Chapter 510: Haruno Sakura's Choice
On the other side—
After the clone's true identity was seen through, the Cloud Ninja only left a few people to deal with it. The main force continued to maintain the encirclement and followed Sakura's pace.
"Watch out for her self-destruction!"
The leading ninja shouted loudly, dodging the clone's obvious suicidal charge meant to perish together, calling on his companions to deal with this clone using throwing weapons and ninjutsu.
Under this cautious response, the ice clone soon found it hard to cope, running exhausted, and was beaten miserably.
"Last strike, watch me!"
The Cloud Ninja squad leader felt assured in his heart, shouted loudly, and completed the hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Black Panther!"
Black lightning condensed into a majestic panther in the ninja's hands. With a roar, it charged towards the clone with great momentum, and then—
"Ice Release: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
The girl who suddenly flashed out from beside the clone casually threw a punch, blasting the majestic lightning panther into slag!
"Don't block the way, you trash."
When the girl swept past him, her awe-inspiring emerald eyes glanced at him indifferently. Her gaze, sharp as a knife, seemed to coldly say these words in his ear.
The Cloud Ninja froze in place. Haruno Sakura's cold iceberg-like eyes glanced faintly, and a heavy mountain-like momentum enveloped them, actually scaring these few people into not daring to move a step!
Haruno Sakura didn't have time to deal with these few people either. She stepped barefoot on the eaves and left directly.
A little trick allowed Haruno Sakura to temporarily escape the small encirclement of the Cloud Ninja; but after breaking out of this small circle, what Haruno Sakura had to face was the larger encirclement of the Cloud Ninja!
The Raikage didn't lie to her about at least one thing...
To deal with Haruno Sakura, the Cloud Ninja laid an inescapable net!
There was an encirclement ahead, and the Raikage, Killer B, and others relentlessly pursuing from behind.
Haruno Sakura's Ice Body Flicker was heavily restricted in this encirclement. Under layers of surveillance, her Body Flicker medium was often seen through before it could even condense, thus making it extremely difficult to perform.
Without using Ice Body Flicker, her speed couldn't match the Raikage's, and she soon fell into a vicious cycle of using Ice Body Flicker to pull away, only to be chased back by the Raikage.
This chase and flee lasted for most of the night!
For a full four hours, Haruno Sakura only moved ten kilometers towards the Land of Fire.
And as the combat time prolonged, more and more ninja from Cloud Ninja Village joined the pursuit and encirclement task.
Hundreds, or thousands?
Haruno Sakura tried to kill a few batches while running, but to no avail; the Cloud Ninja were still like locusts, spread out on the huge encirclement.
Every time she stopped, the Raikage and the Eight-Tails would entangle her, consuming her stamina and preventing her from escaping.
Haruno Sakura also increasingly felt that her Body Flicker Technique was hard to perform.
The girl began to feel like a bug falling into layers of spider webs; the more she struggled, the tighter she was stuck by the spider silk.
Sage Mode? Wind Blade Torrent? Ice Release? Water Release? Or some other genjutsu?
She thought desperately of a way to break the deadlock.
These jutsu could indeed allow her to easily kill the Cloud Ninja, including those seemingly strong Jonin and elite Jonin. If Haruno Sakura really had the intent to kill, they wouldn't last a few moves under her hands. But it couldn't break the deadlock—her stamina was limited, and even the chakra in her Yin Seal was limited.
This powerless anxiety and anger surged into her heart, making her couldn't help but have a thought.
Getting slower and slower...
At this rate, I might never be able to break out of their encirclement!
Haruno Sakura stopped, panting slightly, feeling so powerless for the first time.
"What, not running anymore?"
The Raikage caught up, a complacent smile appearing on his face: "I already said... you can't escape!"
"I'll kill you first!"
The girl's face was gloomy. She shouted angrily, raised her hand, and fired an almost instantaneous Water Gun Technique. The silver-white sharp blade cut through the sky, slashing straight down at the Raikage's neck.
The Raikage's figure turned into an afterimage the moment the water line fell.
"Save it!"
A's figure flashed from another spot on the ground, snorting coldly.
The lightning on his body remained the same. A white mark on his neck oozed blood beads, which was clearly the trace left by the girl's water blade.
However, it was just leaving a trace, nothing more.
The Raikage's speed was too fast.
He touched his neck, looked at the blood bead on his finger, sneered, and licked the blood bead into his mouth.
"Your ninjutsu can't do anything to me!" A said coldly, "I already said, you can't escape!"
"Accept reality! You only have one choice, which is to obediently become our captive!"
"Unless, you insist on disregarding the big picture and fighting us to the death here! In that case, you are clear about the consequences. The ninja world will be overturned by Akatsuki, your family, friends, and companions will die tragically under the absolute disaster! Can you accept such an ending?"
A stared intently at Haruno Sakura, wanting to see expressions of despair and breakdown on her face.
Her heart should be almost unable to withstand this pressure...
The Raikage anticipated in his heart, and then, he was astonished to see Haruno Sakura smile.
"Haha!"
She really laughed, not that kind of desperate miserable laugh, but a relaxed and relieved smile after figuring something out.
"What are you laughing at?"
An ominous premonition suddenly arose in the Raikage's heart, and he asked coldly.
"I was just thinking, you put the main force intercepting me in the direction between me and the Land of Fire."
The girl smiled faintly and said slowly.
"So... in the opposite direction, your interception efforts should be much smaller."
The Raikage was slightly stunned.
Then he said in a deep voice: "Hmph, that direction is towards Cloud Ninja Village. Going that way, you will only die faster!"
"Is that so?"
Haruno Sakura asked back, the smile on her face even brighter.
"By the way, I have a question... The Fourth Hokage, whose speed was faster than yours, theoretically no one in the ninja world could kill him..."
"Then... how did he die?"
She said meaningfully.
On this night, the Fourth Raikage A, who had been strategizing all along, thought of something, and his expression suddenly changed drastically.
Turned completely ashen.
"You... what do you want to do, Haruno Sakura! I warn you, don't act rashly!"
He roared fiercely but inwardly terrified. His voice was loud and gruff, but carried a trace of panic.
"Haha! When you forced me to make a choice, did you ever think I could make this choice?"
Haruno Sakura's smile remained calm, but killing intent quietly flourished.
"I'm not running anymore."
Killing intent overflowed from these four short words, spreading coldly in the open space between the two.
Since she couldn't escape, then she wouldn't run.
The girl made a choice.
The Raikage's heart pounded, already realizing what Haruno Sakura wanted to do.
She wanted to charge into Cloud Ninja Village!
"Since you guys want me to stay so much... then I'll take the initiative."
A's eyes widened. Chakra erupted all over his body, and he charged fiercely at the girl, throwing a punch.
But only hit the afterimage of Sakura fading in the air.
"Sure enough, the precautions against my Ice Body Flicker in this direction are not strict..."
"See you in Cloud Ninja Village, Raikage-sama."
The girl only left these few words and disappeared in front of the Raikage.
A stared blankly at Haruno Sakura's disappearing figure, his body cold all over, and let out a roar of despair.
"Ah ah ah ah—!!!"
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