Chapter 281: Ninja Cats
Konoha Hospital.
Fourteenth Medical Room.
"Alright, I didn't find any problems!" Tsunade patted the girl on the back. "Get up!"
She stood up and watched as the pink-haired girl, with her back to her, rustled as she put on her clothes. She suddenly realized that her disciple had grown a bit taller again.
Before, she could still see the top of Haruno Sakura's head.
"She's taller by the thickness of a palm!" When Sakura stood up straight, Tsunade went over to measure.
She was only 163 cm, which wasn't considered tall among women. From the looks of it, Haruno Sakura seemed to be 164 or 165 cm.
She's growing up so fast.
When Tsunade had just taken Sakura in as her disciple, she could still see the crown of her head.
Half a year ago, the two of them were almost at eye level.
Now, it was Sakura's turn to look at her crown.
She felt a little emotional.
Tsunade looked at Haruno Sakura with a complicated mix of emotions.
Her growth—her height was only the most obvious, yet the most inconspicuous, part. In terms of strength, after storing a certain amount of chakra, Sakura could already be considered a "Kage"-level ninja—this was the most astonishing part of her growth.
A melancholic feeling of "the new wave pushing the old, and the old wave dying on the beach" welled up in her heart. At the same time, a feeling of gratification, "my daughter has finally grown up," also rose up.
"What's wrong, Master?" Haruno Sakura, who was pulling a T-shirt over her head, heard Tsunade's muttering, turned her head while still covered, and asked.
Her voice came out muffled from under the clothes. Her clothes seemed a bit tight, and her head was stuck, unable to move forward or backward. Sakura tugged hard, and rip—like the sound of something tearing—her clothes tore.
Tsunade couldn't help but laugh at her disciple's awkward situation. This little one was always causing some small problems. It seemed that in terms of "growing up," her disciple still had some way to go.
When she left, Haruno Sakura was wearing Tsunade's clothes—they were extremely ill-fitting, a bit too short, revealing her navel, and without a sufficiently broad chest as support, they hung loosely.
She looked just like a non-mainstream little delinquent.
"Although your body can still take it, the Phase Three of the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, if you don't have to use it, try not to. This jutsu is even more harmful to the body than the Monstrous Strength Technique," Tsunade said as she saw her out. As they reached the door, she didn't forget to remind her, "You must have an interval of at least three months or more after using it once, so that it won't leave any hidden injuries on your body."
"Yes, Master," Sakura nodded obediently.
"Also, the things you experienced the day before yesterday, remember to keep them absolutely confidential. Wait until I've figured out how to deal with it before you say anything," Tsunade lowered her voice. "The matter of the Uchiha... you shouldn't get involved in it for the time being. That's not something you should be in contact with right now."
"I want to know the truth," Haruno Sakura said, blinking her eyes.
"The truth is that, in the current Konoha, you are already the person who knows the most about the truth..." Tsunade's face darkened. "All the Anbu who witnessed the masked man's existence were hunted down and killed by him. You are the only one who has fought him and survived."
"No way..."
"If not for the casualty records of the Anbu and Root, we wouldn't even know that such a ghostly figure had appeared in Konoha..." the Fifth Hokage sighed. "You are the only one who has brought back intelligence on him. Otherwise, I still wouldn't even know if he's a man or a woman!"
"Then... what about the rest of the content?"
Tsunade patted her on the shoulder and said, "There are still some classified scrolls that you can't access yet. Although your strength is very strong, and in theory, you can take on more; but you are still a Tokubetsu Jonin, not even a Jonin yet. You don't have the qualification to view these materials."
She paused for a moment, and then said in a loud voice, "Your master, I, am not old yet! It's not yet time for me to lay down my burdens and entrust everything to the younger generation!"
Seeing the pouting, unconvinced expression on Sakura's face, Tsunade let out a laugh and tapped the mark on the girl's forehead with her index finger. "Let's talk about it again when you've grown up a bit more!"
"In all aspects."
Haruno Sakura shrugged. This topic was already over.
So she tactfully changed the subject. "Then when can I apply to become a Jonin?"
"If it were wartime, you would already be a Jonin, skipping Tokubetsu Jonin directly. But now," the Hokage sized up the outstanding young ninja before her, "the Jonin promotion is not that simple. If you follow the procedures, you'll only be eligible in the second half of the year... Forget it, let's hold a meeting and study this."
It wouldn't be a big deal to make an exception for Sakura's promotion to Jonin.
Tsunade had a premonition that as the contact and conflicts with the Akatsuki became more and more frequent, Konoha's manpower would also become more and more tight. Promoting capable young people, rather than letting them slowly accumulate seniority and years, would be a better choice.
Since she had taken office, Konoha had begun to gradually enter a state of alert from a time of peace, and it wasn't just to guard against the Akatsuki...
In these years, the other great nations among the five great nations had all been developing in silence.
"Alright, that's all for today. Go back, I'll give you a week's vacation. If you're going somewhere, remember to come back early!" Tsunade said, patting the girl's butt and pushing her out of the treatment room.
She knew about Sakura and Sasuke's trip to the ninja cat compound.
If not for the fact that these two showed no signs of being in a relationship, Tsunade would really want to set them up... If Sasuke had a girlfriend in Konoha, he would also be much more settled, right?
What about Hinata? In terms of excellence, she is definitely not bad. And a Byakugan plus a Sharingan, what kind of child would they produce... There should be many people who would love to see that.
And Tenten, Ino, they are all first-class beauties, and their strength is not weak. Their conditions are excellent. If Sasuke doesn't mind her being two years older, Yuki Haku is not bad either!
If he's still not satisfied with these, then Hyuga Hanabi? Kurama Yakumo?...
Looking at her disciple's departing figure, Tsunade began to let her thoughts wander. Her mind had already scattered to the ends of the earth...
A week's vacation wasn't long.
When Sasuke had completed his Anbu mission, the two of them immediately set off for the ninja cat clan's compound.
That place was not far from Konoha. With Sakura and Sasuke's speed, they had set out in the morning, camped in the wild for one night, and had arrived the next day at noon.
"It's actually a ruin..." Sakura said with emotion as she stood in front of this deserted city.
It seemed she had a fate with ruins recently.
However, judging from the degree of desolation, this city had not been abandoned for a long time.
"Yes, here..." Sasuke walked forward, touched the mottled wall, and said with some emotion, "This city was once the clan land of the Uchiha."
He looked back at Sakura and explained the origin of this city.
Long before Konoha was founded, this was the place where the Uchiha had lived. Later, after Konoha was founded and the Uchiha clan had moved to Konoha, this place had been opened to outsiders and had become an Uchiha city.
"A lot of the latest construction technology was used here to build high-rise buildings," Sasuke said, looking up at the 20-story building in the center of the city, his tone a little desolate. "The clansmen were ambitious and wanted to create a city even more magnificent than Konoha. I never thought..."
"It is indeed very magnificent," Sakura said with a nod.
The buildings here felt a bit like the cities of her previous life. The towering concrete forest was more spectacular than Konoha's traditional low-rise buildings. It was just that in Sakura's eyes... Hn, she had seen many such cities in her previous life. In that world, it would just be a second or third-tier ordinary city. On the contrary, Konoha's architectural style had more flavor.
However, in the ninja world, this was probably the first city with a concrete-forest style. Its high-tech appearance made it particularly unique in the ninja world.
It was indeed a place worthy of the Uchiha's pride.
It was a pity that after the Uchiha massacre, this place had quickly fallen into ruin, and the residents had fled the city one after another. Later, the ninja cat clan had occupied this place in the name of being the Uchiha's partners.
As they walked, he explained.
"This way."
Under Sasuke's guidance, Sakura stepped into a complex of buildings called the "Empty District."
They turned into a high-rise building. The passages here were dense, and the ceiling was covered with all kinds of pipes of unknown use. There was nothing to serve as a landmark. Every passage looked familiar. After walking through the twists and turns, Haruno Sakura soon forgot how they had gotten in.
It was very easy to get lost in this place.
Sakura followed behind Sasuke, watching him navigate the passages with familiarity. She really didn't know how Sasuke remembered the way.
They walked along the passage for over a thousand meters.
"Hn?" Haruno Sakura's steps suddenly stopped, and she looked back.
A chakra that felt completely different from a human's had appeared in her perception.
Sasuke carefully sensed for a moment.
"It's you, Denka, Hina."
As he spoke, two small civet cats silently jumped down from a pipe on the wall and landed on the ground.
"It's been a long time, little brother Sasuke. Did you bring any snacks?"
One of the ninja cats sized Sakura up for a moment, then ignored her. It then unceremoniously held out its paw to Sasuke, asking for a gift. It was not cute at all.
Sasuke had an "as expected" expression. "I brought some catnip... your tastes haven't changed, have they?" He took out two small bottles.
"Great, I love this!" The two ninja cats snatched the bottles from Sasuke's hand, their movements as fast as lightning. Denka stuffed the bottle into the pocket on his stomach, squinted his eyes in satisfaction, and asked in a very good mood, "It's rare for you to come. What's the matter?"
"I've come to get something..."
"Then follow me. Let's go see Granny Cat first."
Denka and Hina nimbly leaped onto the pipes above the passage and dashed all the way, leading the two of them into the depths of the building.
"They're going in the opposite direction," Sakura suddenly discovered. Could it be that Sasuke had gone the wrong way from the beginning?
"Yeah. I was just walking randomly just now," Sasuke replied as if it were a matter of course. "If I make a sound, they'll hear it and come to us themselves."
Sakura widened her eyes at him, and Sasuke added, "The passages here are like a maze, and they're modified by them with ninjutsu every once in a while, so only they themselves know the correct way..."
"..." The corner of Sakura's mouth twitched. She was speechless.
After walking for a while, they came to a door.
"Granny Cat, there's a visitor from the Uchiha. It's little brother Sasuke," Denka said, knocking on the door.
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