Sakura Haruno's Team's Mission

Pfft, hiss--

The steel Kunai pierced the fragile flesh with a soft "plop," then was pulled out, blood spurting out with a hiss, blooming into a blood flower in the air.

It splashed onto Konohamaru's face, who was completely stunned.

"I killed someone..." he murmured, his eyes wide and blank.

Opposite him, a tall, burly man was clutching his neck, staring at the child in disbelief. He staggered back a few steps before collapsing to the ground.

Call out!

"Damn it, avenge the boss!" A man with a ferocious face suddenly sprang up, brandishing his sword and charging from behind Konohamaru!

With a whoosh, the long sword slashed towards the still dazed boy. Only when the wind from the blade brushed against his back did Konohamaru snap out of his daze and realize that he was still in battle, and the enemy would not wait for him to come to his senses before attacking!

However, it was too late.

"Damn it! I can't dodge it!" Konohamaru's eyes widened. His pointless panic had left too many openings, and now he had no time or space to dodge this sneak attack!

He could only watch helplessly as the sharp blade approached his body...

Bang!

Sakura Haruno appeared instantly, blocking Konohamaru's long sword just as he was about to be critically injured. She kicked the attacker away, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"Don't be distracted on the battlefield!" She turned and glared at Konohamaru, her voice filled with anger.

"I'm sorry!" This was the first time Konohamaru had ever seen his teacher angry. Instantly, all the fear and discomfort from his first murder vanished, leaving only the urge to tremble.

"Now that you've defeated all the enemies here," Sakura glanced around; the enemies were all lying on the ground, some groaning, some silent, and said, "Go support those two!"

Konohamaru, feeling as if he had been granted a pardon, quickly nodded and said, "Understood!" Then he dashed out.

A short while later, the battle on the other side also came to an end.

Apart from Konohamaru nearly getting injured, the others didn't encounter many dangerous situations and easily completed the mission of eliminating the mountain bandits.

However, when they gathered, all three of them were pale and looked completely lost.

As ninjas, they had always carried out peaceful missions before; this was the first time Sakura Haruno's Team had left the village to fight.

Sakura Haruno didn't intervene, observing from the sidelines the whole time, until Konohamaru was almost injured, at which point she suddenly made her move.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Sakura Haruno noticed the three students looking uneasy. She shook her head and walked over.

"Teacher!" the three greeted her listlessly.

"The strongest enemy in this mission is just a rogue Chunin who hasn't trained for years and whose skills have become dull," Sakura Haruno sighed. "Yet you two, Udon and Moegi, are having such a hard time."

The two lowered their heads in embarrassment.

"Didn't you guys perform quite well during training?" Sakura walked up to the three of them, looking at their dejected faces, and said, "Why do your hands start shaking when it comes to real combat?"

In terms of strength, the three kids in Sakura Haruno's Team are definitely not weak; they are at least Chunin level.

However, no matter how well they perform in training, it's useless if they can't perform in actual combat; when Sakura took them out to fight real enemies to the death, they showed a serious lack of experience.

Even now, none of them might be able to defeat a seasoned ordinary Genin!

That's how all newcomers are; Team 7 was no exception back then, so she wasn't too angry.

"You guys are overreacting..." Sakura patted the three of them on the head and said slowly, "There have been several miscoordination attempts. This wasn't the case when you fought against me before! You even had problems with failing to execute Ninjutsu."

Konohamaru performed slightly better, defeating his opponent swiftly and decisively. However, after killing someone with his own hands for the first time, he was stunned for too long and almost got injured by an ordinary person, which was a disgrace to ninjas. After saving him, Sakura Haruno even regretted it a bit, wondering if she should have let him get hurt so that the lesson would be more profound.

To be honest, if their opponents weren't so much weaker, Sakura would probably have had to clean up the mess today.

Back when Sakura Haruno faced the enemy alone, she wasn't as weak-kneed as they were. Her first kill was during a mission in the Land of Waves; she didn't even have time to savor the feeling before throwing herself into the battle.

However, she was, after all, an adult who had transmigrated, and her mental state was far more stable than that of the students. Moreover, at that time, she had just begun to master Ice Release, and the power of Ice Release had already begun to help her keep her mind clear.

After pointing out their problems, Sakura Haruno wisely stopped criticizing them. Children are more emotionally vulnerable, and even ninjas aren't made of special materials, so you can't just criticize and point out their mistakes. A gentle approach of first criticizing and then praising them will help them recognize their errors while maintaining a positive and motivated attitude.

She opportunely pointed out the highlights of everyone's performance and praised them, "Although you encountered various problems, overall, you completed the mission very smoothly! For newcomers on their first combat mission, this is already quite an achievement!"

After calming the three students down, Sakura smiled and said, "Get up. Your brother Naruto was so scared he couldn't move when he first encountered the enemy on a mission! You did a great job! Just remember to overcome the problems you encountered this time next time."

"Hmph! I definitely won't be so lame next time!" Konohamaru said angrily. He had recovered from the discomfort of killing someone for the first time and was full of energy again. He was very annoyed about his mistake.

"Me too!" Moegi and Udon chimed in.

You seem to be recovering well!

Sakura Haruno said seriously, "As you should know, we'll soon be undertaking a mission to the Kirigakure in the Land of Water... Normally, these kinds of combat missions are meant to be completed gradually, allowing you to adapt. However, this situation is urgent, so I've skipped the adaptation phase and chosen a mission that involves bloodshed. You should know why."

The three students sat upright and listened attentively to her words.

"This mission might be simple, or it might be dangerous, and we can't rule out fighting ninjas. That's why I specifically arranged this mission, hoping you can get a feel for real combat. At least when you face a real battle, you won't be as weak-kneed as you are now. Learn from this experience!"

She concluded, "Go back and hand in your mission, then rest. Tomorrow there won't be much training, just a simple intensive training session on diplomatic etiquette and a drill for unexpected situations. After these two days of rest and recuperation, we'll set off!"

"Yes, teacher!"

Two days later, Sakura Haruno's Team walked out of Konoha Gate with excitement and nervousness about their first trip abroad.

They marched at an extremely fast pace, and in no time they had traversed a large part of the Land of Fire, crossed the relatively unremarkable Land of Bears, and arrived at the strait facing the Hidden Kirigakure across the sea.

It's raining here.

Late May is already the plum rain season, and coastal areas are especially prone to incessant rain, sometimes lasting for several days at a time, and it's not unusual for the sun to not shine for weeks on end.

Sakura Haruno's Team's group was quite lucky; it was sunny when they set off a few days ago, but it started raining yesterday. The rain wasn't heavy, just a light drizzle with a hint of late spring chill, which wasn't very friendly to those on their way.

Even for ninjas, trekking in the rain is not an comfortable experience.

Sakura Haruno herself was fine. With her mastery of Water Release techniques, she was perfectly capable of getting wet in the rain. The water droplets that fell on her would not even touch her skin; they would be blocked by a thin layer of water, blend into the water layer, and then flow down to the ground.

The Jonin she was wearing was still clean and dry, without a single water stain.

However, her three subordinates, despite wearing raincoats, could not escape the onslaught of raindrops. As they marched at high speed, the rain stung their faces, stubbornly seeping in through every part of their bodies and quietly penetrating their clothes beneath the raincoats, bringing a chill that seeped into their bones.

Sakura Haruno's Team stopped on a cliff by the sea.

Ahead lay an endless sea, the horizon blurred and indistinct in the rain, only the boundless expanse of water visible.

"The Land of Water is just across the sea," Sakura Haruno said calmly, walking at the front.

She glanced back at the three students; the rain had soaked their collars, and their bodies trembled slightly in the sea breeze, their expressions listless.

"Let's stop here for today." Sakura looked up at the sky; the gloomy clouds blocked the sunlight, and she could only vaguely tell from the dim light that it was probably close to evening.

The three dejected men immediately breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Let's find a place to shelter from the rain and rest for the night, then set off again tomorrow," she continued, forming Hand Seals and creating numerous clones to search for suitable locations. "If we continue traveling, you'll all fall ill. I'll teach you how to use Chakra to maintain your body temperature; it's a basic ninja technique."

Sakura Haruno glanced back at the distant sea; the Land of Water lay just across the shore. This was her first time undertaking such a diplomatic mission, and with children with her, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Once you get there, you must be mindful of everything and act according to circumstances.

While subtly instructing her three shivering subordinates on techniques to maintain their body temperature using Chakra, she silently pondered the information Hinata and Sasuke had given her about Kirigakure.

The Ice Clone quickly found a cave on the edge of the cliff. It was a natural fissure in the mountain, with a narrow entrance but a spacious interior. There were no living creatures inside, not even a blade of grass, making it appear as a desolate cave.

Sakura Haruno used Ninjutsu to clear away the debris in the cave, leveling it into a flat area, and then used Earth Release to divide it into several rooms. Next, she used Ice Release to surround the cave and laid a layer of solid mud to keep it warm, thus establishing a campsite in the wild.

The three men, who had been eating and sleeping in the open all along the way, were sleeping in a house with a roof for the first time in days. Although it was still simple, it was enough to make the exhausted men cheer. "Great! Finally, we can get a good night's sleep!"

Seeing their cheers and jubilation, Sakura couldn't help but chuckle, "You guys are complaining about the little bit of hardship. When I was in the Anbu, I sometimes slept in trees for ten or fifteen months at a time! I couldn't even take a bath."

The latter statement is obviously an exaggeration; as Water Release ninja, she always finds a way to take a bath. However, most ninjas can only endure and overcome these situations. Of course, if conditions permit, building a house with Earth Release and starting a fire with Fire Style is always an option—this is why Sakura recently learned a few Earth Release and Fire Style techniques, not for killing enemies, but simply for convenience.

After a while, the clone that had been collecting firewood returned with some damp wood.

Sakura Haruno drained the moisture from the firewood and lit a campfire. The four of them sat comfortably around the fire. She continued, "We have a long rest today, so you can all take a good bath and get some rest. We'll set off at dawn!"

"Yes, teacher!" After resting for a while, the answer was much louder.

The next day, the weather cleared up.

Facing the rising sun, the Sakura Haruno's Team, now refreshed and full of energy, stepped onto the sea.

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