If the towering building was the dividing line, the battlefield split into two distinct atmospheres.
On one side, the forest was in complete chaos, with explosions, collapsing trees, the clamor of battle like a demolition site. On the other side, the woods were eerily quiet.
Sunlight filtered weakly through the dense canopy, casting deep shadows where Mai crouched, her senses stretched thin.
BOOM!
A sudden explosion shattered the silence as Sakura lunged from her hiding spot, her fist slamming into a target with deceptive simplicity. The punch carried no visible Chakra flare, yet the moment it connected, the tree trunk twisted and shattered like brittle glass. Leaves rained down as the entire forest trembled from the impact.
"Mai, this isn't working."
Sakura retreated through the settling dust, tossing aside a splintered log, "She got away again."
Of all the ongoing battles, theirs was the only one where Konoha's side held the advantage.
Both trained under Tsunade, wielding monstrous strength and precise Chakra Control, they should have overwhelmed their opponent.
Meanwhile, Karin is a sensor-type Ninja who specialized in evasion rather than direct combat.
But Karin had adapted quickly. After witnessing Sakura's inhuman power, she switched tactics… stalling, hiding, striking from the shadows.
Sakura gritted her teeth, peering into the distance, only for a glint of metal to flash past her ear. A kunai embedded itself into the bark behind her.
"We can't keep playing her game." Sakura ducked low.
Karin's Mind's Eye of the Kagura made her nearly untraceable, while Mai's own sensory abilities turned this into a battle of perception, two hunters stalking each other in an invisible war.
"I agree." Mai plucked the kunai from the ground and flicked it back along the exact trajectory it had come from. It struck empty air.
"This time, we go straight for her. No hesitation."
Mai nodded, closing her eyes. Her cCakra unfurled like delicate tendrils, brushing against the forest… the skittering of insects, the distant echoes of battle, the rustling leaves.
This was her first time facing another sensor-type Ninja of this caliber. Their Chakra signatures danced just out of reach, a silent duel of awareness.
Then, 'There.'
A flicker of movement, a heartbeat out of sync with the forest.
Mai pointed.
On three, they burst forward.
The undergrowth rustled violently as they charged, their movements impossible to conceal. Karin reacted instantly, and kunai and shuriken rained down from unseen angles.
Sakura didn't slow. She pivoted mid-sprint, her fist slamming into the earth.
Crack!
The ground upheaved like a waking beast, trees uprooting, rocks jutting skyward. The storm of debris swallowed the incoming projectiles whole.
"Mai, go!" Sakura shouted, panting.
Mai didn't look back.
"Stop!"
Karin abandoned stealth, her fingers twitching. Silver wires snapped taut across Mai's path, glinting ominously.
"Explosive tags." Karin hissed, raising the connected wire in her hand, "Take another step, and you die."
Mai's senses flared… the tags were real, their Chakra signatures pulsing dangerously.
But hesitation wasn't an option.
She lunged.
Karin's eyes widened, 'Is she insane?!'
"Shark-face!" Karin yelled, drawing Kisame's attention from the rooftop skirmish.
Kisame barely glanced their way before kicking Kakashi back and leaping toward them.
Mai wove through the wires like a ghost, her body twisting at impossible angles.
Karin yanked the wire.
Boom!
Fire swallowed the forest.
The shockwave hurled both Karin and Sakura backward, crashing through foliage like ragdolls. Sakura's vision swam, her ears ringing as she fought to stay conscious.
Through the smoke, she glimpsed a figure… staggering, bleeding, but alive.
Then darkness took her.
…
Mai crawled.
Every breath was agony. Blood slicked the ground beneath her, each movement sending fresh waves of pain through her ruined body.
She didn't know how she'd survived.
Luck? Fate? It didn't matter.
She collapsed face-first into the dirt, leaves sticking to her wounds. The metallic tang of blood filled her mouth.
Behind her, the sounds of battle faded.
Her vision blurred. Exhaustion pulled at her, but she refused to sleep.
'Not yet.'
A bird chirped somewhere above, its song piercing the haze.
Mai's fingers twitched. A faint green glow flickered over her palm as she used Medical Ninjutsu.
Slowly, torturously, she healed herself.
Bone by bone. Muscle by muscle.
When she could finally stand, the dried blood had fused with the leaves on her skin. Peeling them away felt like tearing off her own flesh.
Five minutes. That's all she allowed herself.
Then she stepped forward.