Chapter 256: Enemies Arriving from Another Direction
The Konoha ninja didn't have so many twists and turns. They were extremely grateful that Gaara was willing to help. Although the two squads were on a joint mission, there was still a difference between "insider" and "outsider." It wouldn't have been a big deal if one side had retreated first when encountering danger, instead of covering each other.
This act of genuinely treating an ally as a comrade was truly heart-warming.
"Thank you, Gaara!" the Konoha side said with heartfelt sincerity.
The Sand-nin, on the other hand, were much more conflicted.
At first, they had avoided Gaara like the plague, and now they had to rely on his power...
Gaara quickly realized their state of mind. He didn't expose it, nor did he intend to let those people continue to be embarrassed. He faintly changed the subject: "The one fighting Sasori is... Haruno Sakura?"
He, of course, still remembered her, that girl with the wide forehead.
When he was in Konoha, the most special person he had met was Uzumaki Naruto, who was in the same boat as him but had gained the recognition of his comrades.
Among the remaining people, most of them either hated him, despised him, or feared him.
But there were also some whose eyes were different from those people.
For example, Lee—that taijutsu master had only treated him as a challenge. Gaara now felt very guilty for having injured him so badly. For example, Sasuke—he saw Gaara as a target he had to defeat. His gaze was very real.
And then there was that girl who was very strong in Water Style and Ice Style.
Haruno Sakura.
It was the first time Gaara had discovered that there was a girl, other than his sister Temari, who did not see him as a monster.
Is it because Naruto is also her teammate? Her relationship with Naruto was extremely good, so by association, she wouldn't despise him, the Jinchuriki of the Sand.
He still remembered that girl's every frown and smile.
Her pair of light green eyes, her clear and clean gaze, was like a trickle of stream water. When she looked over calmly, it was as if she could extinguish the flames of tyranny in his heart.
Sakura was indeed a different kind of ninja.
It was just...
His two close-quarters encounters with her had not been very pleasant. One was when the two had faced off in the hospital. Standing in front of Lee, she had, for the first time, shown an outward anger and a cold killing intent. The second time was when they were fleeing Konoha during the Chunin Exams. The fate of the three of them was in her hands. Sakura had hesitated, her face uncertain, but in the end, she had let them go.
"Since Naruto trusts you, then I will trust you too." That's what she had said.
If Gaara and Naruto were natural "brothers," "family" without blood relations, and thus could be naturally trusted by Naruto; then this girl was the first person, outside of "family," to trust him...
In the past six months, Kankuro and Temari had seen the changes in Gaara, and the relationship between the three had gradually returned to that of a normal family. But on the outside, the impression of him from the other comrades in the Sand Village was still stuck at the level of him being cold and ruthless.
Deep-rooted prejudices were everywhere.
When he found that the path to seeking his comrades' recognition and bonds was so difficult, he realized just how precious that "I trust you" that Haruno Sakura had said back then was.
Haruno Sakura...
How was she doing now?
After returning to the Sand Village, Gaara had been paying attention to the news from over there. He knew that Lee had completely recovered, that Naruto had left the village with someone else to travel and train, and that many of the people who had participated in that exam were now growing up very fast.
When his sister Temari had come back from Konoha a few days ago, besides mentioning Shikamaru, she had also talked about Sakura. "It's like she's suddenly blossomed. She's become very beautiful..." He had directly skipped over the details that only girls cared about. And then she had said, "And she's very strong. When I was standing in front of her, I could feel it. She might be even stronger than you, little brother..."
If she's even stronger than him, against Sasori of the Red Sand, she should be able to hold on for a while, right?
"How long can Haruno Sakura and the others hold out?" Gaara suddenly asked as they were rushing.
"I don't know..." Hoshino Uo replied. "I can still feel that her chakra is very stable right now. Maybe she can hold on until we get there, or maybe she'll be killed in an instant..."
"She won't be killed so easily," the captain from the Konoha side suddenly said. "She's very strong! Who knows, she might even be able to defeat that so-called Sasori of the Red Sand!"
Gaara turned his head in surprise and looked at him.
"The opponent is Sasori of the Red Sand," he said, his tone carrying a faint concern. "Although I know Sakura-chan is very strong..."
The Konoha captain turned his head back and met his gaze.
"You don't know yet, do you... Sakura has had a head-on confrontation with other members of the Akatsuki before, and returned completely unharmed."
"But, no matter what, they are still in danger," the captain said, and his steps, which were already beyond cruising speed, accelerated once again. "We must speed up!"
The Konoha ninja couldn't care about much else and unhesitatingly pushed their speed to the limit. The Sand-nin, however, looked at each other, hesitating, and finally, in unspoken agreement, they all turned their gazes to Gaara.
"Let's keep up," he said calmly.
His figure instantly accelerated and shot out, naturally running to the front of the Sand-nin. The rest of the Sand-nin then followed closely behind him.
Hold on...!
In another direction, not too far from the battlefield.
The man in the kimono walking in front suddenly stopped.
"Do you feel that, Kabuto?" he said, turning to his companion behind him.
The youth with the glasses stopped, closed his eyes, and carefully sensed for a moment. "Hn... there are people fighting up ahead, Lord Orochimaru."
The two were precisely Orochimaru and Kabuto, who had just drilled out of some base.
"To be able to feel the aftershocks from so far away... who are the two sides of the battle, Lord Orochimaru?"
Orochimaru walked up to the top of a hill and gazed into the distance.
"It's normal for you not to be able to feel it from such a distance," he said with a wicked smile. "The two people who are fighting are both old acquaintances of ours! Kabuto, why don't you try and guess who they are..."
Kabuto followed him up and stood behind Orochimaru.
"One of them is Sasori, right?" he said, pushing up his glasses and coming to a natural conclusion. "He hates waiting for people the most, and he also hates people waiting for him, so he will definitely appear in that vicinity on time..."
The corner of Orochimaru's mouth curled up, signaling for him to continue. It was not difficult to guess that one of them was Sasori. But for the other one to be Haruno Sakura, it was not so easy for Kabuto to think of.
"However, as for who the other one is, I'm not clear," Kabuto frowned and thought for a moment, analyzing. "At this time, the people who would appear in that location are most likely ninja from the Sand Village. They should have discovered the tracks of Sasori and the Akatsuki... But after we killed the Fourth Kazekage, they shouldn't have such a strong ninja anymore!"
He glanced at Orochimaru. The expression on the latter's pale, almost bloodless face was a half-smile, indicating that Kabuto's guess was wrong.
Kabuto pondered for a moment.
And then said, "If it's not the Sand-nin, then it can only be people from Konoha." There were quite a few ninja in Konoha who could be called old acquaintances of his and Orochimaru's... But there were not many who could fight Sasori like this. Kakashi might be able to exchange a few blows with him, but with his chakra amount, he absolutely couldn't produce such a presence.
Could it be that Tsunade has come? No... that was even more unbelievable than Kakashi's chakra amount suddenly skyrocketing.
So, who on earth could it be?
Seeing that Kabuto still couldn't figure out the answer, Orochimaru directly revealed the mystery. "I'll just tell you directly, Kabuto! It's Haruno Sakura."
Kabuto was clearly stunned for a moment and subconsciously retorted, "How is that possible!"
His impression of Sakura was still stuck in that brief confrontation during the Chunin Exams.
Kabuto had to admit that the Sakura at that time already had a considerable degree of strength. Her strange ninjutsu had even given him a headache, and he was not sure he could defeat her in a short period of time.
But to say that she could contend with Sasori...
"Hehe... don't forget that battle she had with Kimimaro," Orochimaru said, licking his lips and revealing a meaningful smile. "She's growing even faster than Sasuke!"
Orochimaru's mood was somewhat playful.
In some aspects, Orochimaru and Haruno Sakura... were actually the same kind of person. Both were brilliantly talented ninjutsu geniuses in pursuit of the truth.
It was just that Orochimaru, who had lost his parents at a young age and had been exposed to too much darkness, and the girl, who had grown up happily and had been sheltered by two generations of Hokage, had walked down different paths of darkness and light.
So, in the Forest of Death, he had not struck her down. Besides needing someone to stay by Sasuke's side to take care of him, there was another reason.
Looking at her was like looking at himself who had walked down another path.
Unlike Sasuke and Kabuto; Sasuke was a treasure he coveted, and Kabuto was his capable subordinate. But Sakura was a fellow seeker who had embarked on the path of exploration, just like him.
After knowing that the person who had killed Kimimaro was Haruno Sakura, Orochimaru, while feeling regret and anger... also had an indescribable feeling of anticipation in his heart.
"To think you've grown so fast. You really are the same kind of person as me..."
Therefore, after discovering that Konoha was searching his bases and plundering his materials, he had deliberately left behind a complete set of materials.
It wasn't that he hadn't had time to destroy them... He knew that Sakura was Tsunade's disciple and would definitely have a way to access those materials.
That was actually for her.
"You will definitely not be able to resist researching the materials inside..." Orochimaru had predicted. Because if it were him, he would have made the same choice!
In this regard, he indeed understood Haruno Sakura very well.
"At that time, will you repeat my path and betray your village and comrades?"
He thought of that time during the Chunin Exams, that pair of bright, unyielding eyes. "Hehehehe... I'm really looking forward to it. I can't wait to see your eyes dim, to see you fleeing in panic like a homeless dog, Haruno Sakura!"
However, on this point, Haruno Sakura and Orochimaru were not the same kind of person. For Orochimaru to want to copy his life's trajectory onto Sakura, it could only be said that he did not understand her other side, the easygoing, warm, and sunny side...
Pulling his thoughts back from his memories, Orochimaru looked at Kabuto faintly. "Let's go. We shouldn't miss the good show!"
Kabuto nodded.
With two swishes, the two of them disappeared from the road.
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 400 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!