Naruto looked at Sakura and Sasuke beside him, feeling extremely conflicted.
He didn’t want to be eliminated, but he also didn’t want his idol, Sakura, to be eliminated.
Could it be that he should let Sasuke be eliminated?
At the thought of this, the boy immediately shook his head, dismissing the idea.
How could he?
Just a moment ago, they were teammates fighting side-by-side; how could he be so selfish?
Sasuke, standing to the side, also frowned slightly, trapped in a dilemma…
Only Sakura remained very calm.
Without a second thought, the young girl raised her hand: “Sensei, if someone really has to be eliminated, let it be me.
After all, those two are so weak; they still need Kakashi-sensei’s continued guidance in the future.” “Sakura!
You…?” Naruto looked at Sakura in disbelief; naturally, he didn’t understand her intentions.
Sasuke also wanted to say something but held back.
“Oh?
Are you sure?” Kakashi furrowed his brows slightly, though he was secretly overjoyed.
“Yes, I’m sure!” The young girl nodded firmly, thinking to herself: I want to see how long you, old geezer, can keep up this act.
“Very well, then as you wish.
Sakura will return to the academy for remedial training, and Naruto and Sasuke will officially become members of Team 7.” Kakashi stared at the three of them as if watching a show, looking as though his scheme had succeeded.
“Forget it, I’ll go back for remedial training.
After all, I’m a boy; how can I let a girl be eliminated?” Naruto raised his hand, feeling unwilling, but his tone was firm.
“I’ll go instead.
I don’t want to owe a favor to a dead last.” Sasuke looked at Naruto, refusing to be outdone.
“Alright, since all three of you want to go back to the furnace to be remade, then I will announce—” Kakashi paused intentionally for a moment, then let out a long breath before continuing: “I announce that all three of you have passed my test and officially become members of Team 7.” “All passed?” x3 (Sakura was faking it) “Yes, all passed.” “Why?” x3 (Sakura was still faking it) “For a Ninja, the most important thing is not to abandon one’s comrades.
Even when executing a mission, you cannot ignore the lives of your comrades for the sake of the mission’s success, nor can you easily abandon them.
Those who easily abandon their comrades are not qualified to be called Ninjas in my book.” When Kakashi said these words, his expression became increasingly serious.
At this moment, two familiar figures emerged in the man’s mind: the cute girl with chin-length hair and the chuunibyou boy wearing goggles.
“Yay!!” Naruto suddenly realized, dancing with joy.
Sasuke also let out a long sigh of relief.
Only Sakura remained completely calm inside throughout the whole thing, but she kept pretending to be surprised on her face.
“Next, you will be doing some missions with me.
As Genin, you will only receive D-rank or C-rank missions in the beginning.” “Most of these missions do not require fighting other Ninjas; they are just to train your physical fitness, willpower, and communication skills with others.
Of course, you will also receive corresponding payment.” Kakashi explained the upcoming arrangements to the three of them in detail.
Sakura pretended to listen intently, but her consciousness had already secretly slipped into the system world to activate an energy card: Ding!— [Congratulations on passing Kakashi’s trial assessment] [HP +300, Chakra +200, and you have received a surprise reward.] Click on the reward pouch.
[Please choose one between the “Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall Training Scroll” and the “Body Flicker Technique Training Scroll.”] Sakura didn’t even think about it and chose the latter.
Having had the honor of seeing Kakashi’s Body Flicker Technique today, it was simply too cool.
Sakura also wanted to be a “magical girl” who comes and goes without a trace.
…
Over the next three months, Team 7 followed Kakashi to do some low-level missions.
For example, finding a pet cat for the wife of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, helping an old grandmother harvest wheat, taking a pregnant woman in labor to the hospital…
Sakura was fine, because while doing these tasks, she could practice the Body Flicker Technique whenever she had free time, but Naruto couldn’t stand it at all.
After holding his nose and finishing sweeping the last of the Konoha public toilets, the boy went straight to the Hokage’s office building to cause a scene.
“No way, I want to do high-level missions.
Kind, benevolent, and super powerful Hokage-sama, please assign me some high-level missions.
I really can’t take it anymore.” Naruto threw a tantrum, using both soft and hard tactics.
Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, looking at the little rascal in front of him, and said helplessly: “Naruto, I know you want to do more difficult missions, but there are rules for assigning missions in Konoha.
B-rank missions require at least Chunin level, and A-rank missions require Jonin level.
As a Genin, you are too weak and can only do some C-rank and D-rank missions!” “I don’t want that.
Grandpa Third, you’re the best.
Please, give me a higher-level mission.
Even just being able to leave the Village would be fine.
I’ve been in the Village for so long I’m about to grow mold.” Relying on his good relationship with Hiruzen, Naruto began to push his luck.
Kakashi, standing to the side, tried to stop him several times, but it was to no avail.
Kakashi marveled that Naruto was a newborn calf that wasn’t afraid of the tiger; he was the first person in history to speak to the immensely powerful Hiruzen Sarutobi like this.
“Alright, alright, stop making a fuss.
I’m really afraid of you.
Then I’ll give you a B-rank mission: escort the bridge builder Tazuna from the Land of Waves back home and protect him until the bridge is finished!” Hiruzen glanced at Kakashi beside him and instructed: “Then I’ll have to trouble you, Kakashi, to take Team 7.” “Yes, Hokage-sama!” Kakashi nodded in agreement.
Having been saddled with a long-distance mission for no reason, he really wanted to beat Naruto up!
It was delaying him from reading icha icha paradise.
…
A few days later.
At the main gate of Konoha Village, Team 7 was ready to set off.
There were four of them, plus an old man with a white beard wearing a straw hat, who was the object they had to protect for this period: the “Master Bridge Builder” Tazuna.
Sakura was actually quite grateful for Naruto’s outburst.
Recently, besides practicing the Body Flicker Technique, she had also developed a new Water Release defensive technique.
Water Release — Water Armor!
That’s right, the inspiration came from Gaara’s Armor of Sand.
Compared to the previous Water Cloak technique, which could only protect a certain part of the body from harm, the Water Armor allowed Sakura to have her entire body surrounded by a film of water.
Even if an opponent launched a large-scale offensive Ninjutsu similar to “Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death,” Sakura could still retreat unscathed, and even remain completely unharmed!
It’s just that the development process of the Water Armor had hit a bottleneck.
Although Sakura could rely on her innate talent for Chakra control to cover her entire body in the armor, because the technique required a huge amount of Chakra, she could only maintain it for less than three minutes in total.
This was undoubtedly fatal in combat.
Once an enemy found out, they could use long-range sniping to exhaust her to death.
Therefore, if she wanted to truly use it in actual combat, she had to refine it further.
At the very least, she needed to extend the duration of the Water Armor.
Kakashi looked at Sakura beside him, seemingly noticing that the young girl had something on her mind: “What’s wrong, Sakura?” “It’s nothing, I just encountered a small problem while practicing Water Release recently.” Sakura didn’t intend to hide it; after all, Kakashi was her teacher, and perhaps he could offer her some constructive advice.
The title of genius Jonin certainly wasn’t earned for nothing.
“Oh?
Is that so!
I’ll help you take a look when we have some free time on the road.” As a teacher, Kakashi was indeed very enthusiastic.
“Okay, thank you, Kakashi-sensei!” Sakura smiled with dimples.
Naruto, standing to the side, immediately perked up his ears and asked curiously: “Sakura-chan, did you learn a new move?
What kind of Ninjutsu is it!” When the boy said this, he felt a bit anxious; after all, Sakura was already so strong, yet she was still working hard to practice Ninjutsu.
It seemed he couldn’t slack off either.
And Sasuke, standing to the side, showed a look of three parts jealousy—of course, it was healthy competition between companions, with no ill intent.