Even after living in this world for five or six years, Sakura still marveled at the peculiar technology tree of the Ninja World.
The color television in the living room was playing a period drama during the evening theater slot.
To summarize the plot: a young princess had her power seized, her relatives were wiped out, and she was forced into exile abroad to gather strength for her restoration story.
Sakura had little interest in such clichéd stories.
She sat on the sofa with her knees pulled up, staring at the TV, simply feeling that the girl playing the young princess on the screen looked somewhat familiar.
“I didn’t expect you to like Yukie too, Sakura.”
As a housewife who enjoyed watching TV in her spare time, her mother, Haruno Mebuki, was clearly following the evening theater series and knew the names of her favorite actors by heart.
“Yukie?”
Sure enough, not only did she look familiar, but the name sounded familiar as well.
“She’s a very famous child star lately, named Fujikaze Yukie. She’s so young yet her acting is so incredible, just like a real princess.”
From Haruno Mebuki’s words, one could hear her approval of Fujikaze Yukie’s acting.
If nothing unexpected happened, Haruno Mebuki would likely become a ‘mom fan’ of Fujikaze Yukie.
Ignoring her mother’s evaluation, which clearly had a fan filter, Sakura focused her gaze on the TV again.
The thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl on the screen displayed astonishing acting talent, as if she truly were an exiled princess.
However, it might be better not to let this actress with a bright future know about this ‘praise’ just yet.
Sakura had already remembered the true identity of this young actress.
The princess of the previous Daimyo of the Land of Snow, she was indeed currently in exile abroad—and her true name was not Fujikaze Yukie, but Koyuki Kazahana.
Calculating the time, Koyuki Kazahana had indeed already been escorted out of the Land of Snow by Kakashi Hatake.
She just hadn’t expected the girl to become an actress so early.
“She certainly is a beautiful girl, but once our Sakura grows up, she definitely won’t lose to her!”
Sakura’s father, Haruno Chou, who sported an exaggerated light cherry-colored starfish hairstyle, chimed into the mother-daughter conversation to praise his own daughter.
“That’s right, Mama thinks so too!”
Haruno Mebuki also shifted the focus of the conversation from the evening drama to Sakura.
“Then how about I just don’t become a Ninja and start developing toward becoming a girl group idol instead?”
She was just making a joke, but she didn’t expect that her parents, upon hearing their daughter’s response, would actually begin seriously discussing future plans for Sakura other than becoming a Ninja.
Sakura didn’t bother to continue entertaining her eccentric parents’ flights of fancy, but she also enjoyed the simplest warmth brought by an ordinary family.
In the Ninja World, her childhood life could be said to be full of pure happiness, a dream beyond the reach of countless people.
Watching her parents’ debate grow more intense, Sakura stood up from the sofa, standing barefoot on the floor, prepared to escape this ‘battlefield’.
“I have to get up early for school tomorrow, so I’m going back to my room to rest.”
With that answer, Sakura left the living room and walked toward her bedroom on the second floor.
If she wanted to protect this happiness, the approach of blindly taking from it was completely wrong; Sakura also needed to contribute.
This world was not peaceful, with constant conflicts in the shadows.
It had only been a few years since the Third Great Ninja War had fully ended.
Even Konoha would face the Konoha Crush plan by Orochimaru in alliance with Sunagakure in the future, and Pain’s arrival to bring Pain to Konoha.
Not to mention the Fourth Great Ninja War after that.
War was the main theme of the Ninja World; the brief periods of peace now and over the next dozen years were rare experiences for the Ninja World.
Sakura needed to grow.
This couldn’t wait for the formation of Team 7 to be taught by Kakashi Hatake; she had to be prepared during her time at the Ninja Academy.
Aside from knowing some of the deepest undercurrents of the current Ninja World because of her status as a transmigrator, her strength was actually lagging far behind her peers.
In the Ninja World where the strong prey on the weak, having no strength meant being unable to change anything.
For instance, the Uchiha Clan massacre in about a year; she knew all the causes and consequences, yet she had no capital to intervene and could only watch helplessly as it happened.
“Tomorrow, I’ll try to ask Ino for advice on Ninjutsu cultivation.”
Sakura opened the floor-to-ceiling window in her room and stood on the open-air balcony, looking up at the night sky of Konoha, making a silent decision.
Students from Ninja clans like Ino had already been exposed to Ninjutsu training.
For example, Sasuke Uchiha, that recognized genius, could already use the quite powerful Great Fireball Technique during his time as a student at the Ninja Academy.
Even Naruto Uzumaki, who had no one to teach him, was quite diligent.
Although the conflict between the Nine-Tailed Chakra and his own Chakra made his precise control over Chakra much weaker than average for a long time, he didn’t slack in Ninjutsu cultivation.
He was able to create the Sexy Technique during his student days—a technique that was given its own page in the official databook and recognized as an original Ninjutsu—showing surprising talent for Ninjutsu innovation.
This talent was fully displayed when Naruto Uzumaki perfected the Rasengan at age sixteen and created the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!
However, the fact was that until the Ninja Academy graduation exam at age twelve, Naruto Uzumaki’s control over Chakra was so weak that he couldn’t even use the Clone Jutsu. New chapters come out on g.com first.
It was only after surviving the Ninja Academy graduation and officially becoming a Ninja, receiving guidance from Kakashi Hatake and Jiraiya, that he began to make a name for himself, surpassing the other Genin of his generation.
All of this showed the impact of cultivation resources and precise guidance on a Ninja’s growth.
But Naruto Uzumaki could afford to waste the precious time spent studying at the Ninja Academy, relying on his bloodline and talent to catch up later.
Sakura could not afford to consume her growth time like that.
She was just one of the ordinary masses in this Ninja World, and her opportunities for growth were too few.
There wasn’t much Kakashi Hatake could teach her, Jiraiya was only interested in Naruto Uzumaki as the child of prophecy, and even Tsunade specialized more in Medical Ninjutsu.
Although the medical techniques she mastered were extremely powerful, Sakura still hoped to have more offensive means for self-preservation.
To put it bluntly, even if Sakura took the initiative to follow Orochimaru now, she had no conspicuous talent that Orochimaru would value; she would only end up as a disposable experimental subject.
Therefore, waiting for her growth to happen step-by-step was not what she wanted.
If opportunities weren’t enough, she would actively seek and create the opportunities she could have.
Sakura was planning her future under the night sky when, looking down, she suddenly spotted Naruto Uzumaki passing through the street where her house was located.
Naruto Uzumaki looked suspicious, glancing around on the deserted street at night, his small frame carrying an iron bucket that was almost half his size.
“…”
Sakura watched the iron bucket Naruto Uzumaki was struggling to carry and had already guessed what he was planning to do late at night.
Sakura hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she couldn’t suppress the sudden mischievous urge and called out to Naruto Uzumaki:
“Naruto, are you planning to go graffiti the Hokage Rock Faces?”
Having his thoughts exposed by the sudden voice, Naruto Uzumaki flinched.
He turned his head toward the source of the sound and saw Sakura watching him with an amused expression from the balcony.
“Sa… Sakura…”
Seeing his bad behavior witnessed by Sakura, one of the few people in the Village willing to show him kindness, Naruto Uzumaki appeared restless and uneasy.
He was afraid that Sakura would look down on him because of this and become like everyone else, treating him with coldness and disgust.
However, the thing Naruto Uzumaki feared did not happen at all.
Instead, he heard Sakura’s playful voice.
“Graffitiing the Hokage Rock Faces is a big project; it might take the whole night. Naruto, don’t be late tomorrow. After all, a good student shouldn’t be late.”
A small matter like graffitiing the Hokage Rock Faces wasn’t worth harsh criticism.
As a student of the Ninja Academy, studying hard was what mattered most!