Don't Use the Same Trick Twice!!

The towering warrior charged over with a fierce gust of wind. His weight caused the ground to tremble slightly with every step.

Sakura didn't dare let her guard down. She first rolled sideways to evade the incoming arrows, then began breaking through toward the right.

But the warrior ignored Sakura and instead pointed his sword ahead, targeting Tazuna's house!

He turned his head toward Sakura, revealing a mocking smile.

Sakura's heart sank. The warrior's methods were even more sinister than she had imagined.

"Go to hell!" Sakura shouted furiously, hurling the few kunai left in her pouch at the warrior. He dodged them with ease, then used his sword to knock away every kunai that he couldn't avoid.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Two of the kunai flew past the warrior and struck the thin rope by Tazuna's door, cutting it.

"Boom!!!"

"Boom!!!"

Thunderous explosions erupted from behind the crowd and all around them. Thick smoke instantly swept across most of the battlefield. The warrior froze for a moment, then his expression darkened. "You actually dared to trick me!"

From the very beginning, the kunai she threw had been aimed at the ropes behind the warrior. Cutting the ropes could also trigger the traps.

Sakura charged the warrior expressionlessly. This time, her hands began forming hand seals at lightning speed.

It's time to test the results of my special training.

"Ninjutsu: Hidden Mist!"

The mist around them instantly thickened severalfold. Combined with the billowing smoke, visibility dropped to an absurdly low level.

The warrior instinctively looked left and right while constantly moving around.

He couldn't let Sakura lock onto his position.

"Bang!" Suddenly, a heavy punch slammed into his hard armor, making him stagger. The warrior instinctively swung his sword, but the figure quickly vanished.

The warrior moved several steps to the left, but Sakura soon struck him heavily in the back again. This time, he felt his insides churn violently, as though his internal organs had shifted slightly.

The warrior flew into a rage at the young woman's lack of martial honor and shouted, "Damn it! Come out!"

Before he could finish, Sakura emerged from behind at an angle and delivered another plain, unadorned punch.

The reason she could pinpoint the warrior's position so precisely was simple. The towering warrior, combined with the weight of his armor, made a heavy sound with every step. Sakura had seen through his mindset and used his constant movement to track him.

Just as her punch was about to land, the warrior suddenly retreated and grabbed her wrist with his other hand!

Treating Sakura like a doll, the warrior violently slammed her onto the floor with a thunderous impact!

"Cough, cough!" Sakura felt a burst of agonizing pain. A metallic sweetness surged into her mouth, and she spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Did you really think I couldn't see through your tricks?" the warrior sneered. He reached out, intending to tear Sakura's clothes apart.

He was going to humiliate the girl before him thoroughly!

Unexpectedly, Sakura didn't dodge at all. Instead, she kicked the warrior's sword away, exposed his opening, and sank her teeth into the artery in his neck!

"AAAAAAH!" The warrior immediately felt a sharp pain. The agony in his neck finally made him tremble, and a sense of impending death welled up in his heart.

He instinctively punched Sakura in the abdomen. "Let go!"

"I said let go!"

"..."

Amid his repeated roars and heavy punches, Sakura gave no response. Her teeth only clamped down harder.

This scene was strikingly similar to the original story.

Back then, when Sakura had participated in the Chunin Ninja Exams, she had faced an attack by the Sound ninja alone. She had bitten down on her enemy and refused to let go no matter how fiercely he fought back.

Until Sasuke woke up.

It was hard to say whether this was simply the woman's natural personality, or whether her soul was gradually merging with the real Sakura's.

The warrior's pupils began to lose focus. All that remained were unconscious punches, and his voice grew weaker and weaker...

"Bang!"

After a muffled impact, Sakura collapsed completely, but her eyes remained fixed on the direction of Tazuna's house.

The warrior was left with only a body. His head had been kicked away like a ball, leaving everyone baffled.

Someone gently supported her body. When she looked up, the blond, whiskered boy said softly, "It's all right now."

"They won't hurt you anymore."

Sakura stared blankly at Naruto. The fear in her heart finally poured out like a flood breaking through a dam. She couldn't help hugging Naruto tightly and began sobbing softly.

Naruto soothed Sakura's constantly trembling body and said casually, "I'll take care of the rest of these trash... Huh?"

Looking ahead, he saw that the people at the very front of the charge had begun fleeing in all directions, colliding with those behind them and throwing the area into chaos.

They seemed to have been terrified by Sakura's desperate counterattack and no longer had the strength to fight.

Naruto laughed in exasperation. So every time I finish charging up my ultimate move, you pull this nonsense on me, huh?

Don't use the same trick twice!!

Naruto summoned Shadow Clones and used Nine-Tails Chakra to drag back everyone who remained. The lackeys huddled together and stared at Naruto as though he were a monster.

Naruto's Shadow Clone strode toward the enemies, revealing a sinister smile. "My damn mood is absolutely fantastic!" (Sarcasm.)

"Come at me together. Anyone who dares run, I'll kill them!"

The group exchanged glances. Then, as though attending a funeral, they charged Naruto in unison, only to be smashed into the ground by the Nine-Tails Chakra extending from him, like rows of seedlings.

The Naruto beside Sakura took out some medical supplies and gave her basic treatment. The door to Tazuna's house was also pushed open, and Inari rushed toward Sakura with tears covering his face.

He had watched the entire scene in terror, and his worldview had been completely overturned.

"Get out of the way. Can't you see I'm treating her wounds?" Naruto impatiently pushed Inari aside.

Tazuna's daughter also came out. "Let's carry her into the room first. I'll handle the rest. It'll be more convenient between women."

Naruto nodded, but Sakura grabbed his sleeve tightly. After a pause, she asked, "Hurry and dispel the Shadow Clone. Have the real you tell Kakashi and the others what happened."

Naruto put Sakura's hand back. "What are you talking about? I'm the real one."

Sakura was slightly stunned.

Naruto scratched his head awkwardly. "The thing is, something always happens whenever you raise a flag. I was worried about you, so I had a Shadow Clone go with Kakashi and the others while the real me came back to look after you."

Sakura's gaze softened for a moment, and then her cheeks began to grow slightly warm.

Speaking of which, I actually hid in his arms and cried just now... How embarrassing...

Tazuna and his daughter carried Sakura back inside. Naruto looked at the dazed Inari and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Inari wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and murmured, "Big Sister told me before that heroes could be afraid too, but I didn't really understand... So someone like her counts as a hero too, right?"

Naruto patted Inari's head and said gently:

"Looks like you haven't been doing enough homework. Later, you should study the history of heroism systematically."

Inari froze. Shouldn't you be explaining things to me like the protagonist would at a time like this?

What the heck does 'you haven't been doing enough homework' mean?!

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Pakkun lowered his voice to Kakashi and the others. "Keep it down. We're almost there."