A masked ninja then burst in through the broken window and landed nimbly inside the house.
The scratched Mist Village forehead protector with a horizontal line was clearly visible on his forehead—the mark of a missing-nin.
His hands had even completed a series of hand seals while he was still in the air and had just landed!
Suiton: Mizurappa! (Water Style: Raging Water Waves!)
A high-pressure torrent of water shot from the ninja's mouth towards Sakura.
Sakura easily dodged the enemy's water jutsu by leaping to the side.
After ensuring Tsunami and Inari were sheltered safely in a corner of the room, Sakura took out a small bottle filled with iron sand that she always kept tied to her waist.
Quickly, she formed the iron sand into a slender black sword that looked incredibly sharp in her hand.
The fight began.
Sakura felt a bit overwhelmed at first fighting one-on-one with the Kirigakure ninja, whose movements were agile and attacks quite dangerous.
However, as they clashed swords, Sakura cleverly changed the shape of her iron sand sword suddenly into a flexible, long iron whip.
The whip coiled around the opponent's sword, and before the ninja could react to the unexpected weapon change, the tip of the iron whip shot forward like a snake and pierced right through the enemy's exposed neck.
Fresh blood spurted.
The ninja's eyes widened in disbelief before his body finally collapsed to the floor, lifeless.
The feeling of killing someone for the first time... felt strange.
Cold and numb.
There was no overwhelming discomfort like often told in stories, no intense nausea, no paralyzing panic.
Perhaps it was because the adrenaline of battle was still pumping fiercely within her, perhaps because of the "Chunin Quality" bestowed by the System which also enhanced her mental fortitude, or perhaps for whatever reason, what Sakura knew for sure right now was that she couldn't let her guard down.
As Sakura was cautiously searching for the other enemy she had sensed earlier, she heard a notification sound from the System in her mind.
Ding!
"Congratulations! Because the Host has successfully completed the hidden mission [First Effective Kill, the Host is rewarded with a significant upgrade to the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai to Esper Electromaster Level 3. Electromagnetic control ability increased, magnetic field perception range extended. For further explanation, please read the ability description in the status panel."
Sakura suddenly felt a new wave of energy flowing through her body, and a strange yet powerful sensation was felt all around her.
Her perception of the surrounding environment became much sharper.
She could feel faint vibrations in the air, the Earth's natural magnetic field, even static electricity in objects.
And in an instant, she immediately located the enemy who had been hiding very well outside the house.
That enemy, another Kirigakure ninja who seemed more experienced, was shocked when he realized Sakura had found him despite him using a rather advanced concealment technique.
However, he quickly reacted and immediately used Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hiding in Mist Technique), creating a thick fog around the house area.
"Mist again? Tsk, troublesome," Sakura muttered.
However, it turned out to be no longer useful against Sakura now.
At least within a radius of 20 to 40 meters now, Sakura could clearly sense anything that could conduct electricity or had a magnetic field, whether it was the metal content in a living creature's blood, water, iron, or even small disturbances in the electromagnetic field caused by movement.
The thick fog could no longer hide her enemy.
With the iron sand sword still in hand, Sakura dashed towards the enemy who was shocked because his mist technique was ineffective.
Unlike the previous ninja, it seemed this enemy was better prepared, more vigilant, and possibly stronger.
But that was no longer a major problem for Sakura.
When she had changed the shape of her sword to attack earlier, Sakura had also secretly spread a small portion of her iron sand around the area where the enemy ninja was hiding.
And in an instant, as soon as she was within range, the iron sand that had been scattered on the ground and thinly floating in the air immediately transformed into hundreds of small, sharp black senbon.
The senbon vibrated intensely, emitting small electric sparks, and with a single mental command from Sakura, shot from all directions towards the enemy ninja.
The outcome? No need for a detailed account.
The enemy ninja had now become like a hedgehog, his body riddled with electrified iron sand senbon, causing him to convulse before finally dying instantly.
Sakura took a long breath, controlling the tremor in her hands.
She returned the remaining iron sand to the bottle at her waist.
Taking a few more deep breaths to calm herself, Sakura confirmed that all enemies who had attacked the house had been eliminated.
Only then did she turn around.
In the room behind her, Tsunami and Inari emerged from their hiding place, their faces pale but relieved.
Sakura gazed towards the bridge in the distance, as if she could see the fierce battle that might be taking place between Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, Sasuke, and Zabuza along with his men.
She knew she had been delayed quite a while by the two ninjas' attack, and she grew anxious about her team condition.
"Now," Sakura said in a steady voice, more to herself than to Tsunami.
"I'm going to support them."
Sakura turned and looked at Tsunami and Inari one last time, giving a small, reassuring nod.
Then, without wasting any more time, she turned and dashed off, running as fast as she could towards the bridge, leaving behind silence and the two corpses of the Kirigakure ninja.
Tsunami and Inari? They immediately went to find the other villagers.
When Sakura arrived at the bridge, panting heavily after running as fast as she could, she found the great battle was almost at its peak.
The atmosphere was so tense; the faint scent of blood hung in the air.
She saw Naruto standing in the middle of the bridge, his body enveloped in a large, oppressive red chakra aura, looking so angry and powerful.
Before him stood someone who was… surprising.
Long, beautifully flowing black hair, delicate and beautiful porcelain-like facial features, the figure was so captivating that Sakura was momentarily stunned.
She hadn't expected Zabuza's 'Kirigakure Anbu' partner to be such a beautiful boy, almost like a girl.
How was Sakura sure the opponent was male?
Well, someone like Naruto might be easily fooled, but 'her woman's intuition' – or perhaps just her keener observation – told her that the graceful figure was a boy…
Okay, that wasn't important right now.
What mattered was the situation before her eyes.
"Kill me… Naruto."
The beautiful boy, as pure and fragile as snow, whom Sakura later learned was named Haku, said in a soft voice.
All desire to live seemed to have vanished from his beautiful yet empty eyes.
"I… I cannot defeat you. I am no longer a needed and useful tool for Lord Zabuza… So, please… there is no point in me living any longer in this world..."
Sakura's heart tightened upon hearing that desperate plea.
Her gaze then shifted to the other side of the bridge, and what she saw made her heart feel like it stopped beating.
She saw Sasuke lying helplessly beside a bridge pillar, his body riddled with senbon stuck like thorns, and fresh blood pooling around him.
She didn't know if Sasuke was still alive or already dead!
Sasuke, who was always arrogant, Sasuke who always wore a flat, cold expression as if everyone in the world owed him money, now lay weak and helpless.
'That person... did he kill Sasuke-kun?'
An absurd and indescribable horror enveloped Sakura's heart.
A chill ran through her entire body.
'Am I too late? Did I arrive too late to save him?'
An overwhelming surge of anger, fear, and regret uncontrollably welled up from the depths of her heart.
Sakura suppressed the painful throb in her chest and immediately rushed to Sasuke.
With trembling hands, she reached for Sasuke's wrist, searching for his pulse.
A few seconds that felt like an eternity passed before she felt a weak but steady pulse.
'Thank goodness! Sasuke had only fainted.'
Sakura let out an immense sigh of relief, tears almost escaping her eyes.
While on this side someone was determined to die and someone had just escaped death, the thick fog on the other side of the battlefield, where Kakashi and Zabuza were fighting, gradually dissipated.
The life-and-death battle between the two elite Jonin seemed to have also ended!
Two figures slowly emerged from the remnants of the fog.
Sakura tried to see more clearly.
It was Kakashi-sensei!
But his condition… was horrifying.
His body was covered in blood, with large and small sword slashes and several kunai stab wounds all over his body.
His clothes were torn in many places.
It was a truly tragic sight.
However, Zabuza Momochi's condition was even more pitiful.
One of his arms hung limply, pierced by several kunai through to the bridge pillar, immobilizing him.
His entire body was pressed to the ground by Kakashi's summoned ninja hounds, which bit and gripped him fiercely.
His Executioner's Blade, Kubikiribōchō, lay on the ground beside him, out of reach.
The ground around them was covered with vast pools of blood, and fragments of broken kunai as well as several lifeless bodies of Kakashi's summoned ninja hounds were also scattered across the ground, bearing silent witness to the brutality of their fight.