Her Standing Rose Again

Naruto did not stay in Konoha for long.

Once the hidden injury on his hand healed, Jiraiya took him away from Konoha.

I only stayed for a little over a week.

Tsunade thoughtfully gave Sasuke and Kakashi a break so that Team 7 could reunite. The three students of Team 7 had all changed a lot, their strength was improving by leaps and bounds, and their appearances were gradually losing the childishness of Team 7 back then.

What remains unchanged is the bond between us.

Just standing together makes me feel warm.

After Naruto left, Kakashi and Sasuke's vacation also came to an end.

"Hmm... After a few days off, I feel like my bones have become lazy!" Standing at the entrance of Konoha, Kakashi looked at the mission briefing and said lazily with his dead fish eyes.

"Only you would do that, Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke muttered, checking his equipment. "Let's finish today's mission quickly; we need to train for the rest of the time!"

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Kakashi's face.

Sasuke's style here is starting to resemble Might Guy's... He's so full of energy!

Was he provoked by Naruto and Sakura? He glanced at Sasuke.

The black-haired boy looked back as if he knew what the other was thinking, "Sakura is getting stronger and stronger, and Naruto is right behind me. I can't let my guard down!"

"Alright, alright," Kakashi waved his hand, his dead fish eyes suddenly becoming bright and alert, "Then I'll put in some effort!"

Hmm... Sasuke is chasing after him too, there's no way he could have been caught up by Sasuke so quickly!

He turned around and waved to Izumo and Kotetsu, the two guards at the gate; then, with two quick movements, the two disappeared in front of the gate.

Sakura Haruno needs to rest for a longer period of time.

Sakura's injuries were similar to Naruto's, both involving damage to her meridians; however, Naruto's injuries were accumulated over half a year, while hers were new injuries.

Naruto left around the end of June.

Her injuries had healed by then, and the Chunin Ninja Exams early July. Sakura was to accompany Tsunade to Sunagakure as the Hokage's bodyguard, so Tsunade simply gave her a few more days off.

Regardless, by instantly defeating Deidara and single-handedly confronting Sasori of the Red Sand, Sakura has firmly established herself as a near-Kage level, or even a Kage level; she is no longer suitable to be used like an ordinary ninja.

When this achievement was reported back to Konoha, almost half of the Jonin were utterly astonished—if they had worn glasses.

However, the girl herself was a little apprehensive, because she had once again used up all the chakra she had accumulated over the past few months; if she were to fight Sasori again now, she probably wouldn't be able to last much longer before Chakra. She was only barely at the "Quasi-Kage" level, not as amazing as the rumors made it out to be, like fighting two opponents at once, instantly killing Deidara, or suppressing Sasori of the Red Sand to the point of being unable to raise her head...

In short, her strength varies depending on the amount of Yin Seal stored, ranging from Kage to Quasi-Kage...

The fluctuation in strength is a bit too large.

Sakura Haruno, who has temporarily been reduced to the "Quasi-Kage" level, now walks down the street and people nod or smile at her; even the Jonin don't dare to act arrogantly in front of her.

It seems like his net worth has suddenly increased.

This is how the ninja world works; the strong are naturally respected.

Sakura was somewhat unaccustomed to this feeling.

Sometimes, ninjas she didn't know at all, or at most only vaguely familiar with her face, would suddenly greet her with, "Good afternoon, Sakura Haruno!" or address her as "Sister Sakura Haruno." Apart from a few close acquaintances, no one dared to call her "Sakura" anymore.

"Uh, uh, good afternoon, haha." At this moment, she had to quickly put on a standard bright smile, a radiant smile, to return the greeting to a stranger whose name she didn't even know, otherwise she would be seen as arrogant or even disdainful of others.

"Thankfully, no one has called me 'Lady Sakura' or 'Lady Sakura Haruno' yet."

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief, not wanting to be elevated to such a high position so quickly. These two titles were, for the time being, the exclusive domain of the Sage Katsuyu's avatar— the Katsuyu.

Sakura is usually quite easygoing when not in combat, but this kind of thing still made her a little impatient; nine out of ten ninjas greeted her as she passed by, and she had to respond to each and every one of them, feeling like her face was getting stiff from smiling.

Fortunately, the frenzy was intense only when the news first spread, and it quickly subsided—although strangers still greeted her from time to time.

July has arrived.

July 1st. In the morning, as dawn broke and the sky was ablaze with rosy clouds.

"Hmm... my body has fully recovered."

Sakura Haruno gripped a blue sphere tightly in her hand. Beneath its calm, still surface, a dense flow of Chakra swirled wildly within the Rasengan. She sensed that all the meridians in her body were flowing smoothly, and the faint pain had vanished. The girl gazed at the Chakra ball in her palm and smiled faintly.

He dispelled the incredibly powerful Ninjutsu in his hand.

He changed out of his pajamas and pulled out his Anbu uniform.

"Perfect!" After admiring herself in the mirror for a moment, Sakura, amidst her mother's roar from downstairs, "Aren't you going out yet!" put on her uniform, tidied herself up, and climbed over the balcony.

Donning the long-unused cat-face mask, I arrived at the Hokage's office.

Before long, everyone had arrived. Tsunade didn't say much, just gave a few simple instructions, and then they all Body Flicker Technique disappeared.

The Hokage's trip was not a grand affair: Tsunade only brought three Anbu squads, each consisting of only two people.

One team scouts ahead, while the other team brings up the rear.

Sakura and Shino followed on either side of Tsunade.

Sakura Haruno had already patrolled and confirmed the safety of a route with the other Anbu a few weeks ago. This time, she traveled quickly along the cleared road without encountering any trouble. By the evening of the 3rd, she had arrived at the entrance of Sunagakure without any problems.

Upon receiving the message, the Sand shinobi Village leaders were already waiting for them at the entrance to the Sand shinobi Village.

"Welcome to Sunagakure." Standing at the front was Baki, wearing a straw hat and veil. In Sakura's memory, this ninja always had a sinister face and sharp eyes, but now he put on a polite, somewhat stiff smile and shook hands with Tsunade.

He will temporarily serve as the leader of the Sand shinobi until a new Kazekage is elected.

Sakura Haruno secretly glanced at him twice, and from the smile on his face, she could tell that Baki was really not used to this identity.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the Konoha group was led by the Sand shinobi into the prepared rest room.

From the moment she stepped into Sunagakure, Sakura became more vigilant.

Although everything seems normal, the possibility that the Sand shinobi have ulterior motives cannot be ruled out.

There were no other activities arranged by the Sand shinobi, so the group went to bed early, keeping to their own pace. Sakura and Shino took turns on duty, and the night passed peacefully.

The next morning.

The first written exam of the Chunin Ninja Exams has ended; the second exam is the one suitable for observation.

The group from Konoha was welcomed to the side of Sunagakure, next to the examination hall for the second exam.

This is a huge canyon, with a lush oasis below. A river flows through it, and towering cliffs stand vertically as if carved by an axe, forming a natural wall.

Above the valley is a flat, barren plateau, and the viewing platform is situated on a platform that rises abruptly from the plateau.

Tsunade Kazuma sat down in the main seats, while Sakura and Shino stood on either side, behind Tsunade.

While Baki and Tsunade were exchanging meaningless pleasantries, Sakura glanced at the deep valley below and roughly understood what the Sand shinobi Village's second exam was all about; this place was probably similar to Konoha's Forest of Death.

After a couple of formal remarks, Baki paused for a moment— Sakura Haruno suspected he had forgotten his lines—before decisively getting to the point.

"The second exam we arranged is similar in format to the one held in your village last year," he said, his voice becoming much smoother when discussing serious matters, a faint smile of pride on his face. "However, we've incorporated elements from the Sand shinobi, making the content much richer."

He spoke eloquently.

It's really just a matter of changing from fighting over scrolls to collecting and plundering resources in the deep valley.

Despite the variations in the Chunin Ninja Exams, three key elements are always tested and constitute the main part of the exam:

Team capabilities.

Personal ability.

The basic qualities of a ninja.

The only difference is that the form of the assessment will change depending on the circumstances each year; and it doesn't necessarily have to be drastically changed.

Last year, the first test was a written exam to assess the candidates' basic abilities; this year, the Sand shinobi's first test was also a written exam, and there weren't any major problems. The difference lies in the Konoha exam, where Ibiki Morino added mental pressure, while Sakura isn't sure what kind of pressure the Sand shinobi added this time.

Their second exam also tested teamwork, including combat, reconnaissance, search, wilderness movement, and survival. The meticulously designed questions fully assessed the Genin's abilities. Sakura had to admit that the Sand shinobi were quite dedicated to this exam; although the core concepts remained the same, the specifics were much more refined than Konoha's exam last year.

The Sand shinobi have also ingeniously laid numerous traps and poisons unique to the Land of Wind, ensuring that the test takers will be thrilled and full of surprises.

Just as Baki was still enthusiastically describing to Tsunade how many insidious traps they had set up, a cloud of purple smoke suddenly rose from the valley floor.

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