Changes

In the Hokage's office.

The master and apprentice sat quietly for a while.

"So, is there any other question?" Tsunade, twirling her pen.

"Yes, Master!" Sakura Haruno asked with a worried expression, "Master, you've always advised against me focusing entirely on cultivation, instead requiring me to do missions while cultivating. Why is it like this time...?"

"That's right. If you just bury yourself in training without testing your progress in battle, it's like reinventing the wheel! What you develop that way is usually far removed from the demands of real combat. Besides, battle itself is a great form of training. Every time you encounter someone from Akatsuki, your strength will leap forward... That's why I put you in the Anbu before." Tsunade nodded in agreement.

"The situation is different now. Your training will take a relatively long time to yield results, that's one thing. Secondly, the missions of the Anbu are no longer very meaningful for your training. Thirdly, this may be the last period of peaceful life, so try to preserve it for your training and improve your strength as much as possible before the great battle..."

Tsunade's tone was somewhat heavy.

"Is the situation that serious, Master?" Sakura frowned.

"It's much worse than expected. From now on, once you leave this room, you must forget about what happened to me, understand?" Tsunade watched her disciple nod solemnly before continuing, "Based on the missions you carried out regarding Akatsuki, and combined with the intelligence we've gathered from other sources, we've now confirmed that Akatsuki has indeed entered a period of dormancy."

"However, this is only part of the truth. In the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the surrounding areas, Akatsuki has indeed ceased most of its activities and gone into hiding; but in other countries and regions, Akatsuki's presence can still be heard from time to time..."

"You should remember that Akatsuki's plan was to capture the Tailed Beast. Their previous actions were all about gathering intelligence through various means. So why did they go into hiding in some areas while remaining active in others?"

Sakura Haruno was startled. She opened her mouth slightly as if to think of something, but then stopped herself from speaking.

"You already figured it out, didn't you?" Tsunade noticed her expression.

Sakura took a deep breath and slowly said, "In the active regions, Akira and his group haven't yet uncovered any information about the Tailed Beast or Jinchūriki; on the contrary, on our side, they've already found out that the Jinchūriki are Naruto and Gaara, and it's very likely that they've obtained a lot of information about them..."

"That's right. Moreover, the more areas they retreat to and lie in wait, the closer they get to their final plan..." Tsunade said gravely, "This organization has so many dangerous and powerful members. If they were to acquire so many Tailed Beasts, the consequences would be unimaginable... What's even more terrifying is that we only know they want to capture the Tailed Beast, but we don't know what they intend to do with Tailed Beast!"

"We can't just catch them and run them around for fun..." Sakura sneered, "So, how long until their final plan?"

"It's difficult! The only things we can figure out are the situation in the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire; the intelligence from other countries might not be accurate. I wrote to the other three major ninja villages hoping to share Akatsuki's intelligence, but unfortunately, no one responded! However, the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure Ōnoki, replied that there were signs of unidentified individuals conducting intelligence activities there before, but they have stopped now."

"The Tailed Beast of Iwagakure are the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails, right?" Sakura Haruno asked casually.

"Yes, it seems they have their eyes on at least four Tailed Beasts. The Kumogakure hasn't responded to us, and the Kirigakure is always mysterious, so we don't know much about it either. There's also a Seven-Tails being kept in some country, probably the Land of Waterfalls..." Tsunade, flipping through a scroll.

"The intelligence on these areas is unclear. Some of the information is based on the scrolls you brought back from that underground bounty site you raided last time, so we can't verify their reliability," Tsunade pursed her lips and continued, "However, Akatsuki has been active in these areas for a long time. Judging from their increased activity in the last year or two, they must be close to completing their mission, which explains their excitement!"

"They won't have a chance to finish... Naruto will definitely not be caught by them!" Sakura said coldly.

"I will protect Naruto."

Sakura Haruno said resolutely, clenching her fist.

Tsunade stared at Sakura intently for a long time.

"Hmm... I believe you, Sakura."

The dialogue thus came to an end.

Sakura Haruno brought back her Jonin registration form and new uniform.

The Jonin vest is not much different in style from the Special Jonin and Chunin vests, except for slight differences in color.

It was still green, but a lighter green closer to the color of her eyes.

She liked it very much.

The new certificate says the following:

Name: Sakura Haruno. Gender: Female. Rank: Jonin.

Personal Profile: My interests include studying Ninjutsu and exploring the world. My favorite things are pure water and a peaceful life.

The text on the ID Special Jonin from six months ago is slightly different.

People change gradually.

The photo on her profile page is a new photo she took yesterday.

The girl in the picture has delicate features, her childishness is gradually fading, and she has a pair of bright eyes.

Sakura Haruno laid out her Chunin, Special Jonin, and Jonin ID photos side by side, seeing the changes she had undergone over the past year and a half.

At first, she smiled serenely.

Later, as she grew a little older, she didn't smile; she simply gazed quietly at the person outside the photograph.

Now, instead of smiling, her eyes were sharp. She simply stood quietly as the photographer captured her image, and in the photo, she naturally exuded a commanding aura, her presence gradually becoming apparent.

"The things that have happened recently..." Sakura Haruno put away her Chunin and Special Jonin registration forms and sighed.

She spread her hands.

Because of the constant flow of water circulating through her body, Sakura's hands were always spotless, fair as jade, slender and long. "Very beautiful hands, but stained with a lot of blood," she muttered to herself.

In those previous missions, she had taken down many people—maybe dozens, maybe hundreds. When the photos were taken, the murderous aura hadn't faded, and it was faithfully captured by the camera.

The girl in the photo, whose childishness is gradually fading, has no smile. She purses her lips, her brows are slightly furrowed, and her expression carries a chilling aura.

The world is becoming increasingly cruel; she can no longer laugh.

September 2nd, Konoha Year 61.

Sakura Haruno has been officially promoted to Jonin.

He was thirteen and a half years old at the time.

Ostensibly a mission to "search for clues about Akatsuki," it was actually a training mission to the Land of Snow, which was issued by Tsunade two days later.

During these two periods, Sakura Haruno spent almost all her time socializing. Sasuke, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Neji, Lee, and others all met with her to celebrate her promotion to Jonin.

So much so that when Sakura Haruno left Konoha to carry out the so-called mission of searching for Akatsuki, she still smelled of alcohol on her breath.

Unable to refuse their hospitality, she drank quite a bit of wine, but thankfully she didn't get drunk.

My wish to fight Li was inexplicably fulfilled—Li had a few drinks and then started performing Drunken Fist on the spot.

Li didn't realize that the Drunken Fist he unleashed while in a daze was far superior to his usual Taijutsu. It's unclear what Li would think upon learning this. He diligently trained to improve himself, only to find his Strong Fist inferior to the raw Drunken Fist; one wonders what Li's reaction would be, whether he'd find it both laughable and frustrating.

To prevent Lee from demolishing other people's shops, Sakura Haruno had no choice but to use Ninjutsu on him—the same binding technique she used when capturing people in the Land of Wind.

Li was incredibly strong after drinking, but he still couldn't withstand the water snake that Ying Shape Transformation into. It was even tougher and stronger, and he was quickly bound tightly and unable to move.

Thus, Sakura Haruno's first encounter with Lee ended in a resounding victory for the young girl.

On the third morning, Sakura Haruno embarked on her journey to the Land of Snow.

This time, she still traveled by water, but since she was going alone, there was no need to build an ice boat like last time.

Sakura Haruno jumped directly into the water.

The surging undercurrents beneath the sea surface, under her control, formed a giant water dragon that enveloped her.

She stood inside the dragon's head, riding the water dragon, and swam across the ocean at an extremely fast speed.

A moment later, Sakura Haruno appeared on the streets of Asakusa.

Without alerting anyone, she disguised herself as an ordinary passerby, walked through the city, and headed straight for the base she had established in the Land of Snow.

The former castle of the Snow Ninja.

That place had been taken over by Cherry Blossom, becoming her secret base.

The Gothic-style ice castle shows no signs of melting due to the extreme cold, perfectly preserving its original appearance.

Sasuke's Genjutsu had weakened considerably, but it was still effective. Judging from the signs outside, no animals had approached this place since she left.

She walked into the empty base. The interior of the Ice Castle was deep and desolate, and the atmosphere was always a little eerie when she walked alone in the corridor.

"Let's begin..." she said calmly as she took out the prepared supplies from the scroll, her voice echoing in the empty hall. She summoned several Ice Clones to help, and the bustling figures brought some life to the base. Although the so-called "people" were all her clones, it was still better than being completely empty.

After tidying up the place, Sakura Haruno, accompanied by her clone, finished dinner and rested. She would stay here for more than four months, not returning to Konoha until February of next year.

During this period, her training tasks were to develop the third stage of Cherry Blossom Impact and the second stage of Yin Seal. Before that, her first task was to complete the cloning technology...

(First update delivered, two updates today!)

(The bonus chapter for monthly pass holders has been fully paid!)

(The National Day holiday update rush is over. I need to take a break today and tomorrow to look up some information and organize the outline! I'll continue updating later, at least 10K words each time!)