Sakura Matou Rewrites Destiny

Instead, he immediately chose to unleash his Chakra and sound the alarm.

A surge of blue energy burst from Shinji's body.

With an Explosive Tag pinched in one hand and his other small fist clenched tight, Shinji charged straight at the black cats.

Faced with Shinji delivering himself to their doorstep, the strange black cats that had suddenly appeared in the Garden naturally had no reason to reject such a gift. They opened their "gaping maws" and bit down on him.

"...So fast!"

Confronted by the black cats that sprang forward like black lightning, Shinji, who had charged in intending to test them out, had not truly acted recklessly.

Having prepared the Substitution Technique before making his move, Shinji turned into a wooden log with a bang just as the black cats were about to tear him to pieces with their "gaping maws," vanishing right from between their jaws.

They devoured anything.

The substitute log did not even last a second before the black cats crushed and swallowed it. The burning Explosive Tag attached to it met the same fate...

The tactic didn't work. I barely learned anything... Haven't Master and the others arrived yet?

A bead of cold sweat slid down from the corner of his eye. Shinji had expected his tactic to yield at least some results, but disappointment flashed through his eyes.

Then Shinji, who had been training ever since Sakura took control of the Matou Family, consuming its resources without contributing anything and only silently watching everyone else work for the family, took another step forward.

It seemed Orochimaru's conditions had indeed worked. Perhaps they had worked too well, because a knot had unknowingly formed in young Shinji's heart...

Just as Shinji planted a heavy foot on the Garden lawn and drew a kunai, preparing to probe the black cats again and obtain some intelligence for Sakura and Orochimaru in advance—

Several venomous snakes as thick as cups suddenly caught up to him from behind and yanked him back.

"Shadow Snake Hand..."

P.S. There will be another chapter tonight.

Orochimaru VS Shadow monsters

Grabbing hold of the impulsive Shinji, Orochimaru's main body had rushed to the Garden the instant he received word of the Invaders. He immediately began analyzing the bizarre black cats before him.

But clearly, the agitated black cats had no intention of giving Orochimaru time to analyze them.

Perhaps they had sensed that Orochimaru's strength was on an entirely different level from Shinji's.

Or perhaps their master had personally taken control.

After Orochimaru arrived in the Garden and stopped Shinji's reckless act—

In less than a breath, the black cats launched an attack on Orochimaru.

Like well-trained hunting dogs, the black cats did not charge Orochimaru in a single swarm. Instead, they split into three directions, covering one another as they lunged at him in turns.

Orochimaru grabbed Shinji by the clothes at his shoulder and casually flung him through a window into the house. Facing the attacking black cats, he did not choose to evade.

Instead, as the cats bared their claws and fangs and pounced at him, he immediately counterattacked.

A whistle sounded from Orochimaru's mouth.

Then, using his signature Body Techniques, Orochimaru kicked one black cat apart into chunks of strange shadow-like matter. At the same time, one of his arms was torn off by a black cat amid the encirclement.

Yet before even a second had passed, the black cat carrying Orochimaru's severed arm and preparing to enjoy its spoils found the arm in its mouth transforming into a great snake. At the same time, Orochimaru's lost arm regenerated amid an eerie writhing beneath his clothes.

Body Techniques and genjutsu both work... Next, I'll try Ninjutsu...

Like a beautiful serpent, after Orochimaru disabled one black cat and used sound-based genjutsu to confuse another into mistaking his specially made snake for his arm, letting the snake coil around it—

Orochimaru twisted with astonishing flexibility. Suddenly accelerating to a speed beyond ordinary eyes, he slipped out of the encirclement of the remaining five black cats like an impossibly slick loach.

"Fire Release—Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

He directly unleashed the Ninjutsu he had learned from his teacher.

Orange-red flames roared forth like a furious dragon, forming a sea of fire that engulfed the five black cats.

Then the flames gradually brightened. In merely two breaths, the fire Orochimaru exhaled had nearly turned white-hot...

The air warped beneath the intense heat. Flames reaching several thousand degrees would rapidly melt even steel...

The black cats caught in the fire did not even have time to scream before they seemed to vaporize instantly...

Yet when Orochimaru stopped his technique and shifted his gaze to the last black cat still fighting the great snake—

The black cats that had just been shattered and vaporized... appeared before Orochimaru once again.

"Regeneration... or resurrection... No, it's more like they were remade..."

Interest gleamed in his eyes. Whenever Orochimaru encountered a novel technique for the first time, he wore this expression. He extended a tongue wholly unfitting his current appearance, licked his cheek, then turned into a puddle of muddy water and sank underground.

Just as Orochimaru used the Substitution Technique to leave the Garden—

Irisviel, who had somehow changed back into Heaven's Dress, walked directly out from the Inner Residence of the Matou Residence like a substitute who had long been waiting in reserve...

Roughly two hundred meters from the Matou Residence, on the rooftop of a convenience store several meters taller than its highest point, Touko Aozaki fiddled with her suitcase while staring fixedly at the Matou Residence in the distance.

Clearly, the black cats attacking the Matou Residence were Touko Aozaki's handiwork.

"Have we been discovered?"

"Yes, we've been discovered. And they've already pinpointed my location."

Calmly pushing up her glasses, Touko Aozaki did not care that her position had been exposed. She turned to glance at Aoko Aozaki and spoke.

"Aoko, you saw it just now, right?"

"Saw what...?"

"That snake-like 'woman' used..."

"Hehehe, are you talking about me?"

In an eerie display, he rose directly from the floor of the convenience store.

Orochimaru, who had just vanished in the Garden, appeared before the Aozaki Sisters in an utterly bizarre manner.

And at the very moment Orochimaru appeared—

Kirei Kotomine, who had been keeping watch for the two sisters nearby, was also shot.

Using Floating Magecraft, Sakura brought Kirei Kotomine, who had been hit by Seven Bullets, before the Aozaki Sisters.

Although, from the current situation, Sakura's group appeared to hold the upper hand, having captured one enemy and surrounded the others from three directions—

Sakura, standing directly before the sisters, knew full well... this was fucking an illusion.

Touko Aozaki shifted her gaze away from Orochimaru. Although Orochimaru displaying the power of a new system was extremely eye-catching, Sakura, who could command Orochimaru... was undoubtedly even more captivating.

"Sakura Matou?"

"That's right."

"I thought the intelligence was false. So the head of the Matou Family really is a young girl now."

Touko Aozaki closed her suitcase, then openly stretched lazily right in front of Sakura and the others. A smile suddenly appeared on her lips as she spoke with seeming sincerity.

"Would you like to become my disciple?"

Faced with Touko Aozaki's rather inexplicable invitation, Sakura shook her head and refused without the slightest hesitation.

"No need. I already have my own path..."

"Is that so? What a shame. I had hoped to settle this in a more peaceful way."

Turning sideways, Touko Aozaki shrugged at Aoko Aozaki. Her tone had already begun to change as she removed her glasses and switched personalities.

True Servants... there were probably not many people in the Magecraft world who did not covet them.

Even someone at Touko Aozaki's level was no exception.

Of course, Touko Aozaki was not interested in a Servant's combat power...

What she coveted was simply the potential of Servants... Magecraft users from the Age of Gods, the famed magecraft users of history... in theory, they could all become Servants, could they not?

With that in mind, after learning that the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City could produce genuine Servants, it was hardly strange that Touko Aozaki had set her sights on Sakura, the only member of the Three Founding Families of the Holy Grail currently in Fuyuki City.

"Die..."

"Hey—wait!"

"Hm? What else is it?"

"...You came looking for me, and you were even willing to take me as your disciple. You just want to get something from me or learn something, right? I can tell you directly, so why do we have to fight and kill each other?"

Sakura put on an innocent expression while looking at her as if asking, Are you an idiot?

Sakura, who had never needed to think like a magus, had suddenly given Touko Aozaki an answer she had not expected...

Touko Aozaki's Advice

Sakura would absolutely not court death.

Knowing something could not be done and doing it anyway was called courting death!

Though Sakura, as a player with cheats, ought to defy heaven and earth alike, courting death was never among her choices.

After all, both Sakura's side and the soul from another world that made up Sakura were, to some extent, exceptionally lacking in a sense of security.

Chosen by something from another world, forced to leave a familiar environment behind, made to cross into an "unfamiliar" world and walk toward an unknown destiny... where could any sense of security come from?

Sent away by her own family, forced to become someone else's child, and nearly thrown into a pit of worms to become a breeding vessel... where could any sense of security come from?

Therefore, although Sakura appeared strong on the surface and had inexplicably developed some twisted sense of humor after the two had fused, she was actually deeply insecure inside.

This could be seen from how, whenever Sakura encountered a crisis that could threaten her, she always tried her best to avoid it.

And this time, facing the Aozaki Sisters, Sakura made the same choice once again...

Touko Aozaki gave Sakura a rather strange look.

Touko Aozaki said nothing. She merely withdrew her hostility toward Sakura in silence.

Meanwhile, after Sakura said, "I can tell you directly, so why do we have to fight and kill each other?" understanding appeared on Aoko Aozaki's face.

As a "magus" who had entered the field halfway through life, Aoko Aozaki viewed things more from an ordinary person's perspective. At that moment, she saw far more than her sister, who was accustomed to the magus way of thinking.

And because of Sakura's words, Aoko Aozaki, who was not particularly fond of magecraft users and would rather live as an ordinary person if she could, began to feel favorably toward this young girl she had just met.

As both sides let go of their hostility toward one another—

Easygoing, self-centered, somewhat carefree, and freedom-loving, Aoko Aozaki strode over to Sakura. Under Kurumi's jealous gaze, she scooped Sakura up in her arms and extended her sinful hand to pinch Sakura's cheeks.

"As expected, they feel great..."

"What are you doing... Put me down..."

Faced with Aoko Aozaki's excessive familiarity, Sakura had some understanding of the sisters from her memories, so she was not afraid that they would start fighting again.

Sakura had no intention of indulging this magus's rude behavior. With a slap, she fiercely struck Aoko Aozaki's wandering hand, trying to pry away the hand pinching her cheeks as if she were a doll.

Unfortunately, Sakura's delicate and soft body could hardly be Aoko Aozaki's "match." Aoko Aozaki easily endured Sakura's "full-force strike."

Not only did Sakura's slap fail to win her "freedom," it instead... made Aoko Aozaki become even more outrageous.

If there had not been other people here today, and if Kurumi had not ultimately stepped in to stop her—

Sakura might very well have been "played to ruin" like a Barbie doll today...

The "unpleasant" horseplay eventually subsided...

And as the girls' bickering finally came to an end, Touko, who had spent the time her sister was "teasing" Sakura conversing with Orochimaru, finally remembered the real matter at hand...

Elegantly exhaling a wisp of bluish smoke, Touko Aozaki gave an inscrutable smile. Throughout her conversation with Orochimaru, her gaze had never left Sakura.

"Looks like they're done over there... Do you know, Mr. Orochimaru..."

Orochimaru swept a dangerous gaze across Touko Aozaki's vital points. During their conversation, he had tested enough to determine that Touko Aozaki was another kindred spirit in certain respects. Expressionlessly licking his lips, he released a terrifying killing intent toward Touko.

"Touko Aozaki... I pursue the wind that blows toward eternity and truth... and Sakura is my hope..."

Sensing Orochimaru's astonishing killing intent, Touko Aozaki did not doubt that, at this distance, Orochimaru would need less than a second to kill her. Yet she did not take his seemingly threatening words to heart, merely committing them to memory.

For people like Touko Aozaki and Orochimaru, a few minutes of conversation were enough to form a basic understanding of someone.

Just as Orochimaru had judged Touko Aozaki to be a kindred spirit remarkably similar to himself in certain respects during their conversation.