Chapter 88: Call Me the Demolition Manager
The atmosphere in the dim cave suddenly grew tense.
"I'm taking him away!"
Uzumaki Naruto pointed at Gaara, who was being held in the beak of Deidara's clay bird. His eyes were blazing with fire, and though he shouted this, his thoughts had already drifted off to who knows where.
[That guy Deidara, even though he's a villain, he's got quite a bit of artistic flair. Flying away on a bird... Is this what you call kiting? I really hate these guys who won't fight head-on.]
Deidara let out a strange laugh, and the giant clay bird flapped its wings violently, flying toward the cave entrance.
"Kakashi-sensei! Hurry and chase him! If we don't, Gaara will be in danger!"
Naruto shouted and was about to rush out.
"Wait, Naruto!" Kakashi glanced at the puppeteer, Sasori, who was still there, his brow furrowed. "Although we need to save Gaara, leaving Sakuraalone to deal with this Akatsuki member..."
The puppet known as hiruko had its steel tail stinger swaying restlessly, emitting a teeth-grinding friction sound.
Kakashi's worry was justified. The opponent was the legendary Sasori of the Red Sand, rumored to be capable of destroying an entire nation. Leaving Sakura, who was still a Chunin, to face him alone was practically suicide.
However, Naruto suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He turned around and looked at the girl behind him with long pink hair, whose hands were already covered in special black gloves.
Naruto wasn't worried; instead, he turned back, flashed a grin revealing his white teeth, and gave her a confident thumbs-up.
[What are you worried about? Kakashi-sensei, you're underestimating Sakura too much.]
Naruto's inner voice instantly hijacked Sakura's mental channel, turning the volume all the way up.
[Female Ninjas these days are all about being simple and brutal. This guy named Sasori in front of us is, frankly, just a shut-in otaku who only knows how to play with figurines. He might be okay against normal people, but trying to play with those flashy gadgets in front of Sakura?]
Sakura's fist, which was gathering Chakra, trembled slightly as she glanced at Naruto's radiant smiling face.
Shut-in otaku? Figurines? Although she didn't quite understand, she caught the tone of disdain in his words.
[And all that poison needle mechanism stuff and Kunai rain... Just treat them as a test of physical durability!]
[With my current physique, I'm aiming to be a human Tailed Beast. If we ever get together in the future... Hehe, when we do some intense morning or evening exercise, that impact will be S-rank!]
Boom—!
Sakura felt her brains boiling. The originally serious life-or-death battle instantly turned into a massive harassment scene.
This guy! At a time like this! He's actually thinking about the impact of "exercising together" in the future?
[What's a few poison needles? If you can't even defend against something as thin as a hair, how will you handle my wave after wave of... loving impacts in the future?]
[Ding!]
The system notification chimed, accompanied by a suffocating sense of cheerfulness.
[Detected host Sakura, received expectations from the Core Object regarding physical strengthening for the ability to withstand S-rank impact and powerful defense for the sake of happiness.]
[System Judgment: If you can't even withstand a few embroidery needles, how can you bear that love? In order to avoid being easily broken during certain specific occasions in the future...]
[Reward Issued: Passive Ultimate—[Strength of a Hundred · Steel Skin].]
[Effect Description: Although not real steel, it is harder than steel. This is the product of the fusion of shame and Chakra. Before your shame level hits zero, physical defense increases by 200%, and you are immune to all conventional piercing damage. Any sharp object in front of you will become as soft as a noodle.]
"Bast...ard..."
Sakura lowered her head, squeezing the words out through her teeth. She desperately wanted to tear Naruto's mouth shut right now.
But precisely because of this shame and anger that threatened to blow her top, a golden luster faintly circulated beneath her skin.
"Leave this place to me."
Sakura suddenly looked up, her pretty face devoid of fear, filled instead with murderous intent. "You guys go chase Deidara... If I hear that idiot's voice again, I'll kill him first!"
Naruto shivered, but still felt good about himself, thinking it was encouragement born of love.
"Alright! Good luck, Sakura! You're tough enough!"
With that, Naruto dragged the still-dazed Kakashiand rushed out of the cave.
Inside the cave, only Sasori of the Red Sand, Grandmother Chiyo, and the murderous Sakuraremained.
"Heh, did they leave you behind as a sacrifice?" hiruko let out a hoarse, mocking laugh. "Although you're a rude little girl, you might look decent as a collector's item. Let me hollow out your internal organs first..."
Before he could finish speaking, the mechanisms on hiruko's back opened.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Countless poison needles shot at Sakura, raining down on her. This dense attack covered the entire entrance, leaving no room to dodge.
"Watch out! Use a puppet to take cover!"
Grandmother Chiyo, behind her, changed expression, her fingers moving to manipulate her puppet to pull Sakura back.
However, the next scene made the knowledgeable old woman forget to breathe.
Sakura did not retreat, nor did she weave hand signs to defend.
She simply walked forward, head-on into the dense rain of poison needles.
Her green eyes reflected the cold light, revealing a madness that wanted to smash something to pieces.
"Withstand... impact?"
"That kind of idiotic stuff... give it a rest already!"
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Those poison needles, which could penetrate rock, either broke or bent the moment they touched Sakura's skin, sliding off powerlessly.
Even the seemingly ordinary red cheongsam Sakura wore seemed to have been reinforced with Chakra, not even a single thread came loose.
"Na...Nani?"
Sasori, hiding inside hiruko, let out a sound of genuine shock for the first time.
He had lived so long; he had seen people defend with Earth Release, blow them away with Wind Release, and even seen people block with puppets.
But he had never seen anyone take poison needles with their face. And they even snapped the needles. Is this human skin? Is this the Lightning Release Armor of that old geezer the Raikage?
"Is that all you've got?"
Sakura walked through the needle rain and stood before hiruko, unscathed.
She twisted her neck, which let out a crackling sound, and a "kind" smile appeared on her face.
"If your so-called impact is only to this degree... then that guy Naruto will laugh his teeth off!"
Grandmother Chiyo watched Sakura's figure, radiating a faint golden light, her old face twitching. This is a Medical Ninja? This is simply... some kind of ancient monster, right? Has Konoha's education become like this now?
"Damn it... that's my hiruko..." Sasori sensed danger, his tail stinger about to activate.
"Shut up! Demolition Office enforcement!"
Sakura roared, her right fist instantly engorged with blood, and terrifying pink Chakra exploded once again.
She didn't use any fancy Taijutsu, just a simple downward punch.
Target: hiruko's crown.
Rumble—!
The huge cave shook violently, and the stalactites overhead rained down with a clatter.
The sturdy hiruko couldn't even hold on for a second under that black-gloved fist, and its heavy back armor shattered instantly.
Crack!
The dust settled.
That hiruko, which made many Ninjas afraid, had now turned into a pile of scattered junk parts.
And above the ruins, a delicate-looking youth wearing an Akatsuki cloak was forced to jump out. Although he maintained a calm expression, the corners of his eyes were twitching uncontrollably.
Sasori stared at the pink-haired girl in front of him, who was busy brushing off dust.
"To be able to break hiruko, I'll give you some credit for your strength."
Sasori's fingers hooked into the collar of his Akatsuki cloak, his mouth curling slightly, preparing to reveal his modified true form.
"But this will be as far as—"
Wind pressure forced its way into Sasori's mouth, blocking his words.
The rock beneath Sakura's feet exploded, and she instantly crossed a distance of over ten meters, her fist already at Sasori's nose.
So fast?
Sasori's pupils contracted.
"Get lost! I'm very angry right now!"
Sakura pulled her right hand back, her muscles tense.
Can't withstand? S-rank impact?
Sakura gritted her teeth and swung her fist heavily.
"Get... lost!!"
Boom!
One punch smashed onto Sasori of the Red Sand's face.
Grandmother Chiyo, not far away, had her mouth open, staring at this scene, her cloudy old eyes wide open.
She had seen the Raikage's Ninjutsu-Taijutsu, and she had seen Tsunade's superb super strength.
But this strike was completely unreasonable.
A dense sound of shattering rang out.
Sasori of the Red Sand's modified puppet body disintegrated under the heavy blow; his face caved in, his chest cavity shattered, and he flew backward.
Sasori broke through three stone pillars in succession, finally embedding himself into the rock wall deep in the cave.
Sakura withdrew her fist and exhaled. She fixed her bangs and brushed off the hem of her cheongsam, as if she had just finished dealing with some trivial chore.
"Done."
She turned back to look at Grandmother Chiyo, smiling, her tone gentle.
"Grandmother, the bug has been flattened, let's go chase Naruto."
Halfway through, her fist clenched again, her knuckles cracking, and a vein throbbed on her forehead.
"If we don't hurry, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself from turning that blonde idiot into a specimen first."
Grandmother Chiyo looked at the human-shaped crater on the wall, then at the friendly-looking Sakura, and silently tucked the "White Secret Technique · Chikamatsu Ten Puppets" scroll back into her sleeve.
What are Konoha Ninja raised on these days?
Deep in the bottom of the crater, only Sasori, with his heart core intact, stared upward, his consciousness blurring.
This is definitely not a Medical Ninja. This strength is simply that of a Tailed Beast.
The Third Kazekage puppet wasn't used, the Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets wasn't opened, and the final scroll wasn't even taken out.
And I was finished off by this one punch?
Losing to Tsunade I could accept, but losing to this little girl?
This is unscientific.
But no matter what he thought, that pink figure had already become an inescapable shadow.