Looking at Hidan, who had already been reduced to chunks of meat, Sakura Haruno snorted coldly and said, "Stop pretending. I know you're not dead."
On the ground, the pupils of Hidan's head, which had been motionless, suddenly contracted. Then, his eyeballs rolled to look at the young girl and said, "How did you know?"
"I don't need to tell you!" Sakura stepped on Hidan's head and said, "Speak. Why did you attack me?"
Hidan, being stepped on, mumbled indistinctly, "I don't need to tell you either. I will never die, hahaha...."
"Is that so?" Sakura moved her foot and pointed a finger at Hidan. "I wonder, if I cut your head into pieces and feed it to the dogs, will you die then?"
Hidan's wild laughter froze on his face. That might not kill him, but he probably wouldn't be able to recover. Only now did Hidan feel a sense of terror. He had always roamed the ninja world relying on his immortality, and because of this immortal trait, he had developed an arrogant attitude.
What Hidan loved most was to catch his enemies off guard when they thought he was already dead. But this young girl seemed to have seen through his ability. No, it wasn't just seeing through it; it was as if she knew his ability like the back of her hand, even though this was their first encounter.
"..."
"What? Still not talking?" Sakura saw Hidan's ugly expression, yet he seemed to have no intention of speaking. She poked at Hidan's pile of minced meat with the Executioner's Blade and suddenly saw a small red notebook.
Picking up the small notebook and flipping through a couple of pages, Sakura knew why Hidan had attacked her. It seemed Kirigakure's twenty million ryo was quite attractive; even Akatsuki had been drawn in. At the same time, Sakura also saw the mission to occupy the Land of This in it.
No wonder I ran into Sasori and Dei...-damn-whatsit. My luck is really terrible. But it's also good that it was this idiot Hidan. If it had been those two, a fierce battle would have been unavoidable.
Since she understood the cause and effect, Sakura couldn't be bothered to waste any more words on Hidan. As for his immortality, Sakura had no intention of studying it whatsoever. What kind of damn immortality is it without rapid healing? It's not even as good as Creation Rebirth.
If it weren't for his immortality, Hidan would be at most Jonin-level. After knowing Hidan's secret, fighting him was like child's play. Calling him a Jonin was even overestimating him. Apart from his Death Controlling Possessed Blood, he only had taijutsu.
At least in Sakura's memory, he had never used ninjutsu. With his biggest secret exposed, Hidan alone posed no threat at all, unless someone coordinated with him. But she didn't know where this guy's partner had run off to, leaving him to intercept her alone.
"W-wait," Hidan hurriedly said when he saw light glinting at the young girl's fingertips.
"Is there something else?" Sakura asked.
"Heh, if you let me go, I'll tell you the secret of immortality!" Hidan said, a look of terror on his face.
Hidan wasn't afraid of death. But upon realizing he would turn into feces, he panicked. If he became like that, he would never be able to offer sacrifices to Lord Jashin again.
However, Sakura seemed not to have heard Hidan's words. With a few flicks of her fingers, Hidan's intact head was instantly cut into four pieces. Hidan's eyes were still moving, but because his vocal cords had been completely severed, he couldn't make any sound.
Sakura, seemingly dissatisfied with how little she had cut him, used both hands. Hidan's head was directly turned into a pile of ground meat. Cut into such small pieces, Hidan could never be restored.
Then, using Earth Release, she dug a pit and buried all of Hidan's minced meat deep underground.
Terumi Mei, who had been kicked away by Sakura, was now rubbing her stomach, looking at Sakura with an aggrieved expression.
Sakura tossed the Executioner's Blade to Terumi Mei as she walked over and said, "Let's go. We're not far from the Land of Grass now. We have to get there in one go."
Hugging the sword Sakura had thrown to her, Terumi Mei's eyes lit up as she looked at the large blade, clearly very interested in how Sakura had demonstrated its use earlier.
————
In the backyard of the Third Hokage's home, an ANBU operative stood behind the Third Hokage.
The Third Hokage turned around, looked at the ANBU operative before him, took a deep breath, and said, "Do you understand the mission? Tenzo!"
"Understood," Tenzo nodded.
"Mhm, you may go first," the Third said with a wave of his hand.
"Yes."
Then Tenzo disappeared, leaving only the Third Hokage in the courtyard, staring blankly at the landscape trees in silence.
"Are you really going to do this?"
A voice suddenly came from behind the Third Hokage. The Third Hokage's expression stiffened; he knew who it was just by the voice.
Nodding silently, the Third Hokage said in a deep voice, "As Hokage, personal feelings cannot be the top priority. Regardless of who it is, if they intend to harm the village's interests, then..."
"Then they can only be eliminated, is that right?" Tsunade interrupted the Third.
The Third was silent for a moment, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said, "Correct!"
Hearing the Third's words, Tsunade fell silent. She was no longer young, and she held the position of Hokage. Her actions had to align with the village's interests. Losing her temper with the Third was the stupidest thing to do.
"I will also participate in this operation!" Tsunade suddenly said.
"No, you stay in the village," the Third Hokage shook his head. "There's no need for the Hokage to be mobilized for such matters."
"The current Hokage of the village is me!" Tsunade said, not yielding an inch.
Tsunade had been completely excluded from this matter. Whether it was personnel deployment or preparations, Tsunade couldn't get involved.
As for why, Tsunade had some guesses in her heart. It was probably because the old man had been soft-hearted back then and let Orochimaru escape, and now Orochimaru had become a scourge.
He didn't want her to repeat his experience, so he was determined to exclude her from this matter, even if it meant coming out of retirement.
"Since you know you're the Hokage, don't be willful," the Third interrupted. "Don't be stubborn anymore. The village... is not yet ready for war... Do you understand!"
Clenching her fists tightly, Tsunade bit her lip, her expression slightly furious. A moment later, she powerlessly unclenched her fists.
Tsunade was naturally well aware of the village's current situation. The gap between generations was the present reality. After the Third Shinobi World War, other villages had been recuperating, while Konoha had suffered one misfortune after another.
Orochimaru's defection, the deaths of the Fourth Hokage and his wife, Kumogakure's extortion, the Uchiha clan's annihilation, and on top of that, the village had been invaded by Sunagakure and Orochimaru not long ago, resulting in further losses.
Since the Third War, Konoha had been constantly suffering. After the Fourth Hokage died sealing the Nine-Tails, they couldn't even find a successor, and the old man had to come out of retirement to take on the heavy responsibility.
As for the new generation, they hadn't fully matured yet. The only capable person in the new generation had become a rogue ninja. If war broke out when the village was at its weakest, even if they won, it would be a pyrrhic victory. The village would then be unable to recover its former strength for a long time.
As Hokage, Tsunade naturally understood these things. The most prudent course of action now was to eliminate Sakura and avoid war.
But... Tsunade couldn't bring herself to do it. On one hand, there was the unwillingness of a master who had failed to protect her disciple. On the other hand, as Hokage, she had to be responsible for the village.
The old man knew her conflict, which was why he had excluded her. But could she really stand by and do nothing?!
Tsunade left the Third Hokage's home, her expression fluctuating between light and dark.