Tazuna's new home was located in a forest near the coast, hidden beneath towering branches on all sides. In the early morning, a thin mist would rise around it, making the place even harder to find.
Generally speaking, very few people could locate this place. That was also why Kakashi felt comfortable leaving Sakura behind to guard the house.
Seeing the others set off, Inari cautiously opened the door and stepped outside, tugging at Sakura's sleeve.
"Sister, are they going to eliminate the enemies?"
Sakura turned to look at him, her gaze softening. "Yes. They're going to eliminate the bad guys."
These past few days, Sakura had been the only one who took the time to visit Inari in his room. Sometimes she would talk with him about his feelings, and even when they did not, they would at least chat for a while.
"But..." Inari's expression grew complicated. "Will they end up like Dad?"
"It's possible." Sakura did not sugarcoat it.
Inari froze.
Sakura said calmly, "A hero isn't someone who can do everything. A hero is someone who knows something cannot be done, yet does it anyway."
Inari nodded blankly, but he still did not quite understand.
Conversations like this had happened many times before. Inari believed that if a hero could die, then that hero must be fake and heroes did not exist at all. Every time, Sakura patiently corrected his thinking and told him that a hero merely represented a certain spirit.
A spirit? What did that mean? Inari could not understand such an abstract concept.
"Wait a moment." Sakura suddenly sensed that something was wrong. The mist around them seemed slightly thicker than usual.
"Inari, go back to your room first." Sakura's eyes grew more serious as she began inspecting several thin cords with bells hanging from them.
The cords stretched in different directions ahead. Some were connected to traps, while others had merely been laid among the grass. If anything moved, the bells would ring.
Sakura checked them and saw that the bells had made no sound. The thin cords had not moved either.
Am I just imagining things?
Inari followed after her in small steps. "Sister, what's wrong?" Standing beside Sakura, he felt a little braver.
"Nothing. Maybe I was mistaken..." Sakura had not finished speaking when she looked toward the mist ahead, and her pupils suddenly contracted.
One black shadow after another gradually emerged from the mist. The air was far from peaceful, either, as the sound of something slicing through the wind rang out from time to time.
The sounds had been barely audible at first, but their volume quickly grew louder, as though they had entered a crowded marketplace.
Tazuna and the others were startled awake. They came out of the house, and when they saw the densely packed black shadows, they could not help sucking in a breath of cold air.
"You three, go back inside first. Use the cabinets and other furniture to block the door, then get something you can use to defend yourselves." Sakura quickly shoved Inari back toward the door.
"Sister, what about you?" Inari grew anxious, a faint sob creeping into his voice.
Sakura patted Inari's head. "I'll be fine." With that, she gestured for Tazuna and the others to hurry and shut the door.
"Bang!"
Sakura let out a long breath and turned toward the surging crowd.
The crowd did not continue forward. Instead, the people in the middle slowly opened a path, and a tall man dressed in samurai garb stepped out.
Both sides of his head, from the top to the back, had been shaved clean, while the hair in the middle was tied into a topknot. A long bow and quiver were strapped to his back.
With every step he took, the temperature around him seemed to rise another degree.
Sakura's expression turned solemn. This was yet another 'NPC' she had never seen before.
The tall man slowly spoke. "No wonder we searched for so long without finding you. So you were hiding here."
"Please have Mr. Tazuna come out for a moment. Mr. Gato would like to invite him over for a little chat."
"Boom!" A violent surge of Chakra suddenly erupted around the man!
Sakura's hair danced in the wind. She said in a low voice, "Does this look like a negotiation to you? Why not just admit that it's a threat?"
"You can put it that way." The man drew his long samurai sword and pointed it at Sakura. "Miss, please don't bring suffering upon yourself."
Someone nearby snickered. "This woman's pretty hot. How about we have some fun with her later?"
"First tear that qipao, then her underwear, shoes, and socks. We can leave the ribbons intact, though."
"She's got quite the sense of style. Hahaha!"
Listening to the vulgar remarks from the men before her, Sakura instinctively felt her legs tremble.
She was a little frightened.
It was not as though Sakura had never fought numerous enemies before. But back then, at least Sasuke and Naruto had fought alongside her, with Kakashi backing them up. At worst, she had Naruto's Nine-Tails cheat code.
There was nothing a single Tailed Beast Bomb could not solve. And if there was, they could simply fire another one.
But now, she had to fight an endless number of enemies alone, and the man leading them seemed to possess a special ability as well.
No system. No Nine-Tails. No teammates. No room for error.
"Are you afraid? How about we each take a step back? You go fetch Mr. Tazuna, and I'll have my men spare your life. How does that sound?" the tall man said mildly.
Sakura remained silent.
"Thump!"
"Thump!"
"Thump!"
Haruno Sakura felt her heartbeat accelerate rapidly, like thunder.
She bit down hard on her lower lip, drawing a thin trickle of blood. Once she regained the ability to move, she took the gloves from her ninja pouch and put them on, then tied her pink ponytail high.
She could not help recalling what she had told Inari earlier.
What was a hero?
A hero was not someone without fear. A hero was someone who was clearly afraid, yet still chose to move forward without hesitation.
"Though a thousand million stand before me, I shall go forth." Haruno Sakura spoke softly.
She charged straight into the crowd, like Madara Uchiha launching an assault on the Allied Shinobi Forces!
"Bang!" "Bang!" Sakura's fists struck flesh with every blow. She aimed her sharp knuckles at the attackers' vital points, using the people blocking her path as shields against the arrows flying in from behind while weaving constantly through the crowd.
"Watch out for her fists!" a burly man shouted from within the crowd. Sakura closed in on him in an instant and struck with another simple punch, smashing his front teeth!
Ferocious and ruthless, she advanced like a force nothing could stop!
She had not even used a single ninjutsu. This was merely plain, unadorned taijutsu.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, a long, massive arrow tore through the air and shot toward Sakura. Her heart tightened, and she hurriedly drew a kunai to knock it aside.
"Pfft! Pfft!" The flying arrow pierced through several people before shooting straight toward Sakura, slamming her aside along with the bodies impaled upon it.
Sakura rolled several times to disperse the momentum, then rose and looked into the distance. The tall samurai had once again pulled his bow into an exaggerated arc.
"Cough, cough. Lu Bu, is it?" Sakura wiped the corner of her mouth and blurred aside, dodging another massive arrow. The arrowhead plunged into the earth and exploded with a tremendous boom.
Several strands of hair clung to Sakura's sweat-covered face. She began attacking in a more energy-efficient manner. Later, she simply slammed her fist into the ground, catching the enemies off guard and trapping their feet firmly in the cracks.
She was still only a Genin, after all, and her stamina was gradually running out.
The surrounding crowd also grew increasingly frenzied. They had never expected such a seemingly weak woman to be so formidable.
"Pfft!" At last, someone drove a spear viciously into Sakura's body. He shouted in excitement, but the girl's body soon transformed into a puddle of river water. When he turned around, he saw the real Sakura punch him flying.
Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu!
Seeing this, the samurai finally stopped waiting within the crowd. Instead, he charged straight toward Sakura.
He was going to deal with Sakura personally!
Before you continue