Seeing that Sakura still hadn't spoken, a cold glint flashed through Danzo's single eye. The hand holding the blade tightened ever so slightly.
"Ungh!"
Haruno Kizashi let out a muffled groan. A thin red line instantly appeared across his neck, and bright blood seeped out.
"Stop—! I'll give it to you! I'll give it to you! Let my parents go!!"
That single cut felt as though it had been carved straight into Sakura's heart. In front of her parents' lives, all her resolve and principles collapsed in an instant. She screamed hoarsely, her voice shaking with despair.
At last, a satisfied expression appeared on Danzo's face. He slowly withdrew the short blade.
"You should have done so earlier."
He gestured for his subordinates to pull Sakura's parents slightly aside—still well within reach—then turned his gaze back to her.
"Now, hand over the Divine Technique. Don't try any tricks. Your parents' lives depend on how well you behave."
Sakura looked at her parents, still shaken and full of fear, then at the ROOT operatives eyeing her like predators, and finally at Danzo himself—cold and venomous, like a coiled serpent.
She knew there was no path left to retreat.
With an ashen expression, Sakura handed over the crimson stone tablet that recorded the Divine Technique.
Danzo almost snatched it from her hands. His single eye erupted with barely contained joy and greed.
He carefully rubbed the tablet's surface, feeling the cold, strange patterns beneath his fingers. But soon, his brows knitted tightly. He raised his head and stared at Sakura with suspicion.
"This… is the Divine Technique? How do you prove it's real?"
Caution and paranoia were second nature to him.
Sakura replied flatly, "Believe it or don't. If you doubt it, test it yourself."
"How?" Danzo pressed immediately.
"The material of this tablet is unknown," Sakura stated calmly.
"I searched through Konoha's archives and even asked people with vast knowledge. There are no records of this substance anywhere."
Danzo fell silent, once again examining the red tablet in his hand. It was heavy, neither metal nor stone to the touch.
Sakura continued, "It looks ordinary, but it's unbelievably durable. So far, I haven't seen any method capable of damaging it in the slightest."
Danzo nodded faintly. A sharp glint flashed through his eye.
Without hesitation, he drew another short blade from his waist, gathered his strength, and hacked down hard at the tablet!
Crack!
A crisp breaking sound rang out. The blade shattered on the spot, fragments flying outward—
Yet the red stone tablet didn't even bear a white scratch.
Danzo's gaze sharpened. After a moment's thought, he motioned for a ROOT operative proficient in Wind Release to step forward.
That ninja condensed Wind-style chakra to the extreme along his blade, forming a razor-sharp wind edge, and slashed at the tablet once more.
Hummm—
The wind blade struck the tablet, let out a low hum, and instantly dissipated.
The tablet remained completely intact. Even the faint, gentle sheen on its surface did not change.
"It truly is… an unknown material," Danzo murmured to himself.
Most of his doubt vanished, replaced by an even fiercer desire.
If the vessel itself was this extraordinary, how could the contents be anything but priceless?
He turned his attention back to the markings on the tablet, carefully studying the arcane patterns and symbols. The more he read, the deeper his frown became.
Unable to hold back, he looked up and asked:
"This 'Divine Technique'… why does its cultivation and operation not involve chakra at all?"
Hearing this, Sakura let out a cold, unrestrained laugh—one tinged with mockery and pity.
"It's called Divine Technique. Why do you still think it's just some special chakra-based secret art?"
"What?!"
Danzo's expression changed violently, as though he had heard something utterly inconceivable—something that overturned all common sense.
Even the hand gripping the tablet trembled slightly. His single eye locked onto Sakura as his voice turned dry and faint with shock.
"Could it be… that besides chakra… there exists another… cultivation system altogether?"
In his view, although this world had samurai, they were nothing but useless trash.
Only chakra had ever been the true mainstream power.
This question didn't just shake Danzo.
Through the Sky Screen, it struck every viewer like a thunderbolt in their minds.
Chakra… isn't the only source of power?
Divine Technique… is an entirely different path?
The impact of this realization far exceeded that of merely acquiring a powerful secret technique.
In that instant, the very foundation of the shinobi world's understanding was violently shaken.
After a brief, stunned silence came an eruption of uproar and heated discussion—like a volcano exploding.
"Doesn't involve chakra?! That—how is that even possible?!"
"No wonder! No wonder she can shatter mountains with a punch and ignore ninjutsu entirely! From the very root, it's not the same kind of power we know!"
"That makes sense! Normal ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu all have limits—how could they ever break reality like that?"
"The ancient era! It must be from the ancient era!"
Someone shouted excitedly, proposing a theory that made countless eyes light up.
"Before the Sage of Six Paths founded Ninshū and spread chakra, there must have been other power systems in this world!"
"That's right! Those myths from the age of gods might not be pure fiction! This 'Divine Technique' could be the legacy of a lost civilization!"
"My god… if that's true, then the chakra system we rely on now—"
"The world is far broader and more mysterious than we ever imagined!"
The idea spread like wildfire, filling people with a shivering mix of excitement and fear.
Excitement at the possibility of opening the door to an entirely new world.
Fear that the foundation of their own strength might not be unique—or even the strongest.
Amid the greed for the Divine Technique, a new emotion now took root: awe toward the unknown, and an overwhelming desire to explore it.
If this truly was a path independent of chakra—one that led directly to the origin of power, perhaps even brushing against the realm of "gods"—then its value would surpass all imagination.
The Kage and high-level leaders of every village wore extremely grave expressions.
They realized that what the Sky Screen revealed was no longer just a girl's fortuitous encounter or Konoha's internal strife—
But a secret that could completely overturn the power structure of the entire shinobi world.
"At any cost…"
That thought surfaced once more in the hearts of many rulers.
But now, the goal was no longer merely seizing a single stone tablet—
It was to uncover that long-lost, ancient path itself.
Within the Sky Screen
"I've given it to you. Let them go," Sakura said.
Danzo recovered from the shock of realizing that the Divine Technique lay outside the chakra system. His single eye once again returned to its usual, controlling chill.
He looked at Sakura—pale from handing over the tablet—and the corner of his mouth curled into a strange smile.
"The item—I've accepted it. As for your parents, they can naturally be released…"
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