"Forbidden techniques! Forbidden techniques!"
In the conference room, the petite pink-haired girl wiped away nonexistent drool from the corner of her mouth.
A brief list documented dozens of secret techniques and their effects from Konoha's Scroll of Seals.
Impure World Reincarnation, Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Four Symbols Seal, Eight Trigrams Seal, Mutual Multiplication Explosive Tags, Eight Gates-
And of course, the technique that instantly captured Sakura's attention… Flying Thunder God Technique!
"This one, this one! Old man, I want this one!"
Sakura slapped the scroll in front of Hiruzen, even resorting to acting cute for him.
For someone who could record techniques using achievement points, she didn't care whether she had a talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu.
'I, Haruno Sakura, learned all my Ninjutsu through my own hard work. Of course, getting the points!'
[Notice, Recording the Space-Time Ninjutsu, Flying Thunder God Technique, requires 500 achievement points!]
[Moreover, the current environment is peaceful, with no survival achievement tasks available.]
Just as the girl's heart burned with excitement, the system poured cold water on her.
Yes, achievement points obtained in the Naruto World were extremely precious. She had to save some for the fare to return to the sea.
Besides, her current achievement points were only 80, still far from the amount needed to learn Flying Thunder God Technique.
"Sakura, this technique has prerequisites. Are you sure you want to choose it?"
Snapping out of his daze, Hiruzen looked at the spirited girl before him, almost seeing a golden figure overlapping with her.
Although he believed in Sakura's potential, as a senior in Ninjutsu study, he had to warn her of the difficulties.
After all, Space-Time Ninjutsu required not only the ability to perceive Space-Time but also the ability to penetrate it with one's Chakra and learn Sealing Techniques to imprint the spatial coordinates.
This single technique could be broken down into four high-level technique: Sensory Ninjutsu, Summoning Technique, Sealing Technique, and the Space-Time Ninjutsu. The challenges were evident.
"Don't worry, old man. I'm confident I can learn it!"
Sakura clenched her fist, the determination in her emerald-green eyes proving her resolve.
"Alright, I'll have the Anbu deliver the corresponding scroll to you. Remember to take good care of it!"
Hiruzen reminded her but still agreed to Sakura's request.
"Yay!"
Sakura raised her fist and pumped it.
She carefully rolled up the forbidden technique scroll list and tucked it into her upper pocket...
"..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the girl's antics expressionlessly for a long time.
Finally, under his gaze, Sakura grew embarrassed and offered an awkward smile.
She put her hands behind her back, stood on her tiptoes, and drew circles on the floor, looking at Hiruzen with innocent, pitiful eyes.
But the seasoned Hokage wasn't so easily influenced. The stare continued.
In the end, the girl could only reluctantly pull out the scroll and hand it back.
The scroll was snatched away and returned to his sleeve.
"Go on, go home! Ordinary villager!"
"Hehe, thanks, old man."
…
Haruno's Residence, south side of Konoha Village.
High-end ingredients often require the simplest cooking methods.
At midnight, Sakura, after being busy all night, called out 'Mom', waiting for her mother's reward.
However, the arrival of an Anbu delivering the scroll interrupted her beautiful expectations.
"So fast?"
Sakura hadn't even picked up her chopsticks before the scroll was shoved into her hands.
"Lord Hokage has given you one month to practice. If you don't succeed, you can go to him to choose another reward."
The Anbu delivered the item, bowed slightly to Sakura, and used the Body Flicker Technique to disappear.
Sakura looked at the scroll before her, shook her head, and put it away.
But faced with Hiruzen's heartwarming gesture, she couldn't help but be moved.
Even though she knew Hiruzen was trying to win her over from a politician's perspective, hearts were still made of flesh.
'It's decided. Let's give the old man a dignified retirement when the time comes!'
Sakura thought, stabbing a piece of honey pastry made by her mother. The sweetness in her mouth made her beautifully contoured eyes curve like bright moons.
After eating and drinking her fill, Sakura entered the bathroom with a towel over her shoulder to wash up.
Rinsing off the foam with clean water, she lazily immersed herself in the hot water.
Sakura opened her eyes, her emerald-green eyes turning to the mirror nearby.
'That's... me! ! ? ?'
The girl in the bathtub sat up abruptly and went to the mirror.
The reflection showed no change from when she was six… the regrettable flat chest, the short stature.
'Damn it, no wonder Ino has been giving me pitying looks lately.'
[Notice, The growth period of the Giant Royalty is twice that of ordinary humans.]
The system's reminder made Sakura realize this wouldn't do.
The longer she stayed in the Ninja World, the more her abnormality as a long-lived species would be exposed.
But if she spent too much time drifting at sea, her parents would miss her growth, effectively depriving them of their parental rights.
'System, give me a solution!'
Regarding the Giant Royalty's physique and growth, the system that had given it to her as a newbie gift must have a deeper understanding. So Sakura straightforwardly asked the system.
[Notice, It is recommended that the host allocate time between the Ninja World and the sea at a 1:2 ratio during the growth period to ensure the host's growth in the Ninja World does not fall out of sync.]
'One year in the Ninja World, two years at sea?'
Sakura pulled off the bath towel and dried the water droplets on her body.
After changing clothes, she stepped out of the bathroom and saw Mebuki approaching.
"Ara, what's wrong, Sakura?"
Mebuki felt uneasy under her daughter's strange gaze.
Then, she saw her daughter gently rise on her tiptoes and hug her around the waist.
"Nothing. Love you, Mom. See you tomorrow!"
At this moment, Sakura had already made her decision. Letting go of her mother, she quickly ran back to her room.
On her small bed, Sakura opened the system's crossing interface for the first time in a while.
Looking at the black crossing button on the system, she swallowed.
'System, use the crossing function!'
[Notice, Detected key item: Flying Thunder God Technique's scroll, on the host. Carrying it across worlds requires an additional 90 achievement points.]
'You again!!??'
[Notice, A spe... exclusive discount coupon has been issued. 20 points off for every 100 points spent.]
'Hey, what are you going to say just now? How complex is your developer? Collecting all the unscrupulous merchants in the world?'
'And only 20 points off? You're even blacker than those greedy people in the business war. You'll be driven out of the market sooner or later.'
'Wait... this guy seems to be running a monopoly!'
The thought made Sakura uncomfortable all over, wishing she could dig out the system and give it a good tuning.
'Scammer! Point-gobbling system! Stingy bastard!'
[Notice, Please do not slander this system.]
'Deduct, deduct, just deduct! Deduct until I have no points to learn ninjutsu, until I lose battles…'
'Deduct until I have no resources for growth, push me to the brink of death… I'll just risk my life with you.'
[Heh.]
[Notice, Points deducted. Current achievement points: 0. Crossing begins.]
Blazing light surged in Sakura's room. In the next instant, the once lively room was empty.
Meanwhile, on the sea...