The End

Boom! A pale blue Chakra glow lit up in his palm.

"Ninja Art: Chakra Scalpel!"

In close combat, Dou subconsciously used his favorite close-quarters fighting techniques.

Chakra Scalpel and Monstrous Strength Technique are both highly difficult and powerful Ninjutsu developed by medical-nin, but their development philosophies are completely different. If you had to draw an analogy, the difference between them is like the difference between Gentle Fist and Strong Fist.

Regardless, this may be the first time these two Ninjutsu have clashed head-on since their development. Neither Sakura Haruno knows whether the Chakra Scalpel will cut Sakura's muscles and interrupt the Monstrous Strength Technique first, or whether the Monstrous Strength Technique will break Kabuto's metacarpal bone and crush the Chakra Scalpel first.

For the latter, she simply believed that the brave would prevail when paths crossed, and was unwilling to back down.

For Dou, it's a different story. Some people believe that "if you're more than 60% sure about something, then it's worth doing," but Dou's life motto is "if the probability of failure is greater than 40%, then don't gamble." Regardless of who is right or wrong, at least Dou has survived to this day.

So when he realized that Sakura really intended to confront him head-on, Kabuto immediately made a decision, dissipating the pale blue Chakra light in his hand, and slightly raising the corner of his mouth.

Boom--!

The girl's merciless kick shattered several centimeters of soil, leaving a crater in the ground.

Amidst the chaos of war, Kabuto's tattered corpse, deprived of Chakra support, turned into a puddle of mud under Sakura's solemn gaze.

Clearly, Kabuto had already escaped using the Substitution Technique.

The forest suddenly fell silent. Sakura was on guard, Hinata was making the most of her time to recover her strength, and Kabuto was deep in thought.

After expending so much effort and sacrificing several high-quality Doki, he failed to even injure Sakura Haruno, or even force her to release her Ultra-Pure Water. It seems like he suffered a huge loss?

No, sometimes, no answer is an answer in itself. Not needing to use it in a crisis already reveals a lot.

Of course, it's best to confirm it again.

However, the probing in battle was too dangerous. Whether it was Monstrous Strength Technique or Water Release: Wind Blade Torrent, both were extremely dangerous Ninjutsu. Given Kabuto's sensitive nature, he didn't want to take such risks again.

Kabuto's voice suddenly rang out from the forest. "It seems your Ninjutsu has its limitations too!"

Ying Dai frowned slightly, carefully trying to discern the source of the sound. However, the sound was layered upon layered, and for a moment she couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"Is it distance? Number of people? Quantity? A special Sealing Jutsu technique? Or special water?"

Was he testing me? Sakura was a little confused about Kabuto's intentions when she heard the first sentence, but after a barrage of keywords, the girl quickly realized what he meant. Kabuto didn't even need the girl to answer; he could tell which one she guessed correctly just by looking at her reaction to the keywords.

But this revealed Kabuto's position, and Sakura realized he needed to be in a location where he could easily observe the girl's expression!

Water Release: Wind Blade Torrent!

The indestructible silver thread was Sakura's silent answer. The silver thread spread deep into the forest, a dark shadow suddenly trembled, and then a Crow abruptly took flight, followed by silence.

"He's gone." Hinata, barely managing to extract a trace of Chakra, opened Hinata Byakugan, scanned the area, and then, leaning on her Ultra-Pure Water Shield, Earth Flow over. In her Byakugan's field of vision, Kabuto had already retreated towards Konoha and quickly disappeared at the edge of her field of vision.

Sakura Haruno immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

I didn't feel anything while I was fighting, but as soon as the alarm went off, I felt my limbs go weak and I was a little scared. I've been using too much Ultra-Pure Water lately and haven't had time to replenish it. I used all my remaining water to protect Hinata, and as a result, I almost got into danger myself.

That Ice Release was definitely an exceptional performance.

Even she would find it incredibly difficult to handle an opponent of Kabuto's caliber. Kabuto's relentless attacks were indeed making it hard for her to breathe. In the end, she gritted her teeth and used Monstrous Strength Technique against Mystical Palm Technique, though to be honest, she wasn't confident. Even Tsunade had been tricked by Mystical Palm Technique in the manga. She just felt she needed to catch her breath first, and then she could draw some of her Ultra-Pure Water, which would make the fight much easier.

In her previous life, Kabuto still had a role in the later stages of Shippuden, so he was clearly not an easy opponent. He might even be a BSS-level character in the later stages of the manga. Just as Kabuto was wary of her Water Release techniques, whose strength he couldn't fathom, she was equally wary of Kabuto's trump cards. In the end, neither of them would be able to gain the upper hand, and Kabuto's decision to retreat was acceptable to both sides. It's better to avoid a life-or-death struggle if possible.

As for the intelligence he had collected, Sakura Haruno was quite confident that it would become outdated in a year or two. She didn't care at all; wrong intelligence was worse than no intelligence at all!

Thinking of this, the tension on Sakura's face instantly eased, and she took a deep breath to calm her slightly trembling body.

He turned back to Hinata and gave her a forced smile, "... Are you alright?"

"Thankfully, I'm not injured." Hinata revealed a serene smile. After all, she came from a prominent family, and even though she had just been forced into a desperate situation, she was able to face it calmly.

They found a reasonably clean spot near Sakura's feet and sat down, where they talked about what had happened after they were separated.

"... So you deliberately chose the wrong direction to mislead Kabuto? By that estimate, we're now more than ten kilometers away from Sasuke and the others, right?" Sakura crossed her arms and tapped her lips with her index finger, silently calculating.

"Hmm, seventeen or eighteen kilometers, no more than twenty kilometers at most. I'll know once I open my eyes," Hinata said as she carefully applied ointment to her wounds. "Don't worry about them. The two boys on your team are quite skilled, and Shikamaru is very smart. They'll be fine."

"I didn't realize you had so much confidence in them~~~" Sakura drawled, a hint of a smile in her voice, "Right, Sasuke or Naruto!"

"What?"

Hinata raised her head at just the right moment, her white eyes filled with confusion.

"The person I like!" Sakura's lips curved into a smile. "Spring is here, everything is coming back to life, and it's that time of year again... cough cough,"

Almost blurting out Zhao Zhongxiang's lines, Sakura quickly corrected herself. "... It's that time of year again when girls start to think about love. A cool and exceptionally talented young man, a passionate and determined underdog who rises from the bottom—which one is my Hinata's true love?"

"Go away!" Hinata rolled her eyes—well, they'd roll their Byakugan anyway—Sakura couldn't help but think of this lame joke.

Although the Hyuga Clan's eyes are called Byakugan, they are not actually white pupils. Hinata's eyes have a slight pinkish tinge, with a deeper color in the pupil area, a pure light blue. They are not deep, just light and faint. When she looks at you quietly like this, she exudes a girlish tranquility, gentleness, and kindness, like a clear spring, transparent and pure.

When Sakura first met him, she found it a little strange, but after looking at him for a while, she discovered the charm of his Byakugan.

Even with her eyes rolled back, the beautiful girl was still a sight to behold. Sakura chuckled and continued to tease the girl beside her, "Shy? Don't be shy, it's just the two of us here. Tell me quietly, and I'll keep it a secret~~"

Using a soft, coquettish voice, she spoke in a deliberately low-key manner.

Sakura herself was quite curious.

As a transmigrator, she naturally knew that Hinata in the original story liked Naruto. However, in this Hokage world she transmigrated to, it was uncertain whether Hinata would still like Naruto. Upon closer analysis, there are two reasons why Hinata likes Naruto: firstly, Hinata helped her when she was bullied; secondly, in the original story Hinata was quite insecure and weak, Naruto longed to become strong, so she admired Naruto because of his strong self-confidence.

However, in this Hokage world, because someone transmigrated and spent a few years as a leader of children, the incident of Hinata being bullied didn't happen. Secondly, after this person seduced Hinata, her mature inner world helped Hinata overcome her inferiority complex and timidity. Both Hinata worlds share the traits of gentleness, kindness, and introversion, but this Hinata is more confident and independent, with a level of psychological maturity comparable to the grown-up Hinata in the original story. So, would this Hinata still like Naruto? Or would she, like any other young girl, be attracted to the young, wealthy, handsome, and aloof Sasuke? This question has been troubling Sakura, who has been single for many years, and she can't figure it out.

Sakura Haruno's attempts to get information out of Hinata were so childish that Hinata felt a chill run down her spine, finding it both frustrating and amusing. "Alright, alright, I don't like either of them, okay?"

Seeing Sakura's disbelieving look, Hinata had no choice but to continue explaining, "As teammates, they're all great. They're very strong and have good personalities. Even Sasuke is the kind of person who keeps his friends in his heart. But if it's about dating, I prefer someone more mature and stable, hmm."

Okay, Sakura has to admit that Hinata is telling the truth. Sasuke and Naruto are indeed not exactly mature and composed. Naruto is a different story; being mischievous is his favorite pastime. Sasuke may seem cool, but from an adult's perspective, he's just as frivolous. However, by this standard, there aren't many boys among the top twelve who can be considered mature. The only one who can give Hinata a sense of security is probably Neji, who only recently found his sense of brotherhood.

But neither of them seemed to have any orthopedic issues.

Among the older teenagers, there are many oddballs and freaks, and very few whose strength can rival Hinata's. Hinata would mostly look down on them.

At this rate, will we see another single woman in her late twenties unable to get married?

Not necessarily... Emotional matters cannot be judged through rational analysis.

When it comes to matters of the heart, there are plenty of people who say one thing and mean another, and the more assertive a person is usually, the more likely they are to say one thing and mean another in such situations. It's as if admitting it is a sign of weakness... Hinata and Sasuke do share a similar trait in this respect.

And what about you?

Hinata gently kicked Sakura's leg, pulling her attention back to reality from her daydream.

"Huh? Me? Um..." Sakura paused for a moment, then grinned mischievously, "I don't like men! What I like are cute little girls like you, hehehe!"

"He's talking nonsense again!"

Hinata rolled her eyes at her. Being teased like that would turn even the most delicate girl into a rough, tomboyish one...

However, Hinata also knew that unlike her, she hadn't met any guys she liked, while Sakura seemed to have no interest in dating and only wanted to remain single.

Or perhaps she's just too picky? After all, there aren't many boys who are worthy of this Ninjutsu. At least in Hinata's eyes, Sasuke, who is hailed as a true Sasuke, is nothing more than someone with Sharingan. In terms of talent and ability, he's worlds apart from Sakura.

As for how much of this idea stems from cataracts' inherent hostility towards Red Eye, readers are left to judge for themselves...

[I fixed a bug. Can anyone tell me how to display that dot? It turns into a question mark every time I upload.]