Two Burly Men Corner a Girl in a Deserted Alley Under Cover of Night

Unfamiliar Chakra.

With her powerful mental strength, Sakura possesses exceptional sensory abilities. Although they concealed themselves well, the sudden fluctuations of Chakra were still as noticeable to the girl as a candle flame in the dark.

Sakura cast her gaze toward the dark corner where they were hiding; even without using Ninjutsu to conceal themselves, that spot was still an excellent blind spot.

Hidden abilities... perfect.

Since ninjas rose to prominence on the world stage and became protagonists, the importance of their traditional skills, such as stealth and assassination, has diminished. Modern ninjas are more inclined to engage in direct combat and fight in the open, rather than operating in the shadows. Therefore, calling them samurai ninjas is not an exaggeration.

Like Sakura, who focuses all her skills on Ninjutsu and Taijutsu for direct combat, she really doesn't have much experience in how to conceal herself. If you ask her to hide like a ninja, all she knows is to hold her breath, suppress her Chakra fluctuations, and then hide in the shadows; while ninjas with slightly better concealment skills all know at least a few Ninjutsu to hide their bodies, sometimes even when the enemy is right under their noses, the enemy may not be able to detect them.

However, sometimes Ninjutsu that conceals one's presence is a double-edged sword... at least when the opponent is Sakura Haruno, because she has sufficient sensitivity to Chakra at close range, so doing so would be purely superfluous.

Having confirmed that they had been discovered, the two ninjas hiding in the corner Earth Flow out.

They wore patterned masks, standard vests, and sleeveless bodysuits. Sakura's eyes narrowed; in her memory, only one department in Konoha dressed like this: the Anbu.

"The Anbu? What brings you here?" Seeing the two standing on either side of her in a pincer formation, Sakura felt a chill run down her spine, sensing that something was amiss.

If they need to inform her of something, all they need to do is send one person to her door openly and honestly. Sending two people to wait for her in the shadows is pointless; now they're even acting suspiciously towards her... What does this mean?

The Anbu are directly under the Hokage, and she is Hokage's disciple!

"Chunin Sakura Haruno," one of the ninjas with a red cloud pattern on his mask spoke, his voice unremarkable and forgettable, "Regarding your application for a mission outside the village, we have a few questions for you to answer. Please cooperate with us."

The review failed?

Yingxiu frowned slightly, finding the situation increasingly strange.

Ninjas leading an overseas mission for the first time undergo routine political vetting after accepting the assignment to prevent any from using the opportunity to defect or collude with external forces. However, this vetting is usually not too rigorous, and most ordinary ninjas pass quickly. Given Sakura's status, this is merely a formality; how could it have dragged on until now without being resolved, or still present a problem?

Does the Anbu really intend to openly defy their direct superior— the Lord Hokage?

"If you have any questions, you can ask me directly here. If that's inconvenient, we can go to the Hokage's office and ask him in front of the Lord Hokage." Her heart tightened, but she remained calm on the outside and said calmly.

"Stop making trouble, Sakura Haruno! Come back with us for questioning. This is an order. Do you intend to publicly disobey?" The red-masked ninja stepped forward and said sternly.

A thought struck the girl.

If it was an order from Master Tsunade, bringing her to the Hokage's office would be perfectly reasonable. However, the Anbu in front of her avoided the topic and dismissed her request as nonsense, suggesting that there might be something else going on with the order.

"An order?" Thinking this, Sakura sneered, "Then, where's the written order? Please show me the order issued to you by the Hokage!"

"Internal documents of the Anbu are not something you can just look at as you please!" the Anbu Ninja said firmly. "Sakura Haruno, this is your last warning: do not openly disobey orders, or we will consider you a traitor and have the right to arrest you on the spot, or even kill you!"

The tone of the Anbu grew increasingly somber and gloomy. The two men took another step closer, standing on either side of Sakura and surrounding her.

The air seemed to freeze.

Without the masked ninja noticing, his hand had already quietly rested on his ninja tool pouch. A chilling, murderous aura filled the air.

"What, you want to make a move?" The warmth in those light green eyes instantly cooled, turning icy and indifferent.

"Forging Anbu orders, defying the Hokage's will, openly attacking fellow village ninjas in broad daylight... Hah, your actions are tantamount to treason!"

Chakra began to surge, and with her gaze fixed on the two of them, Sakura was ready to fight.

The two Anbu took another step closer.

"Sakura Haruno! The consequences of disobeying orders will be something you'll regret for the rest of your life! I'm telling you now, surrender and come back with us for questioning, or you'll face the consequences!"

The masked ninja appeared righteous and awe-inspiring, but he never drew his weapon. He simply pressed forward, trying to create psychological pressure to force Sakura to submit, seemingly having some reservations.

They were all bark and no bite! Seeing this, Sakura saw through their facade.

If such an order truly existed, they should have already presented an interrogation warrant or arrest warrant according to procedure. Or, faced with someone who disobeyed, they would have already taken swift and decisive action to apprehend them. Why resort to verbal threats and bluster, yet dare not even brandish weapons? Do they really think she doesn't know how the Anbu operates, or is she some clueless child?

It seems that the orders they follow were not issued by the Hokage, but rather came from some shady individuals!

"Hmph!" Sakura sneered. Since that was the case, she had no more reservations. "If all you're good for are empty words, then get out of my way. I don't have time to play this boring game with you!"

She strode directly toward the lead Anbu Ninja wearing a red-patterned mask.

Snap, snap, the heels of sandals stomped on the concrete, making a crisp sound.

Another ninja wearing a blue-patterned mask tensed his muscles and assumed an offensive stance, repeatedly signaling to the leader, a ninja wearing a red-patterned mask, with his eyes. The latter's pupils contracted, and looking at Sakura's unwavering steps, he seemed hesitant, unsure of how to respond.

Sakura Haruno, her face cold, walked unhurriedly past the red-masked ninja's face, her shoulder slamming into his body without any hesitation.

The Anbu Ninja wearing the red-patterned mask stumbled, caught off guard. He hadn't expected Sakura Haruno to actually run into him, so audacious as to provoke Anbu Ninja. Caught off guard, he was knocked off his feet and nearly made a fool of himself. In fact, Sakura Haruno didn't really think that being Hokage's disciple gave her the right to act recklessly. Her biggest advantage was actually the two Anbu Ninja's violation of the rules: arresting someone without the Hokage's orders, ensuring that if something serious happened, she wouldn't be held responsible.

The Anbu Ninja's expression changed beneath his mask, his eyes blazing with anger. Surprisingly, he suppressed the girl's provocation and merely gave another ninja a wink.

Once the girl had completely passed him, revealing her unguarded back, he roared, "Take her down!"

Before the words were even finished, he had already sprung into action, using the Taijutsu of the Anbu to subdue enemies, attacking from the girl's blind spot like a hungry tiger pouncing on a sheep. A few meters away, his companion also moved in perfect unison, rushing towards Sakura's back!

Thud! Thud!

In the blink of an eye, it was impossible to see what happened. All that could be seen was that the two ninjas who had suddenly attacked flew back at an even faster speed than when they had pounced on them!

"Hmph~ Two noobs." Sakura Haruno chuckled and leisurely retracted her raised leg.

The Ninja Art - Cherry Blossom Impact and her Nintaijutsu are a perfect match. Previously, in terms of Nintaijutsu, she encountered the same problem as Kakashi in the Gaiden when he had just developed Chidori: the power and speed of the technique were too great, and her reaction was not fast enough, so she was prone to injuring herself. However, Kakashi eventually obtained the Sharingan, while Sakura Haruno made up for her shortcomings with the Ninja Art - Cherry Blossom Impact that she developed herself.

Although the two Anbu who fell to the ground were not seriously injured, they suffered both physical and verbal abuse. At this moment, their faces behind their masks were very gloomy and ugly. They had clearly launched the sneak attack first, but the girl had reacted so quickly and struck so swiftly that she had sent them flying in an instant, making it seem as if they had been the ones who had been ambushed.

They exchanged a glance, got up from the ground, and simultaneously reached for their ninja tool pouches.

Sakura's face immediately darkened. Jonin tools meant they were getting serious. If a real fight broke out, the situation would spiral out of control. Her hands unconsciously moved to her chest, preparing to form Hand Seals.

"Step back, you two!" A stern shout interrupted the two Anbu's actions. The two men paused abruptly, their eyes still showing a hint of reluctance, but they carried out the order without hesitation.

Sakura didn't stop them. After all, they hadn't hurt her in the slightest. Her insistence on getting to the bottom of this, even to the point of a complete falling out, would be pointless. Tsunade and the Third Hokage probably wouldn't support her going on like this anyway. What Konoha needed right now was stability, for everyone to work together, not for the Hokage Faction to fight with other high-ranking officials. In any case, she wasn't the one feeling frustrated at the moment.

She simply turned her head and saw that the familiar voice belonged to Shimura Danzō.

"Hmph, so you've finally decided to come out...? I thought you were planning to keep watching the show!" the girl thought to herself with a cold laugh.

Danzo's concealment skills were far superior to those of his two subordinates. But it was all for naught—within a few meters, at a close enough distance, Sakura Haruno's sensitivity to Chakra was unparalleled; even Danzo was nowhere to be found under her perception.

"Greetings, Danzo."

The girl smiled slightly, bowed gently, and spoke slowly with her head bowed.

"What are your orders, sir?"

Her hands were folded over her abdomen, her Chakra surging beneath her calm exterior, yet her posture was so familiar—respectful and composed.

(Still asking for recommendation votes~~ My computer crashed after I installed QQ Manager, so it's a bit late. The thing is, I just accidentally clicked on the QQ badge claiming feature, and QQ Manager installed automatically!!)