Shimura Danzō's Setback

Although Shimura Danzō was short-sighted and narrow-minded—at least in Sakura Haruno's eyes—his abilities, as Konoha High Command and head of the intelligence service, were still quite commendable in a fair assessment.

He was ruthless and unscrupulous in his schemes and power plays, and when it came to managing his subordinates, he was both kind and strict, with clear rewards and punishments and cold-blooded methods. He was extremely aggressive and ambitious in his dealings with outsiders, and he was also very strong in his management and control over his own people. As a result, although many people disliked him and the Third Hokage even disbanded Root several times, Danzo and his Root were always able to rise again and again.

As for combat, Danzo, as Danzo of the Second Hokage, also inherited some of Tobirama Senju's skills. Although his talent could not match that of the Third Hokage, he had honed his skills through countless battles and developed a keen sense of combat and decisive, ruthless attacks!

Although he hesitated about whether to completely break ties with Sakura Haruno, the battle-hardened Danzo subconsciously chose an excellent opportunity to strike when his impulsive Danzo launched a reckless attack.

The moment she shouted "Attack!" was the exact moment when Sakura Haruno unleashed her punch, her old strength exhausted and new strength yet to arise. Logically speaking, she was at her lowest point, making it the perfect time to strike.

This is the time.

The girl had just found herself in the middle of the Root members, facing attacks from all sides! The cramped and narrow cave also prevented Sakura Haruno from unleashing her powerful Water Release; her strength was severely limited!

This is an advantage in location.

As for people?

Danzo firmly believed that Sakura Haruno's strength should have greatly declined after experiencing two major wars, while on the Root side, all the subordinates he brought were battle-hardened experts, and with his own various Secret Technique, defeating Sakura Haruno, a newly Kage Level ninja, should not be a problem.

--Have you not seen how even the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, was defeated by the Kinkaku and Ginkaku forces of the Land of Lightning?

In an instant, many thoughts flashed through Danzo's mind; with the right time, place, and people, this operation should be foolproof.

"We got it!"

Those murky, sinister old eyes were fixed on the girl. A glint of light flashed in his eyes, and before the Root members' attacks could hit Sakura Haruno, Danzo made this conclusion with certainty!

This was already a dead end, and with Danzo knowledge, he didn't believe Sakura Haruno could find a way to break it.

--The next moment, Sakura's figure suddenly disappeared from the crowd's encirclement.

Without warning, without a trace, it vanished into thin air.

He then realized that his entire scheme had failed!

In that instant, Danzo's pupils suddenly contracted sharply from his narrowed eyes!

"W-what!"

Body Flicker Technique?

How could it be so fast...?!

This ruthless old man, whose face was always taut and whose expression was as rigid as a rock, suddenly showed a look of surprise on his face!

However, before surprise could even form in Danzo's and the Root members' minds, what came first was a thunderous blow from Sakura Haruno.

Swish!

In a fraction of a second, the girl completed her Body Flicker Technique, suddenly appearing atop the Root her golden hair at the outermost edge of the encirclement.

A burst of silver light exploded, tracing a stunning arc.

"Heart Turns--"

The Root ninja's eyes still held the afterimage of the girl being surrounded, her head flying off, blood spurting from her neck, her hands still forming the hand seals of Yamanaka Secret Technique, yet her Chakra was quietly fading away.

Root ninja Yamanaka Fū collapsed.

Danzo reacted extremely quickly, but by the time he turned his gaze and realized that Yamanaka Fū was dead, Sakura Haruno had already disappeared from the spot again.

All that remained was a headless body, lying helplessly in the ground.

Danzo didn't even have time to be surprised, to feel heartbroken over the deaths of his subordinates, or to feel a chill in his heart; the pace of the battle was so fast that even his emotions couldn't keep up with her!

Swish!

The pink-haired girl's figure flashed and appeared behind the eyepatch-wearing ninja. Her eyes were as cold as frost, and the ice blade in her hand pierced straight into his heart, from which bright red blood flowed out.

Torune shuddered, looked down with disbelief and confusion in his eyes, and was then frozen by a chilling cold. The nano-sized venomous insects covering his body failed to reach Sakura, and he collapsed.

Swish!

The girl crashed into the masked ninja's arms, ducked down and threw a punch. The powerful force of the punch blasted into the diaphragm between his chest and abdomen. The Root ninja's eyes suddenly went blank, his pupils dilated, and black blood slowly flowed from his nostrils, ears and mouth.

Danzo's trusted confidant Terai, collapsed.

At this point, Danzo had only just discovered that Yamanaka Fū had died!

Swish!

Sakura Haruno used her palm as a blade, striking the Root ninja on the back of the neck, and the latter fell silently to the ground.

Swish!

Sakura Haruno unleashed a swift and Wing Chun Hidden Kick, sending a Root ninja crashing into the mountainside.

Swish, swish, swish!

The pink-haired girl's figure flashed in and out of the cramped cave at an unimaginable frequency, slashing, stabbing, punching, and kicking with lightning speed, leaving everyone breathless!

Every slash, every punch, every attack ruthlessly kills or defeats a Root ninja!

Each time a figure flashed by, it meant that one less Root ninja was left standing on the field!

Starting with the Secret Technique ninjas and sensory ninjas, Sakura Haruno named them one by one according to their level of threat to her. Danzo's Danzo were like leeks in a field, powerless to resist, and were harvested by her one by one.

Before Danzo could even react, in an instant, only his last subordinate remained on the field.

A young ninja wearing a crop top.

The pink-haired girl threw a straight punch, its force like a tiger descending a mountain, carrying a fierce wind as it aimed directly at the face, easily shattering the Root ninja's mask into dust, and then—

I surrender.

Without hesitation, the Root named Sai threw down his brush and raised his hand. After the mask shattered, a hypocritical smile with narrowed eyes was revealed on the face of the slender boy.

Whoosh!

The fierce wind from the punch whipped the boy's hair into the air, but the devastating fist ultimately landed on Sai's nose.

Even Sai, who had been trained through inhumane Root, secretly breathed a sigh of relief at this moment, as if he had escaped a disaster. He had every reason to believe that if he had hesitated for even a fraction of a second longer before saying "surrender," his head would have been smashed to pieces by this murderous girl's punch, just like a watermelon!

So it turns out I can't completely ignore life and death after all...

At the brink of life and death, Sai suddenly had this thought. His mind, which had been as still as an ancient well, relaxed and began to wander uncontrollably. Then he saw the girl in front of him tilt her head slightly and glance at him.

Her eyes held a mixture of scrutiny and curiosity, making them much more lively than her previous cold and aloof demeanor.

Then, she punched him in the stomach!

"Ugh--!"

Sai rolled his Byakugan, clutched his stomach, and knelt down in front of Sakura's sandals.

Sakura Haruno didn't even glance at him.

She simply turned her head and looked at the last remaining enemy still standing on the field.

Shimura Danzō.

At this moment, only two seconds had passed since Danzo shouted "Attack!"

Two seconds later, the Root... were completely destroyed.

Danzo's emotions, which had just begun with shock, skipped over the stages of uncontrollable rage and furious glare, and entered the final stage of bitterness in his heart and chills to the bone.

It was a complex mix of emotions, difficult to describe.

The change was so sudden that even he, who prided himself on remaining calm even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, found it somewhat difficult to accept!

Danzo his hands and feet, as if he had fallen into an ice cave... No, this cave was a bit too cold!

He looked up and saw a faint glow emanating from the ceiling of the dimly lit cave; that was...

Ice?

Danzo then suddenly realized his mistake.

"I see...!" he said with difficulty, his hoarse voice cold.

Sakura Haruno actually conjured ice blocks at the top of the cave, using them as a medium to unleash her Secret Technique - Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!

No wonder her Body Flicker Technique is so incredibly fast.

If it weren't for the unusual color, Danzo would have thought he had seen the Yellow Flash once again!

In fact, after activating various Secret Technique, Sakura Haruno's Ice Body Flicker Technique was only slightly slower than Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Technique; if she hadn't found the name "Pink Flash" a bit too effeminate, Sakura might have happily accepted it.

Faced with this bug-like Body Flicker Technique, the so-called perfect timing, location, and circumstances become a huge joke!

Yes, a complete joke.

The Fourth Hokage's legendary feat of taking on fifty opponents Danzo -handedly is still fresh in everyone's memory. How could Danzo's less than ten ninjas dare to claim superior numbers or "human strength" in front of Sakura Haruno?

But when faced with the unpredictable Body Flicker Technique, where does the so-called "advantage of terrain" created by narrow spaces come from?

As for "time," that was merely Danzo's far-fetched imagination.

Sakura Haruno... isn't as weak as he imagined!

Although they had been gathering information on Sakura Haruno, the Root ninjas lacked the strength to intervene in Kage Level battle. Therefore, they could only assess Sakura's strength through observation from a distance and from the side. At this moment, Danzo finally realized that they had severely underestimated the girl's power...

Yes, for thousands of years, ninjas have been a man's game, and women are usually in a weaker position in battle. Even Tsunade Hokage, was the weakest of the Sannin and played a supporting role. Even someone as strong as Mito Uzumaki was only rated as Kage Level ninja because of the power of the Nine-Tails. Therefore, Danzo and many others subconsciously underestimated Sakura Haruno's strength and always thought that her repeated defeats were due to various factors.

Perhaps this deep-seated prejudice has its own rationale—for example, that women are physically weaker and less competitive—but at least in Sakura Haruno's case, prejudice is just prejudice.

"Your turn..." The pink-haired girl raised her blood-stained ice blade, pointing it directly at Danzo, and said coldly, "Shimura Danzō."

The several bodies lying haphazardly at her feet amplified the persuasiveness of her statement.

Danzo remained unmoved.

He was, after all, an old man who had experienced many hardships. Although the sudden change had moved him for a moment, the old man, whose heart was as firm as a rock, quickly regained his composure.

"I admit we watched you..." Danzo, his face ashen, his eyes filled with gloom as he stared at the girl, "But the battle has only just begun!"

"Laugh."

The pink-haired girl curled her cherry-red lips into a mocking smile, seemingly unconcerned.