Chapter 279: Return
Swish, swish—!
The few ice shuriken that Haruno Sakura casually shot out served as her answer to Tobi.
"Did you misunderstand something?"
Sakura said indifferently.
"Do you think we are comrades fighting side by side?"
The reason she and Tobi had been able to coexist peacefully for a while, and even had a bit of tacit understanding in dealing with the attacking Uchiha clansmen, was not because they had any kind of comradely relationship.
It was simply that, in a short period of time, Tobi couldn't deal with her, and she also had no way to deal with Tobi's space-time ninjutsu.
And, both sides had a common goal, which was to let the clan annihilation proceed...
That was why they had not continued to fight.
What's more... after the battle just now, that energy in her Yin Seal, under the stimulation of her chakra, had begun to stir restlessly.
It seemed to be echoing something.
Every time that pulling feeling came, that energy would become particularly active!
Before, it had been like a hard piece of ice, cold and stiff. Then, the activity of her chakra had melted it, gradually turning it into a puddle of water. And every time her original time-space pulled at her, it would stir up a wave in that energy, and even a fountain!
This energy, it should be the energy that helped me travel through time and space, right?
If she didn't have this energy, this transmigration would have been a one-way ticket. She would have been stuck in this time-space forever, and after that pulling force disappeared, she would never be able to return to her original world!
Was her transmigration to the Naruto world also such a process?
Then again, this era also had the ruins of the Rouran. If a ninja skilled in sealing formulas in this world could mobilize the energy there, perhaps they could also easily and accurately send her back to her original time-space...
Estimating from the speed at which that frozen energy was melting...
She had a few more minutes at most.
"I have no interest in getting entangled with you," she said, looking at Tobi's unfriendly gaze. "I'm leaving soon."
Tobi and Itachi exchanged a look, and were a little surprised to find that the girl's hand seemed to be emitting a faint fluorescent light.
"Before I leave, I have a few questions for you."
"Uchiha Itachi, did you annihilate the Uchiha clan because you were ordered to, or because you were threatened, or was it your own decision?"
The white light seemed to get brighter.
Itachi looked at Haruno Sakura calmly and answered her question, "It was Danzo's order."
From his plain expression, Sakura couldn't tell if this answer was true or false.
Danzo's order? That is indeed his style.
Then what about the Third? And Itachi himself?
She lowered her eyelids, pondering.
Tobi, however, frowned and said, "With your strength, are you not yet qualified to know these things? Since the Third Hokage sent you here, he should have told you everything! Stop stalling for time!"
The brightness of the fluorescence on the girl's body seemed to be increasing. He, who had seen much of the world, also couldn't recognize what kind of ninjutsu this was.
This feeling of being out of control had not appeared in his heart for a long time!
An accident, it should be erased.
He didn't want his plan to be suddenly interrupted.
Although he did not sense her chakra fluctuations, another energy was becoming active.
What on earth is this person doing!
The vigilance in Tobi's heart grew stronger and stronger. He became more and inore suspicious that she was deliberately stalling for time to complete a secret technique.
He knew: whatever the enemy wants to do, you must not let her complete it.
Tobi took a step forward, no longer hesitating.
Space-time distorted, and the masked man suddenly appeared behind the girl!
An old trick, naturally, it wouldn't work on Haruno Sakura again.
She had been tensing her nerves all along. The moment the masked man disappeared, she also disappeared from the spot at the same time!
Even if Tobi had activated it at his fastest speed, he had only touched a layer of slippery ice.
His gaze sharpened. Her reaction is too fast... This move really can't work on her anymore!
He formed hand seals, wanting to use the Wood Style: Hell Suppression, but stopped midway.
In order to keep the operation secret, he couldn't use a ninjutsu that would cause too much commotion!
In the few rounds of clashes just now and at present, both sides had tacitly kept the commotion of the battle to a minimum.
Only using small, clever tactics.
Troublesome!
And, that girl has a sealing formula on her forehead with a strong chakra signature... Could it be Tsunade's Yin Seal?
Is she one of Tsunade's people?
If it was the Yin Seal, then to rashly compete with her in chakra amount and large-scale ninjutsu would probably be an endless fight!
In that case, his plan would be ruined again...
What to do?
After the two had exchanged positions, they temporarily had no intention of continuing the fight.
Tobi glanced at Itachi, who was standing on the side, watching. He did not ask him to join the battle.
Itachi most likely would not obey this command to fight one of the Hokage's people.
Haruno Sakura also glanced at Itachi and asked, "Then, Uchiha Itachi, why did you leave your younger brother?"
The light on her body was getting brighter and brighter. The mysterious energy stored in her Yin Seal was melting faster and faster, and was becoming more and more active. It was flowing all over her body, and was gradually about to envelop her.
Sakura knew that the time she could stay was already on a countdown, in seconds.
She had no mind to continue fighting. She just wanted to know the answer.
Sakura asked urgently, but Itachi was silent and did not answer his question.
"How can you ask such a foolish question..." Tobi, who was staring intently at Haruno Sakura from the side, suddenly said. "It's because Itachi would rather commit the evil act of annihilating his clan than to lose his brother's life and future!"
The battle just now had not interrupted the white light on Sakura's body. Tobi watched as it became more and more intense. The faint energy that was leaking from her body had also gradually become clear!
Is that the energy of a space-time ninjutsu?
He soon realized.
Combined with the undisguisable urgency on her face... this woman was about to be teleported somewhere. This was what she meant by leaving!
The unconcealed energy fluctuation had exposed the mystery of the white light on the woman. Discovering that she was not brewing some kind of accident, Tobi suddenly let out a breath.
It was just—
"Before I leave, there is one last thing..."
Haruno Sakura said coldly, just before the white light completely enveloped her.
Her hands suddenly formed hand seals. "Water Style: Wind Blade Raging Stream."
"Are you still going to launch one last attack before you leave?" Tobi said with a gloomy face, his Sharingan staring coldly at the girl, and he snorted.
"A meaningless act!"
Swish— Haruno Sakura flickered and appeared behind Tobi. The ice sword in her hand slashed horizontally at the back of his head.
The ice sword cut through Tobi's phased-through head. The latter turned around, his left hand quickly raised.
Smack! The ice sword passed over Tobi's body and hit empty air.
Tobi's hand slapped onto Sakura's shoulder.
In an instant, four ninjutsu were used one after another on the battlefield in just a few tenths of a second:
Ice Style: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.
—Haruno Sakura disappeared from the spot!
Mangekyo Sharingan Secret Technique: Kamui.
—Tobi's secret technique hit empty air, only sucking in air!
Water Style: Wind Blade Raging Stream.
—The next moment Haruno Sakura appeared on another block of ice, she didn't even balance her body, but instantly shot out the silver-white water line, which cut across Tobi's body!
Mangekyo Sharingan Secret Technique: Phasing.
—The moment he sensed the attack, Tobi phased his body!
Plop.
One of Tobi's arms fell to the ground. The silver-white water line had cut through his body. Then, the white light suddenly lit up, and the water line disappeared.
The dazzling white light had only shone for less than a second before it suddenly stopped.
Looking over there, after the white light had disappeared, the girl's figure was already gone.
Plop.
Another world. Deep in the ruins of the ancient country of Rouran.
A white light suddenly appeared and then disappeared. Haruno Sakura landed on the ground.
It was still that large hall in the ancient country of Rouran, and it was still a dark night.
Am I back?
Sakura quickly walked out of the hall.
Outside was the dim night.
A round moon hung high in the sky. A few stars were embedded in the night sky, like shining gems.
All around were the familiar, cold ruins, not the Uchiha compound that was flowing with blood and sin.
It seemed she was back.
That pulling feeling had completely disappeared...
Haruno Sakura felt a little incredulous.
Her heart was beating very fast. Just now she was in a fierce battle, and in the next second, she had appeared in a safe place. This was the first time she had experienced this feeling.
From the bloody night of the massacre, she had returned to the quiet and peaceful night of camping in the wild.
Sakura took a deep breath.
She reviewed the content of this time-space journey, replaying it from the last moment.
That Wind Blade Raging Stream just now, what exactly did it cut...
The white light had obscured her vision, so Sakura couldn't see the results of her battle.
Did I cut off his hand, or did I kill him completely?
Sakura didn't think he would die so easily. That phasing ninjutsu, which had an extremely fast activation speed, was probably not so simple to deal with.
That person who calls himself Uchiha Madara...
She calmed her mind and sorted out her thoughts.
This time, she had unexpectedly traveled back and had seen too many things...
The official story was that Uchiha Itachi had annihilated the entire Uchiha clan on his own. But in fact, there was another person with a Mangekyo Sharingan helping him.
Uchiha Itachi was also not the psychologically abnormal person Sakura had imagined.
He was very calm and had a normal logic.
Also, the reason why Sasuke hadn't died, the official story had always been that it was because he had been training at the school after school and had returned home late. Some time ago, she had seen other accounts in the classified files, and Tobi had used a similar excuse.
This was very frightening.
Itachi didn't kill Sasuke because he loved him deeply...
This was completely different from what Sasuke had always thought of Itachi.
The most crucial thing was that person called Uchiha Madara.
He shouldn't be Madara. Uchiha Madara should be a person who could crush Kakuzu with one finger. But on that person, Sakura had not felt that his strength was that strong... although he was also terrifyingly strong.
In short, there were too many mysteries about him...
And there were other things... thousands of thoughts suddenly emerged.
With countless mysteries, Haruno Sakura found a place in the ruins to settle down.
She checked her body again. She was still safe and sound, without any abnormalities, apart from a faint feeling of discomfort after using the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals Phase Three.
In her Yin Seal, the space-time energy had disappeared. It seemed to have been used up on the return trip.
Perhaps next time she could try to come here again to perform a space-time shuttle and explore the secrets here.
But before that... the first thing she had to do was to go back to Konoha and find her master to thoroughly check her body.
This was no laughing matter!
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