Chapter 299: Konohamaru
The one currently teaching the fifth-grade class was Iruka.
After Udon and Moegi finished their fight, it was Konohamaru's turn. As a result, a dispute arose on the field. When Haruno Sakura walked over, she heard Iruka poking Konohamaru's forehead and scolding him, "You brat! A ninja must obey orders, do you understand! Stop being willful and go spar with Kosuke!"
"I don't want to! Kosuke has already lost to me ten times! I want a stronger opponent, otherwise, sparring is meaningless!" Konohamaru said with a look of indignation.
"You idiot! You have to listen to your teacher! And Kosuke is very strong. You must respect your classmates!" Iruka said, looking at Konohamaru, who was pouting and ignoring him, with a headache.
"Then how about Kei?" "Twelve times!" "Akyo?" "Eight times!"...
Looking at the two of them bargaining, Haruno Sakura was suddenly reminded of the Naruto and Iruka of those years. Their way of getting along seemed to be just like this! Naruto had been unbelievably naughty back then, and every time he had made Iruka very angry, and then he would be caught by Iruka and yelled at... It was such a familiar scene!
"Then how about me?"
She walked over and said with a smile.
"Eh? Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?" Iruka was stunned for a moment, then turned his head to look. "Oh! Lord Third, Lord Fifth, you're here!"
"Hehe, we just came to take a look. You can continue!" the Third said, following behind Sakura. He and Tsunade walked to Iruka's side, smiling as they looked at the two on the field.
"Konohamaru, I'll be your opponent. How about it?" Haruno Sakura walked to the opposite side of Konohamaru and said with a faint smile.
"Vio... cough, cough! Big Sis!" Konohamaru's eyes widened, recalling the painful scene of him and Naruto playing a prank and then being taught a lesson by Sakura. "Wait a minute, I don't want to spar with you!"
"Hn, hn, Boss can't win at all," Udon, who was at the side, said, pushing up his glasses and calmly analyzing.
"Don't worry, I won't use my full strength... How about you just fight my clone?" Haruno Sakura snapped her fingers and summoned an ice clone. "Against a clone, you can use any means. That is to say, you can fight with the determination to kill the clone!"
"Just a clone?" Konohamaru hesitated for a moment and accepted the challenge.
Sakura could see from his eyes that Konohamaru was confident in defeating her clone. Speaking of which, she had watched Konohamaru grow up, and she had even taught him the skills to control his chakra.
She had just seen Udon and Moegi's battle, so... how strong was Konohamaru?
After forming the Seal of Confrontation, the spar officially began.
"Here I come!" Konohamaru shouted and rushed up without any politeness, engaging in close-quarters combat with Sakura's clone.
Because the opponent was a clone, Konohamaru's attacks were quite ruthless and sharp, every move aimed at a vital point, without holding back at all. His taijutsu movements were also clean and neat, and he looked quite impressive. It was just that he was too young, with short arms and short legs, and he was still very lacking in strength and speed.
Haruno Sakura's main body and Iruka and the others stood on the side to watch the battle. With her current strength, there was no point in watching Konohamaru's attacks. Even though she had sent out a clone, she could still easily block Konohamaru's attacks with just one hand.
However, among the academy students, Konohamaru's strength could indeed be considered to be head and shoulders above the rest. Even among the genin, Konohamaru could be considered a standout.
This was somewhat beyond Haruno Sakura's expectations.
"Lord Third, Konohamaru has improved a lot this year. You must have been teaching him a lot at home, right?" Iruka said to Lord Third Hokage beside him as he watched the battle on the field.
"Hehe, I'm retired, after all! I have nothing to do, so I just guide my grandson," the Third said with a hearty laugh. He then looked at Haruno Sakura. "What do you think, Sakura-kun? Konohamaru's strength, does it meet your standards?"
No wonder!
So Konohamaru's strength had been personally taught by the Third. It seemed Udon and Moegi had also benefited a lot.
Haruno Sakura said, "If Konohamaru graduates next year, he should be the strongest student in this class... Udon and Moegi are also very strong. I estimate that they only need a few more months of training, and it won't be a problem for them to participate in next year's Chunin Exams!"
When they are promoted to Chunin, Sakura will no longer have to be their babysitter. This probably won't even take a year.
While they were talking here, a new change had occurred in the situation on the field—Konohamaru, finding that his taijutsu attacks were ineffective, had decisively pulled away and used a ninjutsu.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
He opened his mouth and spat out a large fireball as tall as two people. The scorching heat could be felt even from the side of the field!
"He can use a Great Fireball of this level in the fifth grade?" Haruno Sakura praised. As expected of the grandson taught by the Third.
For an eleven-year-old child, to be able to use such a move was already very good.
The clone on the field smiled faintly, not dodging, and not using a defensive ninjutsu.
"You're not dodging?" Konohamaru was a little surprised. Then, BOOM—the fireball exploded with a roar! Only a charred, withered piece of wood was left in the field.
Substitution Jutsu.
The timing was grasped to the extreme. The ninjutsu had been activated at the very moment the fire was about to burn his eyebrows. Most of the students present didn't even realize what had happened.
Swish— Sakura's figure had already appeared behind Konohamaru, a kunai pressed against his neck.
"You lose," she said.
"No, you lose!" Konohamaru pulled up his sleeve. The explosive tag on the clone's body had already burned to the last moment—
BOOM! This time, there was no withered wood on the field for substitution.
"I win!" Konohamaru shouted excitedly, jumping out from a hiding place on the side.
Outside the field, Haruno Sakura and the two Hokages looked at each other and shook their heads.
"You idiot, you're happy too early!" The clone's voice came from behind. A kunai was silently placed against Konohamaru's neck. Sakura's clone had, at some point, appeared behind him. The boy's mood was instantly doused with a basin of ice water, chilling him to the bone.
"He was a little careless today," the Third said, shaking his head, a little dissatisfied.
He himself knew best the strength of the child he had personally trained. Konohamaru was usually very careful when he sparred with him. This time, he had been too careless against Sakura's clone!
Otherwise, he could have held on for a while longer.
"It's already very good," Sakura said with a smile, and gave a few comments. "His taijutsu and ninjutsu are both not bad. Lord Third has helped Konohamaru lay a very solid foundation. It will save me a lot of trouble when I lead the team!"
"So you've agreed?"
"Hn, of course. These three children are all very good..."
"Konohamaru is defeated!" At this time, Iruka said in a loud voice. He walked over and glared at Konohamaru. "That was just an ordinary clone created by a clone... Now you know that there's always someone better, don't you! Haruno Sakura is only two or three years older than you, but she is already a Jonin!"
Ignoring the group of young boys and girls who were looking at her with starry, adoring eyes, Haruno Sakura and the two Hokages left the school.
"Then I'll leave them to you," the Third said solemnly before they parted.
Then he went straight home. Sakura and Tsunade returned to the Hokage's office together.
"It's hard to repay a favor, Master!" Closing the door, Haruno Sakura sat on the sofa and sighed.
The Third Hokage had been so good to her. If she wasn't even willing to help with this little thing, then Sakura would truly be a cold-hearted person. Human relations, exchange of benefits, emotional communication, and common ideals, these things formed a faction, and Haruno Sakura very naturally existed in this faction... The fact that she was in the Hokage's direct line didn't even need to be said. Anyone with a brain could see it!
However, to think that she would have to be a babysitter for others at the age of fourteen, Sakura also had a bit of a headache. Hanabi's time, on the contrary, is a little easier to accept!
"You'll need to lead a team or two sooner or later," Tsunade said, sitting in her swivel chair and rocking. "This is the rule for Jonin... After leading Konohamaru's and Hanabi's two classes, you can refuse this kind of thing in the future."
"After being promoted to Jonin, your rights will be greatly increased. Correspondingly, you also need to fulfill your obligations!"
"Alright... I haven't even enjoyed the rights yet, and I'm already being crushed by the responsibilities!" Haruno Sakura said with a pout, helplessly.
She thought for a moment and then said, "I'm also quite nervous about leading a team for the first time. Oh right, I'm a little worried. What if, in the middle of leading the team, a war breaks out or the Akatsuki suddenly attacks?"
"Of course, we'll hand the team over to another ninja to take care of, and free up your combat power! Lord Third and I have already discussed this. If that really happens, Konohamaru and the others will be taken over by someone else..." Tsunade answered without hesitation. "We have to be prepared for the next few years to be turbulent, but we can't be timid because of this. We still have to do what we have to do."
She then comforted her with a few more sentences. "In addition, Konohamaru and the other two are all very outstanding children. You'll have an easy time, so you don't have to worry about your lack of experience. When you're leading the team, just treat it as a vacation for a while! When you're training them and doing missions, you can also do your own things. Coincidentally, you also need to start speeding up your training progress... Sakura-kun, your current strength is still far from reaching your bottleneck!"
"I also have this intention," Sakura said with a serious expression. "Master, in the next few months, I want to go to the Land of Snow to train for a period of time!"
"'Train' for a period of time?" Tsunade emphasized the word "train." She could guess what Sakura meant...
She lowered her eyelids, looked at the blank paper on her desk, and said faintly, "A while ago, when you went out to do a mission, you also 'trained' for a month."
"Hn... yes," Haruno Sakura sat up straight and frankly admitted this. She pressed on, "Master, is this alright?"
Tsunade looked at Sakura steadily and pondered for a while.
"A Jonin does have a training leave, but it's not long," the mature blonde woman said. "I'll issue another mission to track the 'Akatsuki's' traces, to be carried out by you alone. You can go to some remote places to look for clues, for example, hn, the Land of Snow..."
How could there be any clues about the Akatsuki in the Land of Snow... Tsunade's ability to lie with a straight face was also quite impressive. Sakura complained about her master's thick skin in her heart, but she still had to thank Tsunade for her support.
Haruno Sakura thought for a moment and replied, "That should be enough."
Tsunade nodded. "Remember, you must be back before February of next year... March is when the Ninja Academy graduates! Your team-leading mission will officially begin at that time."
"So, are there any other problems?"
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