Karin had been in a foul mood lately. Although Lady Tsunade had been paying more attention to her since Sakura Haruno left the village, she couldn't bring herself to feel happy about it.
Karin felt that it was because of Sakura's defection that Master Tsunade was focusing on her again. But the more this happened, the more uneasy Karin became, as it also meant that her master was about to give up on Sakura.
However, Karin didn't dare to ask too many questions. Apart from taking time out of her day to teach Karin, her master's expression had been consistently grim. And when she asked Shizune-senpai, Shizune claimed to know nothing.
But Karin could sense that Shizune-senpai wasn't unaware; rather, she was unwilling to tell her.
And since the day Sasuke had asked for her help in searching for evidence at the hospital, he hadn't come to find her again. However, apart from obtaining samples from those few corpses and the autopsy reports, Karin hadn't managed to get anything more.
And Junko, who lived with her, had been acting a bit strange lately. When Karin first met Junko, her eyes were filled with hatred, but now, it was almost gone.
Karin's perception told her she hadn't misjudged; it wasn't a sign of temporarily putting aside hatred, but that it had truly and completely vanished. How could this be?
Karin couldn't figure it out. Besides this change, Junko often stood alone on the Hokage Rock, gazing towards the southeast. Her expression would sometimes be melancholic, sometimes nostalgic, and occasionally, a trace of resentment would show.
Whenever Karin asked Junko what she was looking at, Junko's attitude towards Karin was always very cold. This puzzled Karin greatly; she didn't think she had done anything to offend her. Karin could sense that Junko's coldness came from the bottom of her heart.
Living under the same roof with her, coupled with the fact that she hadn't yet told her aunt and uncle about Sakura's defection, Karin was under immense psychological pressure every day.
Junko didn't have much to do each day. Ever since graduating from the ninja academy, apart from carrying out some D-rank missions with her two teammates and a Jonin instructor, she had nothing else going on.
Junko hadn't seen Sakura Haruno for a long time. Karin had told her that Sakura had defected. Junko knew what defection meant, but beyond that, she had no other thoughts.
It wasn't that she didn't care about Sakura; rather, she simply didn't think it was a big deal. Junko decided that after some time, she would go out and look for Sakura. Only Sakura was someone she was familiar with.
As for Karin, the red-haired girl she lived with, Junko disliked her very much. Although from her memories, Karin hadn't done anything bad to her, Karin exuded an aura that her very soul found repulsive.
That familiar yet repulsive aura made Junko keep her distance. She looked down at her own hands, and a ball of blue chakra emerged from them. If any ninja saw this, they would surely exclaim in admiration. Chakra was not a tangible thing; to make chakra visible was undoubtedly the mark of a powerful ninja.
"Chakra! If... if that era had such a thing, then... perhaps..." Junko muttered to herself, standing on the Hokage Rock.
"Muto Junko."
A voice pulled Junko back from her reminiscence to reality. Junko turned and saw it was the man who had tried to lure her at school back then.
"It's you!" Junko's eyes narrowed as she asked faintly, "What do you want?"
Danzo slowly walked up to Junko, standing with her on the Hokage Rock, overlooking the entire village. After a long while, he sighed and said, "Your talent truly astounds me. I have never seen a ninja as gifted as you."
"Heh, is that so? What are you trying to say?" Junko asked impassively.
Danzo turned his head to look at Junko, a look of surprise in his one exposed eye. "You've changed."
"People change. The only thing that doesn't change is Tsu," Junko said with a shrug.
"Tsu?" Danzo asked upon hearing this. "What is Tsu?"
"God!" Junko said. "Another way Red Leaf Village refers to God."
Danzo nodded, not dwelling on this issue, and said again, "Don't you want to save her?"
"Save who?" Junko asked, surprised.
"Haruno Sakura," Danzo said. "She assassinated the Fourth Mizukage. To avoid unnecessary trouble, the village has decided to eliminate her completely."
Junko was slightly taken aback by this news, then asked, "Why are you telling me this?"
"It would be too much of a waste if she were to die just like that," Danzo paused, then continued, "I can take her in, but you..."
"Pledge allegiance to you, right?" Junko interrupted Danzo.
Danzo didn't speak, but his expression said it all. Junko looked at this man and suddenly found it very amusing. Indeed, no matter the era, there was no shortage of such people.
"What is your decision?" Danzo asked.
"If I don't agree, will you make a move?" Junko asked, gazing into the distance.
"That's correct," Danzo said honestly.
"I understand. What do you want me to do?" Junko said.
Danzo took out a syringe. "This is a drug that can induce a state of suspended animation. I will apply for you to join the encirclement operation. You find an opportunity to get close to her and inject it."
Junko took the syringe and said, "Understood. If there's nothing else, I'll be going." With that, Junko left without looking back.
Danzo squinted at Junko's retreating back. Hmph, did you think I would let you live? You must die.
Danzo was the first to discover that something was wrong with Junko. Based on intelligence, he had initially determined that Junko was a spy cultivated by Kusagakure. At that time, Danzo had wanted to bring her to his side and, after brainwashing, cultivate her as a counter-spy, but he had been thwarted by Sakura Haruno.
After that, Danzo concluded that Sakura Haruno's existence would harm the village's interests. Not only did she bring a spy back to the village, but she also frequently made erroneous judgments, as could be seen from her ninja mission records and her rash decision to engage Hanzo in battle. Danzo was the last among all the higher-ups to learn of this matter.
If Sakura Haruno were just an ordinary ninja, it wouldn't matter much. But not only was she the Fifth Hokage's disciple, her skills were also not weak. Such a person would sooner or later become one of the village's higher-ups. Yet, Danzo couldn't see a single quality in her that a ninja should possess.
If left unchecked, she would sooner or later cause losses to the village. Danzo absolutely would not allow such a thing to happen. So now, he had to find a way to bring her down before her wings were fully fledged. If he could get her under his control, she wouldn't be a bad sharp sword.
He felt it was a bit of a pity that she had chosen to defect rather than submit to him before. But this time, if she wanted to gain a foothold in this ninja world, only he could protect her. Hmph, just obediently become the sword in my hand.
Sakura Haruno was in a rather miserable state at the moment. She was carrying an unconscious Terumi Mei on her back and holding the dead-heavy Executioner's Blade in her hand. The chakra consumed in the previous fight wasn't too much, but to escape pursuit, she had desperately used chakra to travel, and she was carrying so much weight.
"Maybe... I should just throw this sword away!" Sakura thought with some disdain, looking at the Executioner's Blade, which was much taller than herself.
It wasn't really Sakura's fault for feeling disdainful. If it had been a lighter sword during the battle just now, perhaps... well, it probably wouldn't have changed much...
Including the two ANBU dealing with Terumi Mei, there were a total of ten Jonin. And she herself was a blank slate: no Yin Seal chakra, no senjutsu, no ninja tools. If it weren't for the freshly made Military Ration Pills from last night, she'd probably still be fighting.
It seemed she relied a bit too much on the Strength of a Hundred Technique. Without it, facing ten ANBU, she could only flee. Those ANBU weren't ordinary ANBU; they could perform one-handed seals, coordinated well, and even used combination ninjutsu. It was as if... as if they had been specially trained.
After running for a while longer and changing directions several times, Sakura stopped. She was this far already; they probably couldn't catch up. The last memories of her shadow clones were of being crushed by Terumi Mei's Water Release.
It seems she did remember my words: Water Release needs pressure and impact. If that's the case, those ANBU must have had a hard time.
She placed Terumi Mei on the ground. Seeing her still unconscious, Sakura patted her cheek, but Mei didn't react at all. Sure enough, she overused her chakra. Is she an idiot? I told her not to hold back any strength, and she really didn't leave a single bit, directly exhausting herself.
Didn't you think that if you fainted, I'd still have to carry you? Couldn't you even leave a little strength to run?!
However, regarding Mei's actions, it would be a lie for Sakura to say she wasn't moved. But she was also quite conflicted. The personality Mei had formed due to her amnesia... if her memories returned, Sakura didn't know if this current Terumi Mei would still exist.
Sakura found a place to hide Terumi Mei, then scouted the surroundings. She then discovered a town not far away. Returning to Mei's hiding place, she took out the bandages from her backpack and wrapped the Executioner's Blade tightly.
This sword was too eye-catching; a little camouflage would be good. She would go to that town, find an inn, and rest for a bit. If she could find a ninja tool shop, she would sell this Executioner's Blade. It was simply a burden to her.
Then she would summon Katsuyu and ask what was going on. It had been a week already, and there was still no news.
Counting the dates, it was already late April or early May of Konoha's 61st year. She had been forced to leave the village at the end of February; it had been two months since she came out.
Shaking her head, Sakura stopped thinking about these things. Shouldering the Executioner's Blade and carrying Terumi Mei on her back, she walked towards the town.