Sakura found herself standing on a barren expanse of scorched, cracked earth. The sky was dark red, with no sun, only distorted nebulae. Despair and death hung in the air. Countless figures lay scattered around her-Konoha comrades she knew, unfamiliar races, and even strangely shaped creatures. All were gravely wounded and on the brink of death, groaning in pain and wailing in despair.
"Save us..."
"It hurts... I don't want to die..."
"Medical ninja... please..."
"Heart of protection, your power is to heal, to create, to grant new life." The Guide's voice echoed over the Desolate Land, tinged with compassion. "But here, countless wounded hover on the brink of death, and your power is limited. How will you choose? Whom will you save? Whom will you abandon? Can your healing reclaim lives destined to fade? Can your creation bring hope amid desperation? And when saving them costs your life, your soul, will you be willing to sacrifice yourself?"
As the Guide spoke, the scene before Sakura began to change. She saw Naruto with a gaping hole in his chest, his chakra rapidly draining away; Sasuke missing an arm, barely clinging to life; Lin Ye covered in blood, corroded by the gray power of "erasure"; Karin mentally scattered, her soul wounded; and countless unfamiliar beings whose eyes burned with the desire to live.
She had only two hands, limited chakra, limited medical knowledge, and limited medicine. She could not save everyone. She had to choose.
Sakura's breathing quickened, and the Strength of a Hundred mark on her forehead glowed faintly with her tension. She was an outstanding medical ninja who had lived through the Shinobi World War and witnessed countless deaths. Yet being placed in such a cruel situation, forced to "choose" who lived and who died, was still a tremendous