Iruka had no choice. He knew he couldn't let the students dwell on their thoughts, so he decided to bring everyone back to school and hand out test papers. Surely, their emotions would stabilize once they were occupied!
He mouthed the word "ramen" to Naruto, and the boy, who had been reluctant just moments ago, suddenly changed his attitude and began packing up like a whirlwind.
"Sasuke, are you okay? Do you need me to take you to the hospital?" Iruka asked.
Sasuke was both physically and mentally exhausted, wishing he could collapse right then and there. But his pride wouldn't allow him to faint, nor would he bother explaining. He could only force himself to stand tall.
"No need! I'm fine!"
Injured? Not a chance! I'm not injured at all! Meanwhile, Ino apologized to Shikamaru and the others. Given her current state, the sweet chestnut yokan would have to wait for another day.
Neither Ino nor Sasuke had the energy to attend class. The former had no external injuries but had exhausted too much Chakra, leaving her as pale as a sheet and in desperate need of rest. The latter was covered in blood, staggering as he walked. His willpower was strong, but his body couldn't keep up. At the very least, his wounds needed to be treated. Asking them to return to the classroom and take a test now? That would be nothing short of murder!
Iruka didn't force them. He left Naruto to clean up the battlefield, instructed Hinata to take Ino home, and asked Sasuke one more time. Realizing the boy's stubbornness, he could only watch as Sasuke limped away alone down the path.
In the classroom, Sakura kept glancing back at the empty seats where Ino and Sasuke should have been. She felt sad, wronged, and even more frustrated by her own helplessness. Unconsciously, her tears soaked the test paper.
Ino, don't you like Sasuke? Why did you go so hard on him?
Sasuke, don't you know Ino likes you? Why did you fight her to that extent?
Is winning really that important to you? At twelve years old, she couldn't understand. She thought and thought, and in the end, she realized she didn't truly know Ino or Sasuke at all. Their behavior today felt so foreign, and it was laughable how she had once believed she understood them.
Now? She felt like an outsider, an unnecessary presence.
She cried on her desk for half the class. After so many years of schooling, this was the first time she had handed in a blank test.
She didn't write a single word on the paper, moving through the day like a zombie. After school, she shouldered her bag and headed home.
After briefly responding to her parents, she pulled out a scroll from the bottom of her desk. This scroll supposedly contained the "Treasure of the First Hokage."
Previously, she had been too busy with her studies. Taking advantage of Ino's absence, she had secured the top spot several times, but she hadn't had the chance to look into the treasure. Now, feeling utterly lost, she could only pin her hopes on this scroll, hoping it held the answers she needed.
Following the instructions in the scroll, she found the supposed treasure buried in a small cave on the village's back mountain.
Using the Kunai she carried, she dug furiously and soon unearthed another scroll from the pit. It looked similar to the first one, but with the character "First" on its side.
With great anticipation, she tremblingly opened the scroll.
The words that greeted her made her pause.
"To the future generation of the Hidden Leaf Village, greetings. I am Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. On that day at the Valley of the End, I fought XXXX in a decisive battle. Later, I was severely injured and thought to have died. In truth, I did not die but have been in a deep slumber. Now, I am about to awaken!"
Even though Sakura was currently overwhelmed with worries, she was still startled by the information on the scroll. Good heavens?! The First Hokage wasn't dead?! There was a name deliberately smudged on the scroll, and she had no idea who it was. Though curious, she unrolled the scroll and continued reading.
"Descendants of the Hidden Leaf Village, my resurrection requires a sum of money. As long as you deposit the money into the account below, after my revival, I will grant you a corresponding position based on the amount of your donation. The highest position is Hokage Advisor, and the lowest is Middle Ninja!"
The First Hokage returns from the dead and offers me the position of Hokage Advisor? Sakura's eyes filled with hope. If she became a Hokage Advisor, she could stop the meaningless fights between Ino and Sasuke, right?
After the initial excitement, she quickly calmed down. The reason for her calmness was very real—she had no money! She noticed there was more text on the back of the scroll and hurriedly unrolled it to continue reading.
The scroll read, "If you don't have money, that's fine too. As the First Hokage, following the principle of equivalent exchange, you can deposit five thousand ryo into the account below, and I will teach you a training method that is extremely important for a ninja and can benefit you for a lifetime."
Sakura wanted to see the rest of the content, but there was a Sealing Technique on the back of the scroll, and the text was sealed, making it impossible to forcefully decipher.
Sakura didn't understand Sealing Techniques and had no idea how to break it.
The scroll explained it simply: deposit the money into the account, and the next day, you would receive a letter containing the solution to the Sealing Technique.
Sakura was very hesitant. Her allowance wasn't much, but fortunately, her usual expenses were small. Five thousand ryo... she thought about it several times, and it seemed her entire savings amounted to exactly five thousand ryo?!
She examined the scroll from top to bottom and left to right. Could this scroll read minds? How did it know she had exactly five thousand ryo?
Sakura was worried this might be a scam, but she didn't want to give up this opportunity. The scroll emphasized how "extremely important" and "life-changing" this method was, and she felt that if she gave up, she would be the one losing the most.
She gritted her teeth and decided to go for it! For Sasuke!
She would get this training method and give it to Sasuke! Let Sasuke learn this method and beat Ino to a pulp next time!
Returning home, she took out all her savings and deposited them into the secret account on the scroll.
Then began the agonizing wait. The next day after school, she indeed found a letter in her mailbox.
Sakura hadn't learned Sealing Techniques, and the sender didn't intend to teach her. The "extremely important" and "life-changing" training method was directly written in the letter.
"Climbing trees? What kind of training method is this?" She read carefully and found that this training method was something she had never heard of before.
"Control your Chakra, then gather it at your feet, using the adhesion force to firmly stick yourself to the tree, and then climb up step by step?"
At the end of the letter, numerous benefits of this training were listed. Sakura was amazed to see a total of eighteen points! Some of them, like improving Chakra control and increasing the speed of Chakra extraction, sounded reasonable. However, others, such as whitening the skin, enhancing the bust, and improving posture, seemed a bit strange. Could this training really be that effective? The letter also included a note stating that if an additional ten thousand ryo was deposited into the account, an even more important training method would be sent.
Sakura was already out of money! She had no intention of pursuing the "more important" training method anytime soon. For now, she decided to focus on this tree-climbing training. If it proved effective, she would recommend it to Sasuke!