After parting ways with Kakashi, the three of them went to Ichiraku Ramen to celebrate completing their first mission.
They had originally planned to go to a barbecue restaurant, but stingy Menma deliberately brought up how the wild boar had died during the mission. The other two immediately lost their appetites and could only follow Menma to the cheap and satisfying Ichiraku Ramen.
While waiting for their ramen to be served, the three chatted, naturally bringing up the training suggestions Kakashi had given them earlier.
Sasuke interlaced his fingers and rested the backs of his hands beneath his chin. "What do you think, Sakura? Instead of learning powerful offensive Ninjutsu, you want to study medical Ninjutsu.
As far as I know, medical Ninjutsu has an extremely high barrier to entry. Not only does it require mastering an enormous amount of theoretical knowledge, it also demands exceptional Chakra control from the Ninja.
If you focus on medical Ninjutsu, Sakura, your progress in strength will become very slow."
Sakura tucked several loose strands of hair behind her ear and smiled faintly. "If a team has a medical Ninja, its survival rate will greatly improve.
Both Sasuke and Menma are the type to get injured whenever they act impulsively. I really can't relax and leave either of you alone.
Besides, I don't have a large amount of Chakra to begin with. Rather than learn Ninjutsu I might only be able to use a few times in battle, I'd rather study medical Ninjutsu. That way, I might be able to stay away from the front lines in the future and become a dedicated medical Ninja."
Hearing Sakura's words, Sasuke fell silent. He believed that Sakura was willing to step into the background and become a medical Ninja for the sake of the two of them, and that she had deliberately said those things so they would not feel guilty.
Menma, on the other hand, felt nothing at all. He even found Sasuke's touched yet embarrassed expression rather amusing, so he kindly explained, "Don't be dumb. Sakura's messing with you!
If I'm not mistaken, Sakura, the reason you chose medical Ninjutsu is because you simply don't think much of the Ninjutsu Kakashi wants to teach you, right?"
"How could that be? Just hearing their names, those Ninjutsu sound powerful and practical, not to mention there are so many of them." Sasuke sounded doubtful.
"Tell me this: you said those Ninjutsu sounded impressive just from their names. Then how could someone as thoughtful as Sakura choose medical Ninjutsu without even hearing their detailed descriptions? There's only one explanation: she has the training methods for those Ninjutsu, or perhaps she has already trained in them." Menma analyzed.
"Impossible. There are so many Ninjutsu. There's no way a Genin could master them all." Sasuke looked utterly shocked, clearly unwilling to believe it.
Menma continued, "Think about it. Before you learn a Ninjutsu, can you tell how much Chakra it consumes just by hearing its name?"
Sasuke thought about it and suddenly understood. "Right. How could you know how much Chakra a Ninjutsu consumes from its name alone? But Sakura just said she couldn't use many Ninjutsu in one battle because of her Chakra reserves. That means she either already knows the detailed training methods and understands how much Chakra they consume, or she has already mastered them and tested them..."
At this point, Sasuke looked at Sakura as if she were some kind of monster. "You haven't actually mastered those Ninjutsu already, have you?"
"Who knows?" Sakura said with her eyes narrowed into crescents and a smile on her face.
Sasuke still did not quite understand. "Then you could just tell the truth and ask Kakashi for more advanced Ninjutsu. There's no need to study medical Ninjutsu."
"You think one D-rank mission and good talent are enough to trade for powerful Ninjutsu? What do you take Konoha's Ninjutsu exchange system for?" Menma curled his lip disdainfully. "Kakashi is only our supervising Jonin, not our inheritance teacher. He has neither the obligation nor the authority to teach us powerful Ninjutsu.
Of course, Chidori is different. First, it is a Ninjutsu he developed himself. Second, his left eye came from the Uchiha, and he likely wants to exchange teaching the Uchiha clan's young master Ninjutsu for more advanced Sharingan training methods.
Of course, that is only my guess. I don't know what the truth really is.
And do you think medical Ninja are weak? You're wrong. A good medical Ninja is often the strongest fighter on the team!"
"How is that possible? It's universally acknowledged that medical Ninja have weak combat ability," Sasuke retorted.
"Those are all mediocre medical Ninja. Real medical Ninja aren't weak at all!" Menma said with a straight face, spouting nonsense. "A true medical Ninja only needs to learn Bandage Technique and put every other point into raw damage output. As long as you kill the enemy before they hurt your teammate, you achieve the best possible medical effect."
Sasuke finally caught the teasing in Menma's voice and said disdainfully, "Hmph. By your logic, wouldn't there be no need to learn Bandage Technique at all?"
"You do need to learn it. Bandage Technique isn't for dressing wounds. It's for tying up teammates who get in the way and capturing enemies," Menma continued to spout nonsense.
Little did he know that Sakura, sitting across from him, had fallen into thought after hearing Menma's explanation of medical Ninja...
Night fell, at the Hokage Office.
"...That is the situation. Does Lord Hokage have any further instructions?" Kakashi reported Team 7's completion of their first mission to Danzo. He gave a detailed analysis of Menma, Sasuke, and Sakura's personalities and shortcomings, and finally placed special emphasis on Menma's extreme wind-nature Chakra talent.
"Extreme wind-nature talent? That truly is rare," Danzo murmured. He did want to take Menma as his disciple, but neither his aging body nor his heavy administrative workload allowed for it.
"If that is the case, Menma's talent truly cannot be wasted. How about this? Although this old man has no time to personally teach him, I can still provide him with guidance in the early stages of his training. Over the next few days, I will find time to organize my insights on wind release training into a scroll. Kakashi, give it to Menma once it is complete.
Also, Kakashi, go to Konoha's library later. There is a Ninja frog in the nonfiction section that Jiraiya left in Konoha for emergency communication.
Take the Hokage's authorization and say, 'By order of the Hokage, return at once.' Have the contact frog return to Mount Myōboku and pass a message to Jiraiya. Tell him to hurry back."
"Yes!" Kakashi accepted the order and vanished in a Body Flicker.
Danzo stood before the window, gazing at the lights of countless homes outside, as well as the dark street corners hidden beneath those lights. He murmured, "The tree longs for stillness, but the wind refuses to cease. Grow quickly, newborn Ninja...
No, 'the tree longs for stillness, but the wind refuses to cease' doesn't fit here. Change it, change it...
The wind sighs bleakly, the Yi River runs cold...
No, no, still wrong. That's not auspicious at all. Change it again, change it again...
Ahem. A great wind rises, the clouds soar...
That still doesn't seem right. Damn it, are there no poems about wind that fit the occasion?
Oh, I have one, I have one.
Can a golden-scaled creature remain in a pond? Once it gains wind and clouds, it transforms into a dragon. Konoha's new generation, grow quickly...
..."
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