Flower of two worlds

16.- Camouflage from Another World

"What I learned in the academy is that sometimes it's heroic to step aside and let the true heroes emerge. Fortunately, I am a ninja of Konoha; their rules are not my rules."

On one of the streets in Japan, Sakura closely followed her five friends, using a small henge that modified some details of her appearance to go unnoticed: long hair with a blackish tone similar to her eyes, slightly bronzed skin, and a uniform she replicated from some random girl. Although she wasn't sure about the necessity of this disguise, as the boys didn't seem to be particularly attentive to their surroundings, she knew that heading towards the villains would inevitably lead them to cross paths with a hero or villain who could recognize them.

She learned to walk and observe her surroundings like an ordinary citizen of Japan while following them until they reached the bullet train station. Given the hour, the place was crowded, so she had no choice but to get closer. Unfortunately, as she dodged the crowd, she inadvertently collided with Todoroki's shoulder.

"I'm sorry" Shoto apologized.

"Ah... Don't worry, the bullet train station is packed" the girl responded casually.

Todoroki, who initially hadn't paid much attention to the girl, stopped and stared at her. They found themselves face to face, and the girl tilted her head to the side in confusion while he examined every inch of her face. Although he didn't know her, her choice of words was so unusual that it reminded him of a particular person: someone with pink hair. Although the girl in front of him was different from Sakura, he couldn't look away; in a strange way, his brain was telling him that there were too many similarities between them.

"Todoroki-san?" Yaoyorozu called.

Midoriya and the others were already several meters away from Todoroki, so he decided to let the matter go and join them. However, once he caught up with them, he turned back for a few brief seconds to look for the girl. She was gone.

"Is something wrong, Todoroki?" Midoriya asked, seeing him unusually distracted.

"... No, it's nothing" Todoroki replied, walking again alongside his friends. Maybe he had spent so much time with Sakura that he was starting to imagine things.

When the five resumed their journey to the train, Sakura positioned herself next to a group of students walking together. She sighed in relief once the danger of being discovered passed. Although she wasn't putting her best effort into going unnoticed, she was very surprised that Todoroki was suspecting her disguise. For a brief moment, if it weren't for Yaoyorozu, she would have thought that Todoroki was going to call her by her name.

For now, she decided it would be prudent to keep more distance between them to avoid being discovered. So, once they boarded the train, Sakura chose to stand on it, especially in case Todoroki happened to recognize her.

Due to her chakra problem, she released her illusion and focused her chakra on her legs to counteract the force of the vehicle and prevent herself from being thrown off by the high speed. During the journey, she carefully reviewed her scrolls, evaluating every resource at her disposal. She replenished her weapons kit with senbon needles infused with paralytics, sharpened kunai, adjusted wires, and meticulously counted the available bombs, as well as vials of antidotes and other useful items. Given the scant information about the villains, her caution was essential.

Thanks to her training, she had improved her performance. During the confrontation with the two Nomu, she discovered an impressive fact: by forcing more chakra through her channels, she could now use 45% of her chakra without suffering burns or vomiting blood. She only hoped that this improvement would be sufficient if she faced Shigaraki and the others.