Chapter 324: The First High-Level Meeting
After recounting these battles, Haruno Sakura's heart was filled with emotion.
As for the three children, they were even more dumbfounded.
Sakura waited for a while, but no one spoke. She looked over and saw the three of them staring blankly. Seeing Sakura turn around, Moegi finally said, "Sensei is amazing!"
"Did you guys really understand?" Haruno Sakura rolled her eyes.
"You don't know anything about Sasori of the Red Sand, Kakuzu, Hidan, and Deidara, do you? You've probably never even heard of their names!"
"Although we don't know who they are, they sound very powerful!" Konohamaru said with a grin. "So Sensei must be even more powerful!"
For the sake of his efforts to flatter me...
I'll just assume what he said makes sense!
"You little flatterer..." Haruno Sakura patted Konohamaru's head with a smile. "Today's replay is over. Continue training! I haven't trained with you for a few days. I want to see if you've improved!"
"If your progress satisfies me, hn... there might not be enough time today, but tomorrow I'll teach you a very powerful ninjutsu!"
The three students' eyes lit up. "Yes, Sensei!"
The trip to the Land of Waves by Haruno Sakura and Haku brought back problems far beyond Zabuza's grave and the Executioner's Blade.
These two matters still needed further communication with the Mist Village.
However, in the eyes of most ninja, things that could be solved with words were not a big deal.
The threat posed by Orochimaru in that battle was the real big deal!
The next morning, in the conference room next to the Hokage's office.
Several high-level Konoha officials, the Hokage advisors, including Danzo, were all present.
After a while, the Fifth Hokage brought Haruno Sakura into the conference room.
This was the first time Haruno Sakura had participated in such a highest-level meeting in Konoha. With her strength, she was just about qualified; and today's topic did not allow her absence.
"Everyone is here. Let's begin!" Tsunade said directly after the two sat down.
She took out a stack of document bags and passed them down. The four large characters "Top Secret Information" were impressively written on the cover of the bags.
The Fifth Hokage said solemnly, "Before the meeting begins, please read the information in the document bags first."
Inside the document bag was the record of the battle between Jonin Haruno Sakura and the rogue-nin Orochimaru in the Land of Waves a few days ago.
Yesterday, after finishing training with the three students, she had returned home and started rushing this report. Because the process of that battle was very long, and the report required a very detailed description, trying to include every aspect, she had written for several hours, nearly twenty thousand words, and didn't go to sleep until 2 AM.
It was more tiring than writing—for an average author, even if they were just padding the word count, writing more than ten thousand words a day was very hard work. Sakura's twenty thousand words were equivalent to the typing speed of a tentacle monster writing ten chapters a day!
When she woke up in the morning, Sakura unsurprisingly found that she had faint dark circles under her eyes.
When she entered the conference room, she was still covering her mouth with her hand, secretly yawning. The nervousness she should have had dissipated in her sleepiness.
The document bags were passed down one by one. A rustling sound rang out in the conference room. No one spoke. Everyone was quietly and seriously reading the report written by Sakura.
The report of more than twenty thousand words contained a huge amount of information. No matter how fast they skimmed, it would take tens of minutes.
Sakura quietly dozed off for a while. After a while, she felt Tsunade poke her waist with a finger. She woke up with a start and found that everyone had finished reading.
And they were all looking at the girl, waiting for her answer.
Sakura realized that her dozing off had been discovered. To make such a blunder at her first high-level meeting, she immediately gave an embarrassed laugh, her fair face slightly flushed.
She hurriedly said, "Sorry, I didn't hear clearly just now."
"This meeting is very serious. Don't be distracted, Jonin Haruno Sakura," Mitokado Homura tapped the table and said. "We were asking you, is the content of this report a complete record of the battle?"
"Of course." Sakura quickly regained her clarity and nodded quickly.
Apart from Orochimaru's solicitation of her, everything else was recorded completely.
"The Second Hokage was summoned by the Reanimation Jutsu, and even after being controlled by Orochimaru, he still retained a clear consciousness and could talk to you?" Mitokado Homura continued to ask.
Haruno Sakura's sleepiness was completely gone. She nodded and said, "Yes. Although Lord Second's body was uncontrollable, he could still speak on his own and gave me many reminders during the battle."
The several Hokage advisors exchanged glances.
"Hiruzen, what do you think?" Mitokado Homura pushed up his glasses and asked the Third Hokage sitting next to him.
"According to Sakura's description, Lord Tobirama's combat power was already quite close to his level when he was alive," the Third Hokage took a puff of smoke, recalling the heroic figure of his teacher Tobirama Senju in his mind, and tapped the table with his pipe. "Water Severing Wave, Flying Raijin Slice, and the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags technique..."
He exchanged a look with Tsunade. The latter nodded and said, "Fortunately... during the Chunin Exams last year, the Grandpa Tobirama reanimated by Orochimaru was not able to use these ninjutsu. Otherwise, we would have been in danger at that time!"
The several high-level officials were all disciples of Tobirama Senju back then.
Amidst the smoke, hearing the names of these jutsu, they couldn't help but recall the dashing and heroic figure of Tobirama Senju when he was in his prime and fighting with all his might.
After a while, Danzo said faintly, "This shows that Orochimaru's Reanimation Jutsu has been improved a lot!"
The Third Hokage took a deep breath, his expression a little gloomy. "This jutsu requires living people as sacrifices... In practicing this forbidden jutsu, who knows how many people Orochimaru has killed!"
"Let's put aside how many people he killed for now. The key is, if the completion of this jutsu continues to improve, what if Orochimaru summons Lord Tobirama with full combat power next time!" Mitokado Homura said sternly.
Danzo added coldly, "With Orochimaru's mind, he might launch another Konoha Crush plan!"
Tsunade and the Third Hokage kept their faces tight and didn't speak.
Haruno Sakura didn't have a good expression either. She had already fought against Tobirama Senju with seventy or eighty percent of his combat power and wasn't afraid of him; but if Orochimaru used him against others, that would be really dangerous.
"Lord Second Hokage's strength..." Utatane Koharu sighed and turned her gaze to Haruno Sakura. "Jonin Haruno Sakura, are you confident in dealing with him?"
Everyone also turned their gazes to her.
While Jiraiya was not in the village, the ninja with the strongest combat power in Konoha was this girl in front of them.
Even Tsunade would be completely defeated against Tobirama Senju in his prime. As for the others, including the Third Hokage, it went without saying. In this way—it's not a joke—Konoha really had to rely on Haruno Sakura for protection!
"Lord Second Hokage with full combat power... I haven't seen it either. I can only say I'll do my best," Haruno Sakura said calmly.
"You were able to defeat the combination of Orochimaru and the Second Hokage close to full combat power. It shouldn't be a big problem to confront Lord Tobirama in his prime," Mitokado Homura's face softened slightly. "By the way, you also dodged Lord Tobirama's Flying Raijin Slice!"
"I just avoided the vital point," Sakura pressed her hand on the lower left side of her chest, pointing to a position slightly to the left of her heart. "At that time, the sword pierced through here, just missing the heart by a tiny bit. It was very thrilling!"
If she hadn't reacted quickly, it wouldn't have been just a matter of losing a few ounces of flesh!
"After all, you still dodged it," Mitokado Homura said, then turned to the others. "To guard against Orochimaru's possible attack, should Jonin Haruno Sakura stay in the village as much as possible?"
Tsunade frowned.
"A dignified Konoha Ninja Village, scared like this by a rogue-nin! What a disgrace!" She slammed the table and reprimanded, "Do you want Sakura to stay cooped up in the village for the rest of her life and not go out? Without Sakura, can't everyone protect themselves?"
"Sigh, I'm doing this for safety's sake..." Mitokado Homura hurriedly explained.
In a high-level closed-door meeting like this, they spoke relatively directly, without beating around the bush. It was common for them to disregard their demeanor and quarrel loudly at the meeting, and pointing at each other's noses and scolding was not uncommon. It was just that with Haruno Sakura present today, Mitokado Homura felt a little embarrassed and wanted to save some face in front of a junior.
"Homura, you're indeed wrong on this matter," the Third Hokage added, looking at Haruno Sakura, who had been listening to their conversation calmly, and said gently, "If the safety of the entire village is pinned on Sakura, aren't the rest of us too incompetent? What's more, Orochimaru's attack is only a possibility. Even if he comes to attack us, he won't come now. You're confusing concern with panic!"
He gave Mitokado Homura a way out.
Tsunade glanced at Homura and turned the topic back. "Before Orochimaru improves the precision of the Reanimation Jutsu to the point where he is confident of defeating Sakura, he will not attack Konoha easily. We can rest assured about this for the time being; he won't be that fast. At least within this year, we don't have to worry about this problem. Moreover, what we should do most is not to guard against Orochimaru's attack. There is no reason to guard against a thief for a thousand days. We should take the initiative to attack!"
Danzo interjected coldly, "Lord Hokage makes sense."
This was the second time Danzo had spoken at the meeting, and unexpectedly, it was to express his agreement with Tsunade.
Haruno Sakura's expression had been calm when she listened to them speak before, but hearing Danzo support Tsunade, she was stunned for a moment. In her impression, her master and this gloomy person, Danzo, had always been at odds. She didn't expect there to be times when their ideas coincided.
Sakura looked over and heard this old man, whose appearance seemed haggard, say in a hoarse and dry voice, "Finding Orochimaru and killing or arresting him is the way to solve the problem once and for all. It fits the style of a great ninja village!"
Rarely, Sakura also agreed with Danzo's statement.
Facing a hidden danger, taking the initiative to attack was a positive attitude.
Danzo felt Sakura's gaze, looked back at her, and continued, "The year before last, we found a batch of Orochimaru's bases, but unfortunately, the clues were broken later. Then we put our main energy into searching for the traces of the Akatsuki, allowing him to be free for a while."
"Last year, during the battle between Jonin Haruno Sakura and Sasori of the Red Sand, Orochimaru appeared on the battlefield, indicating that his base might be near the Land of Rice Paddies. Coincidentally, the recent search for the Akatsuki has temporarily come to an end. We can refocus our energy on dealing with Orochimaru!"
After he finished speaking, he looked around at the people in the conference room.
The Third Hokage puffed on his pipe, silent; Tsunade frowned, her eyelids lowered, constantly thinking; Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu looked at each other, whispering something.
And the only ninja in the conference room who was young enough to be described as a child, that pretty girl, also looked around at the other people in the conference room with her bright and clear green eyes, and then her gaze moved to Danzo, meeting his eyes.
The girl's eyes were cold and indifferent, her thoughts unreadable.
Danzo looked at his nose, his nose at his heart, and fell silent.
The conference room was silent for a moment. Tsunade rubbed her temples. "That guy Orochimaru is hiding too deep. He's harder to find than the Akatsuki... However, there is still a way. The ability of the Hyuga clan will be very effective at this time. I need to negotiate with Hyuga Hiashi."
"I'll go," the Third Hokage put down his pipe and said. "This way everyone has room to maneuver. However, there shouldn't be a big problem with Hiashi's side. Even Hanabi has come to the Ninja Academy."
Tsunade smiled reservedly and was about to speak when she was suddenly interrupted by Danzo.
"There is one more person who can be of great help in this mission," he said.
"Who?" It was Haruno Sakura who spoke. This was the first time Sakura had actively spoken in the meeting, but it was because she seemed to have guessed Danzo's thoughts. Her eyes immediately turned cold, and her aura quietly gathered.
The little bit of agreement she had just felt for Danzo vanished into thin air; although this person had overlapping ideas in some aspects, in reality, he was not on the same path as her at all!
"Uchiha Sasuke."
Danzo said coldly, facing the girl's icy gaze.
As expected, it was just as Haruno Sakura had expected.
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