Kakashi's sharp intuition immediately noticed something odd. Sakura's dodge of his kunai had been too smooth, too natural – as if she had intended to move that way before the kunai was even thrown, rather than reacting to its trajectory. It was almost as if his intended target hadn't been her at all, but the tree directly behind her.
What's going on? Kakashi thought, inwardly astonished. It was a subtle shift, something only his years of honed observational skills could detect. Anyone else likely wouldn't have noticed a thing.
After evading the kunai, Sakura's eyes narrowed with focus. She charged directly at Kakashi. The surrounding forest blurred into streaks of green and brown in her enhanced perception. In the blink of an eye, she closed the distance, arriving directly in front of him. There were no fancy moves, just a simple, straightforward punch aimed at his center.
"So fast!" Kakashi barely had time to register the thought before she was upon him. Reacting instinctively, he crossed his arms defensively in front of his chest. A solid thud echoed as her fist connected, sending a jolt of numbness through both his arms.
Sakura had held back significantly; her only goal was to incapacitate Kakashi, not seriously injure him. Immediately after the punch landed, she moved with blinding speed, circling behind him. Her fingers snapped together, forming a rigid knife-hand aimed at the vulnerable nape of his neck.
Her strike connected, but the feedback felt wrong – like striking solid wood. Sure enough, with a soft poof, Kakashi's form dissolved into a splintered log. As expected of Kakashi-sensei, Sakura thought wryly. His hand seal speed is incredible. I didn't even see when he performed the Substitution.
Kakashi vanished from sight. A faint smile touched Sakura's lips. While Kakashi-sensei was famous for his Lightning Style, Earth Style was his most frequently used secondary element. Planning to use the Headhunter Jutsu, are we?
Sakura had no intention of giving him the chance. However, instead of opting for brute force – using her monstrous strength to simply blast the ground around her and expose him – she chose a different tactic. "Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!"
The moment the jutsu activated, Sakura's own jaw nearly hit the mud. The effect was staggering. Radiating outwards from her position, a vast expanse of the forest floor transformed into a thick, inescapable mire. Trees within the radius sank rapidly into the muck. Soon, nothing remained in the surroundings but churning mud under the dark, rainy sky. The area of effect was significantly larger than when she'd used the technique against Kimimaro. Due to the dim light and pouring rain, Sakura couldn't even gauge the full extent of the swamp.
She stared dumbly for a moment at the massive effect her jutsu had produced. Snapping back to reality, she quickly began retracting her chakra, only to stop herself. Wait, that's wrong! Kakashi might be trapped down there! She immediately poured chakra back into the technique, extending her senses through the swamp, searching. After a moment, she finally located Kakashi-sensei's chakra signature. Carefully, she manipulated the mud, slowly bringing him back to the surface.
Kakashi-sensei's eyes were tightly closed, his breathing shallow and ragged. Sakura quickly moved towards him, preparing to use medical ninjutsu. Just then, the situation took a sudden, unexpected turn. Kakashi's eyes snapped open! With lightning speed, he seized Sakura's wrists, twisted them behind her back, and forcefully slammed her face-down into the muddy swamp.
"I never expected you'd become so formidable," Kakashi panted, his breath still coming in short gasps. "I almost lost consciousness there. But it's over now. Come back to the village with me, Sakura!"
"You tricked me, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura sputtered, spitting out mud, thoroughly annoyed. He had pretended to be unconscious! And I was actually worried about him!
"No," Kakashi replied, his voice heavy with fatigue. "I really did pass out for a moment back there. You truly are incredibly strong. Lady Hokage will uncover the truth behind all this. Please, just come back with me."
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said, her voice suddenly calm, almost conversational despite her position, "you don't really think you've caught me like this, do you?"
"What?!"
To Kakashi's astonishment, Sakura's body began to sink slowly into the swamp beneath him, seemingly merging with the mud. Not good! he realized instantly, trying to release his grip. But it was too late. The swamp itself seemed to come alive, thick tendrils of mud latching onto his feet, pulling him down with surprising force. Even channeling chakra to his feet, he couldn't break free. His body began to sink relentlessly. As Kakashi was pulled under, Sakura emerged smoothly from the mire nearby, completely unaffected.
She had realized it earlier: since she could manipulate the swamp to bring Kakashi out, she herself was inherently immune to its effects. This vast quagmire had become her personal domain. She couldn't have controlled it to this degree before; she'd somehow discovered the ability while instinctively trying to rescue Kakashi from drowning. After he had subdued her, she had tested the connection mentally and found, to her surprise, that it worked.
Standing effortlessly on the swamp's surface, Sakura looked down at Kakashi, now submerged up to his neck, the rain washing streaks of mud from his exposed face and hair. A small smirk played on her lips. "Kakashi-sensei, looks like you'll have to hang out here for a while. I'm leaving."
Without giving him a chance to reply, Sakura turned and departed, vanishing into the rain-lashed forest.
Kakashi watched her retreating figure, letting out a helpless sigh. Their brief clash hadn't involved either of them using their full power or most dangerous techniques. Still, he hadn't anticipated being trapped so thoroughly. Sakura... she really has grown incredibly strong.
After leaving Kakashi behind, Sakura continued her journey but didn't deactivate the Yin Seal. The strange transformation she'd experienced during the fight was too baffling. While it seemed beneficial, she wouldn't feel comfortable until she understood its nature.
As she ran, she focused inward, analyzing the changes. The enhanced state granted her far sharper perception, a heightened awareness of her surroundings, and seemed to boost her physical capabilities even further than usual. But how this had happened remained a mystery.
After traveling for a considerable time, the faint glimmer of the inland sea became visible through the trees. Across that body of water lay the Land of Tea. Sakura reached into her pouch, pulling out another vial of sedative. Just as she was about to inject it before deactivating the Seal, she froze. Idiot! I let Danzo's schemes make me forget!
The realization struck her with the force of a physical blow. The Gelel energy – the foreign power she had inadvertently sealed within her Yin Seal – was gone. In her frantic escape and subsequent battles, she hadn't noticed its absence when she activated the Strength of a Hundred Technique. The characteristic emotional dampening effect, the feeling of detachment that always accompanied the Gelel power... it hadn't manifested at all this time. She felt... normal, emotionally speaking, even with the Seal active.
But why was it gone? She had tried countless methods to expel the invasive Gelel energy before, all unsuccessful. Now, somehow, it had vanished without a trace. Calming her racing thoughts, Sakura sat down on the damp sand of the beach bordering the inland sea. She deactivated the Strength of a Hundred Technique. The familiar tide of potent chakra receded back into the seal on her forehead, and simultaneously, the hyper-acute senses faded back to normal.
Distant thunder rumbled, and the heavy rain continued to wash over her.
After sitting quietly for several minutes, gathering her thoughts, Sakura reactivated the Strength of a Hundred Seal. Instantly, the heightened awareness, the crystal-clear perception of her surroundings, returned. The chakra flowing from the seal felt powerful, yes, but also... pure, seamlessly integrated with her own natural reserves. There was no trace of the foreign Gelel energy.
Standing up, she faced the churning grey waters of the inland sea. Raising her hands, she pointed her index fingers forward. Two beams of intense, purple energy erupted from her fingertips – her Storm Release Laser. The beams shot across the surface of the inland sea with blinding speed, seemingly etching lines of light across the water towards the distant horizon, momentarily bisecting the rain-swept view. Where the beams touched the water, waves erupted, and the rain hitting the beams' path instantly vaporized into clouds of steam that hung heavy over the sea surface.
Sakura stared, mouth slightly agape, at the sheer power and altered appearance of her technique. Although she hadn't tested it in combat, the raw energy output felt exponentially greater than before – easily dozens of times stronger. And the color... her Storm Release lasers had always been blue-white. Now they were a vibrant purple. This confirmed it: the chakra within her Yin Seal had definitely been altered, mixed with some other unknown power.
And besides her own stored chakra, the only other energy known to reside within the Yin Seal had been the Power of Gelel.
So... Sakura thought, a sense of dawning awe and confusion washing over her. Did the Gelel energy somehow... fuse with my chakra?!