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Gaara's sand claws held the Gilded Shukaku in a full-body lock.
Not far away, Sakura focused. Her eyes were shut, her mind centered on the singular 'magnetic point' at her brow. Her right hand stretched forward, left hand bracing her wrist, her posture like a living magnet, pulling the Magnet Release chakra from the Gilded Shukaku across the air.
That stream of magnetism flowed through her arm and body, converging at her forehead.
But as mentioned before… within that magnetism resided Shukaku's will!
"Kihihihihihihi!!!"
A shrill, cackling laugh exploded directly in Sakura's mind!
"A little girl whose feathers haven't even grown in yet, thinking she can harness my power?! I'll eat you alive!!!"
Shukaku couldn't actually eat her. But it could conjure the horrifying sound of grinding teeth, of massive jaws chomping down. And it did, playing the sound on a loop inside her skull!!!
"Gh—!!!"
Sakura's concentration shattered. Her outstretched hand trembled violently, the connection wavering.
"…"
Gaara saw it. He closed his eyes, and his consciousness, following the magnetic link to the point on Sakura's forehead, plunged into the sea of her mind.
A place of swirling cherry blossoms.
Before a consciousness-body of Shukaku forged from gold dust, Gaara's own consciousness took shape from gathering sand.
"Hmph!!" Shukaku snorted. "Gaara. Here to boss me around again, are you?!"
Gaara's gaze was calm. "I'm not here to lecture you this time. I'm here to apologize."
"Ha...???" Shukaku dragged the sound out, utterly baffled.
"I'm truly sorry," Gaara said, his voice sincere. "If my strength had been greater back then… your true body wouldn't have fallen into Akatsuki's hands. I am truly, deeply sorry…"
Shukaku scratched its glittering, gold-dust head with a massive claw.
"Tch. Spouting nonsense, trying to win my pity with pretty words. Not a chance. You humans are all schemers. Your father was like that, and you're no diff—"
Its words cut off abruptly.
Gaara… was kneeling before it.
"On my father's behalf as well, I apologize. I'm sorry. I am so sorry…!!!"
Shukaku fell silent for a long moment.
It truly hadn't expected… Gaara, the boy whose entire childhood it had destroyed, to kneel. To apologize for the father who had tried to kill him multiple times.
"…You really have changed, Gaara."
"Fine. With how frail this girl's body is, even if I don't interfere, she probably can't handle this power anyway."
With that, it ceased its resistance.
The cacophony in Sakura's mind faded. The pained expression on her face eased. But as more Magnet Release chakra flooded in…
The point focused at her brow… swelled. It hurt. It itched. It felt like a thousand angry ants were trying to violently burrow out through her flesh!!
It was going to burst… it was really going to burst!!
A primal, physiological and psychological fear took hold. Her body's self-preservation instinct screamed at her to stop channeling that chakra toward her forehead!!
This eased the pain, briefly. But the energy, now with nowhere to go, rampaged through her chakra network!!
Her body, as it was now, couldn't withstand it.
In an instant… her chakra pathways were on the verge of catastrophic rupture. The kind no medical ninjutsu could ever repair!!!
At that critical moment, a white blur shot through the swirling sand. Byakugan eyes fixed on Sakura's pathways, a single finger struck a precise point on her back!!!
"Gh—!!!"
Sakura's body jolted violently. She looked back!!!
"Focus!" Neji barked. "Finish what you started! This power is too strong—I can't hold this for long!!!"
"Th…ank you!!"
Sakura forced the words out. Ignoring the splitting, explosive pain at her brow, she forced the raging energy back toward her forehead!!
But this wasn't a fairy tale. Sakura lacked a powerful bloodline limit. Even with unwavering resolve, her objective physical limits meant she couldn't complete this metamorphosis instantly!!!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Her forehead had gone numb, but the skin around it burned with a thousand needle-pricks. A waterfall of cold sweat erupted from her scalp, drenching her hair and face…
A deadly warning sign.
Neji's Byakugan watched the turbulent, sea-storm chaos of chakra in her brain. "It's the limit! Stop now!! Or you'll die!!!"
"No!" Sakura's voice was iron. "I won't stop… even if I die! Because… because this time… I don't want to be a burden to Sasuke-kun anymore!!!"
Crackle…!!!
The moment that shout tore from Sakura's throat… ten thousand li away, on the isolated Azure Moon Island…
Sasuke, meditating beneath a waterfall, shuddered.
A sheen of Magnet Release chakra crackled to life across his entire body—the very 'Magnet Release Chakra Mode' he'd developed during his eighth fight with Rasa.
A sudden, profound understanding washed over him. He lifted his eyes to the northern sky.
"So… this is the choice you made, Sakura…"
It wasn't just Magnet Release. Chakra itself possessed a magnetic field. And expanding further… the universe, the void itself, was one vast magnetic field. The magnetic fields of chakra were contained within it.
By the same logic… the human heart was also part of this field.
The world was woven from countless magnetic fields… and the power to commune across these different dimensions, across these countless fields, was the force called 'Magnet Release.'
This… was Sasuke's newest insight into Magnet Release, born in the instant his heart's magnetic field resonated with Sakura's.
On the shore, Orochimaru watched with deep appreciation. "One hand alone cannot clap. Such resonance cannot be one-sided. It requires two people… whose hearts are already connected."
Sasuke offered a faint, acknowledging smile.
"Sakura. If this is your choice… then let me lend you my strength as well!!"
Sasuke's hands formed a seal. Crackle—! From the magnetic ring on the back of his neck, a stream of Magnet Release chakra transcended distance, guided directly into Sakura's heart!!!
ZAP—!!
Like a lightning strike, Sakura's body convulsed once.
Then… Neji stared in astonishment. The chaotic 'power' rampaging inside Sakura instantly calmed, stabilized and shepherded toward her brow by a far greater, guiding force!!
The phenomenon reminded him eerily of the Chunin Exams, when Naruto had drawn upon the Nine-Tails' chakra.
"Sakura… what is happening to you?"
Zzzzt… The diamond outline of the Yin Seal slowly materialized at Sakura's forehead. But unlike the faint blue of the past, infused with Magnet Release, this seal was a deep, shimmering silver-grey…
Sakura opened her eyes. A bright, determined light flashed within them. She turned her gaze southward, a serene, beautiful smile gracing her lips.
"Thank you… Sasuke-kun."
"Hmph. Not bad at all…"
With the magnetism drained, the Gilded Shukaku laughed once. Its gold-dust shell began to crack and flake away… revealing, not Shukaku, but the form of another man.
Gaara's eyes widened… then narrowed. His fists clenched.
—"So… your will was also left in this gold sand… Father!!"
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