Chapter 308: Leading the Team
According to the rules she had set, the three students had already won.
Poof! Sakura looked over and saw that Konohamaru, who had just used the Great Fireball on the opposite side, had turned back into Moegi, while the other Moegi had disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Alright, I lose! You passed my test!" Sakura announced loudly.
"Yay!" The three students, who were already too tired to stand, cheered when they heard her announce the result, their energy seemingly instantly restored.
"Great teamwork!" Sakura laughed. "I didn't expect that besides Water Style, you can also use Fire Style, Moegi! You kept this trump card hidden until the last attack, and you used it very skillfully. It achieved a very good disguise effect!"
Moegi smiled a little shyly.
"Udon's genjutsu was also used very well. The genjutsu harassment at the beginning, and the precise interference with my perception just now, covered Konohamaru's final blow." Sakura looked at Udon and praised him; the little boy immediately smiled proudly.
"Finally, Konohamaru, a wonderful Transformation Jutsu! Whether it was chakra control or the transformation of appearance, it was beautifully done. And the Great Fireball that ended the battle, to be able to cast it in the short two seconds in the air, shows that you have mastered this ninjutsu to a very high level!"
Haruno Sakura finally turned to Konohamaru and nodded. Her words of praise immediately made him reveal a bright smile.
Sakura's words were not an exaggeration.
Throughout the battle, Haruno Sakura had seen everything clearly. She had actually seen through those few Transformation Jutsu long ago, which was why she could point out the key points of the battle just now.
Tactics don't need to be new or complicated, as long as they are used brilliantly. It's just like how the same routine and plot can be written in an interesting way by some authors, while others write it dryly and even full of plot holes.
The key point of this set of tactics was that each of them could cooperate tacitly, and the moves they used were decisive, effective, and powerful.
Moegi transforming into Konohamaru and being able to use Konohamaru's signature Fire Style so well was the key to confusing the opponent; Konohamaru's beautiful Transformation Jutsu, and his ninjutsu control that allowed him to form hand seals quickly even in the air, were the key points to completing the tactic.
Among them, Udon's interspersing of genjutsu, threading the needle in each link, connecting their attacks, was the seemingly inconspicuous but actually most difficult part.
If the opponent were an ordinary Chunin, or even a careless Jonin, they might have fallen for it.
"That's it for today!" Sakura dispelled the Ice Tower and brought the three students back to the ground. She clapped her hands and said, "Then, to celebrate your passing the assessment, officially becoming ninja, and the official establishment of Team Haruno Sakura, let's go have a meal! My treat!"
"Hn... what do you want to eat? I don't have any particular preference for food."
"Ichiraku Ramen!" Konohamaru shouted first. He was still immersed in the excitement of officially becoming a Genin. "To celebrate such a big event as officially becoming a ninja, of course we have to eat the most delicious thing!"
"Hey, hey," Haruno Sakura's expression froze. She waved her hands repeatedly to persuade him. "Why ramen again? Hasn't Naruto taken you there enough? How about changing the place, like eating beef balls?"
However, the three students had already fallen into the abyss of fantasizing about ramen and couldn't extricate themselves—
"Okay, okay! I want to eat the signature seafood ramen!" "I want to eat a large bowl of beef brisket ramen!" "My stomach is already rumbling. Today I want to eat two bowls of udon noodles!" "Damn it, that's udon noodles, not oolong noodles!"
They couldn't hear a word Sakura said anymore.
Haruno Sakura, on her first day as a teacher, helplessly let her shoulders droop. Kids these days really aren't cute...
In the end, Team Haruno Sakura went to Ichiraku Ramen.
Watching the students wolf down their food, Sakura felt a sense of gratification in her heart for the first time.
It was as if she had suddenly returned to two years ago.
When Team 7 was first formed, Kakashi had also brought them here for a meal.
She just hadn't expected that Team Haruno Sakura would be formed so quickly; times had changed. The position of the white-haired youth from back then had now been replaced by a pink-haired girl.
And the position she had sat in back then was now occupied by the little girl, Moegi.
Haruno Sakura subtly understood Kakashi's feelings at that time.
A little annoyed, and a little expectant. I wonder how much these three will grow under my guidance? Although the three of them were not as exaggerated as Team 7, each of them was a newcomer with great potential.
After an afternoon of practical combat testing, Haruno Sakura already understood her three students very well.
Sarutobi Konohamaru was a type who developed in a balanced way, just like his grandfather. He majored in Fire Style, and his ninjutsu was good. His power and casting speed were among the best among Genin. His taijutsu was also very powerful, meticulous, and his movements were simple and sharp. At this age, he was already considered a very strong ninja. As expected of a child trained by the Third.
His temperament was a bit impetuous, his personality was active and proactive, an outgoing and active child.
Konohamaru didn't need too much special teaching, because the Third had been tailoring a training plan for him. Haruno Sakura couldn't do better; what she needed to do was to constantly fight with him, feed him moves, and let him integrate what he had learned into battle.
A very worry-free student.
Next was Udon.
Udon majored in genjutsu. His taijutsu and ninjutsu were average, but his ninja tool throwing was good. His personality was a bit introverted, and his shortcoming was that he was not proactive enough, possibly because he had been following Konohamaru for a long time.
Her guidance for him would be to strengthen his chakra control practice, as well as teach him genjutsu. Taijutsu and ninjutsu should be practiced appropriately, just so they didn't become shortcomings. Fortunately, Haruno Sakura had put a lot of effort into genjutsu some time ago. Although she was not a genjutsu master, it was enough to confuse ordinary people and guide Genin.
When Udon's genjutsu could make Sakura have a moment of trance, he would probably be considered accomplished in genjutsu!
Teaching him wasn't very difficult either.
Finally, Moegi.
Moegi was the student Haruno Sakura paid the most attention to, because her type was most like Haruno Sakura herself. Both were ninjutsu-type ninja, and both had Water Style as their primary affinity. What was amazing about Moegi was that she had developed a second affinity at this age. She clearly had extreme talent in ninjutsu. You know, even Sakura herself had only developed the Wind Style affinity after becoming a Genin!
Moreover, she was not weak in chakra control. In the battle just now, Moegi could occasionally exert a huge force that was completely inconsistent with her slender body...!
A new generation successor of Monstrous Strength?
So for Moegi, Sakura would guide her with special care. Although she had no intention of taking an apprentice at the moment...
However, according to her estimation, teaching Moegi would also be a very worry-free matter. She just had to teach her what she knew one by one!
At the end of the ramen meal.
Haruno Sakura raised her tea cup. "Come, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi. Let's substitute tea for wine and celebrate the establishment of Team Haruno Sakura!"
The four raised their cups and clinked them together.
Haruno Sakura's career as a team leader began like this.
Every new class starts with low-level missions.
Even those who are destined to be influential figures in the future have to go through this stage.
"So our first mission is sweeping the floor?" Konohamaru said indignantly, holding a broom in his hand, complaining as he swept. "Damn it, we are ninja!"
Haruno Sakura's two sentences of explanation clearly failed to convince him.
The other two, Udon and Moegi, clearly felt the same way, thinking that their first mission should be some cool, high-level mission.
"What, do you have any dissatisfaction?" Haruno Sakura's beautiful, light green eyes swept over, her voice cold. The cold light in her eyes instantly made the three little brats shrink their heads.
"N-No!" Konohamaru said weakly.
Seeing that the boss had also deflated, Udon and Moegi were as silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to breathe loudly.
Looking at the three obedient appearances, Sakura nodded with satisfaction. It wasn't in vain that she had given the three of them a show of force yesterday. They really didn't dare to be naughty in front of her.
She thought about it and explained a few sentences anyway.
"Don't look down on it just because it's a low-level mission," Haruno Sakura explained. "In fact, without these low-level missions, Konoha would be destroyed in less than a month!"
"Is it that serious?" Konohamaru asked skeptically while sweeping the floor.
"You may take these small things for granted. In fact, maintaining the operation of a city requires a lot of manpower and a massive amount of low-level missions! Think about it, if no one in the entire Konoha swept and cleaned, would every street be full of garbage after a few dozen days, becoming an uninhabitable garbage city?"
Haruno Sakura wagged her finger and explained the reasoning here.
"Think about it again. If we don't issue low-level missions for farming, relying only on the ordinary people of the village as farmers, their farming efficiency is so low that it is far from enough to grow enough food for the people in the village to eat!"
In fact, here in Konoha, a part of the low-level ninja had already begun to transform into specialized production-type ninja.
The production revolution contained in this was probably a great change that had never happened in the ninja world for thousands of years. In fact, this kind of change should have shown signs long ago, but successive world wars had interrupted its development process. And now that the world had been peaceful for more than a decade, this trend had stubbornly poked its head out again.
If this peace could last longer, perhaps this force would transform the entire world beyond recognition...!
Even Haruno Sakura herself couldn't see the things inside clearly. She had, after all, only been a formal ninja for two years. And there were very few people in the entire ninja world who had a deep understanding of social sciences, probably fewer than the fingers on one hand.
Therefore, Sakura could only talk superficially about the appearance to the students.
"There are many more low-level missions like this. The largest number of missions in Konoha are low-level missions. These missions are necessary to maintain the normal operation of a ninja village. They are indispensable!"
"In addition, for many older Genin, they don't have enough strength to complete high-level missions, so the remuneration obtained from these low-level missions is their biggest source of income in life! Without low-level missions, they probably wouldn't even be able to eat..."
The three of them pondered for a while and accepted Sakura's teachings.
However, although they understood the importance of low-level missions, they were still listless and looked weak.
Haruno Sakura sighed. She had originally planned to let them experience the hardships of a Genin. Looking at it this way, forget it. Team Haruno Sakura wouldn't stay in the Genin stage for too long anyway. This experience was dispensable.
"Don't look so listless!" Sakura clapped her hands to attract the students' attention and said, "You are ninja. Why do you have to clean slowly and follow the rules? Do something befitting your identity as a ninja!"
Haruno Sakura's hint just now instantly opened the minds of the three students. They immediately began to show their skills with their own moves!
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 400 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!