Attending a High-Level Meeting for the First Time

After recounting all these battles, Sakura Haruno was filled with mixed emotions.

As for the three children, they were completely dumbfounded.

Sakura waited a while and no one spoke. She looked over and saw the three of them staring blankly. When Sakura turned around, Moegi finally said, "Teacher is amazing!"

"Did you guys really understand?" Sakura Haruno rolled her eyes.

"You have absolutely no idea about Sasori of the Red Sand, Kakuzu, Hidan, and Deidara, you've never even heard of them!"

"I don't know who they are, but they sound really impressive!" Konohamaru said with a grin. "So, Sensei must be even more amazing!"

Considering how hard he tried to flatter me...

Let's just assume he's right!

"You sycophant..." Sakura Haruno patted Konohamaru's head with a smile, "That concludes today's debriefing. Let's get back to training! It's been a while since I trained with you guys; I want to see if you've improved!"

"If the progress satisfies me, well... there might not be enough time today, but tomorrow I'll teach you a very powerful Ninjutsu!"

The three students' eyes lit up. "Yes, teacher!"

Sakura Haruno and Haku's trip to the Land of Waves brought back far more problems than just Zabuza's grave and the Kubikiribōchō.

We still need to communicate further with the Mist Ninja about these two matters.

However, most ninjas didn't think much of it.

The real threat Orochimaru displayed in that battle was what truly mattered!

The following morning, in the conference room next to the Hokage's office.

Several Konoha High Command, the Hokage Advisor, including Danzo, were all present.

After a while, the Fifth Hokage entered the conference room with Sakura Haruno.

This is Sakura Haruno's first time attending such a high-level meeting in Konoha, and with her abilities, she is more than qualified; moreover, today's agenda does not allow her to be absent.

"Everyone's here, let's begin!" Tsunade said immediately after the two sat down.

She took out a file bag and passed it down; the words "Top Secret" were prominently displayed on the cover.

The Fifth Hokage solemnly announced, "Before the meeting begins, please review the documents in your file folders."

The file folder contained the battle records of the previous few chapters Jonin Sakura Haruno and the missing-nin Orochimaru in the Land of Waves.

After finishing her training with three students yesterday, she returned home and began working on this report. Because the battle was very long and the report required a very detailed account, including all aspects, she wrote for several hours, producing nearly 20,000 words, and didn't go to sleep until 2 a. m.

It's even more tiring than writing! For most authors, even just writing filler words, it's already a struggle to write over 10,000 words. But for Sakura, those 20,000 words are equivalent to ten chapters in one go!

When Sakura woke up in the morning, she unsurprisingly found that she had faint dark circles under her eyes.

When she entered the meeting room, she was still covering her mouth with her hand, secretly yawning, and the tension she should have felt had dissipated in her drowsiness.

The document bag was passed around, and a rustling sound filled the conference room. No one spoke; everyone was quietly and seriously reading the report written by Sakura.

The report, which is over 20,000 words long, contains a huge amount of information; even with a cursory reading, it would still take several tens of minutes to complete.

Sakura dozed off for a while, and after a moment, she felt Tsunade poke her waist with her finger. She woke up with a start and found that everyone had already finished watching.

And they were all looking at the girl, waiting for her answer.

Sakura realized she'd been caught dozing off. Making such a blunder on her first high-level meeting, she gave a slightly embarrassed laugh, her fair face flushing slightly.

She quickly replied, "Sorry, I didn't hear you clearly."

"This meeting is serious, don't get distracted, Sakura Haruno Jonin." Mitokado Homura tapped the table and said, "We're asking you, is the content of this report a complete record of the battle?"

"Of course." Sakura quickly regained her senses and nodded promptly.

Except for the part about Orochimaru recruiting her, everything else was recorded perfectly.

"The Second Hokage was summoned by the Impure World Reincarnation and controlled by Orochimaru, yet he still retains a clear mind and can speak with you?" Mitokado Homura continued to ask.

Sakura Haruno was wide awake and nodded, "Yes, although the Second's body was out of control, he could still act on his own and gave me a lot of reminders during the battle."

The Hokage Advisor exchanged glances.

"Sarutobi, what do you think?" Mitokado Homura pushed up his glasses and asked the Third Hokage sitting next to him.

"According to Sakura's description, Lord Tobirama's combat power is already quite close to his level in life." The Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe, recalling his master Tobirama Senju his past, and tapped the table with his pipe, saying, "Water Severing Wave, Flying Thunder God Slash, and Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags..."

He and Tsunade exchanged a glance, and the latter nodded, saying, "Thankfully... during last year 'Chunin Ninja Exams, Orochimaru's Impure World Reincarnation Tobirama wasn't able to use those Ninjutsu techniques, otherwise we would have been in danger!"

Several of the high-ranking members were disciples of Tobirama Senju back then.

Amidst the billowing smoke, upon hearing the names of these techniques, they couldn't help but recall the dashing figure of Tobirama Senju in his Tobirama Senju, fighting with all his might.

After a while, Danzo spoke calmly, "Orochimaru's Impure World Reincarnation has become much more refined!"

The Third Hokage took a deep breath, his expression somewhat gloomy. "This technique requires living people as sacrifices... Orochimaru has harmed countless people by practicing this forbidden technique!"

"Leaving aside how many people it kills, the key issue is that if this technique continues to improve in its perfection, what will happen next time Orochimaru summons Lord Tobirama full fighting strength!" Mitokado Homura said sternly.

Danzo coldly added, "Given Orochimaru's cunning, he might just pull off another Konoha Crush Plan!"

Tsunade and the Lord Third remained silent, their faces tense.

Sakura Haruno didn't have a pleasant expression either. She had already fought against Tobirama Senju seven or eight tenths of his strength and wasn't particularly afraid of him; however, if Orochimaru used him against someone else, that would be truly dangerous.

"The Second Hokage's strength..." Koharu Utatane sighed, turning her gaze to Sakura Haruno, "Sakura Haruno, Jonin you can handle him?"

Everyone's attention turned to her.

When Konoha Jiraiya in the village, the strongest ninja in Konoha was this girl in front of him.

Even Tsunade would be completely defeated by a fully-fledged Tobirama Senju. As for the others, including the Third Hokage, it goes without saying. So—no joke— Konoha really will have to be protected by Sakura Haruno!

"I've never seen the Second Hokage at full strength... I can only do my best," Sakura Haruno said calmly.

"You were able to defeat Orochimaru and the Second Hokage at near-full strength, so facing Lord Tobirama shouldn't be a problem," Mitokado Homura said, his expression softening slightly. "By the way, you also dodged Lord Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Slash!"

"It just narrowly avoided a fatal blow," Sakura said, placing her hand on her lower left chest and pointing slightly to the left of her heart. "The knife went in here, just a hair's breadth away from piercing my heart. It was incredibly dangerous!"

If she hadn't reacted quickly, it wouldn't have been just a matter of losing a few ounces of flesh!

"After all, you managed to dodge it," Mitokado Homura said, then turned to the others, "To guard against a possible attack from Orochimaru, shouldn't Jonin Sakura Haruno stay in the village as much as possible?"

Tsunade frowned.

"A Konoha Ninja Village, missing-nin like this by a rogue ninja! What kind of behavior is this!" She slammed her hand on the table and scolded, "Does this mean Sakura has to stay cooped up in the village forever? Without Sakura, can't anyone protect themselves?"

"Well, I was just thinking about safety..." Mitokado Homura quickly explained.

In their high-level closed-door meetings, they speak quite directly, without any beating around the bush. It's common for them to lose their composure and argue loudly, and it's not uncommon for them to point fingers and yell at each other. However, with Sakura Haruno present today, Mitokado Homura felt a little embarrassed and wanted to save face in front of his seniors.

"Mito, you've definitely misunderstood this," the Third Hokage interjected, glancing calmly at Sakura Haruno, who had been listening to their conversation. "If we entrust the safety of the entire village to Sakura, wouldn't the rest of us be incredibly incompetent? Besides, Orochimaru's attack is only a possibility. Even if he does attack us, he won't come now. You're letting your concern cloud your judgment!"

This gave Mitokado Homura a way out.

Tsunade glanced at Mito and changed the subject. "Orochimaru won't easily attack Konoha until his Impure World Reincarnation technique is accurate enough to confidently defeat Sakura; we can rest assured about that for now. He won't be there so soon, at least not this year. Besides, what we should be doing most isn't guarding against Orochimaru's attack—what's the point of being on guard against a thief for a thousand days? We should take the initiative!"

Danzo coldly interjected, "The Lord Hokage is right."

This was Danzo's second time speaking at the meeting, and unexpectedly, it was to express his approval of Tsunade.

Sakura Haruno had maintained a calm expression while listening to their conversation, but when she heard Danzo support Tsunade, she was momentarily stunned. In her memory, her master and Danzo, that sinister person, had always been at odds, so she never expected that they would have such similar thoughts.

Sakura looked over and heard the seemingly emaciated old man say in a hoarse, dry voice, "Finding Orochimaru and killing or arresting him is the only way to solve the problem once and for all, and that's in line with the style of a great ninja village!"

Surprisingly, Sakura also came to agree with Danzo's teachings.

When faced with potential threats, taking the initiative is the best approach.

Danzo felt Sakura's gaze, glanced back at her, and continued, "Two years ago, we found a base belonging to Orochimaru, but unfortunately, the trail went cold. Later, we focused our main efforts on searching for Akatsuki, allowing him to roam freely for a while."

"During Sakura Haruno's battle Jonin Sasori of the Red Sand last year, Orochimaru appeared on the battlefield, suggesting his base might be near the Land of Rice Fields. Fortunately, our recent search for Akatsuki has come to a temporary halt, so we can refocus our efforts on dealing with Orochimaru!"

After he finished speaking, he looked around at everyone in the conference room.

The Third Hokage puffed on his pipe in silence; Tsunade frowned, her eyes lowered as she pondered; Mitokado Homura and Koharu Utatane exchanged a glance and whispered something to each other.

And the only ninja in the conference room who was so young that she could even be described as childish, that pretty girl, was also looking around at everyone else in the conference room with her bright and clear green eyes, before her gaze fell on Danzo and met his eyes.

The girl's eyes were cold and indifferent, revealing nothing of her thoughts.

Danzo and his mind focused, fell silent.

A moment of silence fell over the meeting room. Tsunade rubbed her temples. "Orochimaru is hiding too well, even harder to find than Akatsuki... But there's still a way. The Hyuga Clan's abilities will be very effective at this time. I need to negotiate with Hyuga."

"I'll go," the Third Hokage said, putting down his pipe. "That way, everyone will have some room to maneuver. However, Hiashi's side shouldn't be a big problem; even Hanabi is attending the Ninja Academy."

Tsunade smiled reservedly, about to speak, when Danzo suddenly interrupted her.

"There's another person who can be a great help in this mission," he said.

"Who?" It was Sakura Haruno who spoke. This was the first time Sakura had spoken up in a meeting, but it was because she seemed to have guessed Danzo's thoughts. Her eyes immediately turned cold, and her aura quietly gathered.

The slight sense of agreement she had just formed with Danzo vanished; although they shared some similarities in their thinking, they were actually completely different people!

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Danzo, facing the girl's icy gaze, said coldly.

Just as Sakura Haruno predicted.

(First update! Bonus chapter for 00 monthly votes!)

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