Temporary Base

Sakura Haruno's recently developed Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals Stage Three, like Naruto's currently banned Rasenshuriken, is an extremely powerful Ninjutsu with a huge backlash.

The contradiction lies in this: this dangerous Ninjutsu requires a lot of practice to master, and only after mastering it can the backlash be reduced; however, the practice itself can cause backlash, harming the practitioner and hindering the improvement of Ninjutsu, resulting in slow progress.

This creates a vicious cycle.

Therefore, Naruto was simply forbidden from practicing this technique. He could only use it when he had free time, unless it was an emergency. Only after his physical endurance and Chakra control improved could Naruto truly make this technique his go-to move.

As for Sakura, Tsunade strongly advised her to rest for several months after each use.

Therefore, even with her control, she could only slowly and gradually wear it down.

Gradually improve your control over this technique to reduce the backlash.

Progress on the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals is slow and remains stagnant. On the other hand, the Yin Seal has made some progress and achieved some results in the development of Phase Two.

Sakura is currently accumulating Chakra for the Yin Seal too slowly—after all, she doesn't have a high Chakra level to begin with, and even if she has some leftover Chakra, it won't be much, so it will take a long time to see results.

Her Chakra reserves were extremely low during her battles with Kimimaro and Kakuzu.

The only time Chakra left to spare was during her battle with Sasori of the Red Sand. However, she had been accumulating Chakra for several months before that!

And just like that, he emptied most of his mana bar in one go.

Sakura's slow Chakra accumulation severely limits her ability to unleash her full power. After each major battle, she feels particularly guilty—her Chakra reserves are too low, which is inconsistent with her titles of "Quasi-Kage" and "Kage".

Sakura Haruno was particularly afraid of was that battles would occur one after another.

The second phase of the Yin Seal's development was aimed at solving this problem.

However, to develop this, she needs uninterrupted time and a laboratory.

The mission list that Tsunade gave her provided just that.

Near the border of the Land of Fire.

This area was once Orochimaru's territory before the great battle between Sakura and Kakuzu.

No one knows exactly how many evil deeds Orochimaru committed in the no-man's-land on the border and in the surrounding ninja villages.

The only thing that is clear is that this man has established many hidden bases underground here.

As for the exact number, even Orochimaru himself probably couldn't quite remember. After all, creating such a base, which could be completed simply by using Chakra and Ninjutsu, was a piece of cake for Orochimaru. If the labor costs of Kage Level shinobi were not taken into account, the most valuable part of these bases would be the experimental equipment inside.

However, Konoha didn't even bother with these things; during the first search of Orochimaru's base, Sakura Haruno treated them as mission spoils, but Tsunade just threw them away as junk.

During their second search, the one after they encountered Kakuzu, they stopped paying attention to these things.

Once the base, buried deep underground, lost its value, Orochimaru and Konoha paid it no heed; the place was completely forgotten, and it will probably never see the light of day again unless an earthquake occurs.

But...

An inconspicuous underground base developed by Orochimaru.

The base, which should have been plunged into eternal darkness, suddenly saw a glimmer of light.

It was a round fireball, held aloft in the air, radiating light and illuminating the hall of the underground base.

The fireball floated in the newcomer's palm, its orange-yellow Kakkō illuminating her face.

It was Sakura Haruno.

She found the candle on the wall, lit it, and the underground hall was illuminated.

"As expected, no one has been here." Sakura looked around. The place still bore the traces left by the Fourteenth Squad after their search. Even the footprints on the ground hadn't changed. Clearly, this place had been completely abandoned.

"Very good, I'll make this my temporary base."

The girl snapped her fingers.

A large amount of water appeared out of thin air around her, flowing through the entire base and thoroughly cleansing it under Sakura's control. Then, Sakura changed her hand gestures, Ice Release Chakra surged out, turning the water into a layer of ice that completely enveloped the entire base.

He also used Ice Release to repair the damaged parts of the base.

This is to guard against that strange person we met last time. His Earth Release left a deep impression on Sakura Haruno, and Ice Release should be able to stop him and allow her to pass through this base.

Next, they created ventilation shafts and used Wind Release to disperse the stagnant air underground.

The base wasn't very large, and after Sakura Haruno's efforts, it didn't take long for the underground base to be completely renovated.

Then, Sakura Haruno skillfully unrolled the scroll and took out the experimental equipment and materials from the Sealing Jutsu.

For the second stage of the Yin Seal, she originally planned to use clones as an energy source; however, the current conditions are definitely not enough for her to research cloning technology, which she can only complete next year at the main base in the Land of Snow.

But it's alright, she has a rudimentary alternative for now: clone her own heart to provide Chakra.

Several months ago, Sakura Haruno in the Land of Snow had already mastered this organ cloning technology.

Sakura has already expertly completed the preliminary work for cloning.

She plucked a hair, placed it under the microscope, and her hand glowed with a pale blue fluorescence reminiscent of Medical Ninjutsu.

The Chakra imbued with the power of Yang Release stimulated the cells, and the keratinocytes at the hair roots slowly changed under the influence of this magical power: the slender keratinocytes containing melanin gradually shortened and became rounded, and the melanin gradually disappeared. Some changes that were invisible under a microscope occurred firmly and irreversibly under the effect of Medical Ninjutsu.

A few minutes later...

Sakura Haruno raised her head and let out a long sigh, "It's done!"

Under the lens, at the roots of the long pink hair, keratinocytes have been completely transformed into round, yellow-orange embryonic stem cells under the catalysis of Medical Ninjutsu containing Yang Release Nature Transformation.

This is the process of "dedifferentiation" of highly differentiated cells.

Her actions were essentially the same as what Tsunade and the others did to Yugao's hair in the Konoha medical room back then.

However, after obtaining Orochimaru's information and supplementing her knowledge of the otherworld in her mind, this technology was perfected; the heart that Sakura cloned took two weeks to cultivate, and the quality of the meticulously crafted heart was far superior to the heart that Tsunade temporarily created.

After Yugao was fitted with the new heart, she quickly adapted to it. With further training, it's estimated that she won't be any worse than the original.

No, it seems to be even better than the original one...

Suddenly remembering Yugao's situation, Sakura chuckled, "Everything is moving in a positive direction with Yugao. Let's not dwell on the minor mistake!"

She dispersed the cluster of embryonic stem cells she had created and placed them into twenty separate culture dishes, using Yang Release Chakra to nurture them, slowly promoting the development and division of the stem cells.

Sakura could, of course, use a large amount of Yang Release Nature Transformation Chakra directly on this cluster of embryonic cells to make it grow rapidly, expanding to the size of a fist at a visible speed, and then splitting into a heart, but doing so would be meaningless and would only produce inferior products.

"Hmm~ Alright! That's about it for now." Sakura nodded in satisfaction and carefully placed the petri dishes on the special shelf.

Next, all you need to do is maintain that Chakra and continuously provide it with nutrients to ensure its growth.

These tasks are tedious and don't require much technical skill, but someone still needs to be there to watch over them.

"Then I'll leave this place to you." Sakura created an Ice Clone, infused it with a large amount of Chakra, and said to her.

Since it's the same person, there's no need for further explanation. The clone already knows what she's supposed to do: besides maintaining the experiment's progress, she also has the task of destroying all traces of this place when it's discovered.

Especially if you are discovered by Konoha Ninja, remember to use Wind Release!

"Go ahead, I'll take care of things here!" the Ice Clone said.

Sakura Haruno nodded, picked up the task sheet placed to the side, and turned to leave.

The pile of tasks Tsunade gave her, if she rushed through them, would take at least ten to fifteen months to complete; if she took her time, it could easily take a month. During this time, she didn't have to return to Konoha, as long as she remembered to report the progress of the tasks back.

As for when the mission will be completed, that depends on whether Sakura Haruno goes all out, using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, or only displays her Jonin- level strength, or even just uses her Ice Clone to complete the mission...

Anyway, all I need to do is get back Jonin Battle Test in five weeks.

"So, the first target is..." Sakura Haruno appeared Body Flicker Technique in the ice mirror on the ground, took out the first mission sheet, and said while looking at it.

"Hmm... So, because they need to go into hiding, have these peripheral organizations been abandoned by Akatsuki?"

(Fourth update presented, as a bonus chapter to repay the 800 monthly votes received at the end of last month!!)

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