"Sakura-chan, are you alright?" Katsuyu looked at Sakura, who had just crawled out of her body, her voice filled with concern.
Just moments ago, Sakura had used a jutsu strong enough to protect tens of thousands of people at once. Even if Lady Tsunade had done that, she would have been exhausted for a long time. But Sakura… she didn't seem to be affected at all.
Gasping for breath, Sakura smiled at Katsuyu. "I'm fine, Katsuyu-sama. I've never felt better."
Hearing this, Katsuyu was momentarily stunned. She was about to say something, but then she noticed something strange—something she hadn't realized until now.
Sakura's face hadn't changed, but her pupils had turned a faint blue. A diamond-shaped mark, similar to the Strength of a Hundred Seal, had appeared on her forehead, but instead of black, it was a strange orange-red color.
Not only that, but her hair had changed too. Her usual pink short hair had turned into a vibrant orange-red—not quite the Uzumaki clan's red, but a bright shade close to pink.
It didn't look strange. In fact, there was something… oddly captivating about it.
Katsuyu shook her head, pushing away the strange thoughts in her mind. She then asked, "Sakura-chan, what's going on with your appearance? It looks like Sage Mode, but it's not like the ones from Mount Myoboku or Ryuchi Cave. It does seem somewhat similar to Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode, though."
The patterns and colors of Sakura's hair and forehead mark did resemble Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode. But it was clearly different—because Senju Hashirama's Sage Mode wasn't like this.
*(PS: The origin of Senju Hashirama's Sage Mode is unclear. Two popular theories exist—one says he naturally learned it as his connection to Asura's chakra grew, and the other suggests it came from Shikkotsu Forest. This story follows the second theory, that his Sage Mode came from Shikkotsu Forest.)*
Hearing Katsuyu's question, Sakura chuckled. She ran her fingers through her newly colored hair and explained, "This is Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode—just a modified version. After all, even the Sage of Six Paths didn't know it. He only taught me what he figured out himself."
In reality, the Sage of Six Paths only knew Mount Myoboku's Sage Mode. Sasuke's Sage Mode… he had to learn on his own.
The underground technique—if there had been enough time, Rikudou Sennin would have wanted Sakura to learn the proper Sage Mode of Shikkotsu Forest.
But what's wrong with a "knockoff"? Rikudou Sennin refused to believe that the Sage Mode he developed was inferior to…
Well, the Slug Sage was older than him, so he decided not to say anything.
Anyway, this Sage Mode wasn't weak. That's all there was to it.
"Amazing." Katsuyu sighed with genuine admiration, sounding like an ancient little girl. "As expected, Hagoromo-chan is incredible. He can even improve Sage Mode."
In this world, the only one who could call Rikudou Sennin "Hagoromo-chan" without him daring to argue was probably the Slug Sage. Even Black Zetsu's seniority didn't compare—after all, Black Zetsu was just a little brother.
As she was thinking this, Katsuyu suddenly froze, then turned to look into the distant sky. "Sakura-chan, I think there's something else that needs to be taken care of."
Sakura instinctively turned to look, but at that moment, a powerful force seemed to appear out of nowhere. The ruined buildings on the ground were pulled up, and even the earth itself started rising into the sky, as if a giant magnet was drawing up the iron in the ground.
Sakura frowned, her enhanced Sage Mode senses spreading out instantly. That black chakra sphere stood out clearly. "That's… the Chibaku Tensei Grandpa Rikudou mentioned, isn't it?"
She looked down at her hands, then clenched them into fists. A smile appeared on her face. "Right now, I can do this!"
With that, Sakura bent her knees slightly, clenching her right fist at her side. The immense natural energy from Sage Mode surged through her, gathering at her fist. For a moment, it was as if a swirling wind wrapped around it.
"I'm going, Katsuyu-sama," she said.
Before Katsuyu could respond, Sakura suddenly kicked off the ground. The sheer force sent her soaring into the sky like a missile, trailing white energy as she shot toward the forming Chibaku Tensei.
Everyone on the ground stared blankly, momentarily unable to process what was happening.
But in the next second, accompanied by a loud "Bastard!" and an earth-shaking boom, they all saw it—an enormous chakra-formed fist materialized out of nowhere, swinging with tremendous power and slamming into the Chibaku Tensei.
In the distance, a fully drawn Susano'o suddenly froze mid-action, floating in midair.
Sasuke's wide eyes were filled with shock as he stared downward.
At almost the same moment, the Chibaku Tensei, still in the process of forming, completely shattered. The black core at its center broke apart and disappeared into the sky.
That insanely powerful technique had barely managed to pull in some debris before being forcefully destroyed. That had to be frustrating.
Sasuke's mouth hung open as he watched Sakura falling back down. He blinked several times, as if trying to confirm he wasn't hallucinating.
He was so stunned that he even forgot to fly over and catch her.
Meanwhile, Sakura, after destroying the Chibaku Tensei, also spotted the massive Susano'o in the distance. More importantly, she saw Sasuke standing in the forehead crystal, clearly visible.
She smiled. "Sasuke… I finally surprised you a little, huh?"
She landed. The ground cracked beneath her, forming a sizable crater.
Then, Sakura casually dusted herself off and climbed out of the hole, completely unharmed.
Jiraiya and Tsunade, both looking utterly dumbfounded, just stared at her. The orange-red color in her hair faded, and the diamond-shaped mark on her forehead turned black.
She waved at the two of them with a bright, confident smile. "Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sensei, mission accomplished!"
Yeah, mission accomplished.
She had done her job as a medical ninja, not only healing everyone in Konohagakure but also saving everyone at the most critical moment.
If that didn't count as completing the mission, then Konohagakure's standards were way too high.
But… Tsunade looked around at the battlefield—the land torn apart by Shinra Tensei, the ruins piled up everywhere, the collapsed walls.
She sighed.
It was really hard to say this battle had gone "well"… that would be complete nonsense.
"It's not your fault," Jiraiya said, standing beside Tsunade to comfort her. "The enemy we faced this time was just too much."
After all, it was the Rinnegan.
"I'm not blaming myself." Tsunade gave a carefree smile and looked at Sakura. "I'm just thinking about how I should reward... the hero who saved all of Konohagakure."
"Hero." Jiraiya savored the word, then let out a hearty laugh. "A hero deserves a hero's treatment—no reward would be too much."
Then he sighed and spread his hands helplessly. "What a shame. I was expecting Naruto and Sasuke to make a grand entrance, but by the time they got back, the battle was already over."
"Those two brats, I'm definitely going to have a word with them." Tsunade rolled her eyes.
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