Sakura stirred, half-awake.
She felt as if she'd just been put through a blender, and her limbs felt so very heavy, as though her veins were filled with molten lead. And yet… she felt safe. She could feel the steady rise and fall of soft, yielding flesh against her cheek, the comforting touch of arms cradling her close.
"Sakura… Sakura…"
Sakura's eyelids fluttered open.
The first thing she saw was a soft pink glow and the gentle curve of Shion's chest. The weakling, crybaby shrine maiden was carrying her in her arms, her gaze fixed on something faraway ahead of them. Rocks tumbled from the cavern ceiling, shattering against the stone floor around them, yet she seemed utterly unfazed by the collapse of the Sealing Shrine.
"Shi…on…?" Sakura whispered hoarsely.
The shrine maiden appeared much more holy than the brat Sakura had previously known. She looked down upon her and smiled benevolently.
"The entrance collapsed," she said soothingly. "Good thing another exit's appeared, huh?"
Sakura looked up with difficulty.
"The sun…?" she rasped, eyes squinting. "…how!?"
A large section of the ceiling had collapsed, and the hole in the ceiling was widening fast as chunks of earth and stone crashed down around them. Turning her head slightly, Sakura caught sight of the platform where the sealing formation was inscribed, untouched by the devastation.
That's where Shion was taking them?
"Oof!" gasped Shion, stumbling.
The pink light around her was rapidly fading. Her long, angel wing-like hair was rapidly shortening to its original length, and the aureole above her head was flickering dangerously. The strength her mother had temporarily lent her was dissipating!
Gritting her teeth, Shion hauled her weary body onto the sealing platform before collapsing. Exhausted, the two girls lay side by side on their backs, gazing at the blue sky above. The ground trembled beneath them, rumbling more fiercely than before.
"The platform should hold," said Shion confidently.
"What…" Sakura said weakly. "…are you talking about?"
Sakura soon had her answer.
There was an ear-splitting crack— and suddenly, the two girls found themselves pressed flat against their backs by immense g-forces as the platform shot skywards, propelled by a column of magma erupting directly beneath them!
"Who in their right mind would—!?" Sakura screamed over the roaring wind buffeting her. "The Sealing Shrine was built in a volcano!?"
"Loads of nature energy!" Shion shouted back, her cheeks puffing up with the rush of air. "Makes the seal self-sufficient!"
Within moments, Sakura and Shion shot past the volcano's mouth. They rolled off the sealing platform just in time and tumbled head over heels down the mountain's side, avoiding the tragic fate of being shot out of the volcano into space and eventually stopping thinking.
Sakura grabbed hold of Shion, pouring the last dregs of her chakra over them, slowing their fall by sticking to the ground until they finally came to a rough stop in a tangled mess of limbs. And just like that, their impromptu amusement park ride was over.
"I can't believe we're alive," gasped Shion, as they separated from each other and collapsed onto their backs, panting heavily. "My visions have never been wrong before!"
The true nature of Shion's kaleidoscope-like Dōjutsu was not truly fortune-telling— it was actually a degenerated version of Ōtsutsuki Urashiki's Rinnegan ability to warp himself into the past. Except, it could only trigger upon her death, after which her consciousness would be sent back in time into her past body, allowing her to subvert prophecy by substituting a willing sacrifice.
"I did technically get pierced through the chest," Sakura laughed breathlessly. "So you weren't wrong about that."
It's just that if it had been anyone else, they would have doubtlessly died from such injuries!
BOOM!
The volcano erupted a second time, spewing lava and great plumes of grey smoke from its mouth. Sakura's weary Sharingan caught a small, noodle-like object trailing black smoke as it arced through the sky— landing just a few metres from where she and Shion lay.
"It's the Mōryō!" gasped Shion, covering her mouth with her hands. "He's still alive!?"
The demon had been reduced to a pitiful state. He now looked like an overcooked, blackened sausage, though he still seemed lively enough, judging by the way he was desperately wriggling away from them.
"Kaeru Kaeru no Jutsu!"
Squeezing out every last drop of stamina in her body, Sakura kneaded some chakra and slammed her palm on the wiggling snake, transforming it into a frog.
"Ribbit?" croaked the Mōryō.
"Here, let me," said Shion, gesturing for Sakura to bring her the frog.
She pulled out a sealing scroll, and with a hand sign, the frog disappeared in a puff of pink smoke— and on the previously virgin paper appeared a rough sketch of a frog in pink ink, surrounded by esoteric formulas (also in pink ink).
"You're giving this to me?" asked Sakura in surprise, as Shion wordlessly handed over the scroll. "But… isn't this the perfect opportunity to absorb or destroy him?"
Shion shook her head.
"I still have much to learn. As long as the Mōryō stays sealed, Mother remains with me," she explained, gently rubbing the glass bell on her lapel. "And besides… I think the demon will come in useful for you, one day."
"How'd you know?" asked Sakura curiously. "Is that the shrine maiden's fortune-telling magic?"
Shion winked.
"Nope!" she said happily. "Women's intuition!"
…
And just like that, the dread Demon Lord who would have ruled over a Thousand-Year Kingdom of Darkness was sealed once again, just as he had been countless times before. And with his downfall, relative peace returned to the world.
But this time around, the heroic tale had changed slightly.
The heroes were not the holy shrine maiden Miroku and the Honoured Sages, but four brave shinobi from the Land of Fire… and Shion, daughter of the first holy shrine maiden. Miroku had done right by entrusting the future of humanity to her daughter, a human. Times had changed, and the future belonged to the new generation.
And so, Sakura and Shion descended the volcano and reunited with Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata, who had triumphed over the Gang of Four Elementals under Yomi— ordinary humans, as it turned out, infused with Yomi's Dark Medical Ninjutsu, and stripped of their powers the moment their special chakra ran dry.
"Sakura!" Naruto shouted in dismay, pointing at her chest. "They're gone again!"
Hinata couldn't help but sigh in relief.
"I may have lost my breasts," Sakura said wisely, "but I've gained something far more important… the ability to see my feet."
Naruto gaped at her.
"Just kidding!" Sakura added hurriedly. "They'll grow back, just give them some time."
In the coming weeks, she would unprecedentedly weakened. The additional stamina rewards the System had granted her would be disabled until she recovered her maximum size— and that's not to mention the chakra that she would normally be able to draw from her energy-dense breast flesh. Without her massive chakra pool, it would also be impossible to refill her Yin Seal and two Breast Seals in a timely manner.
And to make matters worse… she had dropped the Manyuu blade into the lava. It was gone forever, so if she wanted another sword, she would have to commission another— perhaps she would have to pay a visit to Takumi Village, the Village of Artisans in the Land of Rivers.
…
The return trip to the Land of Demons took slightly longer than the initial trip to the Land of Swamps, seeing as there was no need to rush. Upon their arrival, Team 7 and Shion were received as heroes by the Five Countries Coalition Army, which had fought on the front lines to slow the advance of the 'Ghost' Terracotta Army while Sakura's team skirted around to strike directly at the Mōryō's heart.
But for all the festive cheer, not everything was as it seemed…
"You bitch, give me back my breasts!" a shrill woman's voice erupted from the crowd as Team 7 walked past, waving and smiling. "Lava Style: Ash Stone Seal Jutsu!"
A rather cute, short black-haired woman in red robes and a brown flak jacket dashed out from the Iwagakure delegation, her fingers already weaving hand signs.
"Who dares!?" shouted Shion contemptuously.
A pink bubble of energy wrapped around Team 7, reflecting the black-tinged quicklime spewing out of the woman's mouth back at her, entombing her in a binding mass of volcanic ash goo. Frightened by Shion's effortless display of power, the woman's Iwa-nin comrades quickly came to fetch the cement-like cocoon and dragged her away.
"Miss Sakura did not leave my side for an instant!" Shion fumed, glowering at the hesitant remaining Iwa-nin. "Whoever dares attack her and her friends from Konoha again, I will declare sworn enemies of the Land of Demons! Got it!?"
The sudden attack left a bitter aftertaste in everyone's mouths.
Once the ceremony and the attribution of military merits was over, each delegation quickly returned to its country of origin. Sakura's team and the brave shinobi from Konoha led by Kakashi-sensei were no exception, and with all haste, they returned to their home in the Land of Fire to report their success to the Hokage.