"No… I killed you! You're not her, you couldn't possibly be her!" Lord Munenori roared. "You're nothing but a beast summoned by those bloody outsiders!"
The Sphinx grinned, baring rows of white fangs, then lifted a paw and slammed it down onto the castle's balcony, sending wooden splinters showering down. A flash of sword light flared as the seemingly withered old man drew his Manyū blade and struck in one smooth motion; the monster roared in pain and reeled backwards, flattening the execution platform and nearly crushing Sakura and Naruto.
Great globules of burning blood spattered around them, thickening the air with the stench of iron.
"Transformation Jutsu!"
Sakura shoved Naruto aside and jumped back as the monster's front paws crashed down where they'd been standing a heartbeat before. Weaving hand signs, she Transformed into a leaner version of herself with a puff of white smoke, her J-cups swaying wildly beneath the loosened folds of her kimono.
Instantly, the heavy sensation of having her energy sapped settled over her.
The difference between her true figure and her transformed self was too pronounced, making the burden of maintaining the Transformation all the heavier. The rate at which her chakra drained was tolerable, but a quick reckoning told her she wouldn't be able to sustain this appearance for more than an hour— and that was before even considering any additional chakra expenditures beyond maintaining the Transformation Jutsu.
She needed a moment to study her reflection and adjust Tsunade's permanent Transformation Jutsu, adding some meat in other places so that the volumes of both forms matched perfectly. But now was not the time, so she would simply have to make do with this shape for the time being.
"Big Ball Rasengan!"
In the span of a second, Naruto Shadow Clones began cropping up all over the battlefield, assembling into pairs and summoning massive chakra spheres into their palms. With a rallying cry, Naruto commanded them to leap at the Sphinx and drive their Rasengans into its flank, but the monster ignored them, choosing to focus on the old man that had injured its toes.
But unfortunately for Naruto, a lion does not concern himself with the opinions of sheep.
Sakura watched as the human wave of Narutos thrust out their arms, landing a series of clean, consecutive hits with their Big Ball Rasengans— only for the spheres of chakra to lose their shape upon making contact and get sucked into the monster's fur.
"Wait, Naruto, you're only making things worse!" Sakura shouted at him, as he prepared a second round of Rasengans. "Stop attacking! That monster can absorb chakra!"
Though Sakura had never encountered such a creature before, as a manga-only reader of Boruto, she was fairly certain it came from his anime, as such a creature could never have appeared in the original run of Naruto's story. And true to form for a Boruto-era enemy, this monster could absorb Ninjutsu…
"Eh?" Naruto shouted back. "Then, how are we supposed to beat this thing, ya know!?"
"I'll take care of it!" said Sakura, gesturing for him to fall back. "Help evacuate the civilians!"
Though Naruto was reluctant to play a supporting role, he nodded nonetheless. He had seen how the Sphinx had grown after taking his Rasengans, and though he was tempted to send wave after wave of his own Shadow Clones at the monster until it burst from overindulging on his Rasengan, he held back and flickered away.
…and it was at that moment that Sakura realised that even though her Wood Style had the potential to easily suppress chakra entities, the only chakra-suppressing technique she knew— Foo Dog Heads Jutsu— was only suitable for human-sized targets. Sakura mentally ran through the list of Wood Style Jutsu she knew, and as expected… the Wood Dragon Jutsu was missing from her arsenal. She had never seen Yamato-sensei use it!
"Oh," said Sakura numbly. "…oh, wait."
Although she only knew three Wood Style techniques and urgently needed to go bother Lady Tsunade to make her cough up the Lord First's notes (if any existed in the first place) … she did know all the Crystal Style techniques Guren had so kindly demonstrated for her!
"Crystal Style: Jade Crystal Hexagonal Pillars!"
Sakura's fingers danced through a rapid sequence of hand signs before finishing with a decisive hand clap. The ground trembled, and just as the Sphinx was about to pounce on the castle keep and crush Lord Munenori beneath its paws, five great pink crystals erupted from the earth in a pentagon, closing in on the monster and imprisoning it.
"Nice assist, Sakura!" Kakashi's voice called down from above.
"Raikiri!"
Sakura lifted her head just as Sasuke and Kakashi streaked past overhead, blue lightning trailing from their hands as they fell upon the beast, slicing through its thrashing wings as it struggled to escape its crystalline prison.
Apparently, it could not absorb chakra that had gone through nature transformation…
"Come on, ladies!" shouted an older kunoichi with sagging K-cups, not too far from Sakura. "We can't let the outsiders show us up in our own home, can we? Bring down that beast!!"
At last, the Manyū clanswomen had managed to regroup. Hundreds of them approached and encircled the towering creature, flinging the business ends of their kusarigama— sickles attached to chains with metal weights at the end— at the monster, and driving the blades deep into its flesh and fur.
"PULL!"
Sexy grunts of exertion filled the air as the kunoichi grasped their chains and pulled down with all their strength. Though they accounted for only a tiny fraction of the Sphinx's mass, each was far stronger than she appeared! Sasuke and Kakashi quickly joined their strength to theirs, and through their combined efforts, they finally managed to drive the monster to one knee.
"FIRE!"
A line of Manyū clanswomen gathered behind the kunoichi and took aim with their matchlock rifles, unleashing a volley of bullets at the Sphinx… though they might as well have been firing beans, for every projectile bounced harmlessly off its thick lion's hide.
But even though they hadn't inflicted any real damage, the Manyū had the right idea. Now that the Sphinx was partially immobilised, the moment had come to deliver the killing blow.
Sakura leapt onto the roof of a nearby house that had yet to collapse and carefully stowed her precious sword at a safe distance, before drawing a kunai and taking aim. Lightning crackled around her as she swiftly weaved through the full, unsimplified sequence of the original technique's lengthy hand signs, and…
"Lightning Style: Lorentz Gun Jutsu!"
BOOM!
The kunai seemed to stretch into a streak of light as the electromagnetic field propelled it to eight times the speed of sound, the resulting shockwave from breaking the sound barrier shattering nearby windows. It flew straight and true, gouging a gaping wound through the Sphinx's neck, showering those below in crimson blood.
"Shit, I missed!" Sakura groaned.
By chance, the Sphinx had slightly tilted its head at the same time she had fired.
The Sphinx shrieked in pain and toppled over, dragging the chains that bound it as it fell and sending the kunoichi clinging to them sprawling across the ground. Animalistic fury seized its mind, and with an almighty bite, it snapped the upper half of the crystalline restraint that barred it from advancing on the castle. It was about to break free!
It was at that moment that, scattered across the battlefield, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke's brain cells sparked simultaneously, each coming to the same conclusion. They bit their thumbs, drawing blood, and slammed their crimson-streaked palms onto the ground in unison.
"SUMMONING JUTSU!"