Chapter 294: Assessment Over
Gai raised his head, his gaze shifting from the flowing water in front of him to the girl standing tall and straight not far away.
The surging and vigorous chakra on her body had almost kicked up a small tornado on the spot. The wild wind made Sakura's clothes flap noisily, her long hair flying behind her. Her right hand was raised high, and her presence was awe-inspiring and eye-catching!
But what was even more eye-catching were the five equally huge water dragons, circling and slowly swimming in the sky above Haruno Sakura's head!
They were gradually taking shape under the command of Sakura's raised right arm. Claws, sharp fangs, scales... they were becoming clear at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The lifelike azure dragons, when Gai looked over, their five pairs of orange, demonic eyes, each the size of a millstone, stared intently at his figure!
The thick-eyebrowed ninja sucked in a cold breath, almost subconsciously wanting to take a step back.
The muscles in his right hand were still trembling slightly. When he clenched his hand into a fist, a tearing pain came!
"The Sixth Gate is already unable to cope with her offense..."
Gai panted slightly. He was already very clear on this point when he saw the five giant dragons.
He moved his gaze from the giant dragons, which were swimming and taking shape in mid-air, to the pink-haired girl.
Her right hand was raised high, her five fingers splayed open. At this moment, as the five giant dragons gradually took shape, her hand slowly curled into a claw and then into a fist.
Gai knew that in just one more second, when her five fingers had closed and clenched into a fist, it would be the moment the ninjutsu came crashing down!
He couldn't dodge it, nor could he block it. Then—
"It can only be this way..." The veins on Gai's forehead popped again, his blood vessels throbbing!
"Eight Gates, the Seventh Gate of Wonder..."
"Stop!" At the side of the field, Tsunade hurriedly shouted, stopping Gai's next move.
"Both of you, stop! The assessment is over! Stop your attacks!"
She jumped onto the field and shouted at the two of them.
"We're not fighting anymore?" Haruno Sakura was stunned for a moment and stopped her ninjutsu.
The surging chakra on the girl's body suddenly stopped. Her hair, which had been flying majestically just now, immediately fell limply on her head, a mess like a chicken's nest. In an instant, she had gone from a majestic peacock to a plucked chicken.
At the same time...
The giant dragons circling overhead, after letting out a weak cry, dissipated from the field with a trace of unwillingness—the exquisite details of their scales, claws, and so on, first became rough and blurred, and then the solid, azure dragon bodies also became transparent, degenerating into a surging water flow. Finally, the water flow poured back onto the ground, turning back into Haruno Sakura's chakra and returning to her Yin Seal.
"What a pity. I still wanted to try the power of this move..." she pouted. Her right hand, which had been standing straight up, immediately drooped down, and her fingers, which had been clenched into a claw, loosened.
The Jonin who were watching from the sidelines also nodded, looking as if they agreed.
These few were the active types who feared nothing more than a lack of chaos. After being glared at by Tsunade, they gave sheepish smiles and shrank their heads.
"If this continues, Gai will be seriously injured," Tsunade said, walking to the thick-eyebrowed ninja's side and supporting him.
When Tsunade had called a halt to the battle, Gai had immediately relaxed. Seeing Sakura's ninjutsu dissipate and revert to chakra, his Eight Gates had also stopped operating at the same time, and the green chakra light on his body had instantly disappeared.
Gai sat on the ground with a plop, his whole body soft and sore. Hearing Tsunade's words, he couldn't help but let out a wry smile. To open the seventh gate in this state, it would really have been a desperate fight.
If he had opened it to the seventh gate from the beginning, it would have been a different story. He might have been able to end the battle with one punch. With the power of the Daytime Tiger, the number of these giant dragons would have had to be ten times greater to be able to contend with it!
However, that would not have been a spar, but a life-or-death battle.
Then they would have had to fight until someone had completely collapsed before it could end!
And let's not even talk about the consequences of Gai opening the seventh gate. If he had really thrown that Daytime Tiger punch, the power of that one punch would have been enough to turn the heavens and the earth upside down. The entire training ground would have been razed to the ground, sinking three feet deep!
That kind of power could only be described as terrifying!
If Haruno Sakura had taken it head-on, the consequences would have been hard to predict. And not to mention the two in the field, even the people watching on the side would probably have been affected by the aftershock, and even seriously injured...
A battle like that would have been beyond the scope of a Jonin assessment!
Therefore, Tsunade had stopped this battle in time. Having fought to this point, even a Kage-level assessment could be considered passed. What reason was there for a Jonin assessment not to be passed?
The Third Hokage at the side of the field also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. However, he couldn't help but feel a little regretful: if this move of Gai's hadn't been harmful to his body, then he would have been very much looking forward to seeing who would have won in the end.
A battle like this, even in his prime, he had rarely been able to see...
The Jonin present, those who knew Gai's strength, while feeling a lingering fear, a few of them also showed expressions of regret—if they could have witnessed such a terrifying move at close range, even if they had to lie in the hospital for a few weeks, it would have been worth the price of admission!
Kakashi had sensed this kind of thought from the woman beside him. He glanced at his "junior" behind him, who had gathered a large amount of chakra and was already prepared to feel the aftershock. He was speechless.
This group of people...!
"The battle is over. Today's assessment ends here!" Tsunade said, helping up Might Gai, who was covered in injuries. The blue light of medical ninjutsu lit up in her hands.
The wounds on Gai's body were rapidly receding. Tsunade, while healing him, said, "Then, Haruno Sakura's Jonin combat assessment, she has passed."
She did not ask for the opinions of the others, but directly announced the result. But no one would object to this result. Everyone was still savoring the battle just now, and for a moment, no one spoke.
Sakura bit her hair tie, gathered her messy, tangled, nest-like hair, and tied it into a high ponytail as she walked over.
Gai's treatment was already over.
His body, when bearing the first six gates of the Eight Gates, did not have a big problem. The injuries on his body were mainly the backlash from throwing three consecutive "Nirvana Strikes." They were just external injuries and had not penetrated deep into his bones. Under Tsunade's exquisite medical ninjutsu, he quickly recovered.
In accordance with combat etiquette, the two of them made the Seal of Reconciliation, and the battle was officially declared over.
"Sakura-kun, you are really amazing..." Gai said with emotion, looking at the opponent in front of him.
After the battle was over, Gai finally realized that the opponent he had been fighting was just a child who was not yet fourteen years old...!
During the battle, that ninja, whose gaze was as sharp as a blade and whose expression was as cold as an iceberg, as her surging and turbulent chakra circulated through her body, her aura had been as imposing as fire and wind, her presence so thick and heavy!
Faced with such a strong enemy, he couldn't help but use his full strength, and had even almost opened the seventh gate...
After the assessment, when she had recycled that chakra back into her Yin Seal and had retracted that presence, and her dignified, un-look-at-able gaze had calmed down, it was as if she had suddenly become another person.
The Jonin present had also felt this contrast.
At first, many people couldn't imagine how such a soft and weak-looking girl could fight against those top-level powerhouses, couldn't imagine how her not-so-tall body could contain such energy.
After the battle, looking at the divine light in the girl's eyes on the field retracting, and the frost-like expression on her face melting into a gentle smile, many people, on the contrary, couldn't imagine where that powerful ninja with the surging presence from just now had gone.
"Alright, everyone!" Tsunade patted her disciple's shoulder, pulled her to her side, and then said, "I declare that Shiranui Genma, Namiashi Raidō, Asō Nozomu, Asō Nozomi, and Haruno Sakura have all passed the Jonin combat power assessment and are officially Jonin! Congratulations to them!"
The observing Jonin, the high-ranking officials, and the civilian staff, who were in charge of registering the data, all applauded in unison.
"That's all for today. You are dismissed," Tsunade said directly, after waiting for the applause to die down.
The Jonin disappeared one after another with a Body Flicker. Kakashi and the others, however, walked towards Sakura's side.
"Go and celebrate with them," Tsunade said with a smile, glancing at Kakashi, and then said to Sakura, "Congratulations on becoming a Jonin."
As she spoke, she pushed Sakura over.
It was called a celebration, but in fact, it was just a few people, taking the opportunity of being gathered together, to find an excuse for a meal.
There were quite a few people. Kakashi, Gai, and Asuma were all there. Hyuga Hotaru and an Anbu squad leader with a mask also tagged along. It was lunchtime, but they actually wanted to drink. The group came to a familiar izakaya and sat down casually.
"Bring the food. As I ordered before," Kakashi said to the waiter in the private room, and then said to everyone, "This one's on me, to celebrate Sakura's promotion to Jonin. Everyone, feel free!"
The Anbu squad leader lifted a corner of his mask, drank his tea, and glanced at Kakashi. "Senpai is actually treating today. How rare!"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Yamato, are you saying you'll pay? That's great..."
"Ahem!" The man called Yamato almost choked on the tea in his mouth. "Senpai, don't joke. This meal is your treat to celebrate your student's promotion to Jonin. How can I interfere? Oh right, don't call me by my name when we're outside. Please call me 'Tenzō'!"
"We're all Anbu colleagues here. Don't worry about that," Asuma said, smoking a cigarette and smiling. "Take off your mask, Yamato. Sakura-kun, you two haven't met, have you?"
"Hn... first time," Sakura said. She had probably crossed paths with this unfamiliar Anbu once or twice in the Anbu. His chakra felt a little familiar, but this was the first time they had met.
She curiously sized up Yamato. After he took off his mask, he revealed a square, national-character face. He smiled with his thick eyebrows and large eyes and greeted Haruno Sakura.
"Yamato is a ninja who uses the Wood Style Kekkei Genkai," Hyuga Hotaru, who was sitting next to Sakura, followed them in exposing Yamato's background, and said with a smile, "Sakura-kun, you should have a lot in common with him."
Yamato was a little anxious. "Hey, don't reveal all my secrets!"
"From the moment you chose to freeload this meal, you have no secrets to speak of," Kakashi said with a sneer.
Gai laughed heartily and patted Yamato's shoulder. "Yamato, don't be so reserved! Everyone here knows your background. There's nothing to worry about. Introduce yourself!"
The square-faced youth was a little helpless. He put down his teacup and said to Sakura, "Alright, alright, I'll introduce myself... although you guys have already said everything that needs to be said!"
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