After killing Fū Yamanaka, Naruto caught up with Kurenai.
"Where's Sakura?"
"She ran that way." Kurenai pointed ahead and to the left. "Hinata's already gone after her."
A sharp pain shot through her shoulder as she spoke, draining the color from her face.
Naruto glanced at the wound.
The sickle was still embedded in her right shoulder. The injury was deep enough that her arm had nearly been severed.
She wouldn't be joining the pursuit.
"I'll go after them."
Naruto headed in the direction she had indicated.
He had no intention of stopping to heal her. Her injury gave him a chance to act without someone watching—and without having to explain abilities such as the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Once he was out of Kurenai's sight, he slipped behind a large boulder and located Hinata's mark.
He vanished.
The next instant, he appeared beside her.
Before Hinata could react, Naruto pulled her into his arms and teleported again, returning to the boulder he had just left.
A distant explosion thundered through the forest.
It came from the exact place where Hinata had been standing.
Naruto tightened his arms around her.
"Another second… and I would've lost you."
The thought left him cold.
Then his expression hardened.
"Who did it? Sakura?"
His voice was quiet and chilling.
If Sakura had tried to kill Hinata, he would hunt her down, no matter how far she ran.
Sasuke can join her. They can be together in hell.
"No, it wasn't Sakura." Hinata shook her head. "It was a young shinobi riding a strange black-and-white bird."
A Root shinobi… on an ink bird?
Sai? The one who ends up marrying Ino?
Naruto's jaw tightened.
Holding Hinata close, he rose above the trees and searched the sky.
There.
Far in the distance, a dark shape was flying away.
It had to be Sai.
And Sakura was probably riding with him.
Whatever Root was planning, Naruto had decided one thing.
Sai was going to die.
You tried to kill Hinata.
You're fortunate you have no family. Otherwise, I'd kill them too.
The wind surged around him, carrying him after the distant bird.
…
Danzō had sent six Root operatives after the pursuit force.
When the Leaf shinobi separated, Root divided into three pairs, each following one of the teams.
After Kiba went to alert Kakashi and Shino's insect was sent to summon Asuma's group, the other Root teams moved to intercept them.
Their purpose was to buy time for Torune and Fū.
Sai's partner stayed behind to delay Kakashi's group while Sai took to the sky on an ink bird.
Flying allowed him to cover ground quickly, and the view from above made locating the others much easier. The wind and lightning from Naruto's battle with Torune had given him a clear direction.
He circled around Naruto and soon found Sakura.
Hinata had caught up with her and was blocking her path.
Sai wanted to finish quickly, before Naruto arrived.
Catching Hinata before she activated her Byakugan, he dropped every explosive tag he carried toward her from above.
Then he swooped down, pulled Sakura onto his bird, and flew away.
That was how Sakura had ended up in his hands.
…
Naruto steadily closed the distance.
Sai glanced back.
The boy was flying without a summon or an ink creation beneath him.
That was unexpected.
More immediately, it meant Sai would have trouble escorting Sakura the rest of the way.
"Our intelligence places Orochimaru's hideout nearby," he told her. "I'll send you down here."
His brush moved across his scroll.
"Remember what I told you. Send us information every ten days, using the method I explained."
He looked at her without expression.
"Otherwise, the poison I gave you will take effect."
Sakura's face tightened with anger.
Sai ignored her.
Another large ink bird emerged from the scroll. He pushed her onto its back and sent it diving toward the forest.
Within moments, Sakura disappeared beneath the canopy.
Sai turned to face the approaching Naruto.
Danzō-sama. I'll carry out your orders.
I can't place a curse seal on her. The poison will have to do.
The poison was a special preparation used by Root, and Root retained the antidote.
As long as Sakura wanted to live, they could continue controlling her.
A minute later, Naruto caught up.
Hinata now clung to his back, leaving his hands free.
He stared at Sai as though the other boy were already dead.
"I already hated you," Naruto said coldly. "Now I hate you even more."
Sai was still wearing a Sound shinobi's disguise.
It meant nothing to Naruto.
Without answering, Sai lowered his eyes to his scroll.
His brush flashed across the paper.
In less than a second, more than a dozen ink eagles sprang from the drawings, their talons extended as they swooped toward Naruto.
"Is that all?"
Naruto swept his right hand outward.
Sai's ink techniques were versatile. Flight, reconnaissance, sealing—there were plenty of uses for them.
But in a direct clash, their power fell far short of Naruto's.
A fierce gust struck the eagles.
Their bodies broke apart, collapsing into splashes of ink.
The wind continued toward Sai.
He immediately banked his mount aside, avoiding the attack, then turned and fled.
"You think you can escape?"
Naruto followed.
Bringing his hands together, he raised a wall of wind directly across Sai's path.
The ink bird was almost upon it when Sai forced it into a steep dive.
Naruto watched him change direction.
An idea suddenly came to mind.
Kisame's water prison…
"Wind Release: Wind Sphere!"
Drawing on the control granted by his god-level bloodline, [Wind God Form], Naruto curved the wind wall around Sai.
Its edges swept inward from every direction, joining to form an enormous sphere.
Sai and his bird were trapped inside.
Wind blades began forming within the enclosure.
They slashed through the air, forcing Sai to twist and turn his mount between them.
Then the sphere began shrinking.
More blades appeared.
Sai drove his bird left, then right, searching for an opening.
There wasn't one.
He was like a fly trapped inside a shrinking bubble, with less room to move every passing second.
The wind blades grew denser.
One finally caught the bird beneath his feet.
Its body burst into ink.
Sai dropped.
He lowered his head and began drawing another mount—
A piercing whistle came from behind him.
He instinctively looked back.
A wind blade severed his neck.
His head fell, followed by the remains of his body.
Hinata shut her eyes, unable to watch.
Naruto dismissed the sphere without giving the falling corpse another glance.
"That worked well."
He nodded, pleased.
Since acquiring [Wind God Form], he had spent surprisingly little time developing powerful techniques of his own.
The ability gave him tremendous control over wind, but he hadn't been making full use of it. Relying on the same attacks had left him frustrated.
This technique gave him something new.
The Wind Sphere could become one of his signature jutsu.
"Naruto-kun…"
Hinata activated her Byakugan again and looked toward the forest.
"I can't see Sakura anymore. She may have entered Orochimaru's hideout."
Orochimaru usually concealed his bases within cliffs or deep underground.
Locating one with the Byakugan from this height would be difficult. They would have to descend and carefully search the terrain.
Naruto smiled.
"It's fine. I have a way."
He had sensed the point where Sakura disappeared. The entrance was probably somewhere nearby.
But finding the entrance wasn't his real plan.
Orochimaru's hideouts were full of traps, and forcing their way through would be troublesome.
Naruto had a shortcut.
Deep underground, close to where Sakura had vanished, he could sense a Flying Thunder God mark.