Kumogakure's Betrayal

At the same time as Sai's head was seen, a body fell to the ground from the tree in the courtyard.

That was the tree where Sai hid during the night watch.

The corpse rolled to the man's feet with a thud and was casually kicked aside.

The pale moonlight shone on the headless corpse. He was covered in blood, thin, and his two-piece garment revealed a section of his pale abdomen.

The decapitated body was laid out undisguised before Sakura Haruno.

Sai died right in front of Sakura Haruno.

The girl gritted her teeth, a surge of anger rising within her.

She lowered her head, glanced at Sai's body a few times, and then stared intently at the person who had suddenly barged in from under the shadow of the tree.

Those bright, clear blue eyes, which had been glancing around, suddenly lowered their eyelids slightly.

His gaze suddenly turned sharp and cold!

"So..."

The girl parted her crimson lips slightly, speaking softly as if in a whisper, yet her voice clearly reached the ears of the person who approached.

"Did you kill Sai, Fourth Raikage?"

She asked coldly.

The man emerged from under the shade of the tree.

The moonlight shone from behind the man, hiding his face in the shadows, making it impossible to see his true features. Only a pair of large, bright eyes could be seen in the night.

However, just by looking at his towering figure, the heavy arm armor on his arms, the short cloak that opened his chest, and the powerful and explosive aura of Chakra, Sakura Haruno could recognize his identity with 100% certainty.

The Fourth Raikage

He slowly walked into the courtyard, into the brightly lit area Amaterasu.

"Yes, I killed him."

Raikage's rough, deep voice rang out like the beating of a drum.

Sakura Haruno also stepped out from under the eaves, her bare, smooth feet touching the cool grass.

The Amaterasu on the girl's face, reflecting on her pale features and making Sakura appear as if she had lost all color.

He walked up to Raikage.

"Do you know what you're doing, Ai?" Her voice turned unusually low, filled with a dangerous undertone.

"Killing the Konoha envoy, disrupting the alliance between the two villages... This led to the collapse of the Five-Village Alliance, the overthrow of the Shinobi World by Akatsuki, and the annihilation of everyone, including Kumogakure. You can't be unaware of all the consequences, can you?!"

"Whatever Sai did is no excuse for you to kill him without a word... I advise you to think carefully about what you're trying to do!"

The girl said in a deep voice.

She secretly hoped that Sai had only done something wrong, was caught by the Raikage, and then, in a fit of rage, A killed him on the spot...

However, Raikage's composed demeanor and calm tone shattered her hopes.

"Sai didn't do anything wrong." Eisen smiled and said in a deep voice.

"His only mistake was discovering me."

Swish.

Sakura Haruno stomped a hole in the grass beneath her feet in her resentment.

She clenched her fist so tightly that the surface of her fist lost its color and became almost transparent.

Unexpectedly, the alliance between Konoha and Kumogakure Ninja has turned into a betrayal.

Sakura Haruno was both surprised and angry, and also felt something was amiss.

Are you sure...?

The girl uttered a few cold words, and a suppressed murderous aura quietly filled the air.

"Are you about to turn hostile?"

Her voice was cold and filled with murderous intent.

As sharp as a knife.

"Hahaha--!"

The Fourth Raikage laughed wildly, "Turning against you? Yes, you could think that. But you're only realizing that now..."

"It's too late!"

As Raikage finished speaking, a loud bang suddenly came from the house on the other side of the courtyard!

That was... the sound of Explosive Tag exploding!

Sakura Haruno suddenly looked up, past the Raikage's shoulder, and saw a huge explosion of Kakkō not far away. A battle was taking place right under her nose!

"Damn it... he was deliberately stalling for time!"

The thought flashed through the girl's mind, and she subconsciously pushed off with her feet, creating a deep pit in the green grass. In an instant, she accelerated and sprinted away!

"Hold on!"

Sakura Haruno gritted her teeth, bypassed Raikage, and charged towards the scene of the battle.

"Want to leave?"

Raikage's eyes narrowed, and he sprang into action, his speed even faster than Sakura Haruno's, instantly blocking the girl's path.

Both were moving at extremely high speeds, and in the blink of an eye, they collided violently without having time to change direction.

Bang!

No one flinched. When Raikage's sinister gaze met and collided with the girl's icy stare in the air, Sakura Haruno already understood.

"Stop right there!"

The Fourth Raikage roared, his body suddenly bursting with lightning. He twisted his waist and straightened his shoulders, throwing a punch with a fierce and howling wind, its momentum like the roar of a thunder dragon, unstoppable!

Sakura Haruno's eyes were indifferent as she watched Raikage's iron fist approach with astonishing force, her face showing neither sorrow nor joy, but utter calm.

She abruptly stopped, her violent Chakra gathering in her arm.

He threw a punch.

"Hey!"

The Raikage's large, dark fist pressed against the girl's slender, fair fist.

Boom!

A burst of lightning flashed, followed by a deep, muffled thunderous roar that sent a transparent shockwave rippled outwards like waves on water!

The force of the punch backfired, and both the Raikage and the girl took a step back.

"Such immense power!"

Raikage's silkworm-like eyebrows furrowed tightly, his rugged face taut, and his hands felt faintly numb.

Beneath his dark face, the Fourth Raikage was secretly shocked. He had already activated Lightning Release Armor Mode, his stance perfectly aligned, and he was preparing to unleash a punch. In terms of power and speed, this was his current peak attack!

Surprisingly, he only managed a draw against Sakura Haruno.

Sakura Haruno's physique was vastly different from his; Ai's arms were thicker than her thighs... even thicker than her waist! In such a head-on brawl, how could he not subdue the hastily attacked girl?

The Raikage's sense of apprehension intensified immediately.

He jerked his aching right hand, his internal energy still churning, when Sakura Haruno attacked again!

"Hey!"

With a furious shout, the girl leaped into the air like a spring.

"Nintaijutsu: High Roundhouse Kick!"

With a twist of her shoulders and waist, a flip of her hips and a swing of her legs, her shoulders, hips and knees forming a straight line, Sakura Haruno's heroic figure in mid-air resembled a nimble cheetah. She lashed out with a whip kick, aiming at Raikage!

Wing Chun and many other martial arts styles have techniques for kicking above the knee, because high kicks are extremely difficult and have too many openings, making them very difficult to execute in actual combat and easily resulting in more harm than good. However, the world of ninjas is different. With the assistance of Chakra and Ninjutsu, the openings of high kicks can be somewhat compensated for, and their powerful characteristics become apparent.

This high whip kick was made possible by the girl's exceptional flexibility and coordination. Sakura's body was fully extended, giving her ample time to accumulate the power and explosive force of her Nintaijutsu!

Call out!

The high whip kick shot out into the air, tearing through the air with a series of ripping sounds. The entire leg and the pale instep swept across the sky like a whip towards Raikage!

"Get out of here!"

Sakura Haruno shouted angrily.

Ai's expression tightened instantly as he stared intently at the girl's whip-like kick. He suddenly gathered a burst of Chakra, and his Lightning Release Armor electricity, its brightness increasing once again, turning into a blinding, blazing white!

Chakra surged forth wildly, pushing A's Lightning Release Mode to an even greater level.

The burly man's white hair stood on end, veins bulged, and arcs of light flickered across his body. The muscles in his left hand seemed to have grown even thicker out of thin air as he fiercely met Sakura Haruno's incredibly powerful high kick!

Arms and legs collided head-on.

The Raikage's fierce and domineering gaze clashed head-on with Sakura Haruno's cold and aloof gaze.

The violent and unrestrained Lightning Release Mode clashed head-on with the devastating Nintaijutsu!

Violence, collided head-on with purer, higher-level violence.

Boom--!

At the moment of impact, the thick, hard steel arm armor, under the immense force of the impact, deformed and crumbled like tofu, shattering into irregular fragments.

The blazing white Lightning Release Armor forcibly withstood the force of the whip kick, emitting a piercing hissing noise, but it didn't last long. Under the immense bombardment, it was shattered into countless Denka and disappeared into the air like Utakata.

Then, that seemingly fair and delicate foot kicked Ai's arm.

The Fourth Raikage's pupils shrank drastically.

Bang!

With a loud bang, Raikage's burly body flew backward, crashing into the courtyard wall and smashing through a brick wall, creating a deep crater in the ground.

"Snort..."

The girl let out a muffled groan and withdrew her right leg.

The pink pajama bottoms on the right leg were half gone, revealing exposed fair skin that had been scorched black by lightning, the flesh torn and grotesque.

As a result of the head-on collision, in addition to skin damage, the leg muscles suffered from persistent numbness and soreness.

She was extremely anxious, but her entire right leg was still sore and numb that she couldn't move it. She could only suppress her impatience and use Yang Release Medical Ninjutsu to heal herself first.

However, in the short time that the Raikage delayed, the sounds of battle began to subside, and the surroundings suddenly returned to silence.

It was a despairing silence.

Sakura Haruno turned her head and looked as hard as she could, but she could no longer hear the angry shouts of battle or see the Kakkō of explosions.

It was as if the spectacular sights and sounds just now were merely a hallucination for the girl.

Her heart sank suddenly, sinking to the very bottom of her soul.

It even sank into an abyss deeper than the depths of one's heart, forever falling.

Where are they?

Where are the Shizune ones?

Sakura Haruno subconsciously summoned the Katsuyu, intending to enter Sage Mode to search for their Chakra.

But then came Ai's deep, rough voice from behind.

"I just passed by..."

The burly man rolled out of the pit, his body still crackling with lightning, but his left hand hung limply at his side.

You're too late.

Sakura Haruno's eyes were icy cold, and her whole being was as cold as an iceberg that had never melted.

She looked around the corner and saw a burly man emerge.

He was carrying a motionless figure on his back.

"No one escaped," the man said to Raikage.

"We've caught them all, brother."

[That's all for today. I don't have time to write another chapter. I was having so much fun chatting with them in the group that I forgot to write... I'll make up for the missed chapter tomorrow.]