"Sigh, I shouldn't have hoped for his rationality, especially when facing Itachi."
Having run some distance away, Sakura glanced back at the giant dragon's head in the sky and sighed lightly.
"Is Konoha secretly doing something unspeakable again?"
Feeling the constant hot wind blowing, Chiyo looked at Sakura suspiciously.
In past wars, to reduce casualty ratios and pursue maximum killing efficiency, each village had actually conducted some forbidden explorations.
Among them, Sunagakure developed various biological puppets, Iwagakure embraced Explosion Release, Kumogakure researched Chakra-based firearms, Kirigakure created living ninja tools, and finally, Konoha… focused on biological weapons!
The dragon before them was so ferocious, unlike the sages from Ryuchi Cave. If she hadn't heard Orochimaru was long dead, she would have suspected Konoha's lunatics had restarted their war weapons program!
"Rest assured, it's not Konoha's doing!"
Sakura flashed a bright smile, giving Chiyo a thumbs-up.
'It's research by the World Government's scientist Vegapunk. It has nothing to do with us Konoha folk.'
"Tch, forget it. Anyway, it has nothing to do with an old woman like me about to enter the ground."
She stopped the topic promptly, not because Chiyo wasn't curious, but because she wanted to keep her life to do something useful for Sunagakure.
Half an hour later, the sunset gradually faded.
Exiting the Land of Wind's border, they followed the border into the area between the Land of Rain and the Land of Birds.
The two Ninneko from the Cat Shop led the three to a mountain valley lowland, pointing toward a massive rock covered in sealing talismans in the distance.
"Looks like that's the place. Prepare for battle!"
Sakura pulled out a pair of arm guards and put them on, flexing her knuckles.
Behind her, Naruto took out kunai from his ninja tool pouch. Chiyo pulled two storage scrolls from her satchel.
Meanwhile, inside the cave covered by the rock, the flytrap-wrapped shadow on both sides issued another warning. "Konoha and Sunagakure's people have arrived. They're right outside the cave!"
"How much longer for the seal?"
The hunched-over Sasori looked up, his gaze directly targeting the leader in the center.
"Three minutes!"
Pain remained silent, his tone as flat as a dead man's without any fluctuation. "Next, I'll use the Shapeshifting Technique to create clones to buy time. But the Chakra amount is only 30% of the original. Who wants to go?"
"Heh, I heard that Konoha girl is strong. Let me test her!"
A man with fish-like gills on his face and a mouth full of sharp teeth opened his bloodshot eyes.
"Then as your partner, I'll go with you. Maybe I can even hold your funeral!"
Another man with heavy dark circles and an unusually wide mouth let out a strange laugh.
"Then, you two prepare!"
In the center, Pain clasped his hands together and shouted loudly.
The Chakra maintaining the Magic Lantern Body Technique was projected remotely, connecting to two Akatsuki's members located several countries away from the sealing site.
After drawing 30% of their Chakra, it quickly returned to the border. Then, the giant statue inside the cave spat out two white, viscous substances that combined with these two portions of Chakra, finally solidifying into the two men's bodies.
"Go!"
At Pain's command, the two were instantly transported out of the cave via Earth Release, appearing before Sakura's team of three entering the valley.
"Found you! You're Haruno Sakura, right?"
The shark-faced man excitedly gripped the large sword behind him.
"How wonderful! Can I hold your funeral?"
The man wrapped in bandages also held his hands behind his back, gripping two swords.
"Hoshigaki Kisame, Kurosuki Raiga!"
Sakura's gaze swept over the two, recalling information she'd seen in the village's archives about the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Kisame's presence was normal, but Raiga joining Akatsuki and appearing here was somewhat unexpected.
'At this point in time, he should have already died, at the hands of Tenten, Lee, and Nar...'
'So that's it, the butterfly effect?'
Sakura's furrowed brow relaxed as she clenched her fist.
'Due to me, the changes to this world seemed to be growing larger and larger. Who knows what kind of storm would eventually form upon fate?'
'—How exciting.'
"You two, leave them to me! You're a Medical-Ninja, this isn't your battlefield."
Naruto, silent the whole way, placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "That guy Gaara and I share the same fate, but he wasn't as lucky as me to meet you all."
The blond boy's blue eyes burned with an unshakeable will. His arms, wrapped in Armament Haki, began turning black as he charged toward Kisame and Raiga. "So, I want his future not to be too miserable! Please, Sakura!"
"If it's a comrade's request, then leave it to me!"
Sakura grabbed Chiyo beside her, took out a Flying Thunder God kunai, and hurled it forcefully toward the direction of the sealed cave.
"Hey hey, ignoring me like this is too rude, isn't it?"
Kisame formed hand seals, his chest swelling as he spat out a violent torrent from his mouth.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave!"
The two Kirigakure swordsmen instantly soared into the air. Like giant snakes swimming in the sea, they rode the tidal wave of Water Release, charging toward Sakura and Chiyo.
Ninja war experience… in team battles, kill the Medical-Nin first!
"Hahaha, a friend's funeral, how wonderful!"
Raiga plunged his twin swords, the Kiba swords, into the water. His inherently Lightning Attribute Chakra, amplified by the swords, became even more terrifying.
"Thunder Burial: Thunder Banquet!"
"Don't get in our way!"
The blond boy roared, slamming both hands onto the ground. Immediately, pure white phosphorus, waxy in substance, gushed forth massively.
A white torrent raced out. Upon contact with air, it rapidly yellowed and heated up, finally forming a raging wall of flame that collided with the Water Release infused with Lightning. Fire and lightning intertwined, soaring into the sky.
It was this brief obstruction that allowed Sakura to successfully use Space-Time Ninjutsu to escape with Chiyo.
"Hmph, they got away?"
Kisame sneered, light swirling in his eyes. "Hey, Raiga, chase them!"
As the command landed, Raiga prepared to pursue but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, kneeling and retching dryly.
"Poison?" Kisame also sensed the abnormality in his body, turning to look at the wall of fire nearby, continuously emitting white smoke.
The moment he realized the poison's source, Kisame began forming hand seals, rapidly gathering Chakra.
Manipulating the residual water on the ground, he formed a water prison, enveloping all the white phosphorus Naruto had created.
'Kid, I can use both Wind Release and Water Release. Can you defeat me instantly?'
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Kisame spat a whirlwind from his mouth. The storm began to blow, dispersing the white smoke permeating the area. It seemed about to destroy the battlefield Naruto had created, which was favorable to him.
"Heh, finally!"
Naruto had been waiting for the moment the enemy used Wind Release. He bit his thumb and pressed it in the air, activating the Summoning Technique. Instantly, a deep red toad was summoned from within the smoke.
It opened its mouth and spat a large glob of oil toward the sky. The flying oil glob was shattered by the enemy's Wind Release, turning into a sparse rain of oil that began to fall.
Simultaneously, the white phosphorus wrapped in the water prison exploded violently. Fragments flew into the sky, forming dense floating particles, friction with the air causing them to emit dazzling light.
Cloud-like flames surged. During combustion, phosphorus pentoxide vapor rose, mixing with the viscous oil to form true adhesive white phosphorus incendiary bombs, spewing intense light as they fell.
[White Phosphorus - Starfall!!!]
Under the horrified gazes of Kisame and Raiga, the savage hellfire descended from the sky, completely covering their vision.
In the end, nearly half of the valley was covered by the omnipresent, searing flames.
No life could survive in this hell.
Naruto withdrew his hand, glanced at the sealed cave in the distance, then looked back at the dragon battling the divine phantom. He decisively chose to turn back!