Naruto: Lost to Hinata on Purpose, and Now Everything's a Mess Chapter 73 73 : Flying Thunder God Technique

It was a little embarrassing that when Riku teleported Sakura out, he hadn't thought to send her clothes along.

In fact, Riku had originally planned to do just that, but Sakura's outfit was laced with explosive tags. He had no choice but to strip them away before transporting her.

As soon as she was safely transferred, Riku imdiately retrieved a cloak from a space scroll and wrapped it around her.

Sakura instantly beca aware of her situation the mont she arrived.

Her face turned crimson. She glared at Riku and shouted, "Riku, you pervert!"

But when she saw how calm he remained—wordlessly pulling out the cloak and covering her without hesitation—she realized it hadn't been intentional.

Even so, the whole ordeal left her utterly mortified.

Once she was covered, Riku turned around and took out another full set of clothes from his scroll for her.

With a calm voice, he said, "I'll wait over there. Hurry up and get changed."

Riku didn't have any ulterior motives—after all, Sakura was only twelve years old. What could he possibly be thinking?

anwhile, Sakura was burning with embarrassnt. If she had already mastered Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Technique, she would've sent Riku flying with a single punch.

It took her about a minute to finish changing and step out, but she was still red-faced and deeply flustered when she approached him.

"You… Why didn't you warn ?" she muttered.

Sakura knew Riku had only done what he did to save her, but that didn't make it any less humiliating.

"I didn't have ti," Riku answered seriously. "Besides, what are you so afraid of? You're just a kid. Why overthink it? Better embarrassed than dead, right?"

Sakura pouted, annoyed by how casually he dismissed the situation. Still, she couldn't deny the truth in his words.

If Riku hadn't intervened, she would've died a horrible death. There was no doubt about that.

But one thing he said irked her.

"You… You think I'm just a kid? Just wait—I'll grow up!"

Riku blinked, staring at her in confusion.

"When did I ever say that?" he asked. "I literally just saved your life. Shouldn't you be thanking ?"

It was the first ti anyone had seen her like that—though she wasn't even sure if Riku had truly seen anything.

After hesitating a mont, Sakura nodded and murmured, "Thank you, Riku."

Riku finally smiled. "It's alright. I'm sorry, that was the only way I could save you."

He offered a brief apology, hoping to avoid any awkwardness down the line.

Though she was still red-faced, Sakura's curiosity eventually got the better of her.

That technique—being able to teleport in an instant—it was like sothing out of legend.

Looking up at Riku, she asked hesitantly, "Riku… can you tell what jutsu that was? It was amazing—instant movent like that… Was it space-ti ninjutsu?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah. It's called the Flying Thunder God Technique. The Third Hokage rewarded with the scroll after I completed a mission recently."

Sakura didn't know why, but she'd always been curious about Riku—and now, after what had just happened, her curiosity was stronger than ever.

"I heard Kakashi-sensei say it's an extrely powerful jutsu… that you risked your life to earn it."

"I could tell," she added softly. "It was like watching a god. Moving through space in an instant…"

Riku shrugged. "It's powerful, sure. It was originally created by the Second Hokage, and later mastered by the Fourth Hokage. Now I'm the third person to learn it."

Sakura's eyes widened. "So only the three of you have ever learned it?"

Riku nodded again. "It's an S-rank technique. Really difficult. That's why so few people have ever managed to master it. It took more than a week."

Sakura gawked. "Only a week? That's insane! I thought jutsu that powerful would take years to learn!"

In truth, S-rank jutsu were notoriously difficult to master.

Even A-rank techniques required trendous talent and patience. Take Sasuke, for example—he had excellent talent and both chakra and lightning affinity, but it still took him about a month to learn Chidori.

Naruto's Wind Style: Rasenshuriken would've taken years to develop if not for his use of the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Even learning the original Rasengan had taken Naruto over a month to grasp—barely. Jiraiya, who was already in his thirties at the ti, had taken three days to learn it.

So it was clear—if an A-rank jutsu was that difficult, then an S-rank technique like the Flying Thunder God was practically legendary.

And yet, Riku had mastered it in just over a week.

Sakura found that terrifying.

But Riku just remained calm. "It's hard, yeah. But like you saw—it's pretty practical."

As she recalled the way he'd saved her, Sakura's face flushed again.

"You… Did you see?" she asked in a small voice, unable to look him in the eye.

Riku was a bit puzzled, but he replied honestly, "Yeah, I saw. But co on—we're both twelve. It's not a big deal."

Of course, Riku didn't really believe that. He did think it was a serious matter—but there was no way he could say that out loud.

Sakura looked appalled. "How can you be so casual about seeing a girl like that?"

Riku offered a lopsided smile. "I already told you—it wasn't on purpose."

Truthfully, Sakura felt guilty—toward Sasuke.

She still had feelings for Sasuke, and now Riku had seen her like that. Even though Sasuke didn't know, it made her feel disloyal.

Of course, she was overthinking it. Riku genuinely hadn't thought anything of her body.

To him, it was the sa as seeing a boy.

After all, Sakura was still a child. She wasn't like Hinata.

Hinata already had a more developed figure, sothing that could even be seen through her clothes.

Sakura, on the other hand, was completely flat.

That fact alone made her want to punch Riku—but when she rembered that he had saved her life, she relented.

At that mont, when she had thought she was going to die, it had been Riku's face she saw—her savior. Just for a mont, he had replaced her beloved Sasuke in her heart.

"Don't you dare tell anyone about this," she warned, glaring at him.

Riku grinned. "Relax. You think I'd go around talking about sothing like that?"

Sakura actually trusted him on that. Despite everything, she believed in Riku's character.

The two of them walked back to Tazuna's village in silence.

As soon as they arrived at his house, they could hear the sounds of fighting from inside.

Riku's expression sharpened. He dashed forward imdiately.

Inside, Sasuke and Naruto had already been defeated. This ti, Haku hadn't held back. Though the two were still alive, Naruto hadn't managed to tap into the Nine-Tails' power.

Now, both Haku and Zabuza were ganging up on Kakashi, who looked clearly overwheld.

While running, Riku quickly ford hand seals. "Water Style: Water Severing Wave!"

A column of seawater erupted from beneath Tazuna's house, jetting straight toward Zabuza.

Zabuza swung his Executioner's Blade to block Kakashi's counter and then quickly leapt aside to avoid the rushing water attack.

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