"One, two! One, two! One, two! Faster! Don't drag your feet! Don't stop!"
On the training ground track, Sakura was at the very front, already drenched in sweat, her chest heaving violently, but she dared not slow down, let alone stop.
Not far behind her, Naruto was running at the same steady pace, but his breathing was noticeably much calmer. His sharp gaze was fixed on Sakura's back, and he continuously issued commands, urging her on.
It seemed Naruto's earlier remark, "My training is very strict," was not just a polite phrase but an unadulterated reality.
Naruto knew very well that in the first part of the Hokage story, Sakura's combat ability was almost negligible; it wasn't until the Shippuden era, when she became Tsunade's disciple, that she truly transformed into a powerful Medical Ninja and combatant.
Since Sakura's future path was to learn Tsunade's incredibly fierce monstrous strength, then an incredibly solid Taijutsu foundation and precise control over physical strength were absolute prerequisites.
Therefore, Naruto unceremoniously decided that from now on, he would rigorously train Sakura's physical fitness and Taijutsu foundation.
After finally completing the prescribed number of laps, Sakura almost collapsed to the ground, only getting a short rest. She barely managed a few sips of water and regulated her breathing.
Immediately after, Naruto mercilessly instructed her to begin the next round of physical training—sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups... a series of basic but extremely exhausting exercises came one after another, each requiring her to perform them to standard as best as she could.
On the other side, Satsuki's training was completely different. She was intently practicing more advanced Ninjutsu in an open area. Blazing Fire Release and roaring Lightning Release flashed alternately.
For example, Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Jutsu, Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Claw, Lightning Release: Roaring Thunder, Lightning Release: Ground Flash, Lightning Release: False Darkness, Lightning Release: Gratitude Wave.
Besides the refinement of these Ninjutsu, the training of the Sharingan never slackened.
Furthermore, she had already learned the principles and basics of the Body Flicker Technique from her father, Fugaku. Although she currently couldn't achieve the instantaneous teleportation-like movement of Kakashi, her movement distance and speed were still limited, so she was repeatedly strengthening her practice, striving for faster and more proficient execution.
Naruto himself chose a quiet corner further away from the two. He sat cross-legged and carefully unrolled the massive sealed scroll. Since the Third Hokage truly trusted him to guard this item, he naturally wouldn't just learn a Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu and return it.
His gaze swept over the forbidden Ninjutsu on the scroll, each name alone enough to make one's heart tremble.
Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu... Flying Thunder God Technique... Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags... Reaper Death Seal... Edo Tensei...
Naruto currently didn't have the desperate idea of dying with an enemy, so he directly skipped the Reaper Death Seal, which required sacrificing one's soul. His attention was now focused on another technique whose principle alone was chilling—
Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.
This forbidden Ninjutsu, developed by the Second Hokage, centered on infinitely summoning more explosive tags through a single explosive tag, forming an endless series of continuous localized explosions, theoretically capable of completely obliterating any target and its surrounding area into nothingness.
Of course, Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags is not a Ninjutsu that creates explosive tags out of thin air. Its core mechanism lies in using a pre-set special summoning formula to continuously summon a large number of pre-prepared explosive tags, marked with corresponding summoning coordinates, to a single target point at an extremely fast, almost infinite speed, for non-stop, overlapping bombardment, until the target is completely blasted into ashes.
If the stored explosive tags run out, the technique will naturally stop.
This Ninjutsu is also considered a forbidden Ninjutsu for mutual destruction. Because it requires the caster to first physically attach the initial "fuse" explosive tag to the target's body at close range. And the moment the technique is activated, the initial wave of violent explosions will almost inevitably engulf the caster, who is at the center of the explosion, as well.
However, Naruto conceived an extremely bold and dangerous idea—he wanted to try, at the very last moment before the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags activated and the fuse was about to burn out, whether he could use the space-time jump of the Flying Thunder God Technique to escape the scene instantly before the explosion reached him.
Judging by Naruto's talent, the extremely high-level summoning Ninjutsu proficiency and space-time Ninjutsu perception required by Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags would not be an insurmountable obstacle for Naruto, who had completely mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, to learn this forbidden Ninjutsu.
Naruto had even already planned that once he had a preliminary grasp of this forbidden Ninjutsu, he would immediately go to the Akatsuki organization to find Kakuzu to buy a massive amount of explosive tags for combat reserves.
The feeling of having someone earn money for him... it really was quite good.
However, during the research process, another question also surfaced in Naruto's mind.
Speaking of which... if even the incredibly fast space-time jump of the Flying Thunder God couldn't react in time and escape the initial explosion of the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags... how exactly did the Second Hokage test and perfect this technique back then?
Moreover, there's no need to use an Edo Tensei body to use this technique, right?
Doesn't this world have a Ninjutsu called the Shadow Clone Technique?
— — — — — —
The next day, Kakashi finally brought the three members of Team 7 to the mission assignment office to begin their first official mission as Ninja. Looking at the excited and eager Sakura, and Satsuki, who appeared calm but had a hidden expectation in her eyes, Naruto felt somewhat unenthusiastic. He knew the daily routine of a Genin all too well.
Sure enough, all the missions they received were D-rank, the lowest level—finding lost cats, moving goods for busy merchants, and even babysitting noisy children...
After completing several tasks such as "finding pet Tora," "harvesting vegetables in the field," and "organizing old books for the library," even Sakura, who was initially full of enthusiasm, couldn't help but show clear disappointment, her shoulders slumped.
Satsuki, who was beside her, didn't speak, but at this moment, she also looked somewhat listless, her slightly furrowed brows expressing her dissatisfaction and boredom.
As expected... it's still these.
Naruto sighed silently in his heart while mechanically harvesting sweet potatoes from the ground. For newly graduated Genin teams, they had no right to choose missions; they could only diligently start with these most basic chores, euphemistically called "accumulating experience" and "fostering teamwork."
However, while Naruto's main body was living a mundane daily mission life, catching cats, walking dogs, and babysitting children in Konoha Village—
In a hidden corner far from Konoha, a Shadow Clone of Naruto, or rather, Menma—who had put on the fox mask that could block detection and used the Transformation Technique to completely alter his physique and Chakra fluctuations—began to act once again.
The reason he was using this dangerous identity again at this time was that Hizashi had brought him a noteworthy piece of information circulating in the underground black market.
Not long ago, a considerable commotion occurred in Iwagakure in the Land of Earth. The disciple of the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki, a young man named Deidara, due to his extreme obsession with "explosion art" and his unrestrained practice, repeatedly conducted dangerous explosive Ninjutsu experiments inside and outside the village, causing huge noise and destruction that made the villagers complain bitterly and suffer greatly.
Even though he was the Tsuchikage's disciple, Ōnoki, to appease the villagers' grievances, still expelled the incorrigible Deidara from Iwagakure.