"Hey—she jumped?!"
"What's going on? Suicide?!"
"No way! That Sakura Haruno would ever…
"Was she so depressed she lost it?"
"Where's the medical-nin? Save her!"
"Save nothing—she's inside the heavenly screen."
Everyone in Konoha Village, along with the entire Ninja World watching the heavenly screen, was stunned by Sakura's desperate leap.
"Sakura—!" At the Ninja Academy, Ino Yamanaka screamed, her face drained of color.
"It's… over? Just like that…" Sakura muttered, unable to comprehend.
She'd chosen to end herself just like that?
Too reckless by far.
"I refuse!"
Sakura was furious.
"Kakashi—!!!"
Might Guy shot forward like a green whirlwind, grabbed Kakashi Hatake—who was still staring up at the screen—and shook him by the throat, tears cascading: "Your student! Your poor student killed herself!"
"You negligent teacher! What were you doing? Why didn't you see her pain!"
"Must the tragedy of youth play out because of you?! Ka-ka-shi—!"
Kakashi's head spun, his dead-fish eyes rolling back until only the whites showed.
He pried at Guy's hands, sputtering, "Hey—Guy—calm down! That's the heavenly screen! A future image—it hasn't happened yet!"
"Doesn't matter! A youth-crisis warning must be taken seriously!" Guy wailed, refusing to let go. "Wait till tragedy strikes and then it's too late! Boo-hoo…"
Kakashi finally broke free, straightened his rumpled clothes, and sighed in resignation.
Rubbing his bruised neck, he muttered, half in disbelief, "What lightning bolt did I earn? Three students, each trickier than the last…"
An Uchiha Orphan who'll one day defect;
A Jinchuriki destined to destroy the world;
And now the supposedly "ordinary" girl performs a sea-leap "suicide" on the screen.
Yet for all his grumbling, a faint, razor-sharp glint flashed through Kakashi's perpetually lazy eyes.
He looked back at the heavenly screen, locking onto the patch of sea where Sakura had vanished.
He simply didn't believe Sakura would really kill herself.
"This time the heavenly screen is clearly centered on Sakura…" he thought. "That jump isn't the end—it's… some kind of beginning."
A strong premonition told him that beneath the despair lay a twist no one foresaw.
His gaze sharpened, waiting for whatever stirred beneath the waves.
As Kakashi expected, the scene didn't fade to black or mourning; the view slipped through the deep water into a hidden space.
In a softly glowing cavern, Sakura came to, coughing up mouthfuls of brine, looking around in bewilderment.
Unfamiliar moss or crystals coated the walls, bathing the cave in dream-like light, the air thick with ancient mystery.
"Where… am I? How did I get here?" She struggled upright.
Her eyes were drawn to the center of the cave—there stood a natural stone pedestal holding something atop it.
She edged closer and saw a palm-sized slab, deep crimson, neither metal nor jade, its surface etched with intricate, archaic patterns.
An inexplicable pull came from the slab, a whisper beckoning in the depths of her soul.
"Was it you who guided me here?"
Understanding dawned; she murmured the question.
With barely a pause she reached out and lifted the red slab.
The instant her fingertips touched it—
A sudden change!
"Buzz!"
The slab erupted in blinding light. A solid, living stream of scarlet energy tore free and plunged straight into Sakura's brow!
"Ah!"
A short cry was all she managed before a torrent of information flooded her mind like a burst dam; the impact blacked her out and she crumpled.
The red slab slipped aside, its glow fading back to stillness.
At that exact moment the heavenly screen flared, stamping two enormous, primordial characters into every viewer's consciousness!
Divine Art!
No one knew the script, yet all instantly grasped its meaning—Divine Art!
Before anyone could ponder what "Divine Art" signified, an indescribable, soul-deep stab of pain struck.
"Ugh!"
"My… head!"
"What's happening?!"
Across the Ninja World, Kage and commoner alike clutched their heads, groaning or screaming.
It felt like invisible needles skewering their brains, forcing every eye shut against the screen.
In that brief confusion the image snapped away, whisked from the glowing cavern, the fallen Sakura, and the vital red slab.
When the agony ebbed and people fearfully reopened their eyes, the scene had shifted elsewhere.
Details of the cave, the slab, how Sakura gained her legacy—all blurred.
But the words "Divine Art" seared themselves red-hot into every memory, impossible to forget.
The heavenly screen had whipped up an unprecedented storm.
Divine Art!
The pain receded, yet the shock of those two words fermented wildly in every corner of the world.
After a hush came a louder surge of voices.
"Divine Art! Was that… Divine Art?!"
"It must be something incredible—just the name splitting our heads!"
"That Sakura Haruno got it! Her jump wasn't suicide—it was destiny!"
"Right! Some ancient legacy chose her!"