The summoning beast didn't just lunge; it descended like a living avalanche, its colossal form blotting out the smoke-choked sky. Its mandibles didn't just snap open; they gaped wide, revealing rows of dagger-like teeth, releasing an ear-piercing, guttural screech that didn't just crack nearby windows, but shattered them into glittering rain, sending shivers down the spines of even the most hardened shinobi. It thundered forward, its massive, segmented body plowing through buildings not like a serpent through paper, but like a monstrous drill through brittle bone. Debris didn't just fly in all directions; it exploded outwards, a deadly shrapnel storm of wood, stone, and shattered hopes.
But Sakura didn't flinch. Her eyes, though grim, held an unyielding fire.
She darted in low, a blur of motion, dodging under a falling beam that would have crushed a lesser ninja. Chakra was already coiling around her fists, not like a second skin, but like a visible, emerald aura of raw power, crackling with destructive potential. With one thunderous roar that seemed to shake the very foundations of the ruined district, she slammed her fist into the earth.
"Cherry Blossom Impact!"
The ground didn't just detonate; it imploded with a concussive roar, sending a shockwave that didn't just tear through the soil, but ripped it apart. The giant centipede, for all its immense bulk, was launched into the air as if struck by an invisible, colossal battering ram. Its ear-piercing screech turned into a strangled, gurgling hiss of agony before it crashed back into a collapsed merchant's hall, the earth not just cratering, but groaning and buckling beneath its immense, broken weight.
Hinata was already moving, a whisper of motion, her focus absolute.
Byakugan blazing, veins throbbing at her temples, she didn't just leap over the beast's collapsed body; she vaulted with impossible grace, her eyes already zeroing in on the Animal Path, the true puppet master.
It turned to meet her, its face a blank, expressionless mask of cold, unfeeling purpose—and then, with a chillingly casual gesture, it summoned again. A massive bird with a spiked beak and chakra bombs didn't just erupt from its mouth; it materialized with a sickening squawk, its wings already beating the air, taking to the smoke-filled skies.
Hinata exhaled sharply, a deep, cleansing breath, and for the first time, unleashed her true technique, a power she had honed in secret, a testament to her unwavering spirit.
"Gentle Fist Art: Twin Lion Fist – Heaven Pulse!"
Her chakra surged, erupting in twin roaring lions that didn't just envelop her arms; they manifested as shimmering, sapphire constructs, crackling with potent energy, their ethereal fangs bared. The ground didn't just buckle beneath her feet; it cracked and splintered under the sheer force of her gathered power. She leapt—higher than ever before, a defiant streak against the bruised sky—and struck the airborne summon directly with a cross-palm strike that was less a blow and more a concentrated explosion of pure chakra.
BOOM!
The beast didn't just explode into a thousand feathers and shrapnel; it disintegrated in a blinding flash of light and sound, its form atomized, sent spiraling into dust by the concentrated, annihilating chakra. Hinata somersaulted, a perfect, controlled descent, and landed beside Sakura, breathing heavily but steady, her eyes still burning with fierce resolve.
Sakura blinked, her jaw slightly agape despite the chaos. "...That was incredible, Hinata. Truly."
Hinata smiled faintly, a rare, tired curve of her lips. "Tsunade-sama said it would only work once a day. It's… incredibly taxing."
"Let's hope once is enough," Sakura muttered, her gaze already sweeping the battlefield, the grim reality of their situation pressing in.
Kabuto clapped slowly from the sidelines, the sound unnervingly calm amidst the destruction, his smile a thin, predatory line. "Beautiful. Truly. You've grown into your roles perfectly. A credit to your mentors. But I didn't come to fight… I came to distract. To draw your attention."
Sakura's eyes narrowed, a cold suspicion dawning. "Distract us from what, Kabuto? What are you planning?"
Kabuto's smirk didn't just deepen; it twisted into a chilling, triumphant sneer—and the Animal Path, previously passive, a mere observer, suddenly activated with a surge of malevolent chakra.
It unleashed a flurry of rapid-fire summons—not just two more centipedes, but a hulking, rhino-like beast with a horn like a battering ram, and a grotesque, multi-headed dog, its snarling faces dripping with venom—all descending upon the battlefield simultaneously. The ground didn't just crack under the weight of their bodies; it groaned in protest, and suddenly, the sky was filled with a horrifying symphony of thrashing limbs, ear-splitting shrieks, and the chilling promise of death.
Sakura turned to Hinata, her voice grim but resolute. "They're trying to overrun us. To exhaust us."
Hinata nodded, her Byakugan already tracking the multiple threats. "I'll handle the right flank. You take the left."
No hesitation. No fear. Only an unshakable, absolute trust forged in the fires of countless battles.
They moved as one, a seamless, deadly partnership.
Sakura ran toward the rhino summon, a tiny figure against its monstrous bulk, then leapt into the air, her chakra-fueled heel driving down with the force of a meteor strike into its skull. The impact didn't just cause the creature to sink to its knees; it shattered its spectral form, causing it to explode into smoke, vanishing in a burst of chakra, leaving a fresh crater in its wake.
Hinata, meanwhile, spun inside the storm of the multi-headed dog, her hands glowing with a sapphire light, each strike a chakra point-targeting precision blow. She struck one head, then another, then, with a final, decisive thrust, hit the core chakra point at its base. The summon howled, a dying, guttural cry—and dissolved into nothingness.
They carved through the battlefield like gods of war, their movements a blur of devastating power and elegant precision, leaving a trail of vanished summons and shattered earth.
Kabuto's smirk didn't just begin to crack; it fractured entirely, replaced by a flicker of genuine surprise and frustration.
He pulled a kunai laced with a potent, paralyzing poison and prepared to strike, his eyes glinting with malicious intent—until Sakura, turning mid-leap, her body still in motion, hurled a chakra-enhanced scalpel straight toward his wrist. The kunai didn't just fly from his grasp; it spun end over end, embedding itself deep into a crumbling wall with a sickening thud.
"I told you," she said, panting, blood on her arms from a dozen minor cuts, her voice laced with a fierce, unyielding determination, "you don't get to escape this time. Not from us."
But Kabuto wasn't without his tricks, his cunning as sharp as any blade.
His hand didn't just reach into his robe; it darted with serpentine speed—and threw down a flash bomb. A burst of blinding white light didn't just stun both kunoichi for a split second; it engulfed them in temporary blindness, stealing their vision, leaving them vulnerable.
Too long.
When the glare finally faded, leaving shimmering afterimages in their eyes, Kabuto was already leaping onto the back of the remaining summon—a giant hawk, its wings already beating furiously. He turned back, one hand pressed against his bleeding side, clearly wounded by Sakura's precise strike, but his eyes still held a chilling triumph.
"You win this round," he hissed, his voice carrying on the wind, a promise of future torment. "But this village is already bleeding from the inside. You can't save everyone. Not when the true game has just begun."
"Try us," Hinata growled, her eyes blazing with a renewed, furious resolve.
With that, the hawk carried him away, disappearing into the storm above, a dark silhouette against the bruised sky.
Only one enemy remained.
The Animal Path stood at the center of the craters, its chakra fading with every summon lost, its form flickering, a mere shell. It made no move to defend itself, a puppet awaiting its final destruction.
Sakura and Hinata approached slowly, warily, their steps heavy, but their purpose clear.
Sakura clenched her fists, her voice low and determined. "Let's end it together. For Konoha."
Hinata nodded, her eyes meeting Sakura's, a silent understanding passing between them. "Together. For Naruto. For everyone."
They rushed in unison, a final, synchronized assault. Sakura's fist struck first—a devastating, chakra-fueled blow that shattered the Path's chestplate, sending shards of its grotesque armor flying. Hinata followed immediately, her Twin Lion Fists blazing, with a twin strike to its core chakra network, severing its connection to the unseen master.
The Animal Path didn't just disintegrate into dust; it imploded, its form dissolving into nothingness, leaving behind only the lingering scent of ozone and defeat.
Silence reigned, broken only by their ragged breaths and the distant sounds of the ongoing siege.
Sakura dropped to her knees, not just catching her breath, but gasping for it, her body trembling with exhaustion. Hinata crouched beside her, her fingers gently checking Sakura's pulse, a silent gesture of care. They were bruised, battered, bloodied—but alive.
And they had won. This battle, at least. But the war was far from over.