Field Training

Two days passed, and Team 7 returned to mission mode!

After resting for only two days, the three of them felt as though a long time had passed!

Early in the morning, they waited for Tenka at their usual spot.

"Sasuke, Sakura, why are you two here so early too?"

"It was boring at home, so we came early!"

Sasuke had already trained by himself for two hours that morning, yet he was still early!

"Me too. Thinking about carrying out another mission today got me so excited that I couldn't sleep!"

Naruto was looking forward to the upcoming mission. Though he knew that, given their teacher's personality, it would definitely be another extermination mission!

Still, it was better than staying alone. He was a ninja now.

After two months of missions, he had already saved up quite a bit of money, but aside from Ichiraku Ramen, he still could not buy anything!

What made him happy, though, was that those people no longer dared lay a hand on him.

He also knew it was because they feared him, but so what?

Everyone in Konoha feared their teacher, yet their teacher still did whatever he pleased, didn't he?

Naruto wanted to keep getting stronger. If he became even stronger, perhaps those people would no longer dare refuse to sell him things!

"Sakura, what about you?"

"Why are you here so early too?"

"I guessed you two would come early, so I came to keep you company!"

Of the three of them, only Sakura had a normal family. Sasuke and Naruto were both orphans!

Sakura knew that, for various reasons, neither of those two wanted to stay in that so-called "home"!

She had prepared lunches for the two of them early that morning and brought her own along to eat with them.

"Here, one for each of you!"

"Ah..."

"I'm so touched! Sakura, you actually prepared a lunch for me?"

"Idiot!"

"I got one too. It wasn't specially prepared for you!"

Seeing Naruto excitedly bouncing around in place, Sasuke promptly poured cold water over him!

"I don't care!"

"Sakura made it for me!"

"Enough, hurry up and eat!"

"I made them especially for both of you!"

Sakura had long since gotten used to the two bickering and reminded them to hurry up and eat!

"Thank you!"

Sasuke thanked Sakura, while Naruto had already begun eating by himself in bliss!

"This is today's mission!"

"Read it. You have half an hour to prepare!"

After about two or three minutes, all three had finished reading the mission, their expressions turning serious!

They had not expected their teacher to accept a B-Rank Mission for them today!

It was the first time any of them had encountered a mission of this rank.

They were actually somewhat excited, but none of them showed it. During missions, they had always treated things seriously!

"Teacher, we can leave now. We were already prepared when we came here!"

Tenka glanced at the other two and saw them nod as well!

"Let's go!"

Twenty days later, inside a cave in the southwest of the Land of Fire!

"Lightning Cutter!"

A short masked boy had lightning coiling around his hand, crackling continuously with sharp electrical sounds!

"Pfft!"

He pierced the enemy's heart at incredible speed!

The moment the enemy fell, the masked boy could no longer hold on and collapsed unconscious as well!

Whoosh!

"Medicine Immortal, hurry!"

"Red Eye fainted!"

The instant he passed out, a golden-haired masked boy rushed to his side and shouted toward the masked girl nearby.

Medicine Immortal rushed over at top speed. After examining Red Eye's injuries, her expression turned grave!

His external wounds were not a problem; she could treat them quickly. But... Red Eye had also been poisoned!

Under their current conditions, they had nowhere to prepare an antidote!

"Fox, carry him. Go find Teacher!"

At her words, the golden-haired boy hoisted Red Eye onto his back and ran out of the cave!

Medicine Immortal picked up the blade from the ground, cut off the corpse's head with a single stroke, wrapped it up, and chased after Fox!

After running for about an hour, the three arrived at a small town.

They found their teacher in an inn within the town. It was Hyuga Tenka!

"Teacher!"

"I can't handle Sasuke's injuries yet!"

Medicine Immortal removed her mask. Who else could she have been but Sakura?

"Mm!"

"Watch carefully!"

"This is the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique!"

"Yes!"

Tenka used the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique to draw all the toxins out of Sasuke's body.

His movements were slow, and every step was performed with great care so Sakura could see clearly!

"You'll handle the rest!"

"The Delicate Illness Extraction Technique is an advanced medical ninjutsu. You can learn it now too!"

"Go practice it properly. Next time something like this happens, don't come looking for me!"

"Yes!"

Sakura respectfully acknowledged him, then began treating Sasuke's external injuries!

Just now, she had been afraid that taking too long would allow the poison to spread, so she had not had time to treat them!

Her movements were quick and practiced, and she finished everything in just a few minutes!

After bandaging Sasuke, she finally looked at Tenka!

"Teacher, we've completed all our missions!"

"We'll talk after he wakes up!"

Sasuke did not wake from his coma until evening. He got out of bed and headed for the door!

"Sasuke, you're awake?"

"Teacher, Sasuke is awake!"

Naruto had been guarding Sasuke's door. The moment Sasuke came out, Naruto hurriedly shouted toward another room.

Hearing the commotion, Sakura stopped practicing the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique!

She walked outside, knowing that their teacher was about to arrange their next itinerary!

"Sakura!"

"Thank you!"

When Sasuke saw Sakura come out, he thanked her. He had lost track of how many times he had said that over the past twenty days!

"No need. We're teammates, aren't we? You two have been saying that rather often lately!"

"Mm!"

"Teacher!" ×3

Tenka looked at Sasuke!

"What you did was rather foolish!"

"A strong person would never allow himself to fall into that kind of state, no matter when!"

"With your strength, completing that mission would not have been difficult!"

"Reflect on where you fell short!"

"Yes, Teacher!"

Sasuke nodded without any dissatisfaction!

"For that mission we accepted when we left the village, you have two days!"

"Use every method you currently know to find him and bring his head back to Konoha!"

"Yes!" ×3

Six days later, at Konoha's gates, the three members of Team 7 looked at the familiar surroundings with mixed feelings!

They had not expected their teacher to pull something like this!

He had accepted a mission with a one-month deadline, then gave each of them a mask after taking them out of the village!

He had them register at the Bounty Exchange and demanded that each of them complete at least ten assassination missions within twenty days!

The minimum requirement for mission targets was Special Jonin!

The three of them were allowed to cooperate!

Yet, relying on their own strength, they independently completed every mission!

The Bounty Exchange missions were unlike their previous bandit-killing missions. Those bandits were not very strong!

Having even one Chunin among them was already remarkable, while the people here were all ruthless figures who lived with blades at their throats!

To survive or complete their missions, they would stop at nothing!

If Sakura had not been there, Naruto and Sasuke would likely have died no fewer than five times!

Fortunately, they completed everything within the allotted time!

If Sasuke had not insisted on choosing a high-difficulty target at the end, they would have finished even earlier!

Still, their teacher remained their teacher: cold-blooded, ruthless, and powerful!

Remembering their most dangerous encounter, the three could not help but sigh!