Shock! Beautiful Girl Dissected Alive

"Heh heh..." Hinata twitched the corner of her mouth, understanding Sakura's meaning.

Yes, human trials.

Konoha was recently invaded by Orochimaru, whose glorious deeds are now common knowledge: he secretly captured villagers for human experimentation in order to develop new techniques, and defected from Konoha after his scheme failed. Now, Sakura's Ninjutsu has also reached the point where it needs to be used for human experimentation. If she hadn't developed this Ice Clone, what would have happened next... it's really hard to imagine!

Hinata gave her a strange look.

"Ahem, why are you looking at me like that? Don't get the wrong idea! I wouldn't be that heartless!" Sakura's face stiffened, and she said seriously.

"Is that so?" Hinata still looked at her. "But, a clone is just a clone after all..."

Sakura understood what her friend meant. Ice Clone was, after all, just a clone. Even if it could simulate internal organs, nerves, and so on, it was still not real. At the very least, it couldn't replicate every single cell—the human body has 50 trillion cells, and even Sakura couldn't achieve such precision. Using it to develop new Ninjutsu was ultimately not as effective as using a real person, so some things still had to be done with a real body.

However, there's always a way. Cloning, for example? There's no need to resort to such forbidden methods; otherwise, even if she were the Fifth Hokage's disciple, she wouldn't have a good ending—only a few high-ranking members of Konoha could do this without restraint. Sakura cherishes her current life and has no reason to engage in forbidden human experimentation for a little immediate gain. In short, there's always a way out. The Ice Clone are sufficient for now; let's leave the future for later. After all, this kind of thing is too sensitive.

"Hey... Hinata," Sakura said helplessly, grabbing Hinata's hand and pressing it to her chest, "Trust me, I won't do anything stupid. Listen here, my blood is still pounding!"

Pfft~ Hinata's serious expression instantly crumbled as Sakura amused her. "Still all fired up? You think you're Naruto?!"

"Eh--, I really do!" Sakura laughed, her eyes narrowing like a fox's. "Alright, alright, um, let's not talk about that anymore. Let's take a look at this clone first!"

Ahem, the girl cleared her throat, her smile vanished, and she adopted a serious demeanor. A slight fluctuation of Chakra emanated from her body, a flash of blue light, and instantly solidified into a sharp scalpel in her palm.

"Next, according to the plan, is..." Sakura Haruno pushed up her non-existent glasses, "To dissect myself!"

The blade was aimed at the chest of the clone on the table.

The two girls exchanged a glance, and the atmosphere instantly became serious. For a moment, both of them felt a sudden, tense sense of unease, as if they were holding their breath. Dissecting themselves? It sounded utterly bizarre and chilling.

So even though the two of them had participated in many battles since graduation, seen blood and even killed people, they inexplicably felt a bit parched. Was it because they were killing people without being in combat—even if it was just Ice Clone —that they felt uneasy? Come to think of it, Sakura's personality in battle was quite different from the peaceful Sakura in everyday life.

"Really... do we really have to do this? Um, isn't it enough to just look at her with my Byakugan?" Hinata's long neck twitched slightly, as if she were swallowing.

Sakura let out a soft sigh, "Even though I've already confirmed it with your Byakugan, I still won't feel at ease without seeing it with my own eyes! But don't worry, this once is enough."

She lifted the white cloth, exposing her clone's body to the air. Gripping the blade tightly, she slowly approached the girl on the table. The still-chilling blade pressed against the girl's fair, soft skin, the icy edge instantly raising goosebumps on her smooth, delicate skin. "Do it," Sakura murmured to herself, applying slight pressure as she plunged the blade in. A few drops of blood quietly seeped out, the dark red droplets standing out starkly against the dazzling white backdrop.

Sakura hadn't realized she'd taken a deep breath.

"I've never seen my own heart before... It'll hurt a little, bear with it, darling!" she whispered to her clone, looking down.

The sharp ice blade silently separated the soft flesh, avoiding blood vessels and bones, and pried up the dark red chunks of meat, revealing a throbbing heart.

The Ice Clone, with its extremely high replication accuracy, demonstrates its formidable stability. Even when its chest is ripped open, it can maintain its existence as long as it doesn't suffer a fatal wound. This is the advantage of a high-fidelity clone. In contrast, ordinary Water Clone and Shadow Clone shatter and disappear with the slightest injury, making them incomparable. The ability to withstand damaging Ninjutsu and maintain it for a period of time instead of breaking instantly is what Sakura values most about this technique.

Sakura continued to calmly make her cuts, examining the clone's organs, while observing the Ice Clone's expression: she remained as calm as an iceberg, only her lips were trembling slightly.

Sakura coldly thought that the greater the pain her clone could withstand, the better it would be for the development of new Ninjutsu. Her movements were clean, nimble, and agile, already showing some of the flair of medical-nin.

The clone's chest was ripped open, and Sakura immediately used Medical Ninjutsu to ensure its survival. The clone, lying on the table, remained silent, its face terrifyingly pale.

Hinata glanced at the clone, then shifted her gaze to Sakura's face, hesitating as if she wanted to say something.

Sakura knew what she was thinking.

The Ice Clone, having referenced the technique of the Shadow Clone, will return to the original body carrying its experiences and memories, which is why the Ice Clone can be used for research. However, this also means that once the clone dissipates, the pain it felt will be fed back to Sakura's original body—a pain akin to having one's gall bladder ripped out, and she'll suffer greatly! Sakura's current actions are, in a sense, a form of self-torture.

However, Sakura's choice was made out of desperation. Even though Hinata had already used her Byakugan to see through the illusion, she still needed to see it with her own eyes to be certain of the extent to which the clone perfectly replicated her original form. At least it was only temporary pain; it wasn't a real disembowelment or heartbreak, so it wouldn't cause any real harm. If she couldn't even endure this little bit of suffering, how could she expect to increase her strength? That was undoubtedly wishful thinking.

Moreover, when it comes to actually developing that Ninjutsu, using clones for experiments might be very painful, perhaps even more painful, since it involves Ninjutsu... So Sakura said that these are just appetizers for now, a warm-up to prepare her mentally for the full feast to come.

After examining the intestines, the Ice Clone finally couldn't hold on any longer. The bloody, mangled unidentified object, which had to be pixelated to be visible, lost its Chakra sustaining it and immediately reverted to its original crystal-clear ice block form.

Hinata was under immense pressure and on the verge of vomiting, immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she saw Sakura roll her eyes, let out a muffled groan, and slump softly onto the table.

"Sakura!" she exclaimed, quickly reaching out to catch the weak and listless Sakura.

Sakura Haruno was definitely careless this time.

The danger of Ninjutsu like Shadow Clone Jutsu lies in this: the clone is suddenly struck and collapses, then all its experience is returned to the unsuspecting original, placing a tremendous mental burden on the original. Therefore, when Shadow Clone is injured, it must be fragile enough to fall with a single blow, rather than being able to endure pain without disappearing. Otherwise, when it dissipates, too much pain will accumulate and return to the original, bringing immense mental pressure. This is extremely dangerous for a ninja in battle, because you could be killed in that moment of distraction.

The problem with Multi Shadow Clone Techniques is that due to the sheer number of clones, even if each clone only causes a slight pain when it dissipates, the combined effect of dozens or hundreds of clones can create an enormous mental burden. This is why it's called a forbidden technique—it's an extremely dangerous Ninjutsu! In severe cases, this massive mental shock can even cause the user to suffer a mental breakdown, turning them into an idiot on the spot— Naruto almost messed up like this when he used Shadow Clone to train in Wind Nature Transformation.

And now the Ice Clone is just like that: it was just being abused and tormented by Sakura, and after the Clone Technique ended, the huge amount of pain it had accumulated was all fed back to the original body. Sakura, who was not mentally prepared, immediately went black and her consciousness almost went blank for two seconds. It took her five or six seconds to recover.

She seriously underestimated the damage a clone could sustain, while overestimating her own limits. She thought that as a ninja who had faced countless life-or-death battles, she could easily endure a little pain. But don't forget, in all the battles she'd been through, when had she ever suffered a serious injury? Absolutely not! In fact, Sakura had never had a man's badge of honor—a scar! (Actually, most injuries treated with Medical Ninjutsu wouldn't leave scars.)

Having experienced countless battles doesn't mean she's suffered countless pains. She's just used to fighting, but when it comes to the pain of fatal wounds, she's undoubtedly still a clueless novice.

Meanwhile, a dozen blocks away, Sakura's father, Kizashi Haruno, was renovating his previously damaged house.

"Sakura, get Daddy a bucket of new paint!... Sakura? Did you hear me?"

He called out several times but no one answered. When he turned around, he found a puddle of water on the ground. The clone that had stayed behind to help with the work had disappeared.

"The clone was dispelled?" Kizashi Haruno was confused, thinking that Sakura had dispelled the clone because she was impatient with the work.

"... This child!" He shook his head. "He was helping his father with chores, but he's off off somewhere again!" Sakura's father didn't take it to heart, thinking it was just a child's nature. He smiled and continued working.

Meanwhile, at a training ground on the other side of Konoha.

The 101st duel between the blond-haired guy and the Red Eye is nearing its end.

"Lightning Release? Earth Flow!"

A dazzling bolt of lightning pierced the earth, crackling and spreading outwards. Then came a series of screams and the sounds of clones exploding and dissipating. When the smoke cleared, Naruto, his blond hair standing on end from the electric shock, lay on the ground, raising the white flag.

(Is menstrual cramps considered a type of physical pain? Sakura, however, has never experienced this.)