Trust (2)

Both sides looked grim as they listened to Karui's account.

Karui was still muttering to herself, "You can't judge a book by its cover! Who knows what kind of wicked plan your Sakura Haruno might be plotting behind your gentle and kind exterior, pretending to be all sweet and innocent!"

Sakura Haruno's face twitched immediately.

Being good-looking is better than having the Raikage's burly, muscular face, right?

She remained silent, but someone from Konoha couldn't hold back any longer. "Shut up! You bastard, what right do you have to slander Lady Sakura Haruno!"

The girl turned her head and looked over. The person speaking was the Jonin from the combat team, named Kenichi Shiranui, someone she had met a few times before.

This guy has been a background character in the delegation for many chapters, and now he finally has some lines, so let me give him a brief introduction: He is Genma's cousin, about eighteen or nineteen years old, tall and wiry, and likes to wear an exaggerated broom-shaped hairstyle. Sakura Haruno, Ino, and Shikamaru Choji him a few times at Genma Shiranui restaurant when they went to eat yakitori.

"Don't just focus on us! Aren't you Kumogakure Ninja the same?" Kenichi exclaimed excitedly. "What you did while we were trapped in the Genjutsu was just as heinous!"

As he spoke, the others from Konoha joined in, chattering away.

Enraged, the ninjas on both sides immediately began arguing loudly in front of each other.

"Alright, Kenichi and the rest of you!"

Seeing the Konoha Ninja' heated argument, Sakura Haruno coldly rebuked them, "Stop arguing. What's the point of making such a fuss about something fake in Genjutsu?"

Sakura Haruno hadn't yet exited Sage Mode, and even a slight leak of her Chakra caused an overwhelming aura to overflow, which was quite frightening.

The girl merely turned her head and glared at the Konoha Ninja, and instantly even the Kumogakure Ninja were so frightened that they fell silent.

Raikage's expression shifted, and he asked thoughtfully, "It seems we're not trapped in the same Genjutsu world?"

"You too, what was the Genjutsu you encountered over there?"

His eyes shone brightly even in the darkness, calmly gazing at Sakura Haruno.

"Alright," the girl sighed, giving Kenichi a wink, "Since the Raikage wants to know, Kenichi, you can watch."

Kenichi still looked somewhat indignant, but he nodded with a straight face for Sakura Haruno's sake.

Then he recounted how, in the Genjutsu world, they were ambushed by the Kumogakure Ninja's Anbu in their dreams and then cruelly tortured.

Sakura Haruno filled in the details of what happened after their deaths, but she didn't go into too much detail. She only mentioned that they fought a major battle with the Raikage and the others, and then the Genjutsu was suddenly broken.

"The Genjutsu was broken, it must be related to a Secret Technique I used."

Sakura Haruno said this.

The Raikage and the others naturally wouldn't pry into Sakura Haruno's Secret Technique, and their expressions turned somewhat strange after hearing the story.

In the Genjutsu world of Konoha, they actually went from being victims to perpetrators.

No wonder the people of Konoha were so excited.

Killer B finally understood why the people of Konoha had been secretly glaring at him, especially Shizune, whose gaze always held a hint of gritted teeth.

His actions within the Genjutsu... truly Jinchūriki feel utterly ashamed.

"There is no False Waterfall in our village."

He scratched his head, momentarily speechless, unsure what to say, and then silently offered an explanation.

"There is a Waterfall of Truth, on Turtle Island where I trained as Jinchūriki."

"The effect isn't about implanting a false personality; quite the opposite, the Waterfall of Truth is meant to help people see their dark side and find their true selves. This is extremely important for Jinchūriki and the Tail Stream."

"Oh." Important to Jinchūriki? Sakura Haruno silently noted it down.

"Um..." Killer B paused, his expression stiffening for a moment, then gave Shizune an awkward smile.

"Sister Shizune, I'm so sorry."

"You don't need to apologize, it wasn't your fault." Shizune had calmed down and said with a straight face, "It was just Genjutsu."

Glancing at Shizune's calm expression, Sakura Haruno silently lowered her eyes.

"So it seems," Raikage concluded, "That mysterious Masked Man probably wanted to do something while we were under the Genjutsu."

"However, because Sakura Haruno broke the Genjutsu, the conspiracy was foiled."

As the Raikage, A could roughly imagine the turmoil that would ensue if someone from the Konoha delegation or the Kumogakure Ninja died mysteriously tonight...

Sakura Haruno nodded. "He should be gone. I couldn't sense his Chakra."

Raikage waved his hand dismissively and said, "In short, it was just a false alarm."

"No matter how realistic the Genjutsu world may seem, it's still fake. Hopefully, what happened tonight won't affect the cooperation between our two villages."

I hope we can still trust each other!

Ai slowly walked over and extended her hand.

Sakura Haruno stared intently at him, looking into the Fourth Raikage's open and honest eyes.

Although the events in the Genjutsu world are fake, is there truly no element of reality within them at all?

At least Sakura Haruno believes that the Kumogakure Ninja have had similar thoughts to some extent.

The Raikage probably has similar thoughts now.

So, is the Raikage genuinely trying to shake her hand, or is he secretly plotting Sealing Jutsu to ambush her?

The Genjutsu world reminded Sakura Haruno of the possibility that something else might happen.

Trust, once broken, is sometimes very difficult to rebuild.

Just like the Uchiha and Konoha back then, just like A and Sakura Haruno now.

So, what should she do? Should she risk trusting the Raikage, or cautiously refuse to shake hands, thus creating a rift between Konoha and Kumogakure Ninja?

A long silence followed.

Sakura Haruno smiled faintly, walked over, and grasped the Raikage's hand.

The Raikage's hands were large and rough, and there were no hidden traps.

"Of course, Lord Raikage."

Sakura Haruno isn't so narrow-minded as to refuse even an olive branch extended by someone else.

The two looked at each other and laughed.

At least for this moment, the Raikage Sakura Haruno trusted each other.

However, trust alone is far from enough. Just as Fugaku did not believe the Third Hokage would harm the Uchiha, and the Third sought a peaceful solution, the others distrusted each other, ultimately leading to the Uchiha's annihilation.

--Among the ninjas who had just started arguing, Sakura Haruno saw their distrust of each other.

The seeds of doubt seem to have been sown, and more effort will be needed to prevent them from growing and spreading.

The following day, the Kumogakure held a lively farewell ceremony as if nothing had happened.

The delegation encountered no further danger along the way.

A few days later, the entire delegation returned safely to Konoha.

Volume Fourteen, Complete.

[Second update.]