No one was fast enough to outrun the shockwave.
The explosion's force flattened everything in its path, tearing through the training ground and hurling everyone away.
In an instant, the entire area was swallowed by a thick cloud of smoke and dust.
Meanwhile, in the village…
Everyone in the village felt the tremor.
A deep rumble echoed through the streets, followed by a deafening boom.
Then—
A massive mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
Tsunade stood frozen for a moment, eyes dark with concern.
"An explosion of this magnitude… Did the Akatsuki attack again?"
Without hesitation, she called for Konoha's forces.
"Everyone, move out! We need to assess the situation—now!"
---
Back at the training ground…
Ino stirred first.
She coughed, blinking through the thick haze of dust and debris.
"…I'm… alive?"
Her gaze shifted to a small, familiar figure lying nearby.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Sakiya!
Ino scrambled forward, kneeling beside her.
She carefully lifted Sakiya onto her lap, panic creeping into her voice.
"Sakiya? Wake up!"
She gently patted Sakiya's soft cheek, her hands trembling.
Then—
Sakiya's eyes snapped open.
She sprang up, hands moving in quick, practiced motions, as if tracing invisible symbols in the air.
"Hyaaaaaaah!"
She struck a dramatic pose, eyes flashing.
Then she looked at Ino, completely serious.
"Hah! Like my own spell could ever hurt me!"
But before she could celebrate—
A chill ran down her spine.
A low voice drifted through the air.
"…But your spell hurt us."
A bead of sweat rolled down Sakiya's face.
She swallowed.
"…That's… not possible. My magic is… totally safe…"
Then—
Ino stepped forward.
Her expression was unreadable.
But the dark aura swirling around her spoke volumes.
Sakiya's body tensed.
[Dark… Emperor…?]
"Ino, I— I swear, my magic is totally—"
Before she could finish, Ino vanished.
In a blink, she reappeared in front of Sakiya—
And delivered a precise hand chop to her forehead.
WHAM.
"Owww!!"
Sakiya clutched her head, eyes welling with tears.
She looked up at Ino with a devastated expression.
"I was just trying to demonstrate!"
Ino sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Sakiya… That was way too reckless. This technique is way too dangerous!"
From the smoke, three more figures emerged.
Chihiro.
Tsuchiya.
Sakuragi.
All of them covered in dust, their clothes singed and tattered.
And all of them looking very, very pissed.
The three of them looked at Sakiya's teary, wide eyes and found it impossible to stay mad.
Chihiro sighed, still shaken.
"Sakiya, this technique is way too dangerous. Please… don't use it so casually again."
Sakuragi nodded quickly in agreement.
Tsuchiya, however, had a different reaction. He looked dead serious.
"Yeah, this is way too dangerous… So hurry up and teach me!"
Everyone immediately shot him a glare.
Chihiro didn't hesitate.
Whack.
A swift chop to the head.
"With all due respect, Tsuchiya," she deadpanned, "even if you drained all the chakra from the moon, you still couldn't pull this off."
Tsuchiya's confidence shattered.
He clutched his head, groaning.
"What?! But Sakiya said she had a technique for me! There's no way I can't learn it!"
At that moment, Sakiya—who had been playing the victim—suddenly stood up.
She brushed off the dust, cleared her throat, and grinned triumphantly.
"Hmph! Well, actually, this technique was inspired by a legendary spell from a senior."
She raised her hand.
A tiny ember of chakra flickered to life in her palm, quickly swelling into a small, floating fireball.
"I call it… The Bursting Fireball That Ends the World!"
Sakiya smiled proudly, admiring the swirling flames in her palm.
Meanwhile—
Everyone else instinctively backed away.
Ino broke into a cold sweat.
"Sakiya… l-let's be reasonable here. Just… put the fireball down."
Sakiya blinked.
"Put it down?"
The entire group nodded furiously.
Sakiya scratched her head.
Then—
Without hesitation—
She threw the fireball at the ground.
Ino and the others stared in shock, their mouths hanging open.
Wait. WAIT.
Not that kind of "letting go"!
The fireball landed right at Sakiya's feet—
A tiny spark flickered—
And then…
It just vanished.
Silence.
Ino and the others exhaled loudly, their hearts still pounding.
That had been way too close.
They all turned to glare at Sakiya.
She, in turn, blinked innocently, her wide eyes filled with fake confusion.
For a moment, their anger just stalled.
Like—where do we even start?!
Ino finally sighed.
"Sakiya, please don't scare us like that."
Sakiya tilted her head.
"I was just showing you the technique."
Silence.
The group just stared at her.
Then, in perfect sync, they all pointed behind her.
At the towering mushroom cloud.
Their eyes followed the direction—
And what they saw—
Left them speechless.
What was once a vast forest had been reduced to wasteland.
A massive crater stretched out before them, its center still smoking with heat.
And then—
They realized something.
The very ground they were standing on was also part of the impact zone.
And yet—
Their area was weirdly intact.
Like some kind of protective field had been in place.
The group slowly turned back to Sakiya.
She rubbed the back of her head, finally looking a little guilty.
"I was just… paying tribute to a senior."
She cleared her throat.
"Her burst magic was a one-shot super-destruction spell meant for full-body evacuation."
Silence.
Then—
Ino pinched the bridge of her nose.
Chihiro sighed.
Sakuragi looked like he was questioning life.
Tsuchiya held back tears.
This girl.
Was going to be the death of them.
Sakiya lowered her head shyly, poking her fingers together.
"Well... I didn't even use all my power. Just a small part… Maybe that's kind of disrespectful to my senior."
The group felt a chill run down their spines.
Only a small part?
Does that mean if she used all of it, Konoha would be wiped off the map?!
Ino took a deep breath and locked eyes with Sakiya.
"Promise me, Sakiya. If you ever use this again—never go all out."
Sakiya grinned and waved a hand dismissively.
"Hehe, don't worry! I always have things under control. And of course, I'll listen to you, Ino."
Ino stared at her.
"…How many times have you actually listened to me?"
Silence.
Sakiya looked away.
Ino sighed and shook her head.
"Never mind. Just… be careful, okay?"
Tsuchiya suddenly jumped in.
"Sakiya! Seriously! Can I learn this technique?!"
Sakiya turned to him, tilting her head.
"Of course! That was the plan, Great Dimensional Traveler."
Tsuchiya's eyes sparkled.
Sakiya nodded and began explaining.
"The principle is simple. You just need to—"
(The next part contained top-secret, 3000-word technical information that only a true master could understand.)
She wrapped it up with:
"In short, you freely adjust the power output and condense it to its absolute limit."
The group finally understood.
The strength of the technique depended entirely on the amount of chakra poured into it.
Tsuchiya's excitement skyrocketed.
"Amazing! This is seriously powerful!"
But then—he paused.
Wait.
The power scales with chakra output…
His chakra reserves… were not high.
Tsuchiya's face froze.
He immediately tested it out. Despite his limited chakra, his usual Fireball Jutsu came out stronger and faster, like a concentrated fireball technique.
"...Huh."
Okay, this was actually pretty good.
Of course, he knew it was only temporary.
This was just a result of Sakiya's guidance and training.
If it were that easy, he'd be a genius.
Which—he was not.
But still, he and Sakuragi now had clear goals to work toward. They dove into training with renewed determination.
Meanwhile—
Ino and Chihiro…
Were realizing something.
They were kind of just standing around.
Their smiles twitched.
Both turned to Sakiya, glaring.
Ino crossed her arms and smiled sweetly.
"Sakiya… are you sure you didn't just bring us here to watch?"
Chihiro smiled too.
"Aren't we supposed to be training?"
At that moment, Sakiya had been carefully inspecting Sakuragi and Tsuchiya's progress, totally in her element.
But when faced with Ino and Chihiro's intense gazes…
She froze.
"I… Uh…"
A drop of sweat rolled down her face.
"...Would you like me to train you too?"
Their eyes gleamed.
"That works!"
And just like that—Chihiro completely abandoned her role as "teacher."
Because in this world, strength was everything.
And learning from a genius like Sakiya?
No shame in that.
_________
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