Chapter 309: Team Leader
Haruno Sakura looked at the three students, then jumped off the roof and commented on them one by one.
"Hn, not bad. Using Shadow Clones to help sweep the floor, the efficiency increased several times at once. But Konohamaru, you have to be careful of the mental stress caused by the return of memories after the clones disappear!"
"Using Water Style to control the water flow to clean the streets? A very good idea. Doing this is not only efficient, but also trains your Water Style control ability. This is the approach I appreciate the most: seize every opportunity and turn it into an activity to train yourself! Good luck, Moegi!"
"Hey, hey... Udon, using genjutsu to hide the garbage is wrong!"
Except for Udon's side, where there was a bit of a hiccup, the mission was basically completed successfully. Everything went smoothly. While earning their first sum of money in life, the three students also gained mission experience and received good training.
Moegi's Water Style became the main force for completing this mission. Under Sakura's guidance, Udon used chakra to enhance his body and speed up the cleaning, also contributing a lot.
Except for one accident...
Konohamaru, who had split into four shadow clones, collapsed from exhaustion when the clones disappeared, as expected.
On the way back to submit the mission.
"You pushed yourself too hard, Konohamaru," Sakura said faintly, carrying Konohamaru on her back. The exhausted boy mumbled weakly, "So tired... why does a low-level mission have to be so tiring!"
"That's all because you insisted on using the Shadow Clone Jutsu for so long! Sensei warned you!" Moegi mocked, making a face.
"Hehe... that's why I said you can't underestimate low-level missions!" Sakura turned her head and smiled at Konohamaru. The child had rested his head on her shoulder and was already drowsy. "Low-level missions can temper your will and stamina, which is also very helpful for your growth. In the novice stage, you will take on many such low-level missions until I think you have grown."
"Everyone did a great job on this mission. After you go back, those who still have energy can continue to train, and those who don't should rest as soon as possible. Tomorrow, we'll meet at Training Ground 9 again, and we'll start our first class training!"
"My requirements are very strict," Sakura said with a smile. "You have to be mentally prepared!"
"Yes, Sensei!" Moegi and Udon said in unison.
What about Konohamaru?
Sakura glanced back at him.
This guy had already fallen asleep on her back.
Haruno Sakura shook her head amusedly. After saying goodbye to the students, she sent him back to the Third's house.
"Thank you for your hard work, Sakura," the Third said to Haruno Sakura after carefully taking Konohamaru and putting him on the bed in his room, giving him a kind look.
"This is just my duty. Konohamaru is a very hardworking child," Sakura said with a smile. "Seeing him like this reminds me of Naruto. Naruto has a great influence on Konohamaru!"
"Yes," the Third revealed a nostalgic smile. "Naruto, Konohamaru..."
After chatting for a while about leading the team, seeing that it was getting late, the Third tried to keep her. "Stay for a simple meal!"
"No, Grandpa Third! I still have things to do, and..." Sakura revealed a mysterious smile, formed a seal with her hand, and shouted clearly—
"Release!"
She turned into a puddle of ice blocks in front of the Third.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was stunned for a moment. "Ice clone? Is the main body still training?"
So the one who had been following them on the mission all day was an ice clone... Could a clone last for such a long time away from the main body?
"It must be by adding the Yin Release nature transformation to the Ice Style and infusing a lot of spiritual power into it... that's why it could last so long," the knowledgeable Third Hokage immediately thought of the secret behind this.
"This team-leading mission should have been a leisure mission for you to rest..." He sighed. "Sakura, you are also a very hardworking child!"
Team Haruno Sakura's first collective activity thus came to an end.
The days after that passed peacefully like this.
In the intervals between training and leading the team, Sakura took the time to visit Shikkotsu Forest to visit the Slug Sage.
"Yes, little Hashirama did indeed train here with me back then. But he practiced Sage Mode. He never mentioned how Wood Style fused with the Yang Release transformation..." the Slug Sage said. "As for Yin Release, I don't understand it even more. These are all distinctions you humans make for chakra. I usually use Senjutsu chakra directly."
"However, your direction should be correct, little Sakura. Ice Style fused with Yin Release is the most suitable route for you... Your chakra amount has increased a lot recently! It seems that the modification of your body by the Ice Style has been successfully completed. This time next year, we can start practicing Senjutsu!"
She also found a mission outside the village and visited the ancient country of Rouran by the way.
The energy underground had been used up a lot by her time travel. Before going to the Land of Snow, she had specially gone to check it, and it was still very empty. After half a year, it had now risen back up.
"I haven't figured out how time travel works yet, so I'll save the energy for now." Haruno Sakura looked outside the hall, but still decided not to go in.
That magical space-time energy was like water in a pool. Once it was full, it wouldn't increase anymore. But one time travel would take about half a year to recover. Without an absolutely necessary reason, she didn't want to travel easily. After all, there were risks. What if something went wrong and she couldn't come back?
Moreover, she hadn't figured out where she would travel to next time, or how to control the time. This energy should be controllable. She already had some ideas, but that would have to wait for next time.
Back to Team Haruno Sakura.
Everything was going very smoothly.
Haruno Sakura created a clone every day, carrying her spirit and a large amount of chakra, to take Konohamaru and the others on missions or training. From time to time, the main body would also go out to bond with them.
After all, no matter how realistic the memories brought back by the clone were, there was still a layer of separation.
Sakura's main body needed to truly come into contact with them, to train and complete missions with them, to feel the emotional bond of being a member of Team Haruno Sakura, and to fulfill the duties of a supervising Jonin.
As for low-level missions, the three students were resistant at first. After Sakura introduced them to the correct way for ninja to complete missions, the three of them began to treat missions as a kind of interesting training—in fact, this did have the effect of training.
Doing these low-level missions was also quite fun.
As long as it wasn't like Kakashi, who had taken farming missions for his students for more than half a month in a row.
March happened to be the time for spring plowing, and it was also the time when labor was most needed in the fields. At this time, ninja were needed to fill in—the labor of one novice ninja was better than ten farmers.
This kind of work was very tiring, very suitable for training the stamina of newcomers. Haruno Sakura felt this deeply. back then, she was also a newcomer with very average endurance. After continuous training like this for a month, her endurance suddenly increased a lot.
And it was also very boring.
Konohamaru and the others persisted for a week, and then clamored for Sakura to change their missions. Considering that the stamina of the three of them was passable and they didn't need special training in this area, Sakura didn't force them too much, only letting them do the mission for three weeks. It was one week less than what she had done back then, which could be considered very merciful.
Konohamaru wanted to complain more, but was directly shut down by Haruno Sakura: "When I did these low-level missions back then, I suffered a lot. You guys, do you think you can become strong casually without suffering? There are no shortcuts to growth!"
—Unless you have the Sharingan and the Nine-Tails' chakra.
"Also, haven't you felt it? Recently, your stamina and chakra have increased!"
Indeed, after the farming mission ended, the three of them, who had been eating, drinking, and exercising heavily during this period, looked generally stronger. Even the excessively slender Moegi had gained some meat on her arms, and no longer had that skinny feeling.
Finding that they were indeed progressing rapidly, the three of them rubbed their hands together, waiting for the next mission.
Then, Sakura took a mission for them to clean the Naka River channel and the sewers...
This was a mission where you could smell the stench just from the mission sheet!
The painful experience was unbearable for Sakura to look back on. Even someone as thick-nerved as Naruto back then had been knocked out by the stench...
The upper reaches of the Naka River flowed through the Uchiha compound, and then split. One branch flowed through the bustling Konoha city area, taking away countless domestic sewage and garbage, making this branch finally filled with garbage, extremely smelly and dirty. It had to be cleaned once every one or two weeks. This was the most "notorious" mission in Konoha. Almost every newcomer had been tormented by it...
"This mission is yours. You can use any method to clean it up!" She brought the three students to the river, hurriedly assigned the mission, and left with a Body Flicker. Then in the afternoon, when Sakura went to check the mission completion, she only saw her three students lying on the ground, having been knocked out by the stench; the mission was only half completed.
Haruno Sakura hurriedly rescued them.
Then she braced herself and used the method she had used to clean the river channel back then to complete the rest. Fortunately, she was not what she used to be. She could manipulate an extremely large amount of water from a distance of several hundred meters to complete the task. Otherwise, there would probably be one more person lying on the ground.
If a dignified Kage-level powerhouse were defeated by a stinking ditch, she didn't know whether the enemies who had fought her and Deidara in the underworld would laugh or cry!
These missions were all missions that Sakura had completed with her own hands back then... When she was leading Konohamaru and the other two, she felt as if she had returned to the past in a trance.
But unfortunately, the classic mission of finding the pet cat was gone.
That cat used to run away from home four or five times a month back then... However, in a mission last year, an accident happened while capturing Tora. One of the cat's legs was broken, leaving it disabled, and it could no longer run away from home smoothly.
Konoha lost a large sum of income because of this!
Fortunately, the Daimyo's wife, Madam Shijimi, didn't say anything—perhaps she felt that Tora, who couldn't run away, was easier to raise. But that's a story for another time.
In the cycle of taking missions and training, the strength and experience of the three ninja of Team Haruno Sakura grew rapidly. During this period, Sakura's strength was also slowly increasing...
The quiet time passed quickly.
Time entered May, in the last ten days.
"Brats, starting today, I'm going to leave the village for a trip with this beautiful girl beside me. I'll be back in about four or five days," Haruno Sakura said, pointing to Yuki Haku standing beside her. "During this period, you must remember to train every day, do you understand! When I come back, I will check your training progress."
"Yes, Sensei!" the three brats answered in unison.
Konohamaru asked strangely, "Eh, Sensei, aren't you going to elope with her?"
Konohamaru was hit in the head. Silence.
"All day long, you only know how to read messy things!" Haruno Sakura said with a bit of anger.
She and Haku were going out to go to the Land of Waves.
To pay respects to Zabuza.
—It had been exactly two years since the Land of Waves mission back then.
❃❃❃
⤑ 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!