Kekkei Tōta

So, have you already thought of an answer?

The next morning, in the Hokage's office, Tsunade looked at Sakura Haruno, who had come to see her early in the morning.

"Answer?"

Sakura Haruno blinked, thought for a moment, and then remembered the "homework" Tsunade had assigned her.

She was busy with her own things yesterday and completely forgot about this.

She chuckled dryly twice.

"Um... Master, I haven't completely thought it through yet."

The Fifth Hokage glared at her.

Not fully thought about it, or rather, not thought about it at all, right? She's been through it all, having been a disciple of Third, so she knows what Sakura is thinking.

"What have you been doing all this time?" she asked, twirling the pen in her hand.

They went to find Sasuke.

Why are they rushing to find Sasuke? What are they planning to do?

"Eh," Sakura Haruno scratched her hair, awkwardly looking up at the ceiling, "Um..."

When she left the office, she was in such a hurry that she didn't think about it at all; her mind was preoccupied with the clone she had left at Sasuke's house.

After obtaining the scroll, Sakura Haruno went straight to her secret base. She spent some time there, carefully examining herself with her Sharingan to make sure she hadn't been under any Genjutsu or any hints before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

However, she wants to keep the matter of Sharingan a secret for now.

Sakura Haruno thought for a moment, then changed the subject, saying, "I went to the training grounds outside the Forest of Death to test out my new power."

"New power?" Tsunade put down her pen and asked curiously, "What's going on?"

Sakura Haruno's trip to the Land of Lightning isn't for training, so how can she possibly gain any new power?

"It's Nature Transformation of Yin Release," the girl said seriously.

In the Genjutsu in the Land of Lightning, besides being frightened, Sakura Haruno also achieved a breakthrough in her Yin Release.

--We can now use Yin Release Nature Transformation to condense a crystal rod of will.

However, the deep blue crystal rod, which is formed from willpower and belongs to the advanced Nature Transformation of Yin Release, is not of much practical use to Sakura Haruno in actual combat.

The crystal rod can be used to destroy the structure of Yin Release Ninjutsu, causing Genjutsu and Yin Release Secret Technique to fail.

In theory, this is a very practical auxiliary Secret Technique.

However, given Sakura Haruno's resistance to Genjutsu, aside from that Limited Tsukuyomi, it's hard to imagine what other Genjutsu could force her to use her crystal rod to break the deadlock.

As for the Limited Tsukuyomi...

If he could use techniques of that strength so easily, that Masked Man would have already conquered the five villages and unified the Shinobi World. Why would he need to resort to sneaky schemes and tricks?

What if the crystal rod itself were used as a sword or other weapon?

Things constructed primarily using Yin Release (a form of martial arts technique) are not inherently superior in terms of physical properties. In other words, they are not particularly outstanding in terms of sharpness, hardness, or toughness.

She might as well just conjure an ice sword.

Sakura Haruno's Ice Release is already very strong.

In fact, the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai, which is a mixture of wind and water attributes, shows signs of evolving into the Super Ice Release Kekkei Tōta, a fusion of wind, water, and yin attributes, after the addition of Yin Release Nature Transformation.

The difference between Ice Release Kekkei Genkai and Ice Release Kekkei Tōta can probably be described as the difference between the First's Wood Release and Yamato's Wood Release.

The First's Wood Release, besides possessing both Water and Earth attributes, also incorporated the pinnacle of Yang Release power inherent in his Sage Body, forming the Wood Release Kekkei Tōta. Yamato's Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, however, is merely a mixture of Water and Earth; its power is incomparable. If the First's Wood Release power is likened to a towering tree, then Yamato's Wood Release, figuratively speaking, would be like a blade of grass beneath that tree.

Of course, Sakura Haruno's Yin Release Nature Transformation is far from being as refined as the First's Yang Release.

However, the fact that she can condense a crystal rod in this form indicates that she is getting closer and closer to the level of the First.

"... Ice Release Kekkei Tōta?"

Tsunade stroked her smooth chin and pondered.

"Hmm." Sakura Haruno nodded and continued, "After adding the Yin Release attribute, the duration, power, hardness, and resilience of Ice Release have all been greatly improved."

It's somewhat like adding a certain amount of fiber to ice, which can significantly increase its hardness and toughness. In fact, in the past, some people even had the audacious idea of using ice to build aircraft carriers—by adding cotton or wood chips to ice, its hardness and rigidity were greatly improved, making it resistant to wind, waves, and shells, thus meeting the requirements of aircraft carriers.

This technique is one of Sakura Haruno's secret Ice Release skills.

The effect of incorporating the Yin Release attribute is far more significant than this crude method.

Especially after this mission to the Land of Lightning, Sakura Haruno's Yin Release has made a breakthrough, Kekkei Tōta another step closer to evolving her Ice Release into a Kekkei Tota.

Her Ice Release are now completely different from what they were two years ago!

In theory, after upgrading to Kekkei Tōta, Ice Release should also be renamed; however, for the sake of secrecy, keeping the original name is perfectly reasonable.

Tsunade wasn't concerned about the name or the issue of secrecy; she just had a feeling that Sakura Haruno seemed to have omitted something.

She must have done something else before experimenting with Ice Release.

Tsunade's sharp gaze swept over, but she couldn't detect any guilt on Sakura Haruno's face.

Alright... I have my own secrets too.

She's still a girl, after all, and she's easily embarrassed.

The Fifth Hokage smiled knowingly, feeling there was no need to expose the girl's thoughts, and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, is that all you've done?"

Of course, that's not all.

Sakura Haruno also tested new variations of Susanoo.

Susanoo is inherently a powerful Yin Release Secret Technique. As Sakura Haruno deepens her understanding of the nature of Yin Release Nature Transformation, Susanoo has naturally grown stronger compared to its previous form.

However, she wants to keep the Sharingan a secret for the time being.

"Hmm..."

If we don't talk about this, Sakura Haruno has nothing to say.

"That's about it," she said, shrugging.

"Alright," Tsunade said thoughtfully.

"You need to think about the Kekkei Tōta technique a lot when you get back, Sakura," the Fifth Hokage instructed. "If you have any insights or reflections, it's best to write them down and show them to me."

It's clear that Tsunade takes this matter very seriously.

Konoha's Kekkei Genkai have always been confined to the two major ninja clans that possess Kekkei Genkai organ mutations. There are only three people with dual-attribute Kekkei Genkai like Yamato, Haku, and Sakura. As the (self-proclaimed) leader of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, this is far too few.

So, Master Haruno probably wants to share her experience and create more Kekkei Genkai ninjas. Sakura Haruno understands Tsunade's thoughts very well.

She wasn't averse to this kind of thing.

Unlike some people who feel this infringes on their rights and insist on compensation from the Hokage, they don't feel this way.

Furthermore, she rarely considered the compensation or rewards the village could offer.

Without hesitation, the girl readily agreed, "Okay."

The blonde woman smiled slightly and nodded.

"As for that question... you still need to go back and think about it carefully, and come back tomorrow to tell me your thoughts," she said.

"Huh? You really want to?" Sakura Haruno was taken aback.

"Certainly!"

Ignoring the girl's submissive pleas and attempts to appease her, Tsunade adopted a rare, endearingly innocent demeanor, forcefully slamming her hand on the table and emphasizing, "I don't care if you're interested in this or not, you have to treat it as a mission and complete it seriously, do you hear me!"

Although Sakura Haruno doesn't seem to care much about politics, the Fifth Hokage still hasn't given up on cultivating her.

After all, although they are both from the Hokage lineage, Naruto is Jiraiya's disciple and is not as close to Sakura as she is. Even someone as righteous and impartial as Tsunade is not immune to personal likes and dislikes at times like this, and tends to favor her own disciple.

Of course, Sakura Haruno is outstanding in terms of strength, status, maturity of thought, and even appearance, far surpassing Naruto and Sasuke.

This is the main reason why Tsunade chose her.

"Yes, yes, yes..."

The girl mumbled weakly in response.

Tsunade chuckled, ignoring Sakura's strange expression, and asked, "We've gotten off topic. Get up, what brings you here?"

Sakura Haruno frowned.

After talking for so long, she had almost forgotten why she had come to see Tsunade.

"That's right." The girl thought for a moment and then said, "Didn't I have one before? Killer B and the others have a Waterfall of Truth that can help Jinchūriki."

"The reason Killer B was able to become Perfect Jinchuriki is because of that thing, right? Both of the Kumogakure Ninja's Jinchūriki seem to have excellent control over it."

Tsunade nodded.

"You mean...?"

"Hmm, I was thinking, could we talk to the Raikage about letting our Naruto go there for some training as well?"

Sakura Haruno became unusually serious.

"This matter—" Tsunade was about to speak when she suddenly stopped and looked towards the door.

Sakura Haruno turned around and looked back, a slight smile playing on her lips.

The office doorknob turned slightly, and someone pushed the door open from the outside.

The voice came before the person even arrived.

"I think I heard my own name?"

[First update. The second update will still be tomorrow morning. Today's typhoon was a bit scary; the windows were rattling loudly in the wind, as if they might be sucked away at any moment...]