Chapter 231: Tokujō Sakura; Genin Naruto
When they returned to Konoha, Haruno Sakura witnessed the power of the superacid that Tsunade had paled at the mention of.
When she left Shikkotsu Forest, some of the acidic liquid had accidentally gotten on her ice armor without her noticing. After returning to Konoha, the moment she had deactivated her Frost Armor, the acidic liquid had stuck to her pant leg and shoes, startling her into immediately cutting off the contaminated half of her pant leg and her shoe.
The pant leg, sticky with the acidic liquid, fell to the ground and was quickly and completely corroded by the strong acid. Even the sand on the training ground was corroded into a slimy liquid.
Haruno Sakura's eyelids twitched. She really couldn't believe what the effect would have been if this strong acid had gotten on her body. However, for it to be able to corrode even sand, she was reminded of something called a superacid.
She had read some materials in her previous life. When hydrofluoric acid and antimony pentafluoride were mixed in a 1:1 molar ratio, a superacid called fluoroantimonic acid could be obtained, which was twenty billion billion times stronger than pure sulfuric acid—two followed by nineteen zeros. Sakura had not misread this number! This acid could corrode metal and almost all organic matter, and could react violently with glass, sand, and even soil, which even aqua regia couldn't handle. It was the strongest acid created by humans in her previous life... Speaking of which, could the Slug Sage's acidic liquid be related to this acid?
However, before Sakura could begin her divergent thinking, and as she was thinking of a way to turn this acidic liquid into her ninjutsu, a sharp pain suddenly shot up her leg—
"You were splashed by the acidic liquid. Fortunately, only a small amount got on your skin," Tsunade said with a frown, holding the girl's calf and taking a look. An ugly brown spot had suddenly appeared on her fair skin. The super-strong acidity meant that even if a droplet the size of a speck of saliva touched the skin, it could leave an extremely deep injury and a burning pain.
Fortunately, Tsunade was present. This small injury was quickly treated, and the scar was also removed, restoring its original flawless appearance. It was just that her pant leg could not be restored, and she could only walk out with half of her fair calf exposed.
"You, so clumsy..." Tsunade said, shaking her head and scolding her. "Alright, there's nothing for you here. Go back and rest. Your new Tokubetsu Jonin registration form and other things will be sent to you tomorrow. Also, for the Land of Snow mission, remember to go early and come back early!"
She waved her hand, signaling that Haruno Sakura could scram.
"Yes, Master!"
Tsunade watched her disciple leave. From her smile and the way she left, it seemed that this trip hadn't affected her much.
Originally, she had brought her to see the Slug Sage to see if she could awaken her grandfather's kind of Senjutsu, and also to let the Slug Sage shock her a bit and suppress Sakura's excessive arrogance, lest she become too impetuous recently...
But now, it seemed, had that impetuousness in her been removed at all?
She had just been clamoring about surpassing the First Hokage. She still looked as arrogant as ever!
No, there should be... some change, right?
When she had first seen the Slug Sage's main body, her expression had changed...
She should have become a little more steady, right? And a little more goal-oriented.
"Hn... no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like she's become more steady."
Tsunade looked with disgust as Haruno Sakura walked out of the training ground, carrying her shoes and with bare feet.
One pant leg was long and the other was short, revealing half of her calf. The beggar-like attire... in no way showed a steady presence.
"Tsk, why is taking a disciple so troublesome! Shizune wasn't this much trouble!"
Her carefree self. Her meticulous, experimental self.
Her self with grand words and lofty ambitions. Her humble and bright self.
Which one was the real Haruno Sakura? Tsunade felt that this question was a bit unanswerable.
The next day.
Even faster than when she had been promoted to Chunin, Sakura's Tokujō assessment had just passed, and her certificate had been issued. The efficiency was extremely high.
Sakura held her Konoha Ninja Registration Form in her hand.
Name: Haruno Sakura. Gender: Female. Rank: Tokubetsu Jonin.
Personal Bio: Interests are researching chakra and Water and Ice Style ninjutsu. Favorite things are pure water and ice.
A few words in her bio had been inadvertently changed.
On her personal front page, Sakura's recent photo had been changed again.
Perhaps those who spent their days with her couldn't feel it, but when compared with the recent photo of Haruno Sakura in her Chunin registration form, the difference could be seen.
The childishness on her face had faded a lot more. Her features seemed to have matured, becoming exquisite and clean.
In the Chunin's recent photo, Sakura was smiling, her lips pursed, her eyes curved, her smile serene and sweet.
In the Tokujō's recent photo, she was barely smiling.
The girl in the photo was just looking ahead peacefully and quietly, looking at the person who was staring at the photo.
Her gaze was as clean as a clear, bottomless pool.
Her eyes, eyebrows, and lips were all just faint.
Only after looking for a long time could one vaguely feel the smile at the corner of the person's mouth in the photo.
"Well, look at this smug look," Haruno Sakura said, looking at her own photo and couldn't help but smile.
"You, what's there to be so proud of..." she said, shaking her head and talking to herself.
She took off her clothes and changed into her Tokubetsu Jonin uniform—it wasn't much different from the Chunin uniform, apart from the material being better and the color being nicer, there wasn't much of a difference.
Walking on the street, an ordinary person wouldn't necessarily be able to tell the difference between a Tokubetsu Jonin and a Chunin!
However, she still condensed a full-length mirror and looked at herself as a Tokujō.
The girl in the mirror was in a hand-seal posture, her head slightly raised. The form-fitting uniform made her look capable and neat. Her gaze was faint, looking at herself with a majestic air.
Although the expression on her face was emotionless, deep down, she was still a little smug.
After all, she had been promoted another rank.
Konoha Village Regulations.
—A ninja with special talents in certain areas can be promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin upon recommendation.
Haruno Sakura's reason for recommendation was...
In terms of strength, she was especially strong.
In the 61st year of Konoha, in late winter and early spring, Haruno Sakura was promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin at the age of 12 years and 10 months.
While the transmigrator Haruno Sakura was promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin at the end of her twelfth year, Uzumaki Naruto, who had just passed the halfway mark of his twelfth year, was still a miserable, eternal genin, and was in the midst of miserable training.
The reason for using this word twice was because the author really couldn't think of how to describe the current Naruto, who was facing a mountain of scrolls and materials, his face a picture of collapse.
This was on the edge of a small jungle in the Land of Wind.
Inside a small earthen house made by Jiraiya with Earth Style.
Naruto and Jiraiya were sitting in front of a large low table. In front of them was precisely the materials that Sakura had sent for Naruto to see.
Jiraiya was reading with great interest.
Naruto was reading and dozing off.
"Interesting, interesting," the Pervy Sage said, carefully reading the annotations Sakura had left in the materials several times. He found that on many ninjutsu, this little girl had a keen sense and a unique insight. The annotations she left were often either full of pearls of wisdom and hit the nail on the head, or were heretical and shocking.
However, even those annotations that looked a bit sensational, after careful consideration, seemed to not be completely without reason.
Therefore, even the widely experienced Jiraiya was quite interested in the letter Sakura had sent.
As expected of the new genius of the new generation in Konoha, after Orochimaru and Minato.
It seemed that every once in a while, Konoha would produce such a dazzling ninja.
Of course…
"Among the three of Team 7, the one I like the most, and also the one I'm most optimistic about, is still Uzumaki Naruto!" he said to himself—Jiraiya would not treat a genius ninja with special favor. He, who had accumulated his strength over a long period of time and had become a late bloomer, paid more attention to other qualities.
Like Naruto, whose personality was tenacious, and who could endure failure, setbacks, and hardship. A ninja like this was the kind of disciple he liked!
And then he looked back at the boy beside him, who had unknowingly begun to snore softly.
"I take back what I just said."
A black line appeared on Jiraiya's forehead. He took a roll of white paper and rolled it into a tube.
"You brat, study hard!"
In the end, the letter Sakura had written still had an effect.
Of course, the effect was not from the 680,000 words of content. Jiraiya had found them to be of great benefit, but Naruto... had basically not understood them at all.
It was from a note attached to the letter.
On it were a lot of reminders written to Jiraiya in a very colloquial tone.
"To Uncle Jiraiya:
Good day, Pervy Uncle! (Seeing this address, Jiraiya helplessly slapped his head.) I guess Naruto probably won't understand the materials I sent. So, my only suggestion for Naruto is the Shadow Clone! If the difficulty of this ninjutsu is so high that it would take Naruto a hundred years to learn it, then by using a thousand shadow clones to accelerate the experience, he can master this jutsu within a month!
If Naruto still can't master it, and can't perform the one-mind-two-uses operation of simultaneously adding shape and nature transformation to the Rasengan, then I still have one last resort, and that is to use a shadow clone to assist in completing this ninjutsu. The main body will perform the shape transformation, while the clone will perform the nature transformation!
This is a last resort. This method of casting is undoubtedly a shortcut. For those of us who are engrossed in the art of chakra control, to complete a ninjutsu with this method is simply a disgrace.
So, if it is not necessary, please do not let Naruto use this method. If he does... absolutely do not say that it was my idea. I can't afford to lose face!
The signature was Haruno Sakura.
A few days later, in a barren mountain in the Land of Wind.
The ground was covered in rubble. The once-streamlined valley now looked as if it had been savagely gnawed on, with round pits over several meters deep everywhere.
In the valley, from time to time, such shouts could be heard:
"Wind Style! Rasenshuriken! Hah—!"
Jiraiya watched from not far away as the two yellow-haired boys were working together to rub a meatball, and he touched his chin.
"Sorry, little Sakura... in the end, I still let him use this method, and he even guessed that it was your idea..."
The old man said with some shame.
Suddenly, a loud bang came from Naruto's side.
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