Chapter 28: What Kind of Lecherous… Creep Is This!
No, seriously—what the hell is wrong with that Danzo guy?
It was the middle of the night. Sakura sat bolt upright in bed, still fuming over what had happened earlier.
She was just a freshly graduated Academy student, barely even a Genin who'd just gotten her forehead protector.
All she had done was casually write a graduation essay. And now that bastard had stolen her paper?
What kind of messed-up person does that?
Ugh, absolutely hopeless…
He deserves to be stuck under the Third Hokage's boot for the rest of his miserable life.
Just as Sakura was about to lie back down and try to get some sleep, a shadow suddenly appeared outside her window.
A dark figure crouched on her second-story windowsill, clad in what looked eerily similar to the attire of the ANBU. His face was hidden behind a twisted, stripe-patterned mask.
He tapped lightly on the glass with one gloved hand.
In the dead silence of the night, Sakura froze, staring blankly at the silhouette.
And then—
WHAM!!!
A crash resounded through the room as the window exploded in a storm of wood chips and shards of glass!
The masked man didn't even have time to react.
He had just taken a clock—yes, an ordinary alarm clock—to the chest at full force, flung by Sakura with the power of a raging bull!
It was a direct hit.
Under the weight of her monstrous strength, that little clock had transformed into a deadly projectile.
With a strangled groan, the man was sent flying backward, hurtling off the second-floor windowsill and slamming into the ground outside with a bone-crunching thud.
RIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIING!
The alarm clock clattered across the pavement next to his limp body, its shrill ring splitting the stillness of the night.
"Where the hell did this pervy—I mean, creep come from?!"
"Showing up in the middle of the night to assault a defenseless little girl like me!"
Sakura's clear voice rang through the streets like a bell.
She stood tall on the broken windowsill, arms crossed, dressed in soft pink pajamas, glaring down imperiously at the man sprawled on the ground like roadkill.
The commotion had been so loud that lights began flicking on in all the nearby houses.
Windows creaked open. Curtains were pulled aside.
Inside his cracked mask, the unfortunate man coughed up blood, the red liquid trickling down his chin.
Defenseless little girl?
YOU?!
His mind reeled at the absurdity.
But he had no time to dwell on it.
The mission—assigned by Danzo-sama himself—was to quietly retrieve this troublesome girl and bring her in.
Not… this.
"I'm—"
"You're WHAT?!"
"You damned creep! Eat my foot!"
Heaven's Vault Kick!
Sakura didn't even let him get the words out.
With a shout, she leapt from the window, her bare foot slicing through the air in a high, 180-degree axe kick that bore down like judgment day.
The masked man's eyes widened in terror.
He dove to the side with every ounce of strength he had left.
BOOM!!!
Her foot struck the ground with devastating force, splitting the earth and sending stone fragments flying in all directions.
"Who's out there?!"
"Where's the thief?!"
"Trying to rob people in the middle of the night? You've got a death wish!"
"Where's the bastard?!"
The neighborhood had been fully roused now.
Doors slammed open.
People poured out into the street, some still in pajamas, others hastily wrapped in coats. A few shirtless, burly men stormed outside wielding household weapons.
The masked man cursed under his breath.
He didn't have time for this.
He had to escape.
Root's operations were top-secret—even regular villagers and many shinobi didn't know of their existence.
If he was caught by the angry mob, things would spiral out of control fast.
He turned to flee.
"Don't let him get away!"
"He's over there! Somebody grab him!"
Sakura, still standing on the windowsill, pointed after the man with a triumphant smirk, making absolutely no move to chase him herself.
She'd already recognized him the moment he appeared.
This guy?
No way he was ANBU.
The real ANBU were directly under the Third Hokage's command. What reason would old man Sarutobi have to come creeping into her room in the dead of night?
If the Hokage wanted her, he'd just knock on the damn door!
Not this shady, sneaky, rooftop prowling nonsense.
And besides, ANBU masks were always animal-themed.
This guy had a striped mask.
Dead giveaway.
Definitely one of Danzo's Root operatives.
And he was about to suffer the consequences.
By now, the villagers had gathered like a storm.
Wielding washboards, thermos bottles, chair legs, benches, and even frying pans, they surged forward with righteous fury.
The Root member tried to run but stumbled.
That first blow from the alarm clock had broken several ribs. He could barely breathe, let alone escape.
"Wait, is he… ANBU?"
Someone in the crowd hesitated upon seeing the man's dark uniform.
"No way! His mask isn't right!"
"Exactly! Real ANBU wear animal masks—this guy's faking it!"
Sakura danced around the edges of the crowd, fanning the flames gleefully.
"It's Sakura!"
"If Sakura says he's fake, then he's fake! She's the Hokage's student, after all!"
Compared to this unknown intruder, the villagers trusted Sakura a thousand times more.
"You… You people!"
"I'm not a thief!"
The Root member seethed, trying to defend himself.
But with the villagers fully surrounding him, he didn't dare lift a hand in self-defense.
If he hurt even one of them, the situation would escalate beyond repair.
"What do you mean you're not a thief?!"
"Then PROVE you're not!"
Sakura egged them on from outside the circle.
"Yeah! What she said!"
"If you're not a thief, show us your credentials!"
"Otherwise, my frying pan won't be so merciful!"
"Peeping around in the dead of night? Disgusting!"
"My spatula has been waiting for this moment!"
The poor Root operative opened his mouth to speak… and then closed it again.
Proof of identity?
How the hell was he supposed to do that?
He was ROOT.
They didn't even have identities.
Seeing his hesitation and stammering, the villagers reached a unanimous conclusion:
This guy was 100% a fraud.
And worse, pretending to be ANBU inside Konoha?
That was a crime.
"You dare to impersonate the ANBU? You're finished!"
"TAKE THIS—WASHBOARD STRIKE!"
No one knew who struck first, but once the dam broke, it was chaos.
Brooms, stools, ladles, frying pans, and God-knows-what-else rained down on the unfortunate Root agent like divine punishment.
Screams and crashes filled the air.
"DON'T hit his waist! That's the weakest part!"
"Also don't pull his hair or step on his fingers—oops~"
Sakura called out gleefully from beyond the crowd, pretending to help while doing exactly the opposite.
---
Meanwhile…
At the Hokage's Residence…
"Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama, we have a situation!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen jolted awake, blinking groggily as the ANBU operative burst into his room.
He was old now. Sleep didn't come easy, and it took barely any noise to rouse him.
"What is it now…" he muttered, rubbing his forehead.
"One of our patrols reported that a man impersonating an ANBU was captured by villagers…"
The ANBU hesitated before delivering the news.
"…They nearly beat him to death. If the patrol hadn't shown up in time…"
Sarutobi sat up straighter.
Impersonating ANBU?
Who the hell would dare do something so reckless in the middle of Konoha?
His brows furrowed deeply in concern.
Wait…
Don't tell me…
Could it be…
Danzo's people again?
---
(End of Chapter)