Setting Out (Congratulations to IG on a 3-0 Championship Sweep!)

"Kunai, darts, chains, explosive tags, smoke bombs... all ready."

Various ninja tools were neatly arranged in a tightly layered ninja tool bag. The sound of metal scraping against metal echoed in the room, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of loading bullets and pulling the bolts of guns in a movie from my past life. The thick smell of gunpowder before battle permeated the air from these sounds.

As Sasuke put on the white wristbands to cover the Sealing Jutsu on his wrists, he picked up the hard armor arm guards from the table.

"Arm braces? Let's not wear those." Sakura Haruno glanced at him and said.

Sasuke paused slightly, stopped what he was doing, and looked up at her.

"In this level of combat, wearing armor is pointless and only hinders mobility. We should save our energy," the girl explained, waving her hand.

This mission is no ordinary Anbu operation.

If facing Akatsuki's group, a mere layer of hard armor will be ineffective; agility and Susanoo are the key.

"That's true." Sasuke thought for a moment, then casually stuffed the arm guard into his pouch and said, "Then let's leave it like this."

He stood up, checked everything, patted his ninja tool bag, indicating that he was ready for battle.

In a broad sense, combat preparation also includes training and practice before combat; however, in general, combat preparation still refers to the process of arranging ninja tools into ninja tool bags, packing Military Rations Pill, carrying scrolls, and putting on leg wraps and even armor before carrying out a combat mission.

Yes, armor.

Before the establishment of the ninja village system, ninjas commonly fought while wearing armor.

It was a half-body armor modeled after samurai armor, made of long, thick plates about the thickness of a thigh linked together. It included a breastplate, vest, shoulder armor, and gussets (groin and leg armor below the waist). It combined protection and flexibility, and the entire set of equipment weighed tens of kilograms. Wearing it made one look extremely imposing and powerful.

He looks exactly like a military general from the Warring States period.

When Sakura Haruno first saw the record of Madara Uchiha fighting in armor in the data, she was also a little surprised: This is not a ninja. Looking at his full body protected and armed to the teeth, he is clearly a samurai/general who has mastered Ninjutsu!

In fact, in modern times, ninjas did gradually replace samurai and soldiers.

After the establishment of the ninja village system, the combat style of heavily armored ninjas was gradually phased out. Heavy armor was gradually replaced by light armor, soft armor, or even no armor. The focus shifted from protection to flexibility. The subtleties of this process and development involved the financial issues of the ninja villages, the evolution of new Ninjutsu and combat styles, and the evolution of technology. A detailed account of these developments would probably fill a thick book.

Given that this book is not titled "The Evolution of Modern Ninja Combat Methods," and is not a voluminous academic work for hardcore readers, and Sakura Haruno is not an expert in humanities and history, I will omit the 200,000 words of research and argumentation here.

Today, sixty years into Konoha, the heavy armor of the Anbu Ninja is gone from their standard uniform. Instead, they wear sturdy soft armor vests and hard armor arm guards. The classic Anbu look is a black sleeveless bodysuit underneath a white soft armor, a mask, and a ninja pouch at the waist—this is the image Sasuke currently wears.

Sakura Haruno, however, is different.

"I'm all better. How about you guys?"

Sasuke glanced at the girl, noticing that Sakura Haruno had gone even further than him, not only omitting her armor but also the matching vest-style soft armor. He frowned slightly. "Is this all you're going to do?"

"Hmm." The girl shrugged, raised her eyebrows, and responded with a noncommittal nasal sound.

She rarely wore armor—not because she disliked its dull gray color, but simply because at a young girl's level, ordinary equipment was no longer of much use.

Soft armor can protect against slashes and punctures, but it cannot withstand blunt force trauma.

However, for Sakura, enemies capable of threatening her would never be stopped by a mere layer of mass-produced, cheap soft armor: against overpowered abilities like the Samehada sword, Teru and Susanoo, Space-Time Ninjutsu, or the Rinnegan, what difference would it make whether she wore armor or not?

However, wearing only a bodysuit would be a bit too revealing... That outfit, which accentuates the figure so much, is only worn by Might Guy and his apprentice in the entire Konoha. Don't they feel embarrassed? (Besides, their bodysuits are grass-green, making them look like huge frogs.) Or, a beautiful woman with a shapely figure like Uzuki Yugao could wear it and show off her body without making others feel awkward or uncomfortable. They would only find it stunning and refreshing.

Sakura can't even handle A-rank characters... No, she has actually grown, but compared to Hinata, Ino, and even Yugao... never mind, let's not make a fool of ourselves.

Like Kakashi, the girl wore a Jonin vest over her bodysuit. She wore elbow-length sleeves, her hair was tied in a ponytail, and she looked neat, smart, and dashing.

The black silk sleeves, of course, offered no protection whatsoever—she did have a pair of expensive gloves made of Chakra Threads, which were tough, reliable, and offered some protection, but they were destroyed in the battle against Kisame (see Chapter 7 and onwards)—in short, besides their decorative function, the sleeves were mainly used to conceal the Sealing Jutsu imprinted on her arms, just like Sasuke.

The difference is that Sasuke's techniques usually contain ninja tools such as shuriken, Kunai, and swords, while Sakura Haruno's contain special diamond sand given to her by the Lord Kazekage: mixed into her water blades, it greatly enhances their cutting power, a technique used in her Water Gun Technique. [Note]

"Aren't you going to bring any ninja tools?" Naruto asked, rubbing the ninja tool pouch stuffed full at his waist and glancing at Sakura's overly simple attire.

"No need," Sakura Haruno patted the tactical pocket on her vest and explained, "These are enough for me."

The tactical pockets on the Jonin vests are meticulously designed, sturdy and reliable, and easily accessible even during battle. They can hold many items, including valuable sealing scrolls and other ninja tools.

Sakura Haruno carefully placed the scroll Clone Duplicate inside the pocket of her vest.

In addition, it also contained some odds and ends, such as explosive tags, smoke bombs, or emergency Military Rations Pill, just in case.

Sakura Haruno didn't bring any weapons or ninja tools: ice Kunai and ice shurikens were much harder, sharper, and easier to handle than standard ninja tools, and she had all of these until her Chakra ran out.

"All right."

Naruto didn't say much. He jumped off the table, zipped his jacket all the way up to his neck, and turned up the collar. "I'm ready too."

Sakura Haruno tightened her sleeves, turned her head and glanced at her two spirited companions standing behind her, then nodded slightly.

She turned around, opened the door, and led the way out.

The morning mist was thick outside the door, and through the shadows, one tall and one short Mist Ninja guide could be seen waiting outside. Sakura Haruno led the two boys forward, and saw that the Mist Ninja were dressed as Anbu, with slightly damp hair, clearly having been waiting for some time.

The tall Mist Ninja who led the group had a gloomy and cold look in his eyes and a stiff expression, just like most people in the village. He was a middle-aged man of about thirty or forty years old. The short ninja, on the other hand, had a youthful face and happened to be Chōjūrō he had met once at the hospital.

It's you!

When Chōjūrō saw Sakura walking at the front of the three Konoha members, he immediately cried out in surprise.

He had embarrassed himself in front of Sakura Haruno and had a deep impression of her. Pointing at the girl, he exclaimed with a mixture of surprise and doubt, "Aren't you medical-nin?!"

The implication was that medical-nin should not be involved in this dangerous mission.

The three students from Team 7 looked at each other, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Lady Sakura Haruno is a powerful woman who can fight Mei Terumi, you idiot!" The tall Mist Ninja turned around and glared at him fiercely, scolding him angrily.

"Being medical-nin is just a side job for me, don't get me wrong." Sakura Haruno shook her head speechlessly. She had been misunderstood so many times that she was already used to such suspicious looks, and her heart was calm, she even wanted to laugh a little.

"Enough with the small talk, let's go!"

The tall, indifferent-looking Mist Ninja nodded and led the way into the morning mist.

Traveling swiftly along a river that flows into the sea, the five of them arrived at sea at noon, where a storm zone with dark clouds obscuring the sun lay before them.

The scene before me was one of howling winds and towering waves. Though it was midday, the colors were gloomy and the sun and stars were hidden.

"An October sea storm? That's quite unusual." Sakura Haruno stopped and stood on the undulating sea, gazing at the thick, inky black clouds in the distance, and said coldly.

"And it lasted for far too long..." the tall Mist Ninja said coldly, "The Chakra reaction and the abnormal aura match the historical scene of the Isobu's resurrection, so we can conclude that the Three-Tails will be resurrected here. Chōjūrō?"

"Yes." Chōjūrō stepped forward and continued, "We left the storm zone in this direction before. You see, if you travel quickly northwest for two hours, you'll see a protruding reef island. That's the island we rested on last time, and also the location where we encountered the enemy. The Akatsuki members are likely still nearby."

"Understood." Sakura Haruno nodded solemnly.

The tall Mist Ninja patted Chōjūrō on the shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, we can only take you this far. Going any deeper is beyond our capabilities... The rest of the mission will be up to you, my friends from Konoha."

Sakura Haruno smiled faintly, saying it was nothing. Naruto quickly added, "Don't worry, we'll definitely thwart Akatsuki's plot, beat them to a pulp, and stop them from getting the Three-Tails!"

Sasuke nodded in agreement. Although he didn't say anything, the confident look in his eyes and the eager expression on his face revealed his thoughts.

Sakura Haruno secretly rolled her eyes at their overconfidence and their tendency to make rash promises.

Chōjūrō, however, was completely won over by this, not at all feeling that they were being unethical. He exclaimed joyfully, "Go for it! You must defeat Akatsuki and avenge my brother!"

After finishing, the two Mist Ninja bowed respectfully and turned to leave.

Sakura Haruno watched them walk away until they disappeared below the horizon before turning her head.

"Let's go," the girl said calmly.

"Let us meet the people who know!"

[Note: I remember writing about a scene where Sakura received some special hard sand from Gaara, but couldn't find it anywhere.]

Congratulations to IG! After seven years of waiting, they finally won the championship! IG is awesome! LPL is awesome!

[I won't lash out at RNG on this joyous occasion; I'm utterly disappointed in them.]