Late Time ...
Sakura finally finished crying, rubbing her swollen eyes as she stepped out of Kakashi's arms. She said apologetically,
"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei, I got your clothes all dirty."
Kakashi casually patted his vest. "It's nothing, just tears. It's not dirty at all. It'll dry."
But speaking of dirty clothes, Sakura suddenly realized she hadn't changed her clothes since the Fourth Shinobi World War. Her pupils contracted sharply as she looked down; she was still wearing her black ninja uniform with one sleeve missing and black pants.
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The dried blood, dust, and dirt clung not only to her clothes but also to her skin. Combined with sweat and grime, Sakura almost vomited just from sniffing her own clothes. A pungent, sour stench mixed with an indescribable fishy smell—how could a girl who valued beauty and cleanliness bear this, especially in front of a group of men? She had completely lost face. After Tsukuyomi, Sakura Haruno experienced social death once again.
She couldn't help but scream. "Ahhhhhhh!"
Several men looked over, wondering why Sakura was screaming.
Kakashi panicked. "Sakura, what's wrong? What happened?"
Sakura frantically stomped her feet, covered her face, and screamed.
"I'm stinking! I stink! Kakashi-sensei, are you olfactory? Didn't you smell the stench on me? Why didn't you tell me? It's so embarrassing! I need to take a shower! I need to change! I can't wait a minute longer!"
"Oh, is that it? You scared me." Kakashi was relieved.
Sakura, however, immediately frowned and retorted angrily.
"Kakashi-sensei, what's with your reaction? I'm a beautiful young girl who's stinking! And you just say 'Oh, this is it'?! How can I tolerate this? No, I need to go out and take a shower, I need to change! Kakashi-sensei, please get me out of here!"
"Sakura, the Divine Tree is still outside. I'm afraid you'll be attacked again if you go out." Kakashi hesitated, unsure if the Divine Tree had calmed down. "I can get you some clean clothes, but forget about taking a bath."
"Even if I change into clean clothes, I'll still stink if I can't take a bath! Am I going to stink to death here?" Sakura tugged at her clothes listlessly, pouting and looking like she was about to cry. "At the very least, get me some water so I can dry myself off."
Kakashi had a solution for this. He went out and found a bucket, filled it with water, and brought in a towel. However, before he could speak, Hashirama, who had heard their conversation, chuckled.
"Sakura-chan, don't worry, I can let you take a bath here."
Sakura looked at him questioningly. "Lord Hashirama, how can I take a bath here?"
"The Kamui dimension...no water, no facilities, what am I going to do?"
Hashirama grinned, clapped his hands, and a square wooden hut appeared before him. He'd recently become quite skilled at using medical wooden puppets for IV drips, and his Wood Release style was beginning to reflect Yamato's expertise in crafting wooden products, rather than just a simple, wild, natural plant aesthetic.
Sakura looked at the hut curiously. Three sides were enclosed by wooden planks, while one plank was open. The roof resembled a water tank, also open at the top. Through the open wooden door, she could see a hole in the roof plugged with a wooden stopper. Sakura seemed to understand, but while she had the space, how was she going to bathe without water?
Just then, Hashirama patted Tobirama's shoulder with his left hand and Madara's shoulder with his right, laughing cheerfully.
"It's up to you two now."
The two men, arms crossed, were confused about what they were supposed to do. They looked at the hands on their shoulders and then at Hashirama, equally puzzled.
"Big brother, what are you looking at us for?"
"Hashirama, what are you up to now?"
Hashirama grinned, excitedly. "Tobirama uses Water Release, Madara uses Fire Release, Water Release plus Fire Release, isn't that just hot water? Pour the hot water into the water tank on the roof, and it'll be a natural shower!"
Minato's eyes lit up, praising, "As expected of Lord Hashirama, so resourceful, what a great idea!"
But the two entrusted with this didn't think so. Tobirama's lips twitched. "Big brother, are you serious?"
Madara was speechless. "Hashirama, can't you think straight for once?"
"Hmm? I think it's great." Hashirama blinked.
Sakura, seeing that she still had to trouble the Second Hokage and the Uchiha Madara she utterly disliked, immediately felt embarrassed.
"Lord Hashirama, thank you, but I won't trouble the Second Hokage and Madara Uchiha. I'll have Kakashi-sensei bring me some water, but this little house is perfect; I can wash and change in here."
Hashirama disagreed, waving his hand dismissively. "How can that be? Just wiping isn't comfortable enough. Don't feel bad troubling them; consider their labor an apology for the Infinite Tsukuyomi!"
Upon hearing this, Madara and Tobirama were speechless.
"Hmph, alright then. It's just a fire jutsu, nothing to do." Madara maintained his composure, initially thinking that he wasn't the only Uchiha capable of fire jutsu, so why was he being singled out?
"Fine," Tobirama sighed, pinching his brow.
Seeing that the Second Hokage had actually agreed, Sakura was surprised and even a little overwhelmed. After all, this man looked serious, aloof, and not very approachable, and he was the Hokage. Having a Hokage use Water Release to prepare her bathwater felt a bit unbearable to Sakura.
As for Uchiha Madara, it was actually quite surreal. Excluding the timeline of the Tsukuyomi, just a few days ago they were fighting to the death, and this Fourth Shinobi World War boss had even stabbed her in the back. Now, he was actually going to heat up her bathwater. Life truly is unpredictable; you never know what unexpected twists and turns will occur next.
Sakura murmured her thanks, vaguely watching the two simultaneously form hand seals and unleash their ninjutsu.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique."
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A thick water dragon and a massive fireball with an extremely wide range simultaneously rushed towards the water tank on the roof of the wooden house. After colliding, they turned into a large cloud of white steam with a hiss, and then, not a single drop of water leaked out.
Hashirama immediately shook his head vehemently. "No way! I need water, not steam, Madara! Control the intensity of your ninjutsu! You can't completely negate Tobirama's Water Dragon Bullet! Do it again!"
"Tch." Madara was annoyed. Judging the opponent's ninjutsu intensity and then using a matching intensity to negate or even suppress it had become his fighting instinct. Changing it now felt a bit strange.
Madara formed hand seals again, blowing out a fireball that looked slightly smaller than before. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Tobirama reacted quickly, simultaneously forming hand seals and releasing the Water Dragon Bullet Technique.
After the collision, thankfully, it didn't turn into steam. A large puddle of steaming water gushed down, gradually filling the water tank on the wooden roof.
Hashirama removed the wooden plugs from the bottom of the tank and the roof, and the water immediately poured out. Hashirama tried to reach in to test the water temperature, then immediately jumped out, shaking his hands frantically and blowing air, shouting excitedly.
"Madara, you're scalding someone to death! This is boiling water! Your ninjutsu intensity is still too high. Turn it down, make it just the right temperature—not too hot, not too cold!"
Madara's forehead veins bulged. "Hashirama, you're such a pain! Just have Tobirama add some cold water!"
"That won't work." Hashirama shook his head again. "The water temperature will fluctuate wildly, and this tank isn't big. One ninjutsu isn't enough; you'll have to release it several times. This is scalding hot water. Even if Tobirama adds cold water immediately, it won't dilute and lower the temperature in time. You'll scald Sakura-chan!"
Sakura looked at Hashirama with gratitude. The First Hokage was so thoughtful, even noticing such details.
Madara was speechless, stumped by Hashirama's reasoned argument, and could only continue adjusting the ninjutsu intensity, releasing the Great Fireball Technique in frustration.
Aside from the Sengoku group, Kakashi and the others were also surprised to see Madara completely helpless against Hashirama. It was clear the two were extremely close friends before their falling out, and Hashirama had Madara completely under his thumb.
Madara tried twice more before finally adjusting the water temperature to Hashirama's satisfaction.
Hashirama emerged with a smile. "Alright, finally it's ready. Kakashi, go get Sakura-chan's clothes and toiletries, and come back quickly."
Kakashi hesitated, but since he was already doing that, he immediately nodded and left the Kamui dimension.
Sakura looked at the water flowing out from under the wooden house and spreading across the ground, and worried again. "But there's nowhere to drain it! The dirty water will make Obito-san's Kamui dimension dirty."
Obito was about to say it wasn't a problem, that the Kamui dimension was quite large, and they could just find another place and not come back to this spot, when Hashirama waved his hand again.
"That's easy. I'll make a drainpipe, and Obito can send it out of the Kamui dimension. The dirty water will flow away."
He clapped his hands, and a wooden pipe extended from under the wooden house, water flowing out. He patted Obito on the shoulder cheerfully.
"Obito, impressed by Hashirama's incredible efficiency, knew it was too late to say anything more and simply activated Kamui, sending the drainpipe out of the Kamui dimension.
Kakashi returned at that moment, handing Sakura a sealing scroll. "I know about your daily necessities sealing scroll. See if you need anything else?"
Sakura immediately exclaimed happily. "Kakashi-sensei, you're so kind! You actually found my things! This scroll is marked number 6, I haven't used it yet, so it's complete!"
Sakura could finally take a bath. She thanked Hashirama and the Second Hokage, awkwardly thanked Madara Uchiha as well, and then, humming a song, happily rushed into the wooden hut.
Sakura actually wanted to wash quickly, not wanting the Second Hokage and Madara Uchiha to use Water Release and Fire Release techniques for too long. However, she was just too dirty, and Sakura couldn't get past her own grime. She scrubbed herself with shampoo and shower gel several times from head to toe, and before she knew it, the time had passed.
Outside, after five minutes, seeing that Sakura hadn't come out, Madara Uchiha, while casting another Fireball Jutsu, began to question her:
"Why is this little girl taking so long to take a bath? Still not out?"
Tobirama silently followed with a Water Dragon Bullet.
"It's only been 5 minutes. Do you think this is a man taking a bath? Women take a long time." Hashirama thought this was normal.
Ten minutes later, Madara Uchiha released a Great Fireball Jutsu and asked again, "Not done yet?" Tobirama released another Water Dragon Bullet at the same time.
"According to statistics, the average bath time for women ranges from 15 to 45 minutes," Minato explained with a smile.
Madara Uchiha immediately felt uneasy. "This little girl isn't the 45-minute type, is she?"
Tobirama finally scoffed. "You're in such a hurry, is it because you don't have enough chakra and can't hold on?"
Madara immediately bristled. "Hmph, how could that be! Don't mention 45 minutes, I could cast Fire Release continuously for another hour without a problem."
Izuna also chimed in with righteous indignation. "That's right, my brother Madara can lack anything but chakra. But you, Senju White-haired, don't worry about running out of chakra later."
Tobirama also sneered. "The Senju clan lacks chakra? Who do you think you are?"
The two seemed to be competing, the intervals between their Water Release and Fire Release techniques growing shorter and shorter. Sakura, inside, felt the showerhead's flow increase dramatically, making the wash even more comfortable. She happily squinted her eyes, almost spinning around in circles.
This contest lasted for twenty minutes before Sakura called out crisply, "I'm done washing, no need to add more water."
Tobirama and Madara finally stopped their hand seals.
Minato exclaimed in amazement, "As expected of the Second Hokage, to be able to continuously create such a large volume of Water Dragon Bullets for half an hour in a completely dry place, that's incredible!"
"Madara is also amazing. I can only continuously release Fire Release for about fifteen minutes, that's my limit." Obito had to admit Madara was truly strong.
Obito glanced at Itachi. "And you?"
Itachi asked calmly. "I only have seven or eight minutes left. My lungs can't hold on much longer; I'll cough up blood if I go on. Even if I still have chakra left, it won't be of any use."
The most direct contest between Uchiha is their mastery of Fire Release. Obito and Itachi knew the situation of their respective sides, and they couldn't help but feel a surge of curiosity about the last remaining Uchiha—Izuna.
Seemingly sensing the gazes of the two younger Uchiha, although these two juniors were disheartening to Izuna, he was still happy to answer their questions about boasting about their power.
"You think I wanted to know the release time of my Fire Release technique? Don't you realize that if my release time was shorter than Tobirama Senju's, I would have been killed long ago?"
"But you died at the hands of the Second Hokage," Obito muttered.
Izuna immediately retorted angrily. "I died from the Flying Thunder God Technique! Tobirama Senju ambushed me! I didn't understand this technique, so I was careless. In elemental ninjutsu battles, we're always evenly matched."
Itachi felt uneasy about this ancestor who looked so much like his younger brother, unsure how to interact with him, feeling as if he were talking to an adult Sasuke.
Sasori remained silent, but secretly marveled at the strength of Tobirama and Madara. Was this the true power of the Second Hokage and the Asura of the Shinobi World, Madara Uchiha? Sasori felt his strength was inferior to theirs; truly worthy of being called Kage-level ninjas.
Sakura emerged, stretched lazily, and let out a blissful groan.
"Ah, finally feeling refreshed~"
Hashirama, Tobirama, and the others looked at Sakura. Although her clothes were rough and her hair was unkempt, it couldn't hide her beauty. The clean Sakura gave them a sudden sense of relief, like a wilted flower regaining its fullness and brightness after being moistened by water.
She wore a red sleeveless cheongsam top, black shorts, and a light pink skirt. This outfit perfectly showcased Sakura's slender waist, rounded and pert buttocks, and long, straight legs. Her figure was athletic and well-proportioned, radiating youthful vitality.
To Be Continued .....