Konohamaru

Iruka is currently teaching a fifth-grade class.

After Udon and Moegi finished their match, it was Konohamaru's turn. A fight broke out on the field, and Sakura Haruno went over to hear Iruka tapping Konohamaru on the forehead and scolding him. "You idiot! A ninja must obey orders, you know that! Stop being so willful, go Chusuke with Okisuke!"

"No way! I've already lost to Chusuke ten times! I need a stronger opponent, otherwise sparring is no fun!" Konohamaru said indignantly.

"Idiot! Listen to the teacher! Besides, Chusuke is very strong, so respect your classmates!" Iruka looked at Konohamaru, who was pouting and ignoring him, with a headache.

"What about Hui?" "Twelve times already!" "Akyo?" "Eight times already!"...

Watching the two haggling, Sakura Haruno suddenly thought of Naruto and Iruka from back in the day. It seemed like the two of them used to get along in a similar way! Naruto was incredibly mischievous back then, always driving Iruka crazy, and then Iruka would catch him and yell at him... It was such a familiar scene!

"Then I'll take your place."

She walked over and said with a smile.

"Eh? Sakura, what brings you here?" Iruka was taken aback and turned to look at him. "Oh! Lord Third, Lord Fifth, you've arrived!"

"Hehe, we've come over to take a look, you continue!" The Third said, following behind Sakura. He and Tsunade walked to Iruka's side, smiling as they watched the two on the field.

"Konohamaru, how about I challenge you to a match?" Sakura Haruno walked up to Konohamaru and said with a faint smile.

"Boo... cough cough! Big Sister!" Konohamaru's eyes widened as he recalled the painful scene of him and Naruto playing pranks and getting punished by Sakura. "Wait a minute, I don't want to spar with you!"

"Yeah, yeah, the boss can't win at all!" Udon pushed up his glasses and calmly analyzed.

"Don't worry, I won't use my full strength... How about you fight my clone?" Sakura Haruno snapped her fingers, summoning an Ice Clone. "Against a clone, you can use any method you want. In other words, you can fight with the determination to kill the clone!"

"Just a clone?" Konohamaru hesitated for a moment before accepting the challenge.

Sakura could tell from his eyes that Konohamaru was still confident in defeating her clone. After all, she had watched Konohamaru grow up, and Sakura had even taught him Chakra manipulation techniques.

We've already seen Udon and Moegi's battle, so... how strong is Konohamaru?

After Seal of Confrontation, the sparring officially begins.

"I'm going!" Konohamaru shouted, charging forward without hesitation and engaging in close combat with Sakura's clone.

Because his opponent was a clone, Konohamaru's attacks were extremely ruthless and fierce, each move aimed at vital points without leaving any room for error. His Taijutsu movements were also quite crisp and clean, and his technique was quite impressive; however, he was still too old, with short arms and legs, and his strength and speed were still lacking.

Sakura Haruno herself, along with Iruka and the others, stood aside to watch the battle. With her current strength, watching Konohamaru's attacks was pointless. Even though she had sent out a clone, she could easily block Konohamaru's attacks with just one hand.

However, among the students of the Ninja Academy, Konohamaru's strength is indeed outstanding. Even among the Genin, Konohamaru is considered one of the best.

This was somewhat unexpected for Sakura Haruno.

"Lord Third, Konohamaru has made great progress this year. You must often tutor him at home, right?" Iruka said to the Third Lord Hokage beside him as he watched the battle.

"Hehe, I'm retired after all! Nothing much to do, so I'll mentor my grandson!" The Third Hokage laughed heartily, then looked at Sakura Haruno, "So, Sakura? Does Konohamaru's strength meet your standards?"

No wonder!

Konohamaru's strength was actually developed through the Third Hokage's personal instruction; it seems Udon and Moegi also benefited greatly from it.

Sakura Haruno said, "If Konohamaru graduates next year, he'll probably be the strongest student in this cohort... Udon and Moegi also very strong. I estimate that if they train for a few more months, they should have no problem participating in next year's Chunin Ninja Exams!"

Once they're promoted to Chunin, Sakura won't have to be their babysitter anymore. That shouldn't take more than a year.

As they were talking, the situation on the field changed— Konohamaru realized that his Taijutsu attack was ineffective, so he decisively created distance and used Ninjutsu.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

He opened his mouth and spat out a fireball as tall as two people; the scorching heat could be felt even by those standing on the sidelines!

"A fifth-grader can already use Great Fireball of this caliber?" Sakura Haruno exclaimed in admiration. "No wonder he's the grandson of the Third Hokage."

For an eleven-year-old, being able to use such a move is already quite impressive.

The clone on the field smiled slightly, neither dodging nor avoiding, nor using any defensive Ninjutsu.

"Aren't you going to dodge?" Konohamaru was a little surprised. Then, boom—the fireball exploded! Only a charred piece of dead wood remained in the field.

Substitution Technique.

The timing was impeccable; the Ninjutsu was activated at the last possible moment, so much so that most of the students present were unaware of what had happened.

Whoosh—Sakura's figure appeared behind Konohamaru, Kunai held to his neck.

"You lost," she said.

"No, you lost!" Konohamaru pulled up his sleeve; the Explosive Tag attached to his clone were burning to their last breath.

Boom! This time, there was no more dead wood left on the field to be used as a substitute.

"I won!" Konohamaru jumped out of his hiding place and shouted excitedly.

Sakura Haruno and the two Hokage exchanged a glance and shook their heads.

"Idiot, don't be so happy!" came the voice of the clone from behind. A Kunai silently appeared at Konohamaru's neck. Sakura's clone had appeared behind Konohamaru without anyone noticing. The boy's mood instantly turned as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water, leaving him feeling completely chilled.

"He was a bit careless today," the Third said, shaking his head with some dissatisfaction.

Third knew best the strength of the child he had personally trained. He was usually quite cautious when sparring with Konohamaru, but this time he underestimated Sakura's clone!

Otherwise, they could have held on a little longer.

"That's good enough," Sakura said with a smile, offering her comments. "His Taijutsu and Ninjutsu are both quite good. The Lord Third laid a very solid foundation for Konohamaru, making things much easier for me now that he's leading the team!"

So, do you agree?

"Yes, of course, all three children are very good..."

"Konohamaru has been defeated!" Iruka shouted, walking over and glaring at Konohamaru. "That was just a regular clone created by a clone... Now you know there's more! Sakura Haruno is only two or three years older than you, but she's already Jonin!"

Ignoring the group of boys and girls who were looking at her with Little Star- eyed admiration, Sakura Haruno and the two Hokage left the school.

"Then I'll leave them in your care." The Third said solemnly before parting.

He then went straight home. Sakura and Tsunade returned to the Hokage's office together.

"It's hard to repay favors, Master!" After closing the door, Sakura Haruno sat on the sofa and sighed.

The Third Hokage treated her so well; if she weren't willing to help with something so simple, then Sakura would truly be heartless. Favors, exchanges of benefits, emotional communication, and shared ideals—these elements form a faction, Sakura Haruno naturally exists within it... The fact that she's Hokage descendant of the Hokage is self-evident; anyone with a brain can see that!

However, the thought of becoming someone's babysitter at fourteen gave Sakura a bit of a headache. Hanabi's age was much easier to accept!

"You'll need to lead one or two classes sooner or later," Tsunade said, swaying back and forth in her swivel chair. "That's the rule for Jonin... After you've led Konohamaru and Hanabi's classes, you can refuse these kinds of tasks."

"After being promoted to Jonin, your authority will greatly increase, and correspondingly, you will also need to fulfill your obligations!"

"Fine... I haven't even enjoyed my rights yet, and I'm about to be crushed by responsibility!" Sakura Haruno pouted and said helplessly.

After thinking for a moment, he added, "I'm quite nervous about leading a team for the first time. By the way, I'm a little worried about what would happen if war broke out halfway through the mission or if Akatsuki suddenly attacked?"

"Of course, we'll hand the team over to other ninjas and free up your fighting strength! The Third Lord Hokage and I already agreed on this. If something like this really happens, Konohamaru and the others will be taken over by someone else..." Tsunade answered without hesitation. "We need to prepare for the next few years of turmoil, but we can't be timid because of that. We still need to do what we normally do."

She added a few words of comfort, "Besides, Konohamaru and the other two are all very talented kids, so you'll have an easy time. Don't worry about lack of experience. When you're leading the team, just think of it as a short vacation! While they're training and doing missions, you can do your own things. It's a good opportunity for you to start accelerating your training... Sakura, your current strength is far from reaching your limit!"

"That's exactly what I was planning to do too," Sakura said seriously. "Master, I'd like to go to the Land of Snow to train for a while over the next few months!"

"'Training' for a period of time?" Tsunade emphasized the word "training," she could guess what Sakura meant...

She lowered her eyes, gazing at the blank paper on the desk, and said calmly, "When you went out on a mission a while ago, you also 'cultivated' for a month."

"Um... yes." Sakura Haruno sat up straight and readily admitted it. She then pressed, "Master, is this alright?"

Tsunade stared intently at Sakura, lost in thought for a moment.

"Jonin do have training leave, but it's not long," the blonde mature woman said. "I'm issuing another mission to track down 'Akatsuki,' which you'll carry out alone. You can go to some remote places to look for clues, like, um, the Land of Snow..."

Where did the Land of Snow get any clues about Akatsuki...? Tsunade is quite impressive. Sakura thought to herself, "My master's shamelessness is amazing," but she still had to thank Tsunade for her support.

Sakura Haruno thought for a moment and then replied, "That should be enough."

Tsunade nodded. "Remember, come back before February next year... March is graduation time from the Ninja Academy! Your leadership duties will officially begin then."

"So, are there any other questions?"

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