Sometimes, battle is less about strength—and more about courage.
When Sakura Haruno faced a powerful enemy alone for the first time, it marked an inner growth she could never have achieved by hiding behind Sasuke and Naruto. A ninja is a professional who depends on comrades and teammates, walking through their career supporting one another. But if a ninja can only rely on others and cannot become someone others can depend on, they've already lost half their worth as a shinobi.
Sakon, known for his short temper, struck first. When he saw the girl across from him aggressively hurling shuriken at him, he raised both hands and launched one Decapitating Airwaves after another. Yet astonishingly, the seemingly weak Sakura always managed to evade Sakon's attacks by mere millimeters. The stark contrast between expectation and reality only ignited Sakon's fury even more. His tragic childhood had long accustomed him to using brutal, straightforward violence to assert dominance—to first please Orochimaru, whom he deeply revered, and second, to survive in the brutal Otogakure ninja village, where weakness meant isolation and bullying. Over time, this became his present nature.
To Sakon, Sakura's behavior was a clear sign of disrespect and mockery. Enraged beyond control, he channeled maximum chakra into his hands and released it all at once.
[Decapitating Airwaves: Supreme Slash]
Huge explosive force erupted forth, completely obliterating and flattening the land before him. In Sakon's eyes, that annoying girl was torn into pieces by his attack. Seeing his assault succeed, Sakon couldn't help but laugh out loud with satisfaction.
Just then, to his shock, the girl who should've been dead—Sakura—rose back up unnervingly.
"How is this possible?" Something utterly defying logic left Sakon stunned and unwilling to believe.
As intense emotional fluctuations overwhelmed Sakon, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed his arms. With chakra flowing in, the scenery before his eyes began to crack and peel away layer by layer, revealing the surrounding devastated battlefield.
"Came back to your senses yet, Sakon?" Dosu's voice echoed in his mind.
"What just happened?" Sakon replied. "Was everything just now...genjutsu?"
Nearby, King grumbled, "Thought you were just moody? Never knew you'd actually lose it over such a simple illusion! Exhausting yourself like this is bad enough, dragging us down too. How exactly did you get chosen by Lord Orochimaru anyway?"
The three of them were only forced together temporarily due to their mission; there wasn't even a trace of teamwork among them. King didn't hesitate to expose the group's disunity.
"What did you say? Ugly woman?" The rising pitch clearly revealed Sakon's fury. To question his most cherished pride—especially Orochimaru's trust in him—was absolutely unforgivable in Sakon's eyes, considering how he regarded Orochimaru as his life belief.
"Both of you, shut up for a moment."
Dosu, barely qualified to serve as team leader, stopped Sakon and the other from fighting. "I don't care what you do after completing the mission, but before killing Uchiha Sasuke, you'd better keep Lord Orochimaru's orders in mind."
Seeing the three Otogakure ninja temporarily setting aside their differences to focus on attacking her, Sakura sensed a great danger. Originally, she had barely managed to stall them by casting a Genjutsu on Sakon, but with such a disadvantage in strength and numbers, there was little more she could do.
From a nearby hiding spot, Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee, and Tenten had been secretly watching the battle unfold. Once the Genjutsu was broken, all three immediately judged that Sakura Haruno was doomed. The hot-blooded young ninja Rock Lee especially itched to rush out and play the hero.
"Don't be reckless, Lee," Neji held Lee back just as he was about to run forward.
"Why not? If we don't go down now, Sakura will be in serious trouble."
"Not yet. That girl is safe for now." At this point, Neji had already seen through Byakugan that Uchiha Sasuke was stirring. "Sasuke is about to wake up. It seems we won't need to help after all."
[*What's that unsettling Chakra? I feel like it's too cold and sinister—something's really off here.*]
Finding herself unable to stall any longer, Sakura took up kunai in both hands and braced herself grimly for the enemy's attack. Then she noticed the trio's eyes shifting past her toward something behind her.
[*Could there actually be someone behind me?*]
Cautiously turning around, Sakura felt an unexpected wave of joy when she saw that Sasuke Uchiha had already awakened.
"Sa-Sasuke-kun?" But before Sakura could fully express her relief, she noticed something strange about the boy before her—it wasn't quite the same Sasuke she knew. Though he no longer emitted that eerie Chakra, his aura felt even colder than before. Those dark swirling markings covering his body looked ominous no matter how one looked at them.
Compared to Sakura's unease, the three Otogakure ninjas were stunned with confusion and fear. They knew all too well about cursed seals, yet whatever mark had appeared on Sasuke clearly wasn't some inferior test model like Mizuki's. It rivaled even those borne by elite members like the Gang of Four or Kimimaro—a special blessing reserved only for Lord Orochimaru's most trusted subordinates. How could such a thing appear upon their *target*?
[*There's only one explanation: Lord Orochimaru must have acted first, bestowing this cursed seal upon Sasuke Uchiha. What then does that make us—our identities and roles?*]
Even before they could finish contemplating this terrifying possibility, the three already suspected their awkward situation the moment they laid eyes on Uchiha Sasuke. None found this realization harder to accept than Sakon. Deeply proud of having been chosen by their revered Orochimaru, he absolutely refused to believe they were merely stepping stones, expendable pawns meant to test the limits of Lord Orochimaru's newest favorite. Such a disposable role would never be acceptable under any circumstances.
"Nice job holding them off, Sakura," said Sasuke, his voice calm despite the surge of power threatening to cloud his senses. Though nearly overwhelmed by the rising force within him, he still retained just enough clarity to avoid descending completely into madness like he would later—right now, he still clung faintly to his ties with the village and his comrades.
Although the three Otogakure ninja felt trapped with no way forward or back, they still didn't dare abandon the mission given by Orochimaru due to his longstanding authority. King, the only kunoichi among them, was the first to prepare an attack. However, her stealthy assault could no longer fool Sasuke—his strength had grown immensely. With his [Sharingan]'s predictive power, all her petty tricks were just jokes.
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