"Th-this… what in the world is going on?! Why is Lady Terumi Mei with you?" the Kiri ninja stammered, staring at Sakura with utter disbelief. He then turned his pleading gaze to Mei. "Lady Mei! Why are you with her? Where have you been all this time? Elder Genshi has been extremely worried about your safety!"
Sakura stepped forward and carefully pulled the shuriken from Mei's shoulder and arm. Mei let out another muffled groan, her large eyes instantly welling up with tears. Seeing her like this, Sakura couldn't help but think Mei's original, fiery persona was far more agreeable. Her current state simply didn't match her apparent age; the amnesia seemed to have significantly reduced her mental age, giving her an almost childlike vulnerability.
"Don't move. I'll heal you now," Sakura murmured, placing a hand glowing with the green chakra of the Mystic Palm Technique over the wounds. Within moments, the bleeding stopped.
"What is he talking about?" Mei asked Sakura, glancing nervously at the Kiri ninja who was still trying to address her. "Who's Terumi Mei?"
"Uh, he's mistaken you for someone else," Sakura lied smoothly. "You just look very similar to someone from Kirigakure."
"Oh, is that so?" Mei nodded, seeming to half-understand. Then, her eyes suddenly lit up with naive excitement, and she whispered conspiratorially, "In that case, maybe I should pretend to be that person? Then we could trick him and get away!"
"Er, no need. I'll take care of him," Sakura sighed, dismissing the idea. Given Mei's current state, the ninja – assuming he wasn't a complete idiot – would see through the act in three sentences flat.
Sakura stood up, facing the stunned Kiri ninja. "I'm going to finish you now, using my full strength," she stated calmly. "Prepare yourself."
The ninja shifted, his one good hand moving behind his back as if readying something. "I admit, you're strong. I can't defeat you. But don't think you can finish me off so easily!"
The instant the words left his mouth, Sakura's form flickered. An overwhelming, crushing force slammed into the ninja's neck as a powerful hand clamped around his throat, driving him down hard onto the rocky ground.
The Kiri ninja's face instantly flushed crimson. He tried to cough, but the grip on his windpipe was ironclad, trapping the choked sound as a desperate hissing noise. The hand showed no signs of loosening. Unable to draw breath or clear his throat, his eyes began to bulge grotesquely, his face darkening towards a ghastly purple.
Realizing survival was impossible, the ninja frantically extended his functional left hand, two fingers stiffly pointed. Sakura saw a dark, shadow-like mass abruptly shoot out from his back, streaking towards the sky without pause.
She glanced up, but the lingering mist quickly obscured the shadow's path. It wasn't a living entity; her Sage Chakra-enhanced senses couldn't track its location. Frustrated, Sakura fired several blasts from her Storm Release: Laser Circus technique into the fog-laden sky, but nothing fell.
It seems the enhancement from the Gelel Stone's chakra only lets me sense living auras, not inanimate objects or raw chakra signatures, she mused bitterly. Is it because I can't refine natural energy myself? If so, there's a massive difference between borrowing Sage Chakra and Generating it internally. She wondered what kind of perception she might gain if she ever managed to learn Seijutsu properly. Just utilizing the Gelel Stone's power had already elevated her strength significantly; mastering natural energy herself would surely make her far more formidable.
Shaking off the thought, Sakura slightly relaxed her grip, allowing the Kiri ninja to take a ragged, desperate gasp of air. "What was that?" she demanded.
"Cough… Hah… You'll soon… cough… face the full pursuit of Kirigakure!" the ninja choked out between coughs, a defiant glare returning to his eyes. "Kill me! Hurry up and run! Hide like the rat you are… Hahaha… Sooner or later… cough… sooner or later, you'll pay for Lord Mizukage and Lord Mangetsu's deaths! You'll join them!"
Sakura's eyes blazed with fury. What the hell is this?! Why was every damn piece of crap being dumped on her head? She hadn't expected Mangetsu to be dead, but she certainly hadn't killed him! Leaving aside his likely mastery of the Hozuki clan's Hydrification Technique, the punch she'd thrown hadn't even hit him – she'd struck Hiramekarei! And assassinating the Fourth Mizukage? That was Akatsuki's doing! What did it have to do with her?! If she hadn't been separated from Mei, she might have even helped Kiri prevent it! Yes, she'd fought Mei and caused her amnesia, but that was a misunderstanding! She never wanted to be Kirigakure's enemy!
Yet Kiri wasn't hunting the real culprits; they were chasing her with relentless determination. Staring down at the ninja who continued to spew provocations even while half-dead, Sakura's gaze turned utterly frigid.
In that instant, a torrent of past grievances flooded her mind like scenes flashing past viewed from horseback: being harassed by village thugs… scolded by her master… framed by Danzo… misunderstood by her own comrades… Each memory stoked the flames of her simmering anger, fraying her already strained nerves.
Slowly, Sakura hauled the choking ninja up from the ground by his neck. The height difference between them was stark. Her eyes were chillingly devoid of emotion. Taking a long, slow breath, she spoke, her voice deathly cold.
"Hunters must always be prepared to be killed by their prey. Are you prepared?!"
The icy words wrapped around the Kiri ninja. His defiant taunts died in his throat, replaced by a sudden, soul-deep terror. Looking into Sakura's impassive jade-green eyes, it was as if he saw visions of mountains piled with corpses and oceans flowing with blood. Endless killing intent seemed to radiate from the very air around her, pressing in on him, suffocating him, telling him there was no place left for him in this world.
A cruel smile touched Sakura's lips. Her left hand tightened, fingers coalescing into a blade of pure chakra – the scalpel. With terrifying speed, she raised her hand and slashed horizontally towards the ninja's head.
He saw only a blur flash before his eyes… and then, nothing seemed to happen.
Sakura released her grip on his neck and stepped back. The Kiri ninja stood frozen opposite her, holding his breath, utterly bewildered. Was she just trying to scare him? He suddenly felt ridiculous. He, a veteran of the Bloody Mist, terrified by a mere kid?
"Hey, you—" he started to rasp, but suddenly, his vision went black. He knew no more.
As the dense mist gradually began to dissipate, Mei watched from the side, horrified. The Kiri ninja had managed only two words before the top of his skull seemed to slide sideways with excruciating slowness, displaced by a grotesque fountain of blood erupting from the severed neck stump. The headless body twitched violently for a few moments before collapsing onto the rocks.
Mei stared at the gruesome, bloody scene, her body trembling slightly, though she managed to suppress a scream.
The Chakra Scalpel really is unexpectedly effective, Sakura noted internally with grim satisfaction. She glanced at Mei's pale, frightened face, then her thoughts turned defiant. Kirigakure, is it? Heh. Looks like I'll be keeping your Fifth Mizukage then. And Akatsuki… I look forward to our meeting.
Deactivating the Strength of a Hundred Seal, the markings receding from her face, Sakura approached Mei Gently. She pulled the trembling woman into a soft embrace, rubbing her back soothingly. "It's okay, sister. Don't be afraid. No one's blocking our path now. We can go."
"Mm-hm," Mei nodded, clinging to Sakura, seeming to draw some comfort and security from the hug. Her trembling subsided.
"Let's go," Sakura said, standing up and taking Mei's hand. Just as they were about to leave the bloody scene behind, another sharp voice cut through the air.
"Stop!!!"
Sakura turned her head to see Anko, Kiba, Neji, and Hinata stepping out from their hiding places among the rocks.
"Oh, it's you," Sakura said, managing a strained, humorless smile. "I was starting to think you'd just hide out there forever."
"You! Do you really think you can just walk away from this?" Anko snapped, though the nervousness in her eyes betrayed her sharp tone. "As a shinobi of Konoha, I am placing you under arrest!"
"Then come and try," Sakura replied nonchalantly, her weariness returning.
"You…" Kiba stared at Sakura, his face pale, visibly shaken by the brutality he'd just witnessed. "Murdering fellow villagers… Did you really do it?"
"Sakura! How could you?" Hinata cried, her gaze flickering between the headless corpse and Sakura, disbelief warring with horror on her face. "You had already subdued him! Why… Why did you have to do that?!"
Neji remained silent, his Byakugan active, scrutinizing Sakura intently. His expression was equally grim.
Sakura turned fully to face them. Looking directly at Kiba, she asked flatly, "Even if I told you the truth, what could you do about it?"
Kiba opened his mouth, then closed it again, speechless.
Sakura then turned to Hinata. "A shinobi needs to act like one," she said, her voice devoid of warmth. "If you can't handle the reality of this world, perhaps you should return home and resume your life as the Hyuga heiress." Internally, she acknowledged this wasn't meant solely as a jab. Compared to her, whose hands were already stained with blood, they had been sheltered by Konoha. They hadn't faced the same harsh realities, hadn't been forced to kill.
If she had encountered them under different circumstances, without the Kiri entanglement hanging over her, Sakura would have been Genuinely happy to see her former peers, perhaps even catch up. But the relentless accusations and confrontations had pushed her past her limit. A volatile, hostile energy simmered within her, making her view everyone and everything with irritation.
Dragged into conflicts that had nothing to do with her, blamed for crimes she didn't commit… something inside her snapped. Fine. Let them misunderstand. Let them attack. She'd throw caution to the wind. Let one come, I'll kill one. Let a pair come, I'll kill a pair. They had initiated hostilities, after all. Was she supposed to just sit back and wait to be captured or killed? This pent-up frustration was becoming unbearable.
Hinata looked crestfallen, choked speechless by Sakura's harsh words. Neji, however, stepped forward slightly. "If you still consider me a comrade," he said, his voice steady, "please tell me the truth. I will find a way to help."
Sakura glanced at Neji, Genuinely surprised. She hadn't expected such words from him. Still, she noted his use of 'I', not 'we'. So, he alone acknowledges me, perhaps? She let out a short, scoffing laugh. "You can't help me. I'll handle my own affairs." Her gaze shifted to Anko. "Anko-sensei. Is there anything else you need to say? If not, I'm leaving. You were watching from the sidelines for quite a while. You should know what happened here."
Anko was intensely conflicted. She hadn't expected this girl to be so powerful, so ruthless. The Hokage's A-rank assessment was clearly, dangerously wrong. This girl's strength was likely above her own. Duty compelled her to act, but the brief, brutal fight had given her serious pause. Furthermore, hearing the exchange, she suspected there was more to Sakura's story. If she truly was framed, why wouldn't she return? With her master – and her master's own master – being Hokage, surely her name could be cleared?
"If you were truly framed, why not return to the village?" Anko asked, voicing her doubts, driven partly by her responsibility as a Konoha Jonin. "The Hokage is your master. She would undoubtedly investigate thoroughly and protect you."
"Heh." Sakura suddenly lost all interest in the conversation, her anger dissipating into weary resignation. "Forget it." Everyone thought it was so simple. Yes, Sensei would protect me, she thought bitterly, but doing so would spring the trap Danzo has laid. Returning would just ignite a larger political battle aimed squarely at Tsunade-sama.
She had spent countless hours analyzing how Danzo had framed her. He hadn't orchestrated the entire sequence of events leading to her defection. Instead, he had masterfully manipulated the timing, subtly exploiting naturally occurring situations and planting just enough misleading 'evidence' at opportune moments. He had merely given fate a nudge here and there, twisting the circumstances against her. That's what made proving his involvement so incredibly difficult – the core events had largely happened, just not for the reasons people assumed.
"That's all," Sakura said flatly, turning her back on them. "See you around. Anko-sensei, when you see Sensei, please give her my regards. Just… report everything exactly as you saw it."
Taking Mei's hand firmly, Sakura walked away, leaving the four conflicted Konoha shinobi standing amidst the mist and the blood on the rocky shore.