The two ANBU observed Sakura Haruno standing still for a moment, then slowly began to approach her.
Watching the ANBU draw nearer, Sakura Haruno touched her chin and asked, "ANBU from the village?"
The two ANBU didn't speak, but their pace quickened, eventually breaking into a run. Then, a glint of light flashed from their hands, and with a whistling sound that tore through the air, dozens of kunai shot towards Sakura.
Sakura Haruno didn't dodge. Is this Infinite Tsukuyomi space toying with me? Since the Hidden Mist's attack was stopped, why launch a new one? Do they want to see me put on a show?
This time, Sakura Haruno had no intention of dodging. She wanted to see how the next act of this script would play out.
As expected, the kunai didn't target Sakura Haruno's vital points but struck non-lethal areas like her arms and shoulders. Although she was riddled with kunai like a pincushion, she wasn't seriously injured.
However, a wave of dizziness suddenly washed over her. Sakura Haruno's heart lurched. Glancing at the kunai embedded in her body, she was surprised to see a strange blue glow emanating from them.
"The kunai are poisoned," Sakura Haruno immediately deduced. Based on her current sensations, she could tell the poison wasn't lethal; it was likely a paralytic or sleep-inducing toxin.
Heh, what a clever move. Seeing that I won't resist, they resort to poison to make me skip this event, is that it?
Seeing the Infinite Tsukuyomi space resort to poison, Sakura Haruno, on the contrary, felt reluctant to just pass out. Wouldn't that be playing right into its hands?
She then formed hand seals, reactivating Creation Rebirth. Earlier, after noticing the problem with the rain, she had instinctively deactivated her Strength of a Hundred Seal and Creation Rebirth to lure out the enemy. Although Sakura Haruno's Strength of a Hundred Seal only held about half a month's worth of stored chakra, it wasn't an amount that mere rain could deplete.
Due to her unique constitution and several sessions of Lightning Release body conditioning, Sakura Haruno's own chakra capacity had significantly increased. Therefore, in the same amount of time, she could store much more chakra than before.
Sakura Haruno felt she could sustain a battle of attrition, a prediction naturally based on the ability to continuously unleash large-scale ninjutsu.
Seeing that all their kunai had hit their mark, the two ANBU wearing animal masks didn't launch further attacks. Clearly, their primary objective, at least for now, wasn't to kill Sakura Haruno.
Meanwhile, the Hidden Mist ANBU, though forced back by the two new ANBU, saw them attacking Sakura Haruno as well. With the allegiances unclear, they merely watched the scene vigilantly.
Sakura Haruno slowly pulled out the kunai embedded in her body one by one. The wounds left behind healed in an instant, leaving no trace.
Although she still felt a little dizzy, it was unavoidable. The poison was indeed potent; even Creation Rebirth couldn't metabolize it completely in such a short time.
The animal-masked ANBU paused slightly, seemingly surprised that Sakura hadn't collapsed after being poisoned. They nodded to each other and drew short swords from their backs. Simultaneously, they formed a one-handed Tiger seal. Instantly, a blue light erupted from their short swords – a clear manifestation of chakra. The blue chakra flaring from the blades was a good half-foot high.
"Metal that can channel chakra!" Sakura Haruno marveled. Seeing this, it was obvious the swords used by the Hidden Mist ANBU earlier were not chakra-conductive metal; the difference between the two was too stark.
Looks like they don't intend to use ninjutsu. Sakura Haruno spat lightly. That suits me just fine. She then formed seals: "Earth Release: Hardening Technique!"
The Hardening Technique was merely to increase her attack power and protect her arms. Sakura Haruno couldn't regenerate severed limbs; Creation Rebirth was powerful, yes, but limb regeneration was likely beyond its capabilities.
Ten meters, five meters... The two ANBU drew closer. As the distance shrank, Sakura Haruno suddenly noticed that the chakra on their blades had a serrated appearance.
Sakura Haruno was very familiar with chakra materialization. In its natural state, chakra resembled flames; it would never appear serrated.
Could it be...!
Making an instant decision, Sakura Haruno abandoned her plan to conserve chakra with close-quarters combat. She retreated explosively backward, her hands forming seals.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
Instantly, the ground turned into a swamp. Just as both ANBU were about to be caught, one of them lunged forward, allowing the other to use his body as a stepping stone and leap out of the swamp's range.
Sakura Haruno didn't use her chakra to control the swamp and capture the escaped ANBU. Instead, she relinquished control of the swamp entirely and her hands formed seals again: "Earth Release: Hardening Technique!"
Then, two piercing screeches of metal against metal rang out. Behind Sakura, the two Hidden Mist ANBU from before had reappeared, their ninja swords crossed as they slashed at her waist, looking as if they intended to cut her in half.
However, the ninja swords stopped at the surface of Sakura's waist, unable to advance even a fraction further – clearly the result of her earlier Hardening Technique.
Sakura Haruno hadn't hardened her entire body, as that would affect her speed, making it not worth the trade-off.
Although the danger from behind was resolved, the animal-masked ANBU who had escaped the swamp with his comrade's help was already striking down at Sakura from above.
The serrated chakra on the short sword sent a chill down Sakura's spine. In that split second, she crossed her arms behind her back, grabbed the wrists of the Hidden Mist ANBU there, and forcefully threw them forward, simultaneously retreating further herself.
The animal-masked ANBU, seeing the Hidden Mist ANBU now blocking his path, didn't hesitate in the slightest and brought his sword straight down.
Just as she'd expected. Sakura watched as the short sword sliced through the two Hidden Mist ANBU as if cutting vegetables, instantly bisecting them at the waist. The air immediately filled with the pungent stench of blood. On the ground lay the two halves of the Hidden Mist ANBU, their entrails spilling out. Though cut in two, neither of them died instantly.
"Who... who are you...?" one of the Hidden Mist ANBU struggled to say, uttering the first words spoken between the two groups since their encounter.
However, the animal-masked ANBU paid him no heed. With a flourish of the short sword in his hand, he cleanly and decisively severed the man's head.
The other Hidden Mist ANBU, witnessing this, stammered, "You... you people..."
Thwack!
Before he could finish, the animal-masked ANBU struck again with his sword, decisively ending his life.
Meanwhile, the swamp, no longer under Sakura's control, could no longer hold the other ANBU. But after freeing himself, this ANBU didn't advance to attack Sakura. Instead, he threw two kunai in a different direction.
Then, two more figures leaped out from the bushes – it was the Hidden Mist ANBU who had exhausted their chakra using the Rain Sever jutsu.
Although they had taken soldier pills and recovered a little chakra, these two Hidden Mist ANBU definitely didn't want to fight these two unidentified ninja.
"Who might you be?" one of the Hidden Mist ANBU decided to try talking first. If dialogue failed, at least one of them had to escape to relay intelligence.
At this point, only these two remained of the ten ANBU sent to capture Sakura Haruno. A wave of grief washed over the Hidden Mist ANBU at this thought, and he continued, his voice laced with resentment, "We from the Hidden Mist Village are pursuing a fugitive. We don't understand why you are obstructing us."
"Hidden Mist?" one of the animal-masked ANBU finally spoke, pointing at Sakura Haruno not far away. "She is our mission target as well."
Hearing this, the Hidden Mist ANBU understood. Since their mission target was the same, the two groups were enemies. It seemed this mission was impossible to complete. These two were clearly stronger than them. Moreover, he could sense that these two were even more ruthless and cold-blooded than those who hailed from the Blood Mist Village. They were definitely not conventional ninja.
Sakura Haruno looked at the short swords glowing with blue chakra and finally understood. Not only were these blades made of chakra-conductive metal, but the two of them were also using Wind Release.
No wonder the chakra on the blades appeared serrated – it was Wind Release! The characteristic of Wind Release was cutting. Combined with this chakra-conductive metal, her Hardening Technique truly wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Among those Sakura knew, only Asuma and the future Naruto were so proficient with Wind Release. The ANBU before her were clearly not Asuma; their weapons were different.
With such weapons and Wind Release proficiency, what other ninjutsu would they even need? For her to engage them with taijutsu, even augmented, would be like pitting her own weaknesses against their strengths. Indeed, not every ninja was suited for a taijutsu confrontation against opponents like these.
It seemed the village's hidden depths were not as simple as they appeared on the surface. To be able to intercept her here, and to only use poison to paralyze her – who else could it be but Konoha?
But why would they come to intercept and potentially kill her? Sakura couldn't understand. When she had defected, the village hadn't sent anyone of this caliber to stop her. Why, after several months had passed, were they sending people now?
And how did they know she was here? She had come here because of Master Tsunade's...
In an instant, Sakura's eyes flew wide open. Could this all be a trap? Was it Master Tsunade who wanted to have her killed?
At this thought, Sakura's heart plummeted into an abyss. A chill ran through her entire body. Could it be... am I overthinking this? This... this...
Sakura Haruno stood rooted to the spot, utterly devastated and lost in thought, so much so that she didn't even notice the ANBU in front of her charging at her once more...