"Sasuke… it's been a long time."
"Sakura…" His reply was like a whisper in the wind. Sakura studied him for a moment, noting the near-silent response. His handsome face was streaked with blood and dust, but his black eyes, unlike Naruto's, revealed no waves of emotion.
At this moment, what was going through Sasuke Uchiha's mind? Sakura had no idea.
Did he feel even a hint of guilt?
She thought this, then shook her head slightly after barely half a second.
How Sasuke felt no longer concerned about Haruno Sakura. Her father had been right: handsome boys were unreliable. Or perhaps it wasn't that—they simply didn't need to protect her, Haruno Sakura, from the dangers they brought.
Sakura glanced sideways at Naruto.
"Naruto, you ask why? Perhaps because I'm bored. Perhaps because I still feel some attachment to this village, to Konoha—even if my parents died because of it. But it doesn't matter anymore. Since this is what my parents wanted, I can endure it, and I can pretend not to care. That's why I can stand here and watch you all without concern."
"Sakura! What are you saying?! I understand you! I've always trusted you! You're not like them! You've been deceived, kidnapped, forced to say this, right?! I'll save you, I swear I will!"
This time, Sakura truly laughed aloud.
"Save? Ha! Trust? Ha! Naruto… you think you know me? Do you even know me? Everything you think you understand about me is based on the image I show you. When I stop fitting into your preconceptions, you try to 'save' me, to 'trust' me into becoming what you expect. Naruto… do you realize how ridiculous that is?"
Naruto's eyes widened, pupils shrinking, as if he were seeing Sakura for the first time.
"And with that, you dare claim to know me?"
Konan thought to herself that Sakura should never have been entrusted to Itachi. Now, her speech mirrored his style—complex and meticulous for something that could have been said simply. To summarize Sakura's words:
—You've fallen under an illusion, and you don't even realize it.
Nagato had noticed this as well. But now was not the time to scold Itachi; there were tasks still to be completed.
Sakura seemed aware of this too.
"…Never mind. I won't argue with you. It's pointless." She turned to the others. "Although your injuries aren't severe, you still need treatment."
She began performing the summoning hand signs, but halfway through, she froze. Sakura's expression stiffened, and she scratched her head awkwardly.
"Haha, well… I forgot. Even your Katsuyu can't heal this."
It wasn't that it couldn't be healed—it was simply that she was no longer a Konoha ninja.
Nagato was silent for a moment. Then, with a raised hand, he used Bansho Ten'in to draw the already-fallen Hizashi Hyuga into his presence. Eight chakra rods pierced his body, and he extracted the man's eyes.
"Pft!"
The man was tossed onto the ground—alive, but incapable of dying.
The two eyes hovered in midair, then dissolved into a mass of blood and flesh.
"Mission complete. Return."
Nagato spoke, turning to leave.
Behind him, Hizashi's dying struggles continued.
"I, Hizashi Hyuga, have failed my clan and Konoha! I atone with my life!"
He went to bite his tongue, but Konan instantly teleported beside him, piercing his jaw with a lightning needle. His suicide was rendered useless.
Nagato glanced sideways, coldly snorting.
"Not a single Hyuga died. I want you alive. All of you are alive. If even one dies by your hand, I'll kill a Konoha person. Two die? Then two Konoha will pay."
Ruthless. Merciless.
"Why, Nagato?! What are you trying to do? Why act like this?!"
"Why?! Don't you understand?!"
Nagato laughed, anger simmering, and turned to stare at his former teacher.
"Sensei… others may not understand, but I've explained everything to you. Eight chakra rods, three silver needles—gifts Konoha gave him for his seventeenth birthday. A pair of Byakugan forcibly taken in return. Sensei… Shino is naïve; I am not. That child told me when he woke up: 'Don't cry when sad. Smile, and you won't be unhappy.' Sensei, do you think I was wrong?"
"Wh-When did this happen?!"
"When you labored to extract remnants of Kaguya Otsutsuki's power to compensate for Konoha's lost jinchuriki strength."
Nagato turned, walking the opposite way.
"Give it up, Sensei. All remnants of Kaguya Otsutsuki in this world—we destroyed them all."
Two steps later, he paused again.
"One more thing… I've held back for a long time. Today, seeing you, I realized I truly cannot forgive. Our Konan might understand you, even forgive you, but I… I cannot. I know killing you won't solve anything, but leaving you alive only fuels my wrath."
Nagato lifted a rusted nail, drawing it into his hand with chakra. With a snap of his fingers, the nail shot toward Morino Ibiki.
"Pft!"
Straight through the brain.
The only Konoha casualty in this invasion.