Konoha's Chief Architect

The next day

Hokage Building

An elderly one-eyed man dressed in black radiated a terrifying aura as he stormed into the Hokage's Office.

"Hi—"

"Hiruzen!"

"Your little brat!"

"Yester—"

Shimura Danzō's words caught in his throat before he could finish.

Before him, Pink Little Girl was wearing a miserable expression as she complained to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Master, that guy last night was terrifying."

"He climbed through my window in the middle of the night. I asked who he was, but he wouldn't say anything."

"He scared me to death~~~"

At that moment, that pink-haired brat looked utterly detestable to Shimura Danzō.

Last night, he had clearly sent a subordinate to "invite" Sakura over. Who would have thought this damned girl would refuse to play by the rules?

She had started by smashing the man flying with an alarm clock, then incited the villagers to gang up on the injured Root member.

And now she actually had the nerve to play the victim first!

Damn it, were all pink-haired girls black inside once you cut them open?!

"Danzō, I was just about to bring that up."

With faint dark circles beneath his eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Shimura Danzō in displeasure.

"Why did you send someone to find Sakura in the middle of the night instead of sleeping at home?"

"You took in a new disciple. Shouldn't I take a look at her for you?"

Shimura Danzō could not help glaring at Sakura as he spoke coldly.

Sakura glared right back without backing down, though no matter how one looked at it, she was far less intimidating than Shimura Danzō.

"I already told you about Sakura, Danzō."

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Sakura hiding behind him, then at the gloom-ridden Shimura Danzō. His gaze sharpened slightly.

At this stage, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not want Sakura getting involved in such matters.

"Sakura, go back first. Someone will come find you shortly. And no one will be climbing through your window in the middle of the night again."

Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed Sakura's head and spoke gently.

"Yes, Master."

Sakura no longer hesitated. However, as she passed Danzō, she raised her eyebrows at him.

Shimura Danzō's face darkened further at the sight.

Once Sakura had left, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression immediately turned cold.

"Danzō, do you remember what I told you yesterday?"

As Sakura left the Hokage Building, she looked back at the second-floor office. She could faintly hear arguing from inside, followed by something about being buried deep underground or whatever...

Same old tired lines. Seriously, could they not come up with something new?

But since Old Man told me to leave, where was I supposed to go now?

I graduated, but Old Man never assigned me to any team.

And he said someone would come find me soon?

Who?

Just as Sakura was standing around with nothing to do, a figure appeared behind her.

"Haruno Sakura?"

Sakura turned around. Before her stood a woman dressed as an Anbu, with long purple hair, a ninja blade strapped to her back, and a Bird Mask covering her face.

"You are?"

Sakura looked at the newcomer in confusion.

"Yugao, member of the Anbu Third Squad."

"By the Hokage's order, Haruno Sakura, you have been assigned to our squad."

The purple-haired woman calmly looked at the little girl before her.

So this was Old Man's arrangement?

He was putting me straight into the Anbu, so Shimura Danzō would stop causing me trouble?

"Then lead the way."

"Keep up."

Yugao glanced at the little girl before her, unable to understand why the Hokage had assigned a freshly graduated Genin to the Anbu.

With that, Yugao vanished from where she stood, and Sakura immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to follow.

She had mastered the Body Flicker Technique some time ago and had done her utmost to eliminate its startup and recovery delays.

The startup was easy enough—nothing more than Hand Seals. Sakura, who had long since mastered Monstrous Strength, could deal with that effortlessly.

As for the recovery delay, she had trained as hard as she could, but after accelerating to her destination, she still needed one to two seconds to react.

She had to assess her surroundings before making her next move.

It was ultimately a matter of reflexes. If she had reflexes like Namikaze Minato's, she could have handled it with ease.

There was actually another option: gouge out a pair of Byakugan or Sharingan and install them in her own eye sockets.

But that was impossible even to think about.

It was nothing but a wild fantasy.

Besides, Sakura preferred her original eyes. The thought of having someone else's eyes in her sockets made her scalp tingle.

As for reflexes, she could only train them slowly.

But they were only traveling now, not fighting, so she could easily keep up with Yugao's pace.

Uzuki Yugao, codenamed Yugao, turned back in surprise to glance at the young ninja behind her.

Even though she had deliberately slowed down for the other girl, she had not expected her to keep up so effortlessly.

With that thought, she accelerated, and Sakura swiftly followed without even blushing or breathing hard.

As the two moved faster and faster, Uzuki Yugao felt that she had reached her limit, yet Haruno Sakura remained steadily behind her.

Another genius.

Uzuki Yugao could not help recalling that person who had become an Anbu squad captain at just thirteen.

Only, that young Anbu squad captain was now Konoha's S-rank Rogue Ninja.

"We're here."

Uzuki Yugao brought Sakura to the entrance of a cave. She first took a moment to ease her slightly hurried breathing, then turned to look at the little girl behind her.

Sakura looked curiously at the cave before her. This was on the side of Hokage Rock.

She had never come here before.

"Follow me."

Sakura said nothing, merely following silently behind Uzuki Yugao and acting like a complete newbie.

As they ventured deeper, an entirely different world unfolded before her.

Pavilions and buildings crisscrossed throughout the space, as though the entire mountain had been hollowed out. She could vaguely see figures darting overhead.

Sakura followed Uzuki Yugao step by step. Under her guidance, Uzuki Yugao led her into a room resembling a Changing Room.

"This locker was prepared for you. Your equipment is inside. Change into it, then come with me to see the captain."

With that, Uzuki Yugao pointed to a locker in the corner of the room marked Locker 233.

Sakura had no doubts and promptly changed into the clothes.

Then she followed Uzuki Yugao to meet this so-called captain.

But when she saw the captain, she froze for a moment. This guy was—

"Yo, what a cute junior."

"Nice to meet you. My codename is Tenzo."

The short-haired man waved amicably at Sakura.

Konoha's chief architect, Konoha's only Wood Release user.

"Uh, hello. I'm Haruno Sakura."

Sakura spoke as she looked into his large eyes.

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