Turning her attention to the next section of her stats page, Sakura noticed that her yang affinity was no longer represented by a numerical value. Both her earth and water affinities had noticeably improved, and a new nature had appeared at her disposal: her first elemental Kekkei Genkai— Wood Style.
Yamato-sensei had previously told her that Wood Style was merely the result of the simultaneous activation of earth and water chakras, but Sakura was fairly certain things weren't that simple. The logical progression of combining water with earth was Mud Style, but Wood Style had a living attribute.
"Yang chakra…?" Sakura muttered to herself. "If Yin Style is creating form out of nothingness, then Yang Style is all about granting life to that empty shell…"
If that was the case, then Wood Style wasn't just a mere Kekkei Genkai, but a Kekkei Tōta.
"Wood Style, Cutting Sprigs Jutsu?" Sakura asked herself, as she read the associated Jutsu. "It sort of feels like I can do something I couldn't before…"
Awakening a Kekkei Genkai was like recalling a long-forgotten memory from childhood.
When someone succeeded in creating a new Kekkei Genkai, their chakra would memorise the process and imprint it onto their genes— allowing them to pass on the bloodline limit to their luckiest descendants, provided those descendants were conceived after the ability had been unlocked.
It was hardly scientific, but that was how elemental Kekkei Genkai worked. Buried in Sakura's genetic memory were all of Hashirama's techniques— but unless someone taught them to her directly, she would have to undergo a long process of rediscovery to obtain them.
Unfortunately, that would have to wait— she had to save her team's collective backs.
Though Sakura had just spent the last five chapters wandering aimlessly through a Genjutsu and battling her clone, Neji, and the strange child whose face she'd melted off, no more than five minutes had passed— just enough time for Orochimaru and Manda to flatten the bathhouse, along with her teammates.
As she ran back towards the bathhouse, Sakura could only shudder at the sheer scale of her opponents. The gigantic purple snake, Manda, was taller than the bathhouse had ever been, and Orochimaru— transformed into his white, spike-covered eight-headed serpent form— towered over even him.
"Sasukeee!" Sakura shouted. "Catch!"
Sakura cocked back her arm and flung her clone's Kusanagi sword at him. He'd been pestering her in his own way for a share of the chakra metal she'd found buried in the desert, so here was one of the world's finest chakra metal blades— free of charge!
"Sword of Kusanagi: Longsword of the Sky!"
Unfortunately for Sakura and Sasuke, Orochimaru had left a mental imprint on the sword, allowing him to control it telekinetically. As it spun through the air towards Sasuke, it suddenly accelerated, aiming for his heart!
"Watch it!" yelled Sasuke indignantly, sidestepping out of the way.
The Sword of Kusanagi performed a looping to redirect itself back towards Sasuke… and then its blade suddenly extended, stabbing into the ground at his feet.
"Dodge!" Sakura yelled.
Classical mechanics tells us that the farther an object is from the centre of rotation, the greater its tangential speed— increasing linearly with both the radius and the angular velocity. In other words, the longer the Sword of Kusanagi extended, the faster its tip would travel when swung (though Orochimaru would have to use his telekinesis that much harder to rotate it)!
Sasuke leapt into the air, just barely avoiding having his feet sliced clean off at the ankles.
'What is this plagiarism?' Sakura inwardly lampooned. 'That's Ichimaru Gin's Bankai!'
"Sakura, you're finally here!" an exhausted Naruto gasped in relief, finally noticing her.
Team 7 was in rather rough shape.
Yamato-sensei was already out of commission, having exhausted his chakra trying to restrain both Manda and Orochimaru. It seemed his Wood Style lacked Hashirama's ability to absorb chakra, retaining only the bare minimum of the original's power of chakra suppression.
Naruto had summoned a rather large toad to assist him in combat, but it wasn't nearly big enough to stand up to Manda. So, he had resorted to sending in wave after wave of Shadow Clones— none of whom made the slightest difference. He'd managed to chip off a few of Manda's scales with standard Rasengans, but every time he attempted a Big Ball Rasengan, the giant snake would simply sweep up debris with its tail and flick at him a barrage of splintered beams and shattered stone that kept him from closing the gap.
Sasuke was faring slightly better against Orochimaru— but not by much. In this timeline, Orochimaru had never lost the use of his hands to the Third Hokage, meaning he was operating at more than full power. In his eight-headed serpent form, his Yamata-no-Orochi form, he could further transform himself into a whirling blender of death by growing bone spikes, thanks to the Shikotsumyaku.
Sakura reopened the gash on her thumb with her teeth and drew a line of blood across her other palm, before slamming her hands on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu: Katsuyu!"
BOOM!
A shockwave rippled through the battlefield as Mega-Katsuyu materialised in a vast cloud of white smoke, the sheer displacement of air from her arrival tearing outwards in all directions. Sakura landed between her eye stalks, now standing several metres above Manda's head.
"Welcome back, me!" Mini-Katsuyu called out from Sakura's shoulder.
"Sasuke!" shouted Sakura. "Formation four-five-one!"
Sasuke flickered to her side, grateful that his so-called teammate wasn't going to be throwing any more swords at his head. They both breathed in deeply, rapidly weaving hand signs side by side.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
A torrent of flames spewed forth from Sasuke's lips, merging with the fierce, hurricane-force winds Sakura exhaled. The orange fire suddenly blazed blue, burning with renewed intensity.
"I'm out," hissed Manda, vanishing in a puff of smoke before it could be incinerated. "Remember the sacrifices, Orochimaru— not one less."
Orochimaru's sixteen eyes widened in surprise as a stream of fire tore through the smoky cloud Manda had left behind, striking one of his eight heads and reducing it to charcoal.
"One down, seven more to go!" Sakura cheered. "Let's go again, Sasuke!"
Orochimaru immediately tried growing a new head in its place, only to find that the flames had cauterised the wound, preventing any regeneration.
"…I'm out of chakra."
"Already!?"