That night, even Red Shoal Village, usually bustling with activity every evening, gradually fell silent.
In the lobby of the hot spring inn, deep within Red Shoal Village, a faint light glowed. Behind the wooden counter sat a young man, dozing off, indicating that even late at night, they wouldn't give up any opportunity to attract guests.
Sakura Haruno adjusted the backpack in her hand. It was filled with sealing scrolls. Since the purpose of this trip was "Shāi," she had bought many sealing scrolls when packing her luggage and had asked Karin for instructions on how to use them.
Sakura Haruno hadn't used sealing scrolls before because their production cost was rather high. If not allocated by the village, a considerable number of ninja wouldn't purchase them themselves.
If a mission required them, the village would provide them. Ordinarily, such items were rarely used. This backpack full of scrolls had indeed made Sakura's heart ache a little.
Slinging the backpack on, she glanced back at the second floor of the inn. She sensed that Yamato was still in his room. Although he wasn't asleep, he hadn't noticed that she was no longer in her room.
Before leaving, Sakura had placed a natural energy genjutsu clone in her room. Although it had no offensive power, it could pass for the real thing.
While a shadow clone could also achieve a similar effect, a shadow clone couldn't withstand much damage. In contrast, the natural energy genjutsu clone could be attacked without dissipating, until it "died." This technique had fooled Sasuke and Pain before. Though it lacked offensive power, it was much more practical than a shadow clone.
Sakura Haruno walked through the village towards the entrance, where "Shāi" was located. When she arrived, "Shāi" still looked as it did when she first saw it: decayed and withered, as if it could collapse at any moment.
Her palm gently caressed the trunk of "Shāi." The rough texture spread from her fingertips. Though its appearance was so ordinary, so unremarkable, it was indeed a relic from another era, ten thousand years ago.
For ten thousand years, it had stood here silently, carrying the information of its era, coldly observing the vast changes of time, finally waiting to be discovered, to reveal to the world the glory of ten thousand years past.
Sakura Haruno took a deep breath, her beautiful eyes slightly narrowed. Suddenly, Storm Release lasers burst from her fingertips, emitting a captivating blue light in the darkness. The blue lasers swept directly across the base of "Shāi" from left to right, and then the blue light gradually faded until it disappeared.
"Shāi" still stood there, unmoving. Sakura Haruno paid it no mind. She walked up, extended her palm, and gently pushed against "Shāi's" trunk.
With a soft crack, a neat incision appeared at the base of "Shāi." It then began to tilt to one side. Seeing this, Sakura quickly ran to the other end, raised her arms, and steadily stopped "Shāi's" fall. Then, she gently placed "Shāi" on the ground without making a sound.
Without further ado, Sakura Haruno used Storm Release lasers again to segment the fallen trunk. After finishing the segmentation, she took out a sealing scroll from her backpack, opened one, and began to form hand seals. With a poof, the character for "Wood" (木) appeared on the scroll.
"Phew~~ Gotta hurry, there's still a lot." The kunoichi muttered to herself, her hands deftly repeating the previous steps.
In no time, Sakura Haruno had finished sealing the last section of "Shāi." Putting away the scroll, she pondered for a moment, feeling it still wasn't enough. But it didn't matter; these sections of "Shāi" were only from the surface. There was still much more underground.
Subsequently, Sakura Haruno formed hand seals, using chakra to make the earth where "Shāi" was located split open to both sides. She could perform such minor applications of chakra with ease. As the earth split, the "Shāi" buried underground was revealed.
Sakura Haruno jumped down directly and then repeated the process. Time flew by. After the kunoichi wiped the sweat from her forehead with her mud-covered hand, her work was finally complete.
Carrying a backpack full of sealing scrolls, she jumped up and then used Earth Release to fill the pit in the ground. As for whether the villagers would ask about the missing part of "Shāi" on the surface, that wasn't Sakura Haruno's concern. She believed Kazuo Soga would handle it well.
The next day.
Sakura Haruno yawned as she walked out of her room, lazily stretching, ready to go to the dining hall for some food. Just as she turned the corner of the corridor, an expressionless, square face stared gloomily at her.
Instantly, Sakura was startled and flipped backward, her right hand already reaching for her ninja tool pouch. After pulling out a kunai, Sakura finally saw clearly whose gloomy face it was.
"Yamato-senpai, don't you know that scaring people can scare them to death?" Tossing the kunai in her hand, Sakura yawned and casually put it back into her ninja tool pouch.
Yamato's mouth twitched slightly, his expression full of awkwardness. His lips moved a few times, but in the end, he only sighed and said, "Get ready to leave."
"Hey, I haven't eaten yet. Wait until I finish eating." Sakura retorted unhappily, then, ignoring Yamato's reaction, walked past him towards the dining hall.
"Did she find out? That technique..." Yamato turned and looked at Sakura's retreating back, a thoughtful expression on his face. "No, she probably wouldn't..."
Sakura arrived at the dining hall, a sense of doubt gradually growing in her mind. Her brain was still a bit foggy from just waking up, but being startled by Yamato had instantly cleared her head. So now, thinking back, Yamato seemed to have just returned from outside.
She had initially thought he had gone to the dining hall to eat, but after arriving at the dining hall, Yamato didn't carry the faint scent of gardenias that permeated the restaurant. Instead, he smelled of... earth...
At this thought, Sakura was alarmed. Could it be... my tracks from last night were discovered? But... when was I exposed? That disguise should have been perfect. Let alone him, even the Sharingan couldn't see through it.
Unless... I was marked by Yamato from the beginning, so no matter how perfect the disguise, I couldn't fool him.
Thinking of this possibility, Sakura felt an inexplicable sense of frustration. No matter how strong she became, there were still things she wasn't good at. She didn't know what Yamato had discovered. It seemed necessary to go and check the situation at "Shāi."
"Guest, what would you like to eat?"
"Ah?" Sakura's thoughts were interrupted by a voice. Looking up, she saw it was a restaurant waiter. "I'll have a serving of your signature dish here."
"Certainly, please wait a moment," the waiter said, excusing himself.
Immediately, Sakura stood up and walked towards the restroom. She created a shadow clone, intending to send it back to the dining hall while she went herself. But then she suddenly remembered that she might have been marked by Yamato, so she gave up the idea. She had to let the shadow clone go check, while she stayed behind.
Since I've been marked, I can't let him know that I know. To be honest, Sakura wasn't very willing to believe this was her master's intention. But Yamato was watching her so closely; if it wasn't her master's intention, it probably wouldn't be possible.
However, Sakura wouldn't fall out with him over such a small matter now; that would be the stupidest thing to do. The things she had to do in the future would probably involve making enemies constantly. The later she fell out with Konoha, the greater her chances of success.
After Sakura had wolfed down her breakfast, news from the shadow clone arrived, which also brought her a sigh of relief. "Shāi" was still as she had buried it yesterday; there were no signs of it being disturbed.
It seemed Yamato's marking could only tell her approximate location, but not what she was doing.
Humming a little tune, Sakura returned to her room, picked up her backpack, and went next door to knock.
"Yamato-senpai, let's go."
With a clatter, the door opened. Yamato was already fully prepared.
"Let's go."
Yamato didn't show much emotion, but Sakura always felt he seemed a little guilty. She then followed Yamato out of the inn.
The two walked one after the other to the village entrance. Yamato paused slightly and said, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally, "This village is developing too quickly. They even have construction work at night. I remember there was a torii gate here when I arrived, but it's gone today."
"Hehe, that's right. When I first came here on a mission, this was just a small fishing village," Sakura said with a chuckle. Now she was even more certain that Yamato definitely didn't know what she had done last night; otherwise, why would he be probing like this?
Overall, Sakura was quite satisfied with this trip. Although that old liar had deceived her time and again, she had finally achieved her initial goal: to find a vessel for the Tailed Beasts.
Departure, heading home.
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