Leaving Bad Luck Behind for Good Luck? No Such Thing; Hidden Injuries? No Such Thing Either
Sakura Haruno took a soft breath.
From unlucky to lucky?
"Stay calm..." she told herself. Sometimes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
With a hint of anticipation, I turned the pages, only to be disappointed to find that most of the pages had been torn out, leaving almost nothing of substance, just some summaries and introductory text.
Hmm... as expected, the Sound Ninja don't leave behind anything of real value.
The girl touched the mask on her face with some disappointment, then threw the book, along with the messy scrolls at her feet, to Shino.
"Tell me, Captain, where did these Sound Ninja take the data back to?"
Sakura Haruno pondered for a moment before asking the question.
"There should be a main base," Shino said without looking up, gathering the scrolls and books that Yugao and Sakura had thrown at him and sealing them into Sealing Jutsu. "It can be inferred from various signs. It's just that the reconnaissance teams haven't found them yet."
"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Yugao replied.
She walked over carrying a dozen or so scrolls piled high, completely obscuring her head. The scrolls were stacked haphazardly, swaying precariously, but thanks to her steady steps and superb balance, they remained standing.
"What, are you interested in this mission?" Shino looked up at Sakura and asked. Within the Anbu, there was an unspoken rule that those participating in such missions had the right to peruse the spoils, so Sakura was probably interested in some of Orochimaru's Ninjutsu.
The captain, being experienced, saw through her intentions.
"Don't worry, we'll definitely be involved in the missions to come," he said with a smile. "We're an elite team, after all."
Indeed, in the operation to rescue Sasuke, the Fourteenth Squad defeated the Sound Ninja on their own, demonstrating remarkable combat prowess.
Of course, Tsunade herself was well aware of the combat strength of the Fourteenth Squad. She originally formed this division with the aim of making it an elite Anbu. Otherwise, why would they occupy such a high position as the number "14"? If they were to be ranked in order, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they would be ranked over 100th.
In this squad, Shino is a veteran ANBU Anbu qualified to be an Anbu examiner, a model of Elite Jonin;
With her swordsmanship alone, Yugao could easily reach the rank of Jonin. Combined with some of her Secret Technique, it wouldn't be a problem for her to unleash the strength of Elite Jonin.
Meanwhile, Sakura Haruno, a newly Anbu, has already reached the Elite Jonin level and is beginning her journey towards Kage Level prowess...
A squad composed of three Elite Jonin- level ninjas is, without exaggeration, among the best in the entire Anbu.
Previously, the Fourteenth Squad was only assigned a large number of low-difficulty tasks in order to get them used to each other.
Now, judging from the operation to rescue Sasuke, their teamwork has yielded some results. It's time to put them down from those boring, low-level missions and give them some more responsibility... Operations like searching Orochimaru's base could easily lead to a direct confrontation with Orochimaru, so Tsunade only dares to send elite units like the Fourteenth Squad.
However, during this mission, the three elite units that Tsunade dispatched did not encounter a single battle.
The greatest danger would be if Sakura's clone encountered that trap; the power of that snake venom is quite terrifying.
The base that the Fourteenth Squad had looted was their second-to-last target on this mission.
They were lucky enough to find some information that was neither entirely useful nor entirely useless. After their stroke of good luck ended, the last base, unsurprisingly, became dirt poor.
As dusk approached, the other two elite teams also completed their search mission and arrived to join Sakura and the others.
After briefly reporting the situation, the three teams set off and left.
When it was completely dark, the Anbu stopped, set up a simple camp, and spent the night in makeshift beds.
The next day, the group, eager to return home, made it back to Konoha before sunset.
As evening fell, the last rays of the sun shone on the Konoha Village's Anbu building.
Tsunade, along with a group of Konoha High Command Intelligence Division ninjas in reviewing the data brought back by the Anbu.
"Tsunade, the results of this operation weren't very good." Hokage Advisor Koharu Utatane flipped through the summary sheet handed to him by the Intelligence Division, frowned, and tapped his knuckles on the table, expressing some dissatisfaction.
"Soft Body Modification plans, human experimentation data, and cloning technology..." Another advisor, Mitokado Homura, slowly removed his glasses, put down the list in his hand, and rubbed his dry eyes. "They're all good stuff, but Orochimaru's men destroyed all the key information in these scrolls, so the remaining parts aren't very useful to us."
"..." Tsunade crossed her arms, frowned, and listened silently to the words of her two elders.
Given her status, it wouldn't be a problem for her to retort a few words to the two elders. However, Tsunade, who had already secured her position as Hokage, didn't mind showing some respect as a junior in this setting.
If she doesn't speak up, others will speak up for her.
The Third Hokage exhaled a long puff of smoke, tapped the table with his pipe, and glanced indifferently at the two advisors out of the corner of his eye.
"Chun, Homura, this mission only explored the outer perimeter of Orochimaru's base, so it's normal that we didn't find anything useful. Next time, when the reconnaissance team finds Orochimaru's core base, we'll surely find truly valuable information," he said slowly.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up, casually picked up a scroll from the neatly organized pile on the table, glanced at it a few times, and continued, "Besides, such cruel human experiments are not suitable for use on the village's ninjas!"
He was looking through the very same Jugen Uzumaki Human Body Modification Manual that Sakura had retrieved.
"Hiruzen, you're wrong..." A ninja suddenly pushed open the door and said in a low voice, "It's only natural for ninjas to make sacrifices for the benefit of the village. Don't take it too seriously!"
The visitor was Shimura Danzō.
"..." Hiruzen Sarutobi was silent for a moment before slowly saying, "Danzo, we've argued about this many times already, so let's not waste our time arguing in front of the younger generation."
"In that case," Danzo quickly interjected before Tsunade could speak again, "That concludes today's mission report! Intelligence Division, pack your things. Anbu 81st and 8th squads, escort the advisors away."
She glanced at the three Anbu teams standing to the side awaiting orders and questions, nodded slightly to Sakura, and said, "You've all worked hard. Go back and rest. The next mission depends on the reconnaissance team's results. You can have a few days off."
The Hokage Advisor exchanged glances and were the first to get up and leave.
Then the other ninjas followed suit and went out one after another.
Sakura walked at the back, deliberately lingering for a while, until most of the others had left, before coming to Tsunade's side.
"Master, it seems like my old nerve injury has flared up again."
Tsunade stared at the pink-haired girl silently for two seconds.
She had personally examined Sakura's injuries; how could she not know if she had any hidden injuries?
What does it mean that she said something like that at this time?
"There's a more private treatment room over there. Let me show you."
Tsunade, gesturing for Sakura to follow her.
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