Shattered

"Regret? Heh heh, I've never regretted anything..."

Killer B's face stomped into the ground, creating a shallow crater, and a weak, intermittent voice came from below.

"Still dare to talk back?"

Sakura Haruno's face was icy, and she stomped down even harder.

"You... cough cough... you damned bastard! If you have the guts... if you have the guts, kill me! Even if I become a vengeful ghost... I'll crawl out of the ground and bite... bite a piece of flesh off you!"

The Jinchūriki began to choke on the flowing blood from his mouth and nose, coughing incessantly, yet he still stubbornly uttered his harsh words.

They showed absolutely no remorse.

His hand groped around and found a stone on the ground, which he threw with all his might.

The stone was thrown out softly and hit Sakura Haruno's foot.

It wasn't very strong; it didn't hurt or itch.

But the provocative tone and the stubborn attitude, along with the memory of Shizune being humiliated by him, caused Sakura Haruno's anger to explode!

On this cruel night, Sakura Haruno had already witnessed too many unfamiliar firsts, and too many scenes that had shaken her beliefs.

This was the first time I had ever seen my companion treated so cruelly.

This was the first time I witnessed a comrade willingly sacrifice himself for her.

For the first time, he unleashed the Wind Blade Torrent without hesitation, slaying hundreds of living people.

This is the first time I've encountered such a hated enemy!

Sakura Haruno subconsciously tried to conjure two ice blades, but two slender, deep blue, crystal-clear rods suddenly emerged from her hands. (See Chapter 88)

It was a thin rod formed from pure spiritual power. It should have been pure black, representing will and Yin Release, but because it was mixed with the Nature Transformation of Ice Release, it became transparent, like ice crystals.

It looked quite beautiful. But Sakura Haruno inexplicably knew that this thin rod was harder than ordinary steel, sharp and dangerous.

She had known how to condense a light blue, soft will stick long ago.

Sakura Haruno had never before been able to condense such a perfectly formed, profound, and rigid slender rod.

--Because she had never experienced such anger, such high spirits, and such a strong will before!

The power of Yin Release revealed a dramatic enhancement in her spiritual world.

Sakura Haruno, in her anger, did not delve into the change.

Her face was as cold as frost, and she pulled out more blue rods, plunging them into Killer B's hands and feet.

Just like how he handled Shizune earlier.

The intense pain from having his hands and feet pierced interrupted Killer B's foul language, turning his words into suppressed groans.

"Did you feel the pain Shizune was in back then, Killer B?"

The girl looked at him calmly and said softly.

The Jinchūriki raised his eyelids, seemingly lost in thought, but his detached aura prevented him from speaking.

His breathing began to weaken, and he became barely breathing.

Sakura Haruno frowned slightly.

Judging from Killer B's expression, the final act of retaliation is no longer possible.

Oh well, she had no interest in visiting Killer B's place anyway.

Moreover, Killer B was merely an executor.

Sakura Haruno looked at the Fourth Raikage.

Seeing his younger brother's aura fading into almost nothingness, the latter's heart tightened. He disregarded everything else and roared, "Release Killer B!"

Before he finished speaking, Ai unleashed a burst of lightning from his body and charged forward.

"You want Jinchūriki?" Sakura Haruno sneered. "Fine, here you go!"

Instead of returning it to the Raikage, she swung her leg back and delivered a fierce front kick, sending Killer B hurtling towards the charging Raikage!

How could Jinchūriki, who already exhales more than he inhales, withstand such torment?

Sakura Haruno's merciless kick was so powerful that even Killer B in his normal state wouldn't dare to take it head-on without protection!

While still in the air, Killer B's internal organs exploded, blood flowed from his seven orifices, and he died suddenly.

Such a swift death might have been too easy for him. But it doesn't matter; in Sakura Haruno's view, the real culprit is the Raikage himself.

Ai caught Killer B's body.

His eyes were wide open as he held Killer B's body, which lay broken like a shattered doll. His eyes were bloodshot, and tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.

"Killer B--!!"

Ai Yang roared!

"Do you feel the pain, Fourth Raikage?"

The girl's cold voice drifted from afar.

Pain?

Indeed, Ai had already experienced the pain of mission failures, the pain of his subordinates being ruthlessly killed, and the pain of the massacre of villagers.

Right now, he is experiencing a fourth kind of pain: the pain of losing a loved one.

That was an even more heart-wrenching feeling!

"It must be painful to watch your comrade be brutally murdered right before your eyes, right? I understand how you feel," Sakura Haruno said sarcastically.

"Because I have just experienced that kind of desperate pain."

"Now, please experience the pain you've inflicted on me..."

"In this way, we can understand each other."

The Fourth Raikage lowered his head and slowly placed Killer B's body aside.

My whole body was trembling slightly.

"Lord Raikage, Killer B Bee... are they dead?" Kumogakure Ninja from behind asked cautiously.

Ai remained silent, offering no reply.

But Killer B's lifeless body and the sorrowful aura emanating from A had already given them the answer.

"K- Killer B, Master!" Karui stared in disbelief at her master's corpse, letting out a desperate cry before turning her hateful gaze to Sakura Haruno.

I'm going to kill you!

With bloodshot eyes, she drew her long sword, forgetting everything else, her eyes fixed only on the girl in the distance, and charged towards her like a madwoman!

"Don't be impulsive, Karui!" The Raikage was startled and shouted from the silence, trying to stop this overconfident girl.

However, it was too late.

In the instant she charged forward, the thin, dark blue rod in Sakura Haruno's hand pierced her heart.

Karui's eyes widened, her hands gripping the blue staff, as if she couldn't believe that she hadn't even lasted a single round before being pierced through the heart by the staff.

Sakura Haruno casually tossed the corpse of the large-breasted woman in front of her next to Killer B.

Here you go!

Raikage stood frozen in place, two lines of bloody tears streaming down his face.

As the Raikage, he couldn't protect the villagers, his subordinates, or even his younger brother.

The fifth kind of pain, the pain of helplessness, gripped his heart, tearing it apart and devouring it piece by piece.

"I will never forgive you! I will never forgive you!"

Ai roared and launched another resolute charge.

Call out!

The silver thread shot out again, sweeping across and aiming for Raikage's heart. Raikage moved with lightning speed, dodging the fierce attack and rushing in front of Sakura Haruno, only to be knocked to the ground by Raikage's serious punch.

Ai rolled over and got up from the ground. Her first reaction was not to be wary of Sakura Haruno's pursuit, but to turn around and look back.

Looking in the direction affected by the Wind Blade Torrent.

Sakura Haruno changed the angle at which she slashed at the Raikage this time, resulting in a new victim for the Kumogakure.

Under the soft Amaterasu, Ai could roughly see what was happening over there.

Another large number of deaths have occurred!

Ai closed her eyes, wishing she hadn't seen anything.

While the Raikage was distracted for a moment, Sakura Haruno began to charge into the remaining Kumogakure Ninja scattered on the ground.

She wielded an extremely hard, deep blue, thin rod, and with the power granted by her Nintaijutsu and Sage Mode, she swung the sharp rod, occasionally shooting out high-pressure water jets from her hand, rampaging through the crowd and killing the remaining Kumogakure Ninja.

By the time the Raikage arrived to provide support, the elite Kumogakure Ninja who could have formed at least several teams or even a large battalion were mostly lying on the ground. Those who could stand were few and far between, and all of them were injured.

Those who survived had gradually lost their fighting spirit in their eyes.

Outside the battlefield, several more areas were affected by the Wind Blade Torrent.

This means that even more people died further away!

How many Kumogakure Ninja died that night? Was it ten thousand, twenty thousand, or thirty thousand?

When the casualty figures were laid bare before Raikage, he forgot to breathe.

"Enough!"

Raikage stood in front of the group, his earlier resentment at being forced to defeat Sakura Haruno no matter what had happened. His body was ice-cold as he shouted at Sakura Haruno.

They couldn't continue fighting.

Too many people are dying!

If this continues, everyone in the Kumogakure will be wiped out. What's the point of defeating Sakura Haruno then?

Sakura Haruno, however, did not believe that the Raikage could start and end this war at will!

"Enough?" She smiled knowingly, shook her head, and flatly rejected the idea. "You can indeed decide when the war begins. But once it starts, when it ends is not up to you!"

Raikage's expression stiffened.

"How many more people do you have to kill before you stop?" Samui, the blonde, fair-skinned female ninja, pointed at her and asked painfully, "You've already killed so many, isn't that enough? You demon!"

"Do you really have to be so ruthless as to exterminate them all?!"

"Stop?" Sakura Haruno swung her thin staff sharply and sneered, "My war with the Kumogakure Ninja isn't over yet. How could I stop before one side is completely defeated or surrenders!"

Raikage stood frozen in place, glancing at the others who stared blankly into space.

We really can't continue.

Sakura Haruno, however, persisted, continuing to condense delicate water lines on her hand.

Another strike.

Raikage retreated rapidly, dodging the sudden attack of the Wind Blade Torrent, but his steps became increasingly heavy.

The sound of a building collapsing came from behind.

Without a doubt, Ai knew that Sakura Haruno's Ninjutsu had once again caused a large number of casualties.

The thought of this tore at his heart, and a few drops of bloody tears flowed from his eyes, which had long been dry.

"You bastard!"

Ai roared and chased after them. The Kumogakure Ninja also barely mustered their fighting spirit, throwing ninja tools and unleashing Ninjutsu at Sakura Haruno. They marched in a mighty and imposing manner, and seemed to have a certain tacit understanding and momentum. However, as Sakura Haruno easily dodged with a simple Ice Body Flicker Technique, all their attacks became futile.

Without Xi's sensory abilities, the Kumogakure Ninja would have no idea how many ice mirrors Sakura Haruno had secretly placed for Body Flicker Technique while she was alone in the village! What's the point of continuing the fight if they couldn't even touch the Kakuzu of her clothes?

Only the Raikage rushed in front of Sakura Haruno, only to be sent flying by a single punch once again!

Despair.

Despair enveloped everything before my eyes.

Raikage slowly stood up, his whole body aching, but the greatest pain was in his heart.

We can't win; there's absolutely no hope.

This time, the Kumogakure Ninja lost.

Utter defeat.

Sakura Haruno raised her hand again, the silver threads on her hand flickering erratically.

"Enough!"

Raikage roared, two lines of bloody tears still streaming down his face, looking extremely ferocious.

"Please," this towering man actually knelt down, begging a girl, "Stop hitting her."

"We, the Kumogakure Ninja, concede defeat."

Sakura Haruno was taken aback, her expression shifting slightly, but she ultimately let out a cold snort.

"Admit defeat?" She raised the long stick in her hand and said coldly, "If you can't beat them, you kneel on the ground and verbally admit defeat?"

"You made the same solemn vows when you allied with us!"

The Raikage raised his head, slowly stood up, and his eyes became extremely determined.

"I planned and directed the entire operation of the Kumogakure Ninja this time; they were just following orders."

"It's all my fault, it has nothing to do with them."

Please forgive them.

He aimed his heart at the hard blue rod in the girl's hand and charged straight at it.

Puff!

The long rod pierced through Ai's body, and a few drops of warm blood splattered onto Sakura Haruno's face.

Sakura Haruno was finally completely moved.

As the man lay dying, a smile finally appeared on his face.

"Listen up, all Kumogakure Ninja! Tonight's entire mistake lies with my personal negligence. Sakura Haruno is innocent! No one is allowed to seek revenge against Sakura Haruno without authorization; doing so will be considered treason!"

Ai gathered his last Chakra and shouted.

After saying this, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, and his head slumped to one side.

He died in front of Sakura Haruno.

Sakura Haruno looked stunned and slowly closed her eyes.

It seemed as if he was pondering something, or perhaps sensing something.

Earlier, when she came to her senses from her excitement, the girl noticed the unusual nature of the two thin, dark blue rods in her hand.

As a highly concentrated embodiment of spiritual power, and as the result of the ultimate Nature Transformation Yin Release nature, the Staff of Will detected some disharmonies in this world.

After a long while, she slowly opened her eyes and said coldly, "A very touching story."

"Unfortunately, it's fake."

If she hadn't killed so many people with her blue rod, and if the Raikage hadn't deliberately run into her and died on her blue rod, Sakura Haruno might not have noticed this abnormality.

Raikage A, and the others, are not real people.

In the real world.

Obito's face darkened, and he abruptly stood up.

"Heh heh, looks like this technique really couldn't trap her after all," White Zetsu said sarcastically from the side. "After all, she's the woman who broke Itachi's Tsukuyomi!"

"However, the fact that she used this method to forcefully break the spell," he said, pointing to the crystal ball on the table that was beginning to crack, "Really gave us quite a shock!"

On the table, a deep blue rod of will pierced through the crystal ball and emerged from within.

On the shattered crystal ball, cracks quickly grew and spread, eventually bursting open.

"There's nothing strange about it," Obito said irritably. "As long as one's mental strength and willpower are strong enough, coupled with a little emotional stimulation and mastery of Yin Release Nature Transformation, anyone could do that."

--Although he himself couldn't do it.

However, Sakura Haruno doesn't have the Rinnegan, and the blue rod she created doesn't possess the Outer Path power of the Rinnegan. Even though she created it, it poses no real threat...

Obito snorted and continued.

"Although I couldn't trap them, after what happened in the Tsukuyomi World, I'd like to see how the Konoha Ninja and the Kumogakure Ninja can still cooperate closely!"

Obito's true purpose in coming here is to disrupt the cooperation between the two villages!

[Second update. A long chapter of 4000 words, no longer split into two chapters, you can read it all at once.]

[This chapter was so hard to write. I originally planned to post it after writing two thousand words, but I thought I'd finish the last part today. As a result, I spent from midnight to 3:40 AM writing the last two thousand words. I was so tired. I almost fell asleep several times.]