Sai

Sakura Haruno reached into the ninja's mouth and grasped his slippery tongue.

"Calm down. It might hurt a little," she said.

Sakura's gaze lightly swept across the boy's handsome face. The boy's mouth was open, and saliva dripped down his cheeks uncontrollably, but his expression remained calm.

No, it's not calm.

Sakura Haruno narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling that it was more like a lifeless, mechanical expression of indifference.

"Stick your tongue out a little more, Sai."

The boy sitting in front of her was Sai, a former Root ninja who formed Team 7 with Naruto in another world.

Sai did as instructed, sticking his tongue out of his mouth even further.

The black, bar-shaped Cursed Seal on the root of his tongue became visible.

The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.

This is Danzo Cursed Seal that Danzo used to control the Root ninjas and ensure that his subordinates would not reveal Root's secrets. Because Danzo has not yet been executed, this Cursed Seal is still in effect.

Outside the bar-shaped Cursed Seal was a ring of purple tadpole-shaped incantations, forming a perfect semicircle. This was the second layer of seal placed by the Anbu during the interrogation.

Just as Orochimaru used the Five Elements Seal to cover the Eight Trigrams Seal on Naruto's abdomen, disrupting the function of the Nine-Tails Sealing Jutsu, the Five Elements Seal used by the Anbu can cover the Black Cursed Seal, rendering it ineffective against Root ninjas and facilitating their interrogation.

Of course, the effects of mass-produced temporary seals are not very long-lasting and are quite crude.

When Sakura Haruno checked, the Five Elements Seal was already distorted and deformed, and its color had faded by more than half.

"The Five Elements Seal has already failed, hasn't it?"

Sai, unable to speak, nodded with difficulty. Sakura Haruno continued, "The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal's Danzo will automatically expire after Danzo's death, so we can ignore it for now. I'll remove the Five Elements Seal first, and then set up a more powerful Eight Trigrams Seal."

The boy remained expressionless, only blinking.

The girl's slender white fingers probed deep into his mouth, all the way to the bottom of the bar-shaped Cursed Seal.

Sakura's soft fingertips caressed the raised part of the Cursed Seal. Although Sakura's movements were very gentle, the entry of the foreign object still made Sai feel nauseous.

He struggled to suppress the urge to suddenly erupt and break free from her control.

Sai remains confused about his situation.

As an ordinary member of the Root organization, his life trajectory took a complete 180-degree turn after Danzo's downfall.

Sai once thought he would spend a few months in the Anbu prison, and then, after undergoing Anbu screening, return to work as an ordinary ninja, carrying the label of a former Root ninja that he could never shake off, either living a mediocre Mui or dying unknownly in some mission or some corner.

However, he seemed to receive some preferential treatment and trust afterward, undergoing a second round of screening ahead of schedule. Under Sasuke Uchiha's meaningful gaze, he walked out of the Anbu prison and into the sunlight.

"From this day forward, you are Sai, an ordinary Konoha Ninja."

Kakashi shoved a ninja registration card into his pocket.

"Remember, you have nothing to do with Danzo anymore."

Sai carefully examined the registration card in his hand in the sunlight.

Name: Sai. Gender: Male. Rank: Special Jōnin.

Personal Profile: Skilled in drawing.

On the opposite page was a passport photo stamped with an official seal. The boy in the photo had delicate features, red lips and white teeth, but his eyes were indifferent and his expression was unreadable.

The back is blank and has the Konoha Village mark printed on it.

Receiving this paper signifies that Tsunade and Konoha have acknowledged that he is no longer a former Root ninja, but simply an ordinary member among Konoha's tens of thousands of ninja.

The September sun was still blinding. Sai stuffed the registration form into his ID book, tucked it close to his body, and squinted.

He was just an ordinary member of Root, unaware of Danzo's secrets. Apart from his decent Secret Technique, he had no other special qualities that warranted attention, nor did he have any connections that would earn him praise from others.

Therefore, he is not worth the village's efforts to win him over, nor is there any reason for him to receive preferential treatment.

So... why?

The only thing that could be related to this was that Danzo Root to confront Sakura Haruno with great force, only to be beaten to a pulp by her— Sai was lucky enough to surrender in time and wasn't killed on the spot.

That must mean they offended a powerful figure in the Hokage Faction, and are now on their list, right?

Sai stroked the paper in his hand, which felt very real, his heart filled with confusion, but his calm expression remained outwardly unchanged.

"That's... the end?"

Obviously not.

The story of the nameless ninja of Root has come to an end.

Sai's story had only just begun: a few days later, Sakura Haruno, who had returned from the Land of Snow, pulled him into the delegation.

Upon their first meeting, the woman—or rather, the young girl—said, "I smell Danzo's decaying Chakra on you..."

"Cursed Tongue Eradication taken effect again?"

Despite being two years older than him, she was unusually assertive.

Without even waiting for his reply, she made the decision. "Open your mouth, I'll take care of it."

--And then the scene at the beginning happened.

Sai stopped reminiscing.

He focused his attention on the girl's hands, suppressing the physiological reaction caused by the foreign object being inserted into his throat.

Sakura Haruno was quick.

First, gently caressing the old Five Elements Seal, skillfully washing away the ineffective seal. Then—

Swish!

Suddenly, a blue light of Chakra rose from her fingertips and she pressed it against Sai's tongue.

The soft, smooth fingers suddenly became as hot as a branding iron, scalding the unsuspecting flesh!

Sai's eyes widened instantly, and he almost jumped up from his chair.

However, being a ninja from Root, his powerful endurance allowed him to suppress the immense pain. Sai was covered in cold sweat, his handsome face contorted into a grimace, veins bulging, yet his body remained completely still!

Sakura Haruno's fingers traced firmly and slowly across Sai's tongue, her Chakra perfectly transforming into a Double Four Symbols Seal, which became intricate incantations nested outside the Cursed Tongue Eradication Cursed Seal.

A short while later, the new seal was finally completed.

Sakura Haruno pulled her hand out; it was covered in clear saliva.

Sai was limp and sat in a chair, drenched in sweat, his clothes soaked through, and drool dripping uncontrollably from the corners of his mouth, looking extremely disheveled.

Sakura Haruno washed her hands clean, looked at Sai, and handed him a tissue.

After sitting for a while, Sai regained his strength, stood up, wiped away the sweat and saliva, tidied himself up, and immediately returned to his clean and handsome appearance as a young man.

"Thanks."

Sai was very stiff and unnatural.

It was like saying thank you for the first time.

Sakura Haruno frowned slightly. Politely, she should have smiled and replied with "You're welcome," but facing Sai, she didn't have that thought.

In the other world, Sasuke saw that Sai and the Naruto, so he believed that Sai was worth saving and gave him priority in the review and a new identity.

But is this appropriate?

After all, Sai from the two worlds is not the same person.

People are shaped by their experiences.

Sai, who wasn't influenced by Naruto, is ultimately not the same person as the Sai from that world.

So... does it require patient guidance and training?

Sakura Haruno looked at him with a probing gaze.

Noticing the girl's gaze, Sai felt a subtle unease.

"Is something wrong?" He thought for a moment, then forced an even stiffer, more insincere smile. "Oh—I forgot to smile when I said thank you."

His emotionless, squinting smile made him look incredibly irritating.

"Has no one been with you? Your smile is so fake," Sakura Haruno said coldly. "That kind of smile doesn't make your thanks seem more sincere."

Sai paused for a moment, his expression returning to its usual indifferent blankness.

"I'm sorry," Sai instinctively knelt on one knee and lowered his head. "I did this because I read in the book that you should smile when you say thank you."

Sai's experience serving in Root instilled in him a conditioned reflex of immediately kneeling down and admitting his mistakes whenever he was reprimanded by a superior.

Clearly, Sakura Haruno is the superior he has identified. Judging from her ninja rank, status, and strength, this is the only conclusion he can draw.

Sakura Haruno sighed and walked up to Sai.

"Get up," she said calmly. "Konoha is not Root extinguishes humanity and eliminates personality; there is no rule about kneeling at the drop of a hat."

"There's no need to be so hypocritical and hide yourself. You can... treat me, and us, as companions."

Sai was slightly taken aback.

The two slender, fair legs standing before Sai, instead of Danzo's unchanging black robes, reminded him that the person before him was not the cold-blooded Danzo.

Instead... well, the cold-blooded Sakura Haruno.

At least in his memory, his only encounter with Sakura Haruno left him with the deepest impression of her: ruthless and merciless, every move deadly, powerful and cold-blooded...

That was her impression as an enemy.

But now I'm her companion... so is my attitude different?

Sai obediently stood up.

"Thank you... for sealing the Cursed Seal for me." He tried to put on a suitable smile.

This time, the smile wasn't as hollow, but it was still undeniably fake.

"... You're welcome, it was nothing." Sakura Haruno waved her hand, saying helplessly, "Also, if you don't want to laugh, don't force yourself to."

A smile devoid of genuine emotion... is unsightly.

Sai remained silent.

"Is that so?" He thought for a moment and asked, "The book clearly says that in situations where you don't know what expression to make, just smiling is enough."

"The book you're reading must not say that a fake smile is often more disgusting than not smiling at all," Sakura Haruno said impatiently.

"If you must laugh, please laugh sincerely and put your emotions into your smile."

Sai remained silent for a long time.

"What's wrong?"

Ying raised an eyebrow and asked.

"The people of Root... don't have feelings," Sai said slowly.

"People have feelings..." The girl shook her head, smiled slightly, and patted his shoulder. "You've just been suppressing them for too long."

Ignoring what Sai was thinking, Sakura nudged his shoulder. "Help me gather everyone together."

"I have something to say to everyone regarding this operation."

[Second update.]