Chapter 287: Tobirama: I'm a Person, Not a Robot
The next day
Land of Fire — Turtle Island
Familiar light filtered in through slowly opening eyelids, and a pair of dark eyes blinked awake, taking in the faces gathered around him.
Sakura. Hikaru. Naruto. Yuki. Karin. And, squeezed in at the very front, Mirai.
"Sasuke, you okay?"
Naruto spoke first.
Having learned from Sakura that his best friend had gotten a whole new pair of eyes, he'd spent the entire night keeping watch beside Sasuke with her.
"I'm fine..."
"Just a bit of a sore neck."
Maybe it was his imagination, but Sasuke shot Sakura a faintly resentful glance.
"Good, glad you're okay!"
"I'm super strong now, you know!"
"Forget Sasuke — I bet even Sakura's not a match for me anymore!"
Naruto broke into a wide grin.
And felt something stir in his chest, too.
I finally, finally caught up to Sakura.
No more hiding behind everyone else from here on.
"All right, since he's fine, everyone go on ahead."
"Pack up. We're heading back to Konoha."
Sakura waved everyone off.
"YEAH!"
"Finally, back to Konoha!"
Naruto cheered.
"Karin, stay behind."
Sakura glanced at Karin, who'd been about to pack up alongside Naruto.
Karin said nothing, just nodded.
Once everyone else had cleared out, only Sakura, Karin, and Sasuke remained in the tent.
"Sakura, what is it?"
Karin asked, once the others were gone.
"Mm."
"There's a mission the two of you need to complete together."
Sakura nodded slightly.
"What kind of mission?"
Sasuke asked.
He thought back to what Sakura had told him the night before, right before the eye transplant.
A mission that required the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Possibly even his own dōjutsu — Amatsukami and Kotoamatsukami, the two techniques capable of bending fate itself.
"It's not especially dangerous, but it's important."
"You'll need to judge the timing and the target yourselves."
Sakura's expression was serious as she pulled a scroll — already prepared beforehand — from her pouch and handed it to Sasuke.
Sasuke opened it, and his expression shifted slightly as he read.
"Problem?"
Sakura watched him, waiting.
"No problem. I just didn't expect you to move this fast."
Sasuke shook his head and passed the scroll to Karin.
Karin's expression shifted a little too, reading it over. But she looked up at Sakura and asked:
"Wouldn't Hikaru's ability be more effective for something like this, honestly?"
Sakura shook her head at that.
"Yachiho really is a terrifying technique. But rewriting memory isn't a flawless tool."
"And after everything Hikaru's fought through recently, her eye power's noticeably running low."
Sasuke's expression shifted at that, his voice coming quicker than usual.
"So then Hikaru's..."
"I'll replenish her eye power once we're back in Konoha."
At Sakura's words, Sasuke's expression eased.
"Rewriting memory requires understanding everything about the target's entire life to do it convincingly, and this particular mission is too complicated for that approach."
"Compared to Hikaru's Yachiho, your Amatsukami fits this mission far better."
Yachiho was, genuinely, a terrifying dōjutsu — able to control someone as easily as a god shaping clay.
But it had a weakness.
If Hikaru used Yachiho to rewrite someone's memory of their own mother, replacing that figure with herself — the problem was obvious. Hikaru was only sixteen. She couldn't plausibly have a child that old.
Something as simple as being called "Mother" in front of outsiders would draw attention instantly. Even if the person under the technique never noticed anything wrong themselves, repeated enough times, someone was bound to sense that something didn't add up.
Because the person under the technique still had their own mind, their own thoughts — they weren't a puppet. If they were meant to be a puppet, it would've been simpler to just make them one.
Amatsukami worked differently — steering events, through fate itself, toward whatever outcome Sasuke intended, letting circumstance quietly arrange itself around the goal. That made it a far better fit for this particular mission.
And since the mission's target was located outside the country, Sakura wouldn't be able to direct things in real time. Everything — timing, target — would have to be decided by Sasuke's own judgment.
"So what am I supposed to do?"
Karin asked.
"If my estimate is right, war will already have started by then. To avoid complications, you'll need to plot the safest possible route for Sasuke."
"And besides — one person alone is never as reliable as two."
Sakura said, calm.
The seed planted long ago is ready to sprout.
It was a bit rushed, but with a fate-altering dōjutsu like Amatsukami acting as fertilizer, the outcome was, in a sense, already decided before it even began.
The moment this war started, she'd already won it.
"All right."
"When do we leave?"
Sasuke asked, low, clearly understanding by now that this mission was tied directly to the outcome of the coming war.
But Sasuke had drawn the wrong conclusion.
The war's outcome, in itself, didn't actually matter much.
His position mattered more than that.
What Sakura needed from him wasn't victory on a battlefield. She needed him to douse the entire noble class in oil, and strike the match.
A fire to burn away a thousand years of entrenched hierarchy.
A fire to burn away a system that had never once changed.
If Sasuke failed this mission, Sakura would be left with only the blunt option — destroying the rotten system through raw force alone.
But doing it that way would leave the door open for the nobility to claw their way back someday. Even stripped of their old glory, they could still find ways to keep influencing the shinobi world.
Sakura had no intention of letting that happen.
"I can only offer you one reference point for your first target."
"Sunagakure of the Land of Wind. Their sacrifice-priestess, Sai."
Sakura said, calm.
This target, too, had been chosen with care.
With the destruction of the Rōran Dragon Vein, the life energy accumulated over who-knew-how-many years had been released all at once — within three years, the Land of Wind's endless desert wouldn't quite become old-growth forest, but the land would almost certainly turn lush and fertile again.
Taking the Land of Wind would mean securing a genuinely valuable stretch of resources for the future. Neither the Land of Earth nor the Land of Lightning could compare.
As for Sai—
Three years ago, even freshly having mastered Yang Release Body Technique, Sakura's own overwhelming pressure hadn't been an illusion. And yet Sai — a mere chūnin — had stood alone against it, raised her kunai, and fought back regardless. That spoke to a will genuinely unbreakable.
And more recently, during the shinobi coalition's fight against Yomi, Sakura had spotted the same girl again, fighting under Sunagakure's banner.
Neither the Land of Wind nor Sai herself had been picked at random.
"Sunagakure of the Land of Wind. Sai."
Sasuke turned the name over thoughtfully.
He didn't feel any particular pity for this girl who'd apparently been chosen as Sakura's target. His mind was already elsewhere — on how he'd need to act, once the war actually started.
For the future. For Konoha. For Sakura.
Nothing was off the table when it came to what he'd sacrifice.
If there ever came a day where Sasuke himself needed to be sacrificed for Sakura's sake, he wouldn't hesitate for even a moment.
"Any other suitable targets?"
Karin asked.
"Unfortunately, no."
"You'll have to judge the rest yourselves."
Sakura shook her head.
"Understood."
Karin nodded slightly, fully grasping the weight of the mission now.
Clearly, whatever happened on the actual battlefield mattered far less than what the two of them were about to do.
They'd be the irreplaceable pressure point that brought the entire noble class crashing down.
"No time to waste. You can get started now."
"Head to the Land of Wind first and start scouting a suitable approach for Sai."
"Wait for the war to start — that's your window to act."
"Between the two of you, infiltrating the Land of Wind and Sunagakure won't be difficult."
Sasuke nodded quietly at Sakura's words, feeling the weight of it settle over him.
This wasn't a mission that raw strength alone could solve.
It required judgment. Sharp instincts. Discretion.
Anything solvable by force alone was, by definition, the easy version of the problem.
For some reason, that thought crossed Sasuke's mind, unbidden.
Even so, he'd give the mission everything he had.
...
With Sasuke and Karin gone, the rest of the group on Turtle Island began the journey back to Konoha.
Sakura's expression stayed calm the whole way, as though she'd already glimpsed the storm coming.
A storm that would sweep across the noble class of the entire shinobi world.
High in the air, the group sat on the backs of ninja hawks, quiet, unremarkable.
To them, it was nothing more than an ordinary trip home.
Yuki, though, glanced over at Sakura, hesitant.
"What is it?"
Sakura noticed her expression and turned to look at her.
Given the altitude and the strong wind, Sakura had draped her own Hokage robe over Mirai to keep her from catching a chill.
The robe was warm, after all.
"Matatabi says — if you ever need anything, just say the word."
Yuki said, a bit conflicted.
That caught Sakura off guard.
Did that irritable cat have a change of heart?
Or maybe Stockholm syndrome?
Getting beaten that badly, and now she's offering to help me?
"Because she says you're someone the old man approved of."
"For his sake, she's willing to lend you a hand."
Yuki explained.
She thought back to what Hagoromo had told Matatabi, back on Mount Myōboku.
Do as you see fit.
Because Hagoromo approves of this pink-haired woman — so Matatabi's decided to help her?
Sakura mulled it over.
So it comes down to Hagoromo's endorsement.
To help against the Ōtsutsuki clan, Hagoromo had given her a thousand years' worth of Yin-Yang Release knowledge. To Matatabi, that reading clearly counted as Hagoromo's own personal seal of approval.
So she'd set aside old grudges to help her instead.
"Understood."
"When I need her, I won't hesitate to ask."
Sakura nodded slightly.
If even the old cat had thrown her lot in with Sakura, holding a grudge over past events would just be petty at this point.
"Um..."
Yuki still seemed hesitant about something, and Sakura noticed.
"Don't worry. I won't be sending her against Kumo."
That put Yuki visibly at ease.
Clearly, because of Hagoromo's approval, Matatabi had essentially defected outright.
From this point forward, if Yuki and Matatabi's interests ever diverged, Yuki would stop being a Perfect Jinchūriki, and there'd be a real risk of the tailed beast running wild. Even if Matatabi were extracted from Yuki and placed inside an ordinary Konoha shinobi instead — given Sakura's own standing, that shinobi would immediately become a Perfect Jinchūriki in her place.
Which left Yuki, as she currently stood, with no real choice but to accept the situation.
Especially given her precarious position — a prisoner of Konoha.
She had no real leverage to negotiate from at all.
That Sakura had voluntarily promised not to send her against Kumo was already more than Yuki had expected. After all, as Hokage, every decision Sakura made had to serve Konoha's interests first.
"Thank you."
Yuki looked at Sakura with something close to genuine gratitude.
"It's nothing."
Sakura shook her head.
By this point, Yuki had essentially returned to Konoha's side, heart and all. Even if she ever entertained rebellious thoughts, Matatabi inside her would switch loyalties instantly.
The best-case scenario for rebellion was simply the tailed beast going berserk.
A Perfect Jinchūriki going berserk?
Please. That only happened if the jinchūriki and the tailed beast fundamentally disagreed.
Right now, Matatabi was the best possible companion — and watchdog — Yuki could have.
Though there was something almost endearing about Matatabi's attitude, Sakura had to admit.
Knows when to hold a grudge, and knows when to let it go.
Not bad, for a thousand-year-old cat.
As the distance closed, the outline of Konoha finally came into view.
Mirai popped her head up from where she'd been tucked against Sakura, curious, taking it all in.
This was, after all, her first time flying.
...
The ninja hawks cleared Konoha's outer barrier and landed at the familiar Third Training Ground.
"Naruto, once you've dropped Mirai off at home, go report to Kakashi. Take the time to get comfortable with your new strength too."
"Yuki, head to the Uzumaki Annex tower and see if you can talk some sense into Fū."
"Hikaru..."
"...Um, go entertain yourself for a bit."
Once she'd landed, Sakura started handing out assignments.
Only Hikaru puffed her cheeks out, unhappy.
"Go entertain yourself for a bit"?!
"Heh heh heh!"
"Kakashi-sensei's gonna be blown away by how strong I am now! Might even give Pervy Sage a run for his money!"
Naruto grinned and immediately took Mirai's hand, ready to head off.
Naruto's words made Sakura pause, just for a moment.
But in the end, she said nothing.
Kakashi can handle that one.
Comforting people wasn't exactly her strong suit.
With that, Sakura headed toward the Hokage Building.
Tobirama had already briefed her on the current situation through a ninja hawk message. Nobles from several countries had arrived in Konoha, all demanding an audience with the Daimyō — there was no more hiding the truth about the previous Land of Fire Daimyō's death.
Black Zetsu's scheme had worked exactly as intended.
Not that it was hard, given it was all true to begin with.
Tobirama had also learned the moment Sakura returned to Konoha. By the time she stepped into the Hokage's office, he already had a full briefing on recent events ready and waiting.
The intelligence was organized down to the finest detail, but kept concise. Sakura only needed a few glances to grasp exactly where things stood now.
"So — what's the plan going forward?"
Tobirama asked, looking at the young woman now seated back in the Hokage's chair.
While Sakura had been away, he'd been Hokage. Now that she was back, he was simply a Konoha shinobi again.
And a Konoha shinobi followed the Hokage's orders.
Looking at the thick stack of gilt-edged letters in front of her, Sakura leaned back in her chair, eyes closed, thinking through what came next.
"How's border deployment coming along?"
Sakura asked.
"Supplies have arrived, troops are in position — but we're stretched thin."
Tobirama said, brow furrowed, having thought it over.
The coming war could reasonably be treated as a conflict against the entire shinobi world at once — every border with another nation was a potential battlefront now.
And Konoha's supposed allies weren't remotely trustworthy anymore. Even before the nobility's defection, Iwagakure's attitude had already been distinctly half-hearted. Once the defection was official, there was a real chance Iwa would move quickly to team up with the other villages and carve up the Land of Fire between them.
"How many sets of chakra armor do we have now?"
Sakura raised another question, seemingly with no interest whatsoever in the assembled nobles currently sitting in Konoha.
"Five hundred."
Tobirama said, low.
The particular mineral needed for chakra armor production only existed in the Land of Snow, and even there, the yield wasn't especially high. Three years of mining had only produced enough for five hundred full sets.
"Five hundred?"
Sakura's brow furrowed slightly.
That was a bit thin.
"How's progress on the scientific ninja tools?"
Sakura continued.
"They've entered mass production."
"But the scroll-based jutsu components needed to power them aren't keeping pace with the tools themselves."
"Those scrolls take time — shinobi have to write them by hand."
"And shinobi need rest, eventually."
Tobirama's answer drew a sigh out of Sakura.
Front-line strength is a bit lacking.
And it wasn't just about facing off against the other hidden villages. Sakura had no illusions that Akatsuki would simply sit back and watch Konoha fight the rest of the world without getting involved themselves.
Neither Obito nor Nagato individually posed much of a threat to her personally. But to everyone else, either one of them was a genuinely dangerous enemy.
Especially Nagato. Practically an entire army in a single person. Even a tailed beast, on its own, might not pose as much of a threat as he did.
And then there was Konan.
Her paper-manipulation technique was terrifying in its own right. If she ended up on the battlefield, Sakura would probably have to handle her personally.
A faint, cold glint flickered in Sakura's eyes.
Still — when the war actually broke out, she could position Tobirama to oversee the overall battlefield from Konoha, Tsunade to manage logistics, Naruto as the vanguard, Sasuke operating behind enemy lines, and Hikaru as an emergency response asset.
She herself would handle clearing out enemy powerhouses wherever they appeared.
That way, as long as the front lines could hold steady while she worked through the enemy's top fighters, there'd be enough time to buy Sasuke the window he needed.
Once Sasuke's mission succeeded, the entire allied shinobi coalition would descend into chaos on its own.
Suddenly, Sakura's gaze shifted to Tobirama.
"By the way — did you make any progress refining Edo Tensei while I was away?"
At that, the corner of Tobirama's mouth twitched.
This pink-haired menace really doesn't treat me like a person, does she.
First, she'd needed his help mastering Yang Release. Then chakra armor. Then the scientific ninja tools. Then stalling an entire delegation of hostile nobility single-handedly for days.
And now she wanted him to have finished refining Edo Tensei too, on top of everything else.
I'm a person. Not a robot.
"Fine, fine, I get it. Don't look at me like that. I've got the bigger picture in mind too."
Watching Tobirama's utterly done-with-life expression, Sakura decided not to push the point any further.
(End of chapter.)
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