Chapter 430: Kakashi's Request
Kakashi, of course, wasn't trying to ask Haruno Sakura out on a date.
Haruno Sakura wasn't overly self-conscious enough to severely misunderstand Kakashi's intentions.
However... it was quite rare for Kakashi to actively seek her out for something.
She was stunned for a moment, then said: "After the Chunin Exams, I'm going to Shikkotsu Forest to train in Senjutsu. I've already made an appointment with the Slug Sage... If your matter is urgent, I can help you during the Chunin Exams."
"That's not necessary," Kakashi waved his hand and smiled, "I don't want to take up your time and then be resented by Konohamaru and the others. After all, it's their first time participating in the Chunin Exams. It's better for you to save your time to guide their training, Sakura."
"Hmph... you have the nerve to say that."
Haruno Sakura said expressionlessly, pursing her lips.
"Back then, who only focused on taking Sasuke to train during the Chunin Exams, and left Naruto and me aside without caring?"
"You really still remember that." Kakashi scratched his head. He, who could usually brazenly accept any complaints, felt a bit ashamed at this moment and didn't know what to say.
After all, it was indeed his fault for being too partial. Naruto was okay, being carefree and not minding much, and later receiving guidance from Jiraiya; but Haruno Sakura was really neglected by him. It was also Kakashi's first time being a teacher, so he made such obviously inappropriate behavior; as a teacher, even if one can't treat all students equally, one shouldn't just feed one student and let the other two fend for themselves.
Only afterwards did Kakashi realize his mistake and thought about making it up next time, but unfortunately, it was too late. Because Haruno Sakura had already been promoted to Chunin and wouldn't participate in the Chunin Exams again. Her strength also advanced by leaps and bounds, later even surpassing Kakashi quickly, no longer needing his pointers and help.
Fortunately, this trivial matter wouldn't affect the bond between master and disciple.
—It only made Haruno Sakura roast him occasionally.
"That... was my mistake." Kakashi admitted his mistake sincerely, "I'll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen next time!"
"...I'm not Naruto!" Sakura rolled her eyes at him, "Forget it, let's get back to business! Isn't the second exam a round-robin team battle? I plan to arrange a special training for Konohamaru and the others targeting the exam content. This training isn't complicated and can be handed over to clones. This way I can spare time to help you."
"Special training?" The white-haired young man frowned, "Do you know what the most important point of this team battle assessment is?"
"It's stamina. Right, Kakashi-sensei?"
Haruno Sakura said without hesitation.
Because the assessment adopted a total score system, except for teams that temporarily gave up and withdrew, no candidate was eliminated. That meant, however many teams there were in the first exam, there would be just as many in the second.
And the so-called round-robin team battle, in fact, was to let every team fight with every other team once, within a limited location and limited time.
This meant that each team would engage in continuous battles with about fifty teams from the three major ninja villages and numerous small ninja villages within the few days of the exam!
Tag-team battles!
Don't think this arrangement is excessive. In the fierce Ninja World War, the frequency of battles could sometimes be even higher. The enemy wouldn't stop appearing just because you were tired! Even if it wasn't a large-scale battle or campaign, but just skirmishes, reconnaissance battles, or encounters, as long as one was on the battlefield, battles would always happen and be everywhere.
And this setting of the Chunin Exam was nothing more than a simulation of this extreme situation.
In this kind of exam, to achieve excellent results, combat power was only one aspect; the more important factor was stamina.
Because there were simply too many battles, unless one had stamina like Naruto, candidates must learn to allocate stamina reasonably, carefully consider which group of enemies to fight hard against, which group to strategically give up against, which group to delay time against, and which group to quickly resolve the battle against to save time and recover stamina... In this kind of exam, momentary victory or defeat wasn't critical. Genin needed to consider problems based on the overall situation and learn to think about strategy, not just tactics.
Even if combat power wasn't great and battles were lost more than won, as long as the tactics were reasonable and the strategy appropriate, Genin could also get considerable scores.
In addition, no matter how stamina was allocated, it would definitely be exhausted in the later stages. So how to fight when stamina was exhausted was also a major point of this assessment.
Because medical ninja were deployed outside the field ready to treat injuries at any time, this exam couldn't even be called dangerous, and the death rate would be significantly lower than previous Chunin Exams.
In real wars, not every battle ended with killing enemies or being killed. In fact, apart from missions to kill enemies head-on, battlefield missions such as reconnaissance, patrol, escorting supplies, and even infiltration behind enemy lines did not encourage everyone to kill them all when encountering enemies—qualified battlefield commanders preferred subordinates to complete missions and preserve themselves rather than risking fighting enemies to the death, which would only result in a messy fight... Usually, repelling the enemy and ensuring the completion of the mission was enough.
Anyway, for this special training, Haruno Sakura planned to create a bunch of clones with varying strengths, strictly follow the rules of the exam, and fight tag-team battles with Konohamaru and the others for a few days, letting them properly experience the feeling of fighting non-stop until exhaustion.
She didn't have any clever methods to train students, so she could only use clumsy methods, letting students accumulate experience and cultivate a sense of the big picture through a large number of practical combat exercises. Practicing steadily would never be a disadvantage.
"Forget it, let's talk about it after you come back from Shikkotsu Forest." Kakashi shook his head, "It would be too hard for you to help me while taking care of three children."
Haruno Sakura tilted her head and looked at Kakashi.
"So, after saying so much," the girl smiled, "What exactly do you want me to help you with, Kakashi-sensei?"
"This... is about the Mangekyo." Kakashi lifted his forehead protector, revealing his Sharingan, "I want to ask you to help me conduct a special training to master the Mangekyo. Basically, it can be finished in at most a week..."
The white-haired young man was a little embarrassed.
However, Haruno Sakura was indeed the best candidate to help. With Sakura present, he could borrow chakra from the Yin Seal to perform the "Kamui" secret technique during the special training, and receive medical ninjutsu treatment to regulate his body after training. Compared to Kakashi practicing intermittently by himself, the efficiency was unknown how much higher.
Most importantly, his friendship with Sakura was deep enough.
Haruno Sakura blinked, not surprised by Kakashi's request.
A week wasn't long. The special training was important to Kakashi, but for Sakura, it was just a lifting of a hand. She was happy to help Kakashi.
Speaking of which, she happened to have some insights on using the Mangekyo. Although she couldn't tell Kakashi she had Shisui's Sharingan, exchanging experiences wouldn't hurt.
Kakashi would probably assume these insights were obtained from Danzo.
"Alright." She nodded, smiled, and said, "Such an important matter indeed cannot be done in a hurry. Let's find another time after I finish learning Senjutsu and come back!"
"That's really thank you so much!" Kakashi put his hands together, his dead fish eye smiling into a fox eye.
"Saying thank you is too formal." The girl said seriously, "If anyone should say thank you, it should be me thanking Sensei for your teaching."
Kakashi didn't say anything more. He pulled down his forehead protector and rubbed Haruno Sakura's head conveniently.
Sakura was instantly embarrassed and hurriedly ducked to dodge: "I'm not a child anymore...! Anyway, I'm leaving first, see you later!"
Looking downstairs, the Genin had come out of the exam venue one after another. The chattering and smiling Konohamaru and Moegi were particularly conspicuous in the crowd.
Team Haruno Sakura should regroup.
"See you later! Konohamaru and the others have come out." Kakashi waved his hand and said, "I heard cultivating Senjutsu is very dangerous... Pay attention to safety after going to Shikkotsu Forest, take care!"
Haruno Sakura also waved and jumped directly off the roof.
What made Haruno Sakura feel very awkward was that everyone seemed to have some misunderstanding. Whenever Sakura mentioned she was going to cultivate Senjutsu, everyone said words like Kakashi's...
Pay attention to safety, take care of your body, make sure to come back alive!
Making it seem like she wasn't going to Shikkotsu Forest, but to a mountain of swords and a sea of fire, never to return.
Take care...
My ass!
It's not like she's going to die.
Especially after the Chunin Exams ended, when friends saw her off, Ino cried her eyes out...
Leaving the girl with a head full of black lines.
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