Chapter 313: Another Invitation
The day Haruno Sakura returned from the Land of Snow, during her debriefing, she mainly talked about the mysterious masked man.
Seeing that it was getting late, the high-ranking officials exchanged glances, intending to end the questioning.
"Then, let's end it here for today?" Tsunade gathered the documents on the table and proposed to the several high-ranking Konoha officials sitting beside her.
"Wait a moment, I have one more small question, unrelated to the mission," the Third Hokage waved his thin hand to signal Tsunade, then turned to the girl standing in the middle of the office and asked, "Sakura, you just said you used a ninjutsu that could see distant objects to discover them. Would you mind demonstrating this jutsu? If it's inconvenient, then forget it."
Haruno Sakura waved her hand and smiled. "It's just a small trick!"
She didn't even form hand seals. A crystal-clear, cylindrical ice column condensed in her hand. "Ice Style: Telescope Jutsu!"
Then she used shape transformation to modify its appearance, turning the transparent outer cylinder into a shiny black casing. After the ninjutsu was completed, there was a telescope in the girl's hand. Haruno Sakura handed the telescope over. The Third and the others were somewhat surprised. After trying it one by one, they smiled at each other and said, "We should have thought of this earlier."
Indeed, telescopes had long existed in this world, but ninja had never cared about their principles, so they had never thought of imitating them with ninjutsu to create such a technique.
"Ordinary ice has too low transparency and can't be used as a lens," Tsunade took the telescope and commented. "To achieve this kind of transparency and purity, very high Ice Style nature transformation skills are required!"
"Water Style should also be able to do something similar?" The Third took a puff of his pipe, pondering while looking at the rising smoke, wanting to try and condense a telescope himself.
"Of course. It's just that the effect will be slightly worse and unstable." Ice Style shape transformation was more stable, but using Water Style was not impossible. Haruno Sakura had considered this problem long ago.
Then, Sakura formed hand seals and made one with Water Style. The Third followed suit and tried a few times, succeeding, but his control wasn't very good, and the image was a bit blurry.
"Can this jutsu be popularized?" Tsunade also tried to make one herself, looked out the window, and quickly realized the significance of this jutsu. "A very valuable jutsu, not just a simple trick!"
Several advisors looked at each other. Utatane Koharu said solemnly, "In the future, Water Style ninja can also double as half a reconnaissance ninja. This is a ninjutsu with strategic value!"
The Third laughed. "Half a reconnaissance ninja is a bit of an exaggeration. This jutsu is still far inferior to the Byakugan! Moreover, to use this jutsu well requires superb Water Style attainments and precise control of ninjutsu. For now, it can't be popularized. Ninja with poor Water Style control will probably never have a chance with it in their lifetime! However, to achieve this level is already quite remarkable."
Tsunade frowned and said, "It's just that the principle of this jutsu can be seen through at a glance. It can't be kept secret and can easily be learned by other villages..."
"Let's promote it in the Anbu first!" She thought for a moment and made a decision.
"That's all for today. You can go back now." The Fifth Hokage stood up, saw Haruno Sakura out, and closed the door of the conference room.
This was already a matter of several months ago: it was in February, when Haruno Sakura had just returned from the Land of Snow.
Haruno Sakura, who had completed her debriefing and submitted major intelligence, was not suspected by anyone. They all thought that this was intelligence Sakura had obtained after arduous pursuit and battle.
Actually, it wasn't.
Alright, there was at least a battle. But the reason she could obtain this intelligence was a secret between Haruno Sakura and Tsunade, master and disciple. What happened in the ruins of the ancient country of Rouran was still kept secret by the two of them to this day. In short, it was not as the several high-ranking Konoha officials had imagined, that Sakura had traveled all over those remote countries and then discovered the Akatsuki's tracks in a corner unexpected by Konoha.
So, Orochimaru's idea was probably going to fall through.
Not to mention that he absolutely couldn't find any evidence, and no one would believe him; even if he produced solid evidence and blew the matter up, it would be impossible to force Sakura to defect from the village.
In the past year or so, she had grown to such an extent and had begun to make many contributions to the village; intelligence, ninjutsu, these things, in the past, Konoha was cultivating her, and now Sakura had begun to give back to the village.
In the past, the village protected her, and now it was Haruno Sakura's turn to protect the village!
So, the girl was no longer the insignificant little girl of the past.
Before Haruno Sakura committed a heinous crime of harming her comrades in the village, a small flaw, a small stain, might affect her if she wanted to compete for the position of Hokage in the future, but it would not escalate to the point of defection.
Even if what she did was a taboo in the village!
Therefore, although she was a little flustered by Orochimaru's threat, Haruno Sakura quickly calmed down.
Having figured this out, she looked at Orochimaru calmly, not denying that she had conducted human experiments outside the village, but said faintly, "Is this the only kind of underhanded trick you know? Unfortunately, the bond between the village and me cannot be severed by your petty actions!"
Haruno Sakura took another step forward, standing in front of Orochimaru.
"How disappointing, Orochimaru," Sakura said slowly. "Where is your former spirit? Focusing on these trivial and sordid matters, is it because you've been hiding in a hole for too long, or because you've been reincarnated in a woman's body for too long and have been contaminated by the original body's spirit?"
The two stood more than ten meters apart. For two Kage-level ninja, this distance was almost face-to-face.
With Orochimaru's eyesight, he could even clearly see the fine hairs on the girl's face opposite him.
So he could also clearly see Haruno Sakura's gaze.
She only wavered for an instant, and soon regained her firmness.
Seeing the girl's burning gaze, Orochimaru realized that his verbal probing had failed. The girl in front of him had grown into a powerful ninja recognized by the village. To try to break the bond and trust between her and the village with some ghostly tricks was almost a fool's dream.
What a pity...
Orochimaru really wanted to obtain her. He actually firmly believed that if Haruno Sakura could do research with him, the results obtained might be even more tempting than the Uchiha bloodline!
To force Sakura to defect, and then take her in and accept her when she had nowhere else to go, this was Orochimaru's plan. From the first moment he saw her, he had this scheme. The part about luring her onto the forbidden path had gone very successfully, but it was stuck at the most important step.
Then, if verbal probing didn't work.
Orochimaru also took a step forward.
"Are you really not going to consider it? Join my ninja village... You will get everything. Any knowledge you want, any experiment you want to do, you can do it freely without being tied down like in Konoha!" He spread his arms, as if opening his embrace to welcome her. "In this world, only I truly understand your talent!"
His expression was incredibly sincere... because Orochimaru really thought so!
"Is this your goal, Orochimaru?" Haruno Sakura was unmoved and said calmly.
Orochimaru's invitation, to some extent, was indeed very tempting... As long as she went over, the few ninjutsu that were currently holding up her progress would immediately receive great support, and the progress would be much faster than in Konoha!
But...
"I'm sorry, I refuse."
No reason was given, and no reason needed to be given.
Orochimaru knew very well why Sakura would make such a choice. She was like another side of him; and this was indeed the choice he would make if he had walked another life path.
While feeling regretful, Orochimaru did not feel too disappointed in his heart.
As if he had expected it.
The moment their gazes met in the air, they seemed to see through each other's hearts.
"You chose a very good place to fight... You deliberately knocked me over here just now, didn't you!" Orochimaru suddenly sighed.
"So, are you going to admit defeat?" The corner of Haruno Sakura's mouth curled up, and she laughed lightly.
"Hmph..." Orochimaru sneered.
Both of their gazes turned cold at the same time.
Since they weren't comrades... then they were enemies!
"Ice Style: Four Pillar Prison!"
Chakra suddenly erupted. Sakura quickly formed hand seals, and four thick ice pillars instantly rose under Orochimaru's feet!
RUMBLE—!
The hard ice pillars rose crazily, growing rapidly. In the blink of an eye, they were as thick as several people's arms, threatening to crush Orochimaru within the ice pillar encirclement!
Orochimaru did not dodge. A long sword suddenly shot out from his mouth. The blade was unbelievably sharp, instantly cutting through the hard ice pillars blocking in front of him. His neck extended like a water snake, shooting violently towards Haruno Sakura!
That's the Sword of Kusanagi! Haruno Sakura's pupils shrank. She saw the shining sword body turn into a cold light in the air, stabbing in front of her with the speed of a thunderclap!
Haruno Sakura's expression remained unchanged, her body motionless. But in the next moment, she suddenly appeared on an ice pillar beside Orochimaru.
"Ice Body Flicker..." Orochimaru, whose sword thrust had missed, suddenly turned his head and, as expected, found the girl who had flickered to his side.
At some point, a pair of crystal-clear, beautiful butterfly dual swords had appeared in her hands. The ice blades, still emitting a chilling cold, radiated a sharp killing intent. The girl swung her swords, and the ice blades cut through the air, emitting a short, sharp whistle, slashing at Orochimaru's chest!
Orochimaru, who had undergone Soft Physique Modification, could withstand the full force of the Star Cannon Hammer, but in the end, he could not resist the sharp blades and was cut in two by Sakura.
Splash. Orochimaru's body turned into a puddle of clear water and dissipated into the sea!
"Water Substitute..." Haruno Sakura looked coldly at Orochimaru's true body appearing not far away.
Sakura's thoughts raced, analyzing Orochimaru's fighting style. He must have released the Water Clone immediately after cutting through the ice pillars and releasing the restraints, and then used the Substitution Jutsu to swap places with the clone!
This was something that happened in an instant!
As expected of Orochimaru, who researched ninjutsu the most and used it the best among the Sannin... This kind of small move simply couldn't do anything to him!
Then, how about a big scene?
With almost no pause, Haruno Sakura, who had just exchanged a move, instantly launched the next wave of attacks!
The chakra on the girl's body surged desperately. A large amount of energy from the Yin Seal was released, instantly filling every cell of her body!
Having never controlled such a huge amount of chakra before, Haruno Sakura felt that her whole body had become much heavier! She took a deep breath, her hand seal movements a little strenuous, instantly converting that massive chakra into the energy of ninjutsu!
"Hah!" The girl shouted loudly. Chakra surged madly. The calm air was stirred up into a violent whirlwind by this energy. A cold wave gushed out from Haruno Sakura's body like floodwater releasing from a dam. In the blink of an eye, with her as the center, everything within her field of vision was frozen into solid ice!
The waves condensed into solids. The spray froze into ice blocks in the air, falling onto the ice surface and shattering. The entire sea was frozen in this instant!
And on the sea surface, endless ice spikes emitting cold air, crisscrossing and densely packed, covered the entire area where Orochimaru was like a forest!
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