Small Town
After Jiraiya's guidance, Sakura had a new approach. After their meal, Naruto insisted on practicing the Rasengan, and Sakura wanted to test her new idea immediately. So, they found a nearby grove of trees to train in, while Jiraiya went off to gather information, or so he claimed.
"Sakura-chan, are there any special techniques for this?" Naruto asked.
"......"
"Sakura-chan, can you teach me your method for controlling chakra?" Naruto continued, seeing that Sakura wasn't responding.
"......"
"Sakura-chan..."
"Sakura your face! Just be quiet for a minute..." Sakura roared before Naruto could finish.
Combining chakra natures didn't require any large movements; it was all about controlling chakra for nature transformations. The main control came from mental energy. That's why Sakura had been sitting there motionless since they'd arrived. But Naruto kept chattering, making it impossible for Sakura to concentrate.
"Y-yes!" Seeing Sakura's outburst, Naruto's face changed instantly, and he obeyed.
Seeing Naruto's reaction, Sakura softened slightly and said, "Technique... well, there is one. Go into town and buy some balloons. Fill them with water, hold them in your hand, and use your chakra to make the water spin and burst the balloon."
"That simple?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Simple? Just try it," Sakura scoffed. "Now hurry up and do what I said."
With Naruto dispatched, Sakura could finally calm down and focus on her training.
Sakura had always known the principles behind the Rasengan. After all, it was the only jutsu that had its training method illustrated so clearly. But she'd never considered it a staple jutsu, because the Rasengan had many drawbacks.
First, it needed to be paired with a highly mobile jutsu. Since it could only be formed in the hand and couldn't be thrown, it required close-quarters combat. Furthermore, Sakura found the chakra consumption of the jutsu a bit overwhelming.
The Chidori, which was on the same level as the Rasengan, could only be used twice by Sasuke. Sakura's chakra reserves had previously been lower than Sasuke's. And the Chidori had its own obvious drawback: it required the Sharingan.
Sakura couldn't compare to those overpowered transmigrator seniors in other stories. She had no cheat codes, no wise old grandpa, and even her memories were incomplete. So, she had to painstakingly develop ninjutsu that suited her.
She didn't aim to be unbeatable, just to avoid being beaten.
The night passed. Sakura didn't stay up all night training this time, because Naruto did. If she stayed up all night training, there'd be no one to carry her while she slept the next day.
As for her training progress, it was nonexistent. The simulated nature transformations were either Lightning Release or Water Release. Well, of course. It would have been a miracle if she'd succeeded in one night. It was going to be a slow grind.
Naruto, dragging his exhausted body and holding a water-filled balloon, followed Jiraiya and Sakura as they continued their journey.
"Hmm~~~ Did you teach him this method?" Jiraiya said, looking at the water balloon in Naruto's hand with some surprise.
"Yeah."
"It's not a bad method. But it won't be enough on its own. It'll lack power," Jiraiya immediately saw the pros and cons.
"Once he completes the first stage, I'll have him train with rubber balls. If he can burst those, he'll be pretty much there," Sakura shamelessly claimed Jiraiya's original idea as her own.
In reality, Jiraiya had only come up with that method after seeing a street vendor selling balloons.
"Haha, your talent is truly amazing. Now I actually have some hope that you can create a Kekkei Genkai," Jiraiya said.
Jiraiya wasn't actually optimistic about Sakura's chances of creating a Kekkei Genkai. While Sakura wasn't his direct student, she was Tsunade's, and Jiraiya didn't want Sakura to focus her energy on creating a Kekkei Genkai at such a young age.
They traveled around for another half a month, but Tsunade was still nowhere to be found. They had searched all the famous gambling dens, but they only heard her name, never saw her in person.
It seemed Tsunade was deliberately hiding. Jiraiya didn't have any good solutions. It was now a battle of who had the more up-to-date information.
Tsunade was clearly also tracking Jiraiya's movements to avoid him, while Jiraiya was trying to find her.
Sakura felt like these two were locked in a stalemate, because... this was the third time they'd been to this particular small town.
"Here again? Is the information actually accurate this time?" Sakura complained.
"Haha, don't worry, this time it's definitely right. Your teacher is definitely here," Jiraiya said awkwardly.
Being played for a fool by Tsunade's game of hide-and-seek was quite embarrassing for Jiraiya. Even Naruto could tell, but Naruto was focused on training his ninjutsu, so it didn't matter where they were.
"Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha," In a dilapidated, abandoned restroom, a man dressed in black clothes accepted a mission scroll from a man with a scarred face.
"That's right. Because this target is a renowned ninja, I've left her to you. Haha, besides you, no one else could complete this mission," the scarred man flattered the man in black.
"The reward isn't listed here?" the man in black asked after looking through the scroll.
"The reward is 50 million ryo, but the client requests an in-person transaction," the scarred man continued.
"50 million..." The man in black hesitated. "Give me her information."
"The information is all here. You don't need to bring back the body this time. The client's contact information is also here," the scarred man handed over another scroll. "The client is in a hurry, so please complete the mission quickly."
"That's unusual. Don't you guys want to make money?" the man in black asked.
"Haha, you jest. This is the client's request," the scarred man said awkwardly.
The client was, in fact, the Sand Village. The Sand Village hadn't directly put the money into the black market; instead, they had chosen an in-person transaction. Their real intention was a double-cross.
Of course, a face-to-face transaction with the client was against the rules, but after the Sand Village paid a hefty sum, the rules no longer existed.
The reason for all this trouble, this roundabout approach, was to distance themselves from the incident.
As a precaution, the Sand Village not only refrained from sending their own ninja, but they also planned to eliminate the hired ninja, burying the matter as deeply as possible.
With the alliance with Konoha imminent, if Danzo broke his word and exposed this scandal, even the Third Hokage would have no choice. The Sand Village would likely be forced into war.
The Sand Village was currently in a weakened state. If they lost, Danzo could extort even more benefits from them.
Therefore, even though Chiyo had agreed to Danzo's conditions, taking a few extra precautions was harmless. After all, she was a veteran of the war era; Chiyo had seen her fair share of deceit and treachery.
As for the assassin and the black market, the Sand Village didn't even consider them a threat. Once the alliance with Konoha was signed, Chiyo's first act would be to purge the black market, completely destroying any trace of evidence.
This was the power of a major Hidden Village. Even a dying camel was bigger than a horse.
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