22 BSWS CH-22 Mantis, Cicada and the Oriole Part-1

In a corner of the market, a pink-haired girl in a Yukata was surrounded by a group of adorable but malnourished kids with innocent smiles. They looked at the girl with sweet smiles on their face and held their hands out.

"Yes, everyone will get one, but no clamoring or fighting, Okay? Be patient." Sakura said as she unsealed a bunch of packages wrapped in paper from her storage scroll. These were fishes she caught from the sea along with some fruits and mushrooms she picked from the forest. All of the children got one package each and they went home after thanking Sakura with happy grins.

Sakura watched them go with a sad smile on her face. It felt so wrong to see such suffering being endured by such innocent souls. There were people with so many resources in excess that they wasted it on unnecessary stuff. Yet at the same time, there were children like these, who were happy if they got a few meals in a week.

As a result of the reincarnation that merged Sakura's original soul with the one from the modern world, Sakura faced this kind of conflict often. Every day when she saw such suffering, she hated herself for not being able to do much despite having so much power.

Despite all her prowess as a Kunoichi, she was ultimately a slave of the Hidden Villages. She was not allowed to do any action that brought harm to her village. Moreover, since she knew so much about future events, she always had to think multiple times before introducing any change in the timeline.

On one hand, she wanted to help others, yet on the other hand, she was reluctant to let go of the advantage she had in terms of knowledge of the future. Her own hypocrisy sickened her at times.

Shaking such self-despising thoughts out of her head, she took a deep breath to calm her emotions. Once she had done that, she turned her thoughts towards the preparations they had made for the inevitable clash with Zabuza.

It had already been a week and Zabuza would most probably attack in a day or two. Of course, the Lack of Kubikiribocho will hamper his battle style. But Seven Swordsmen of the Mist was not strong because of the Swords. They had the Seven Swords assigned to them because they were strong without them in the first place.

Moreover, Sakura was sure this time Haku would be participating. And she doubted that Haku will go easy on them this time since all of Team 7 was stronger in the current timeline than in the Original Canon.

'Just what can I do against his Ice Kekkei Genkai?' Sakura wondered. Despite not being as flashy as Wood, Scorch, Lava, Boil, or Magnet Release, Ice Release had shown a degree of versatility unmatched by any other.

Haku had immense speed and reflexes complimented by the Ice mirrors, which worked similar to Flying Thunder God, except at a shorter distance. His ice constructs gave him a near-infinite arsenal of weapons. While Haku limited himself to senbons, there were so many other weapons he can make. Most important of all, Ice had a natural restraint on all hot-blooded creatures, which made them slower and weaker in the face of it.

'Honestly, Would Naruto and Sasuke have survived Haku's assault in the Original Canon if not for Naruto's Talk no Jutsu and Haku taking it easy on them? Haku is truly more dangerous than Zabuza in certain aspects.' Sakura thought while letting out a sigh.

'I can't even depend on Naruto letting out the chakra of Nine Tails. That is a truly risky and unnecessary bet that could screw up things more thoroughly than anything else.' Sakura thought 'But what if I took out the motivation for Zabuza and Haku's assault in the first place?'

Sakura was frozen to her spot by the sudden revelation that hit her. Her mind worked rapidly as she made her plans. It was not foolproof, heck it was outright reckless. But if succeeded, she might turn the course of history to a better path than before.

'I don't have time, and I cant involve Kakashi sensei or others in this.' Sakura thought as her eyes hardened 'I guess I will have to do it on my own.'

'UTS, transmit knowledge of Shadow Clone Jutsu to my mind!'

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Somewhere in the Land of Waves

Gato was fuming while he shouted into a communication device, "Still wasting time licking your wounds?!! I hired you to do a job you know!! Are you listening to me?!! Zabuza!!!"

Suddenly, sounds of malfunction and static came through the device. Gato paused for a moment before becoming more furious than before.

"That piece of trash!! Shinobi? Demon of the Mist?? Hah, he is a Shinobi Leech who is draining my resources with nothing to show for it!! You dare ignore me and my commands Zabuza?? I will show you the consequence of that."

Gato walked angrily to a certain section of the hideout with his assistant following him. He pressed on a section of the wall and a false panel slid aside, revealing a big hidden safe with an extremely secure door and lock.

Gato carefully entered the combination lock to open the safe. It was a prototype he had invested in which had strong acid glass capsules and weak explosion seals within the safe's walls. In case of any mishap, they would be released into the safe and would destroy all its contents.

After opening it, Gato admired this secret wealth stash of his. He had other smaller stashes in other places of course, but this was his largest stash, which he always took with himself everywhere he shifted. It contained hundreds of millions of Ryo, in large denomination stacks. There were also property documents for his companies and his ownership of the majority of the Land of Waves.

He took out one of the stacks of Ryo and counted the amount. It was half a million Ryo, enough to gather a large army of thugs and mercenaries. An evil grin spread on his face as he imagined the look on Zabuza's face as he would come with his army.

He would take immense pleasure in watching his forces ripping that so-called Demon apart. After that, he would ask them to capture that kid that always travels with Zabuza. He claimed to be a boy, but with a face that pretty he would fetch a very high price on the black market. There were many perverts among his contacts who would love the taste of such forbidden acts.

"Kuro!! Take this money and gather all the thugs, crooks, and mercenaries that you can!! I want them gathered for me within an hour!!" Gato said as he turned to his assistant and threw the stack of Ryo notes to him.

Gato was lost in his fantasies, hence he didn't notice how his assistant had effortlessly caught the stack of notes with a grace he didn't have previously. Right as Gato was about to close the safe again, his assistant tapped him on the shoulder.

"What is it now Kuro? Didn't I already tell you what to do? Go and do it!!" Gato turned and yelled at the man.

"Of course Sir, I will do it." The assistant said with a calm smile "but before that there is something I have to show you."

"Huh? What is that?" Gato asked puzzled.

"This.." The assistant said as he made a hand sign. Gato's mind sent alarm signs throughout his body, however, it was too late. Darkness spread through his senses and that was the last thing he knew.