I, Haruno Sakura, Rely Entirely on Skill!

Tazuna's new home was nestled in a forest near the coast, hidden by tall branches. In the early morning, a thin mist would often roll in, further enhancing its concealment.

Generally, very few people could find this place, which was why Kakashi felt at ease leaving Sakura to guard the house.

Seeing the others depart, Inari cautiously pushed the door open and tugged on Sakura's sleeve.

"Sister, are they going to defeat the enemy?"

Sakura turned to look at him, her gaze softening. "Yes, they're going to defeat the bad guys."

These past few days, only Sakura had made time to visit Inari in his room, occasionally talking with him, or at least making small talk.

"But," Inari said with a complex expression, "will they be like Dad?"

"It's possible," Sakura answered bluntly.

Inari froze.

Sakura continued calmly, "Heroes aren't invincible. Heroes are those who act even when they know they might not succeed."

Inari nodded, still confused.

Similar conversations had happened many times. In Inari's eyes, if heroes could die, it meant they weren't real heroes at all. Sakura patiently corrected his misconception each time, explaining that heroes represented a spirit.

A spirit? What did that mean? Inari couldn't grasp such an abstract concept.

"Wait a moment," Sakura suddenly felt something was off. The mist around them seemed thicker than usual.

"Inari, go back to your room," Sakura's eyes grew serious as she began examining several thin ropes with bells attached nearby.

These ropes stretched out in different directions, some connected to traps, others simply laid in the grass. If there was any disturbance, the bells would ring.

Sakura saw that the bells were silent, and the ropes hadn't moved.

Did I imagine it?

Inari trotted up beside her. "Sister, what's wrong?" He felt a little braver when he was next to Sakura.

"It's nothing, maybe I was mistaken..." Sakura hadn't finished speaking when she looked ahead into the mist, her pupils contracting sharply.

Dark figures gradually appeared in the fog, and the air was no longer still, punctuated by the occasional sound of something cutting through the wind.

These sounds were barely audible at first, but they quickly grew louder, like the roar of a bustling marketplace.

Tazuna and the others were alerted and came out of the house. Seeing the dense swarm of dark figures, they gasped.

"You guys go back inside, use cabinets and furniture to barricade the door, and grab anything you can use for self-defense," Sakura quickly pushed Inari back towards the door.

"Sister, what about you?" Inari sounded anxious, a hint of tears welling up in his voice.

Sakura patted Inari's head. "It'll be okay." With that, she motioned for Tazuna and the others to quickly close the door.

BANG!

Sakura let out a long breath and turned to face the surging crowd.

The crowd didn't advance further. The people in the middle slowly parted, revealing a tall man dressed in samurai attire.

His head was shaved on the sides and back, with the hair on top tied into a topknot. A long bow and arrows were slung across his back.

With each step he took, the temperature around him seemed to rise.

Sakura's expression grew serious. This was another unfamiliar 'NPC'.

The tall man spoke slowly, "No wonder we searched for so long and couldn't find you. You were hiding here."

"Could you please ask Mr. Tazuna to come out? Mr. Gato wishes to speak with him."

BOOM! A fierce surge of Chakra erupted around the man!

Sakura's hair whipped around her as she said sternly, "Is this how you ask someone to talk? Isn't it more like a threat!"

"If you want to put it that way," the man drew his long samurai sword and pointed it at Sakura, "Madam, please don't make trouble for yourself."

Someone in the surrounding crowd let out a scoff. "This woman looks pretty feisty. Should we have some fun with her later?"

"Let's tear off her qipao first, then her panties, shoes, and socks. We can keep the ribbon though."

"How romantic, hahaha!"

Listening to the vulgar words of the men before her, Sakura's legs instinctively began to tremble.

She felt a pang of fear.

Sakura wasn't inexperienced in fighting numerous enemies, but back then, at least Sasuke, Naruto, and she fought side-by-side, with Kakashi as a safety net. At worst, there was Naruto's Nine-Tails as a trump card.

There was nothing a single Tailed Beast Bomb couldn't solve, and if there was, another one would do.

But now, she had to face an endless stream of enemies alone, and the leader seemed to possess special abilities.

No system, no Nine-Tails, no teammates, no room for error.

"Are you scared? How about we both take a step back? You go fetch Mr. Tazuna, and I'll have my subordinates spare your life, how about it?" the tall man said calmly.

Sakura remained silent.

Thump thump!

Thump thump!

"Knock, knock!"

Haruno Sakura felt her heart rate accelerate, like thunder.

She bit her lower lip hard, drawing blood. Once she regained her ability to move, she took out gloves from her ninja tool pouch, put them on, and tied her pink ponytail high.

She couldn't help but recall what she had told Inari before.

What is a hero?

A hero isn't someone who is fearless, but rather someone who is afraid, yet still resolutely chooses to act.

"Even if thousands stand against me, I will go," Haruno Sakura whispered.

She charged into the crowd, like Uchiha Madara charging at the Allied Shinobi Forces!

"Bang!" "Bang!" Sakura's fists landed with solid impact, her sharp blows aimed at the attackers' vital points. She used the bodies of those in front of her as shields against the arrows flying from behind, weaving through the crowd.

"Watch out for her fists!" a burly man in the crowd shouted. Sakura quickly closed in on him and, with a simple punch, shattered his front teeth!

Fierce and sharp, breaking through all resistance!

She didn't even use any ninjutsu, just plain, unadorned taijutsu.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a long, massive arrow cut through the air, hurtling towards Sakura. Her heart tightened, and she quickly pulled out a kunai to deflect it.

"Thwack! Thwack!" The flying arrow pierced several people and flew straight towards Sakura, smashing her aside along with the bodies.

Sakura rolled several times to absorb the momentum, then got up and looked into the distance. The towering warrior was once again drawing his bow into an exaggerated arc.

"Cough, cough, Lu Bu, is it?" Sakura wiped her mouth and dodged another massive arrow. The arrowhead plunged into the earth with a huge sound.

A few strands of hair stuck to Sakura's sweat-soaked face. She began to attack in a more energy-efficient manner, and eventually, she simply slammed her fist into the ground, trapping the enemies' feet in the cracks when they weren't paying attention.

She was, after all, still a genin, and her stamina was slowly beginning to fail.

The surrounding crowd also grew increasingly frenzied. They hadn't expected such a weak woman to be so formidable.

"Thwack!" Finally, someone thrust a spear fiercely into Sakura's body. He shouted excitedly, but quickly, the girl's body dissolved into a pool of water. She turned and was seen blasting him away with a punch.

Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu!

Seeing this, the warrior finally stopped waiting in the crowd and charged straight towards Sakura.

He intended to deal with Sakura himself!