Chapter 112: They Actually Went Along with the Act... Give Them an Extra Chicken Drumstick!
The simplest method was to directly finish them off—and then, just like in the Land of Waves mission, be attacked again and again.
Having learned her lesson from the Land of Waves mission, Sakura felt it was better to let them go for now, then trail them to find the mastermind who wanted to deal with the film crew, and then solve the problem directly, to avoid being in a state of constant fear throughout the journey.
"It seems like a good idea, but the problem is that the other side is a bit unable to play along..." the girl thought, gently biting her lower lip, squeezing the pink color of her lips into a pale white.
If she went too easy on them and it was too obvious, the other side would definitely guess what kind of conspiracy she was trying to play.
But if she didn't go easy, could these three Snow Ninja really escape? The girl pouted, a little troubled.
Just then, the two Snow Ninja opposite her seemed to have made a plan and began to act—
"Ice Style - One-Horned White Whale!" x2
The two of them formed hand seals at the same time, using almost all their chakra to create two even larger ice whales, which pounced towards the girl from the front and back.
"All show and no substance, what a waste of chakra." The girl shook her head slightly, leaped lightly a few times, and landed a hundred meters away, dodging the opponent's ninjutsu, whose intent was too obvious and whose preparation was too slow. Looking at the ice whales that swept past her feet, a thought stirred in Sakura's heart, and she felt that she might have misunderstood. The opponent was not wasting chakra.
The ice whales, having missed their target, crashed to the ground with a boom, kicking up countless amounts of snow in the forest, forming a snow mist so thick that one couldn't see their own hand, cutting off the battlefield and hiding the figures of the three Snow Ninja from the girl's sight.
"As I thought," she chuckled, her silver-bell-like laughter as if praising the Snow Ninja for their quick wits.
Behind the thick mist, Sakura sensed three chakras quickly moving away under the cover of the snow mist—it turned out that this imposing attack was actually a prelude to the Snow Ninja's desperate escape.
"Nicely done. And this should be something like an Ice Body Flicker, right? The ninjutsu is not bad either!" the pink-haired girl said with a smile, looking at the Snow Ninja who had quickly left her line of sight. "Well then, I can just barely go along with this play!"
She leisurely formed the hand seals: Ram - Snake - Tiger - Snake - Dog. This was the seal for the Reconnaissance-type. "Ice Style - Ice Clone!"
"Follow them," she instructed.
Leaving the tracking to the clone, the girl lightly stomped her foot and used a Body Flicker to return to the side of the film crew.
"Miss Sakura," as soon as Sakura stood firm, Director Asama's slightly anxious voice sounded in her ear. "What's the situation now? Did you drive them away?"
Sakura looked around. Everyone was looking at her, waiting for her answer—although many of them already knew that the moment she returned, the answer to the question was self-evident.
"I've repelled them. The one in the lead was also seriously injured by me, so at least for now, everyone is safe," she said solemnly.
The crowd immediately burst into cheers, some hugging each other, some dancing, some sobbing, and so on. After all, they had just thought that the ninja protecting them was dead and that they were doomed as well. But the situation had quickly developed into them being saved. The ups and downs of life were truly too exciting.
After a good while, the crowd finally calmed down. Just then, a young boy whose mind had just started to think again suddenly squeezed over and asked, "Miss Sakura, since your strength is far beyond the Snow Ninja's, why were you defeated by him at the beginning?"
Sakura glanced at the boy. She had vaguely heard this voice excitedly arguing with his companion about how strong she was. Sure enough, for a topic like strength, young people—especially boys—could argue for ten years and more. The girl sighed in her heart, just feeling a faint ache.
Alright, she didn't have any balls, so let's just say her ovaries ached, or maybe her boobs ached.
To prevent them from fighting until they beat the crap out of each other over this topic, Sakura kindly explained, "I wasn't defeated. That ninjutsu at the beginning didn't hit me. I dodged it and hid in the shadows."
She paused for a moment and was surprised to find that many people seemed to be interested in this topic. Or perhaps it was out of respect for the strong that they instinctively took a listening posture when she spoke. The girl continued, "The reason I hid was not just to wait for an opportunity to ambush the opponent, but also to confirm who the Snow Ninja's real target was."
Speaking of which, she turned her bright gaze to the Asama uncle and nephew and Fujikaze Yukie.
"I think you need to give us an explanation."
Asama Takehiko and Sandayū looked at each other.
"Sigh... since that's the case, let's wait for the ship to return and tell them all together," the latter said with a long sigh.
In the evening, the supply cruise ship returned.
"What? Damn it, if I had known, I would have stayed behind too!" As soon as he met the girl and heard that they had encountered an attack from the Snow Ninja here, Naruto was filled with regret.
"Don't feel bad. The opponents were very weak. It wasn't interesting to fight them," Haruno Sakura shrugged. "But the armor on their bodies was a bit interesting. It can absorb chakra, and its defense is not bad. Ordinary ninjutsu and taijutsu probably wouldn't even scratch it."
Sasuke pondered for a moment and said, "It should have a limit or a weakness, right? I wonder if my Raikiri can pierce it?"
Sakura chuckled and said bluntly, "The biggest weakness is the person wearing the armor. We can talk about this later. Right now, we need to discuss the mission with the client."
She led the two of them into a small lounge on the ship. A few people were sitting at a round table inside.
"Everyone's here, Director Asama," Sakura said, closing the door behind her and sitting on a chair by the door. "We can begin. So please explain, why are the Snow Ninja targeting you?"
Director Asama did not speak, but turned his gaze to Asama Sandayū, who was sitting on the side.
The old man sighed.
"Sigh, it's a long story..."
Over a decade ago, Kazahana Dotō, having heard that the Land of Snow hid a secret treasure, had secretly colluded with a group of Snow Ninja. Relying on military force, he had launched a coup, killed his older brother, the daimyo of the Land of Snow, Kazahana Sōsetsu, and usurped the political power of the country.
And Fujikaze Yukie was actually the daughter of Kazahana Sōsetsu back then, the princess of the Land of Snow, Kazahana Koyuki, the only surviving royal bloodline from the coup.
"And the one who saved me back then was a Konoha ninja. This time we've hired you several Konoha ninja again, so maybe he thinks we're here to take back the Land of Snow!" Fujikaze Yukie, no, it should be said, Kazahana Koyuki, was already secretly shedding tears as she recalled this experience. She said with tears in her eyes and a belly full of sorrow.
As a big star, Kazahana Koyuki's beauty was naturally of the highest caliber.
When this woman cried, her long eyelashes were filled with tears, her delicate features were slightly wrinkled, making one can't help but feel a sense of pity, wanting to wipe away the beauty's sorrow. That look of a pear blossom in the rain was truly moving and pitiful.
Even Sakura... pfft, it should be said, Sakura immediately felt that she was quite charming.
So pretty.
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