Sakura had actively exposed herself, exposed herself beneath the Rain Tiger at Will Technique.
Her Observation Haki had already detected a massive source of Chakra rushing towards this location, heading for the place where she had just erupted with Haki.
However, Sakura felt no regret. Pirates act on their desires, and she had simply made a choice, that was all.
Whoosh!
Since her presence was revealed, she no longer concealed it. Her ability to control heat roared forth.
A halo of freezing air spread out like a tide, transforming the central area of the Amegakure into an icy plain.
The Missing-nin who were running around killing people were the first to have their lives taken by this wave of cold air. Sakura specifically used the ice crystals to destroy cellular structures, ensuring they could not be revived even after thawing.
Simultaneously, with the combination of Medical Ninjutsu inherited from Tsunade and Observation Haki, the severely injured people within the flames were also frozen, buying a little more time for their lives.
Sakura's gaze looked into the distance. The instant her Conqueror's Haki erupted, her Observation had also detected many old acquaintances.
So, she took a specially made cherry blossom kunai from her tool pouch and hurled it towards a distant tower!
Swoosh!
A pink brilliance bloomed, and in the next instant, Sakura's hand grabbed the kunai she had just thrown.
She landed on the outer wall of the tower's broken section, blocking a group of people wearing long robes with the Uchiha Clan's fan symbol.
"Have the Uchiha fallen so far as to associate with Missing-nin who slaughter civilians?!"
Sakura let out a soft, regretful sigh. As she stood up, a giant sword of ice pointed towards the group before her.
She had originally thought that choosing to minimize bloodshed with the Uchiha Clan that day would lead to a good outcome. She never expected they would now choose to team up with Missing-nin.
One must know, as the most chaotic representatives among Ninjas, those Missing-nin each possessed shocking cunning and hearts of venom.
"It's you again, little girl. To scorn the Uchiha, are you prepared to..."
"Enough! Fighting her here will make things very troublesome!"
Inabi's Three-Tomoe Sharingan bulged.
Before he could finish his threat, he was interrupted by Itachi, who stood at the front of the group. He glanced at Sakura, clicked his tongue in annoyance, and retreated behind Itachi.
"We are not allied with those Missing-nin, but our target is also Amegakure!" Itachi, with his long hair tied into a waist-length ponytail and his hand resting on the sash of his kimono, stepped forward.
Hearing his words, the gloom on Sakura's face lessened considerably.
"Strictly speaking, we are Missing-nin now too... so... do not obstruct our mission, otherwise you will be an enemy!"
Crimson Chakra spread around Itachi's body, the shadow of Susanoo roaring wildly at her.
The Uchiha who had defected from Konoha had formed a new pack, and Itachi was undoubtedly their alpha.
As their leader, he had to constantly demonstrate his strength to the members and lead them to gain benefits to consolidate his position as the leader.
"Troublesome..."
For the first time, Sakura felt a sense of kinship with Shikamaru's favorite phrase.
She lowered the giant sword in her hand and did not attempt to stop the group of Uchiha again.
After passing Sakura, the Uchiha quickly launched their assault towards Amegakure's castle tower.
This bold and unconcealed manner, carrying out an assassination attempt on another country's leader openly and without subterfuge, was the classic Uchiha.
'Those Uchiha blockheads!'
After complaining about the Uchiha in her heart, Sakura lowered her head and saw Jiraiya being chased by a group of Ninjas.
"Sakura! He... Help... Help!"
Listening to the cries of the unreliable man getting closer, the girl raised her hand to her forehead, not wanting to face this shitty reality anymore.
However...
'I didn't want any trouble, but troubles always come to me.'
The massive Chakra source she had sensed earlier, after a long flight, finally landed right in front of Sakura.
A thunderous crash seemed to suppress all the light in the world!
Amid the howling winds, a man wearing a black robe with red clouds hovered before Sakura.
His gaze, cold as a corpse's, locked onto Sakura, more precisely onto the aura that still lingered around her.
"Was it you? The one who just attacked the village!"
The orange-haired man spoke, the metal rods piercing his body clinking together and adding a sharp, solemn tone to his words.
"You are....Yahiko!!!"
Jiraiya, having run straight up the tower to stand beside Sakura, stared wide-eyed at the man before him.
"What's going on? I heard you, Konan, and Nagato died together!"
"And... your eyes! Aren't those Nagato's eyes?"
Facing Jiraiya's questions, the orange-haired man mechanically turned his neck, shifting his gaze to him.
"Jiraiya-sensei, I did indeed die. But I was reborn anew, to become the God of Amegakure!"
"Now, please call me by my new name… Pain!"
From within the black robe with red clouds, a hand holding black rods rose, aiming at Sakura and Jiraiya.
"Moreover, this is already the second time Konoha has destroyed my homeland. Could you please die here, sensei!"
Amid the resounding roar, the two black rods in Pain's hand suddenly shot forward. The black rods tore through the air with a high-pitched shriek, trailing layers of rippling air currents as they shot towards the two.
"Wait, it wasn't us!"
Jiraiya waved his arms, trying to explain.
But a smile spread across Sakura's face. The giant ice sword in her hand swung, violently clashing with the rods.
"Bring it on!"
Boom!
The moment the rods and the giant sword collided, a surge of chakra transmitted from Pain's body into the rods, then erupted a second time with a repulsive force at the point of impact, instantly shattering Sakura's ice sword.
"This is troublesome, Jiraiya-sensei!"
Holding the broken half of the sword, Sakura's gaze turned grave.
"This level of power... he's serious about killing us?"
"Sakura, buy me some time!"
Seeing the other party use such a powerful technique, Jiraiya abandoned any thought of communication.
But he also knew the Rinnegan was not an easy opponent. So, he slapped his hand on the ground, summoning Gamaken, one of the three giant toads.
"Jiraiya, can even a useless one like me be of help to you?"
"Of course! Gamaken, I'm counting on you to help Sakura hold him off!"
Jiraiya shouted, then took greasepaint from his pocket and smeared it on his face, clasping his hands together.
A large amount of chakra Circulated, and a transparent barrier expanded, shifting like quicksilver to form a sphere.
The natural energy contained within the barrier was continuously compressed by Jiraiya's hand seals, entering his body and merging with his internal chakra to create Senjutsu Chakra.
"Hmm?"
Deva Path sensed an unusual energy converging on Jiraiya and turned the black rods in his hand towards him.
Sakura and Gamaken, standing nearby, were ready. One threw a Flying Thunder God Kunai, while the other swung the massive iron staff in its hands down towards Pain.
In a deafening sound of shattering, a massive amount of smoke and debris shot into the sky.
Pain's figure shot out of the smoke screen, hovering high above.
And near him, mixed amidst the debris and dust, a kunai with a cherry blossom mark gleamed coldly.
-Swoosh!
From within the rippling distortions of space, a raging heat wave, concealed within a blazing sword light, sang out loudly!
Clang!
The sharp sword light spiraled, transforming into a dazzling rainbow ribbon against the wind, deadly yet beautiful enough!
Pain simply clasped his hands together, burning chakra flowing from the black receivers into his body: "Shinra Tensei!"
Repulsive force erupted. The debris and dust floating in mid-air were crushed inch by inch, colliding with the sword light and creating intense friction.
"Got him!"
Gamaken on the ground leaped high, swinging its massive iron staff down with force during the brief interval after Pain's Shinra Tensei ended.
However, on the ground below the battlefield, a man with long orange hair quickly formed hand seals and slammed his palm onto the earth.
"Summoning Technique!"
With a bang, smoke exploded.
Deva Path, who should have been under Gamaken's attack, was summoned to his side. Simultaneously, four other Ninjas, their bodies pierced with black rods, appeared.
Gamaken's staff swung through empty air in the sky. It tumbled a few times before crashing heavily into the water.
"Tch, really troublesome. Guys of this level aren't something I can handle right now~"
Sakura's gaze grew increasingly grave, but the exquisite features of her face were lifted in a wildly wanton and arrogant smile.
"Hey, Jiraiya-sensei, we might not be able to beat these guys, you know!"
"Idiot! Giving up before we've even fought properly? Just how little do you think of your sensei?!"
Jiraiya, still clasping his hands together, used Chakra to stick himself to the outside of a building and scolded Sakura.
However, from Sakura's earlier fight, he had also been secretly gathering intel on the opponent. Seeing so many pairs of Rinnegan had truly shocked him.
"Hahaha, then you be the main force later!"
Sakura laughed loudly, retreating to Jiraiya's side along with Gamaken, who had leaped out of the water.
They positioned themselves to cover him front and back, preventing Jiraiya, who was gathering natural energy to enter Sage Mode, from being attacked.
"Jiraiya-sensei, listen!"
Sakura lowered her voice to relay information to Jiraiya.
"This guy has six bodies in total, all controlled by the same person. Their abilities are different. You must be careful, their vision is shared!"
"!!!"
Jiraiya and Human Path, who was gathering intel from above, both widened their eyes in shock.
"Shut up, brat!"
Animal Path shouted, bit his thumb, and slammed his palm onto the ground.
After a massive burst of smoke, a huge shadow suddenly charged out. A three-headed dog with wings flew at full speed towards Sakura.
"Jiraiya-sensei, watch out for those summoned creatures too!"
"Didn't I tell you to shut up, you damn girl?!"
Amid the raging and turbulent storm, the roaring giant dog opened its savage maw to bite down.
Bang!
Sakura's figure, along with the building in front of her, was churned into fragments by the violent bite, exploding into a large cloud of dust.
"Sakura!"
Jiraiya's pupils constricted.
But then he saw, beneath the dust, Sakura's hands were propping open the three-headed dog's upper and lower rows of teeth.
At first glance, it gave the impression of a mantis trying to stop a chariot, but she was indeed holding it back.
"Their vision is shared too, please be careful!"
Sakura's gaze slowly turned to Jiraiya, and she playfully winked at him.
"This girl!"
Animal Path, standing on the back of the three-headed dog, changed expression, forming hand seals intending to summon more creatures.
But it was hit by a sudden, unexpected impact, shaking unsteadily before falling onto the three-headed dog's head.
Animal Path looked down. The girl below, gripping the dog's teeth, seemed to be boiling over.
It was as if an immense, uncontrollable force was roaring forth.
The three-headed dog constantly whined, cracked, and then, under Sakura's tearing force, exploded violently.
It was torn in half right down the middle, splattering blood and entrails everywhere.
"Boil Release: Unrivalled Strength!!!"