The Usual Pace of Training

The new bridge in the Land of Waves was ultimately named the Great Bridge of Courage, symbolizing the rebirth of the Land of Waves. △￠Vertex says,

After staying in the Land of Waves for three weeks, when it was time to say goodbye, the bratty Inari told Naruto that a man shouldn't cry easily when they were face to face, but as soon as they turned around, they both cried their eyes out and were unrecognizable, which Sakura teased them about for a long time.

Since the Kubikiribōchō itself was nothing special, Sakura and her group left Zabuza's body and the Kubikiribōchō together in a secluded valley in the Land of Waves. Haku erected a blank monument for him, and the legendary Demon Zabuza departed without leaving a trace.

There were five of them when they came, and there were five of them when they left. And so, Bai and Sakura embarked on their journey back to Konoha, where Konoha new life awaited her.

Accustomed to obeying orders and having accepted Zabuza "live well," Haku's future is still long.

After a long mission to leave the village, life returned to the rhythm of the period right after graduation: taking on some low-level missions each week, followed by Kakashi's individual training.

After the mission to the Land of Waves, Sasuke's combat power improved rapidly due to his greatly enhanced Chakra control and the awakening of his Sharingan, so he began to eagerly challenge Sakura.

As a result, Sakura lost three games in a row.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball erupted from Sasuke's mouth, scorching hot as it hurtled towards Sakura. After a deafening roar, as the dust kicked up by the explosion settled, Sakura, standing behind the ice ball, raised a white flag.

"I surrender, Sasuke!" Sakura said with a beaming smile, looking as if she were proud of her surrender.

Sasuke rolled his eyes with his crimson Sharingan: "Giving up again! Can't you even use your full strength properly?!"

"And then you guys burned Ultra-Pure Water I painstakingly created?" The graduation exam was one thing, but then there was that time when she sparred with Sasuke, she impulsively took out Ultra-Pure Water and let Sasuke experience it. He evaporated a lot of it with a single Great Fireball, and the remaining water even absorbed a lot of air, rendering it unusable. Sakura was heartbroken for a long time. After that lesson, Sakura never dared to be so careless during team training again.

Not only Ultra-Pure Water, but Sakura also won't use Water Gun Technique or the wind Nature Transformation she's recently learned in team training, because they are too powerful. Sakura can unleash them but can't control them, and Sasuke will have a hard time dodging them before he reaches the Mitsudomoe.

With no trump Sasuke left to play, Sakura really had no way to deal with Sasuke's rapid progress. Especially since Sasuke had recently awakened his Two-Tomoe Sharingan, greatly enhancing his dynamic vision and reaction speed. Even if he used Nintaijutsu, Sakura couldn't do anything to him for the time being.

As for Ninjutsu, ever since witnessing the battle between Zabuza and Kakashi's clones and then using her Water Clone to take down two people, Sakura has recently become particularly obsessed with the Water Clone tactic.

However, Sasuke, having awakened his Sharingan, could immediately discern the true nature of the clones, rendering his Water Clone tactic almost entirely Sasuke. Sakura, on the other hand, was stubborn and unwilling to admit defeat. Since Sasuke's clones were useless against her, she insisted on using them to defeat Sasuke, only to be repeatedly worn down by Sasuke until she was completely exhausted, suffering Sanren.

She tried all sorts of tricks and tactics, but to no avail. After such a defeat, Sakura finally gave up. Zabuza a Jonin like Zabuza, who was a master of Taijutsu, Jonin his Water Clone with a single strike from Sasuke. He was completely overwhelmed in direct combat. No matter how many tricks her Water Clone used, such as not dying immediately after being defeated, or imbuing them with ice Nature Transformation, they still couldn't Sasuke!

Sakura didn't want to be the next one to Water Clone a direct assault, since the last one had already been buried in the Land of Waves.

However, while the Water Clone couldn't Sasuke, they were quite effective against ordinary ninjas. After all, there aren't many Sharingan left in the entire world!

Stopping Naruto, who was also eager to challenge her, Sakura continued, "Don't rush, if you want to challenge me, you'll have your chance soon... Naruto, stop fooling around, you challenge Sasuke, I don't have much energy left!"

Indeed, the Chunin Ninja Exams are just around the corner.

In other words, Orochimaru's Konoha Crush was imminent. Sakura desperately wanted to report this information to Konoha beforehand, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Sakura simply couldn't explain who the source of the information was. How did she know that Orochimaru was planning a Konoha Crush? Why was it that tens of thousands of ninjas and hundreds of Jonin throughout Konoha were unaware of such crucial information, while she Genin, knew it? Konoha couldn't possibly trust someone as insignificant as her with such a significant influence.

The time traveler's secret was something she intended to keep until she was buried.

Therefore, it was impossible for Konoha to know Orochimaru's plan in advance. What Sakura could do was to find out key information during the Chunin Ninja Exams, and then embellish it to make it seem like Konoha Crush Plan, which would be more believable.

However, Konoha actually knew about Orochimaru's Konoha during the second exam and had made some preparations for Orochimaru's possible attack. The fundamental reason for the huge losses was that the village was too weak, not that it lacked preparation.

Sakura didn't know how effective her advance warning would be. Humans aren't plants or trees; how could they be without feelings? Having been in Konoha for over a decade, she had developed feelings for every flower and blade of grass there, a sense of belonging. Of course, she wouldn't stand idly by and watch Orochimaru destroy her second home. With Konoha facing imminent danger, she only sought to do her best and have a clear conscience.

She should do what she is capable of and not feel guilty about what she cannot do. For example, saving the Third Hokage. So many Anbu were present and watched the Third die in battle. Jiraiya was in Konoha, could not save him. Sakura did not believe that she could save the Third in her current state.

Don't try to save others; Sakura herself isn't even sure she can survive the second exam. The thought of encountering Orochimaru in the Forest of Death sent shivers down her spine. What would it be like to fight one of the Sannin Orochimaru, Orochimaru? Just thinking about it was terrifying. The only good news was that Orochimaru wouldn't kill Sasuke's teammates. Firstly, this would allow Sasuke to advance to the third exam, making it easier for Orochimaru to assess him sooner; secondly, Sasuke needed his teammates' care while he was unconscious, and Orochimaru couldn't afford to let Sasuke die in an accident after all his hard work.

Sakura felt incredibly resentful, realizing she was still too weak.

If she were a recognized Kage Level powerhouse, she could simply approach the Lord Hokage and tell him about the Konoha Crush Plan. Even if the Hokage didn't believe her, he would take it seriously. If anyone asked where she got the information, she could simply say, "I have my own sources of information," and shut them down.

Therefore, Sakura is now eager to achieve a breakthrough in the preparation of Ultra-Pure Water. As long as Ultra-Pure Water can be used in large quantities in battle, her combat power will increase several times over!

In the days between the end of her battle with Zabuza and her return to the village, Sakura had been constantly training in wind and ice Nature Transformation, trying to use Chakra Nature Transformation to help create Ultra-Pure Water. She had a vague idea about this: perhaps by refining her wind Nature Transformation Chakra to a higher level, she could find the answer to the problem.

One evening after finishing her training, Sakura withdrew her Shadow Clone, took out a piece of iron and held it between her fingertips. She gathered wind-style Chakra and tried to cut the iron, but it remained completely still.

"Sigh! It still doesn't work!" Sakura sighed weakly.

"Sakura, don't be so impatient. This kind of mentality is actually not conducive to you developing your ideas!" Kakashi comforted Sakura, who hadn't made any progress for quite some time.

"Heh heh, even the all-powerful genius Sakura has moments of being stumped?" Sasuke added a sarcastic remark.

"Yeah, Sakura! Don't be so discouraged!" Naruto seized the opportunity to kick her while she was down, unleashing his full-level taunting ability, "Didn't you say that strength and breasts can't be forced!"

Sakura felt like the veins on her face were about to explode. What do you mean, you can't force breasts?! I'm only just starting to develop! And I don't care about big breasts! In terms of strength, I'm much stronger than both of you!

"My original words were 'Strength and good looks can't be forced,' right?" Sakura glared at Naruto with murderous intent, raising a Chakra ball to intimidate him. "If you mess with me again, I'll smear this Rasengan on your face!"

Kakashi stared at Sakura's Wind Release: Rasengan, which was infused with a large amount of wind-style Chakra, and a bead of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Alright, alright, Sakura, put down that Rasengan and talk properly..." Kakashi said, holding Sakura's wrist. "Besides, you've been training for a year now, where did you get the energy to use that move?"

Sakura retracted the Rasengan, her body going limp as she nearly collapsed to the ground. In her impulsive act, she had used all her remaining strength in the Rasengan, and even though she had retracted most of it, her legs were still weak.

In short, after being ridiculed by them, Sakura also reflected on her impatient mindset.

Although she made Great Breakthrough in her training in the Land of Waves, her mastery of Ice Release was based on her years of continuous practice in Water Release Wind Release. For her, the past six or seven years of dedicated, down-to-earth training had been the norm, and her slow progress after returning to Konoha was simply a return to that normalcy. With Haku currently under quarantine, it wasn't advisable for Sakura to approach her directly to learn Ice Release. Moreover, neither Wind Release nor Ice Release were Sakura's primary Ninjutsu; she only used them to assist in developing her Water Release Ninjutsu.

Sakura was used to lacking ideas and making no progress in her development at the Ninja Academy. She had overcome the difficulties of having no ideas or guidance back then. So why is she so impatient now that she has a clear goal? It's only been a few years, and she already wants to make a new breakthrough in her Wind Nature Transformation training. Isn't that too hasty?

"Avoid arrogance and impetuosity, and be down-to-earth," Sakura silently recited in her heart.

Just then, a long, drawn-out cry rang out.