Within the Heavenly Screen
"So," Light said with a seemingly harmless smile, though her eyes remained fixed on Sakura, "when can you give me a definite answer? After all, I've already told you my deepest secret."
Sakura frowned slightly.
"I have extremely important matters to handle right now. You should be aware of that," she replied firmly. "How about this—once I finish what I'm dealing with, I'll go to the Toy Kingdom to find you. Would that work?"
The smile on Light's face vanished instantly.
Her expression darkened, clearly displeased with the idea of delay.
The air around them seemed to grow heavy.
Sasuke's hand rested on the hilt of his Kusanagi Sword. Orochimaru subtly stepped back half a pace.
Sakura tensed, prepared for Light to attack at any moment.
At the very brink of conflict—
Light nodded.
"Very well," she said calmly. "Handle your matters first."
The sudden shift surprised them.
But their relief was short-lived.
With a flick of her wrist, a new doll appeared in her palm.
More exquisite than the previous teddy bear, it depicted a short-haired girl in a pink dress, wearing a gentle smile.
"However…" Light extended it forward, her smile returning—though it carried no warmth. "It's only reasonable that you keep one of my 'little gifts' with you. So we can stay in touch."
A gift?
It was a death sentence.
Sakura's mouth twitched.
"That's not reasonable at all," she rejected immediately.
"Would you tolerate being monitored anytime, anywhere?"
"Wouldn't that mean everything is still under someone else's control?"
The words struck something deep inside Light.
Her face contorted. The composure and understanding she had feigned shattered, replaced by pain, anger, and profound fear.
In a low voice, thick with hatred, she murmured:
"Of course I wouldn't…"
It sounded like the core truth behind everything she had done.
Perhaps rooted in a past where she herself had once been controlled.
But then—
Her emotions flipped violently.
She raised her head, a near-manic grin spreading across her face.
"But now—"
"I'm the one who controls everything!"
"Body… and soul!"
Her gaze swept across Sakura, Sasuke, and Orochimaru as if asserting ownership.
Sakura's voice turned icy.
"So you want to fight? Right now?"
She would not retreat from naked provocation.
Yet once again—
Light surprised them.
"No."
All hostility vanished from her expression. The innocent smile returned.
"I trust you," she said sincerely.
"I believe someone like you—who has seen the broader world outside this pond, who has witnessed truly powerful beings—wouldn't deceive a small character like me."
The sudden trust felt jarringly false.
And her next words revealed the poison beneath it.
"Otherwise…" Light's smile remained, but her tone became eerily soft. "After you leave… the people you know and care about in this world might run into some trouble."
The threat was unmistakable.
She could not force Sakura to take her immediately—
But she held leverage.
Anyone connected to Sakura's past could become a target.
"So," Light concluded, "you can only take me with you."
After delivering that blatant ultimatum, she gave Sakura one final look. Then she glanced at Sasuke, whose hostility toward her had never wavered, and at Orochimaru, whose eyes shimmered with unreadable calculation.
"I'll be waiting in the Toy Kingdom for good news."
Her figure vanished instantly.
Clearly, she had activated her doll-based teleportation again.
Silence remained.
Along with three increasingly grim expressions.
And the doll that represented Neji still lay forgotten among the rubble.
Sasuke broke the silence first.
"That woman… is she insane?" he muttered irritably. "Her mood changes in an instant. Nothing she says lines up."
He couldn't comprehend her erratic shifts—curious one moment, venomous the next.
Orochimaru's golden pupils gleamed thoughtfully.
"It would be simplistic to call her insane," he said slowly. "She's extremely dangerous. Her mental state is unstable, her logic fragmented."
"Such people are often shaped by… abnormal experiences."
He recalled her bitter words: I'll never be controlled again.
"Her past was likely horrific," Orochimaru continued, "which twisted her into someone who both fears control and delights in controlling others."
Sasuke nodded, whether fully understanding or not.
But his concern was practical.
He turned to Sakura.
"You're not actually planning to agree to her demand, are you? To take her out of this world?"
Sakura shot him a look that bordered on Are you serious?
Then her tone turned firm.
"Of course I am. I said I would go to the Toy Kingdom to find her. I will."
"I keep my word."
As soon as she finished—
Orochimaru silently raised a finger and pointed at the dolls scattered on the ground.
Sasuke's face reddened faintly.
He had forgotten.
Light herself had stated she could monitor through her dolls.
Which meant—
Everything they had just said might have been heard.
So yes.
His earlier question had been rather foolish.
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