
If you want to get a hold of these latest chapters check out my TUMBLR where you can join as a member. You can also get the update schedule to follow. As well as Fanart posts.
MEMBERS NOW: (BMAC MEMBER)
-Commission: Demon slayer x My hero academia
Kunoichi amongst Benders (Avatar x Naruto crossover) ( 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes chapter (75, 76, 77)
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes WHAT IF SPIN OFF: Dorms and Exams
-Kunoichi amongst Pirates chapter ( 30, 31, 32)
-Crossroads of Fate chapter 22, 23, 24, 25
-Through the Looking Glass chapter 28, 29, 30, 31, 32. 33
-(SEQUEL) Through the Spyglass chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6
-SPECIAL HALLOWEEN CHAPTER: Shinigami amongst Shinobi
Want more INFO on my STORIES and ARTWORK lookup Katsura369 in your search Tab!