"I don't believe it!" A furious Kurotsuchi, her teeth gritted in stubborn anger, raised her hands to initiate another Jutsu.
Sakura shot forward, the air cracking around her as she appeared directly in front of Kurotsuchi, seizing her hands mid-seal.
"Accept reality," Sakura said, pulling sharply to disrupt the Chakra Kurotsuchi was gathering.
The uncontrolled Jutsu caused the Lava Release Chakra to break down, resulting in two streams of mud shooting from Kurotsuchi's nose and mouth.
Sakura stared blankly for a second.
'If I said that was an accident, would you believe me?'
The answer was clearly no.
"Haruno Sakura! I'm going all out against you today!" Consumed by humiliation and rage, her face flushed crimson and eyes glistening with unshed tears, Kurotsuchi was beyond caring about right or wrong.
She mobilized a massive amount of Chakra and, in her fury, slammed her palms together to unleash an Earth Release Ninjutsu.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Stone Pillars!"
A sharp, piercing shriek tore through the air as Chakra-infused, pointed stone pillars erupted from all sides, eliminating every possible foothold for Sakura.
Kurotsuchi burrowed underground, coating her right fist in solid rock with Chakra.
Then, using the Light-Weight Rock Technique, she burst from the ground, her rocky fist aimed squarely at Sakura.
"Die! Rock Fist Technique!"
The ground shattered under the immense force. Kurotsuchi erupted from a deep fissure, driving her Rock Fist toward the airborne Sakura!
"Bring it on!" Sakura also clenched her fist. Multiple high-speed water blades spiraled around her arm. Enhanced by Armament Haki, a vortex of air whipped around her fist.
Boom!!!
A furious, thunderous slashing force roared upward, instantly cleaving through the rock encasing Kurotsuchi's fist.
The high-speed water blades on Sakura's hand softened, wrapping like serpents around the rock armor covering Kurotsuchi. They yanked the airborne Kurotsuchi down, slamming her into the ground, then coiled tightly around her limbs, completely immobilizing her.
"It seems the match is decided," The Hokage remarked smugly from the high platform, addressing the Tsuchikage.
Onoki merely grunted. Even though he knew his granddaughter's defeat by this Konoha's prodigy was highly probable, watching it happen firsthand filled him with a bitter, furious resentment.
'Go on, cause your stir. It just means another Shinobi God, and our Land of Earth being suppressed for another generation.' His heart ached for his granddaughter, who would have to face such a monster in the coming era.
"A kid more dangerous than Namikaze Minato..." The Raikage's comment ratcheted up the tension between the Kage, though it soon subsided into cold sneers.
What else could they do? Attack Konoha's genius on their home turf? Anyone who tried wouldn't leave the village alive.
"Everyone, let's maintain harmony. Please, continue watching the matches," Hiruzen said, pipe in mouth, outwardly calm but inwardly immensely pleased.
'I truly enjoy seeing you all green with envy, unable to do a thing about it.'
The subsequent matches lacked the spectacle of Sakura and Kurotsuchi's fight.
Shikamaru used the remnants of Kurotsuchi's stone pillars to control Temari but conceded after reaching a stalemate. Kankuro forfeited against Samui to conserve strength. Shino defeated Karui by draining her Chakra with his insects.
Genin from every village exerted their utmost, striving to present their best before the watching nobles and dignitaries.
"Look at them, and at us. Don't we seem like clowns, dancing for the amusement of our superiors?" Sakura asked calmly, her emerald eyes observing the fighters below, not excluding herself from the remark.
"You..." Sasuke, having spent so much time with her, instantly grasped her implication. Only Naruto stubbornly insisted he was no clown.
Sasuke swallowed, his throat dry, "Do you plan to make an enemy of the whole world?"
"It wouldn't be the first time. So, will you help me?" A faint shadow seemed to fall across the girl's features, but her emerald eyes burned as brightly as ever.
They held a blazing will intense enough to set the world aflame. A vast presence, antithetical to the established order, offered Sasuke the barest glimpse of its nature.
The boy found himself reaching for her hand. Years later, recalling that morning during the Chunin Exams, he would still sigh, knowing refusal had never truly been an option.
"Hey, Sasuke, you're up!" Naruto, oblivious to their conversation, was confused by their sudden handshake.
Down below, Genma had just announced the final match.
Hearing Sasuke's name, Naruto urged him on, already plotting his subsequent time alone with Sakura.
As Naruto congratulated himself on his brilliant plan, he failed to notice Sakura slipping away right after Sasuke departed.
In an inconspicuous corner at the back of the southwest spectator stands, one figure in green and another in red leaned against the wall.
A Flying Thunder God's mark glimmered on Jiraiya's clothes. In the next instant, with the distinct sound of spatial translocation, Sakura appeared beside them.
"!" Startled by the sudden Chakra Fluctuation, both teachers turned their heads sharply toward her.
"Fine mood you're in, Sensei and Shisou. Holding a class reunion? Seems you're missing someone," Sakura said, mimicking their posture against the wall.
Jiraiya's face turned grim, "Orochimaru? Is he finally making his move?"
The Hokage had informed his two disciples beforehand of Orochimaru's threatened attack. Precisely because Jiraiya and Tsunade were in the village, Konoha's defenses were at their peak.
That was why Hiruzen felt secure enough to dispatch Kakashi and Guy's team to investigate Otogakure and dared to welcome the Kage of the Great Nations with open gates.
"I lost track of Orochimaru's presence outside the village three days ago, but he flickered back into range just now," Sakura explained, shrugging. It wasn't that she didn't want to locate and capture Orochimaru directly.
But human capability has limits, and Observation Haki isn't all-powerful. The strain of maintaining it actively over large areas was significant, and pinpointing a target's exact location at the very edge of her range was notoriously difficult.
During this period of covert conflict, Orochimaru had probed the boundaries of her sensory range. Since then, the slippery serpent had been maddeningly testing its very limits, constantly slipping in and out of detection, which infuriated Sakura to no end.
She was usually the one skirting the edges, so how dare he try to skirt hers?
"Then let's patrol the village perimeter. He can't possibly have infiltrated with security this tight, can he?" Tsunade uncrossed her arms, an action that drew a surreptitious glance from Jiraiya.
They were about to leave when-
Suddenly, Gaara, wounded by Sasuke in the arena, erupted with a terrifying wave of Chakra. His rampage was the signal. A palpable sense of crisis slammed into every Konoha Ninja present.
Boom!
Right before the stunned eyes of the crowd, the high platform housing the four Kage exploded.
Before panic could fully take hold, a shower of feathers drifted down from the sky. Any villager touched by them immediately collapsed, unconscious.
Sakura locked eyes with Leviathan across the distance. The small sparrow beat its wings, darting toward Mebuki and Kizashi. Seeing this, Sakura let out a slight sigh of relief.
She turned back, her gaze joining Tsunade's and Jiraiya's as they looked upward. Two figures stood facing each other within a shimmering barrier.
A familiar, long tongue flicked out, and a hoarse, chilling voice echoed across the stadium:
"Sensei... long time no see."