Chapter 431: Farewell
Although the feeling of being chest-bumped by a cute and beautiful soft girl was not bad, Haruno Sakura ruthlessly pushed Ino away from her embrace—
"Can you not wipe your snot on me?"
The pink-haired girl's face twitched, and blue veins faintly appeared on her large forehead.
"I'm going to train, not to die..." Haruno Sakura's tone was somewhat helpless.
"Based on past experience, the success rate of Senjutsu cultivation is less than ten percent," Sasuke calmly retorted, "In other words, nine out of ten ninja who cultivate Senjutsu will fail. The failing group even includes the brilliant Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato."
"And among the nine who failed, about four or five never returned to Konoha. This means the death rate of Senjutsu cultivation is as high as fifty percent!"
Sasuke's expression was very serious.
The astonishing death rate number also made the atmosphere of the farewell scene extremely depressing.
"Here's a piece of advice, Sakura." Sasuke stepped forward, looked at Haruno Sakura's face and said.
"Hm?"
Sakura had a faint smile on her face. Sasuke's line sounded full of some kind of déjà vu.
"Don't die."
Haruno Sakura beamed. The gloomy atmosphere seemed to dissipate in this bright smile.
"Rest assured."
She stepped forward and gently shook Sasuke's hand.
Warm. Powerful.
"I'm not the kind of person who dies easily." She let go, looked into Sasuke's eyes, and said seriously.
Perhaps some people would think she was overconfident, but Haruno Sakura truly believed she wouldn't be part of the fifty percent that never returned.
It's like scoring high enough to enter a top-tier university. Statistically, there might only be a ten percent probability, but for a true top student, it's a task with zero difficulty. The probability of achieving it is as high as 99.9%, with the remaining 0.1% left to getting hit by a car...
Haruno Sakura had such confidence.
When it was Hinata's turn, this broad-minded Byakugan girl said nothing and directly gave Sakura a big hug.
The even more magnificent chest-bump than Ino's directly suppressed all the words Haruno Sakura wanted to say.
Alright, don't talk, hug me, Haruno Sakura thought. It's better if everything is left unspoken.
"Take care!"
Hinata patted her back and said heavily.
When released by Hinata, Haruno Sakura still had a faint blush on her face—needless to say, it was definitely from being hugged too tightly and unable to breathe.
Only Haku's farewell was more normal, without being extremely vicious or overwhelming, let alone crushing Haruno Sakura breathless.
As for Kakashi, Tsunade, and others, they had already said their goodbyes in advance and did not come over today.
"Then, I'm setting off..." Haruno Sakura nodded to each of the friends seeing her off and said.
Then, she quickly formed seals with her hands and slammed her palm onto the ground. The summoning formula, thin as tadpoles, immediately extended from her palm with the movement of her chakra, quickly covering the entire training ground—
"Secret Technique: Summoning Jutsu!"
A giant slug with dark green patterns abruptly appeared on the training ground.
"Let's go, Katsuyu." Haruno Sakura stood high on Katsuyu's head and said lightly.
"Wait—! Sensei—!"
Like a scene often appearing in movies and TV series, just as Katsuyu was preparing to reverse summon back to Shikkotsu Forest, someone suddenly shouted loudly to Haruno Sakura from a street corner in the distance.
Sakura looked intently. The three people running and shouting in the distance were her three students: Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi.
"Wait a moment." Sakura quickly stopped Katsuyu's movement. Watching the three running over breathlessly at maximum speed, she couldn't help but be greatly surprised, "I told you last night, you don't need to come specially to see me off... why did you still come?"
Last night, Team Haruno Sakura held a dinner to celebrate the three students passing the Chunin Exam simultaneously.
—At the same time, it was also the disbandment dinner of Team Haruno Sakura.
All good things must come to an end. Team Kakashi (Team 7) was declared disbanded after members were promoted one after another or went on travels; Team Haruno Sakura was the same. The three students were all promoted to Chunin, indicating that the village recognized they had grown up, which meant Haruno Sakura was no longer needed to lead them in training and missions.
Therefore, Team Haruno Sakura was declared disbanded on that day.
The three students who heard the news were very lost, just like Sasuke and Naruto who learned that Team 7 was going to disband back then. Team Haruno Sakura made an exception and ordered a lot of sake. The three students drank non-stop, pulling Haruno Sakura to recall the shared past of this small team for a long time while drinking.
Just like Kakashi back then, at the last moment of Team Haruno Sakura's gathering, Sakura left each student with earnest teachings and sincere blessings.
The Ninja Academy taught them the basics, Haruno Sakura led them through the door, and if they wanted to go further, they would need to find a "master" to pass on the torch. This was the path they would take in the future.
Although they were together for only a short half-year, and although the missions Team Haruno Sakura experienced were not as exciting as Team 7's, the feelings and bonds between teacher and students were equally deep and meaningful.
When the dinner ended, Sakura was only slightly tipsy with a slightly red face, but the three students were drunk out of their minds and unconscious.
Haruno Sakura had told them not to come see her off; she also knew they probably wouldn't make it to this farewell after a hangover. But she didn't expect Konohamaru and the others to arrive anyway.
Sakura jumped down from Katsuyu's head, landed in front of the three students, looked at the three sweating profusely from rushing, and felt both secretly annoyed at their disobedience and a little touched in her heart.
"Sakura-sensei, this is for you!" Before his breathing calmed down, Konohamaru took out a wrapped small box from his pocket and handed it to Haruno Sakura.
"A parting gift?"
"Yes!" The three nodded in unison, "Sensei, open it quickly and take a look!"
Haruno Sakura opened the package and took out a pure white ceramic cup from the box.
Painted on the outer wall of the cup were Q-versions of four people. Konohamaru and the other two had big heads and small bodies, smiling brilliantly, standing in front; standing in the back row was Haruno Sakura, a head taller than the students, with big green eyes and shoulder-length pink hair. The expression on her face was the smile she often inadvertently showed, very vivid.
There was also a crooked sentence on it: "Team Haruno Sakura together forever!"
Haruno Sakura suddenly didn't know what to say.
What should be said was already finished last night. At this moment, silence spoke louder than a thousand words.
She blinked, feeling her eyes a bit sore.
"This is a cup we made ourselves." Konohamaru said. "I made it with Earth Style!" Moegi added. "I was responsible for drawing!" This was Udon. "I used Fire Style to bake the kiln!" Konohamaru said last.
"Thank you." Haruno Sakura put the cup away into the scroll for storing luggage and said solemnly, "This gift... I like it very much."
"Team Haruno Sakura together forever!"
The three students said loudly.
The pink-haired girl squatted slightly and hugged the three students tightly.
"Team Haruno Sakura, never disbanded."
Her head rested against Moegi's head, hair rubbing against hair, while her arms were around Konohamaru and Udon's shoulders, smiling as she spoke.
"Time to go."
After a long while, Katsuyu said.
"Hn." Haruno Sakura raised her head, her gaze passing over the faces of her friends and students one by one, "Then, goodbye, everyone."
As soon as the words fell, Katsuyu activated the Reverse Summoning Jutsu, taking Haruno Sakura away from Konoha.
Crossing a distance of thousands of kilometers, traversing half the planet, the Summoning Jutsu brought Haruno Sakura to Shikkotsu Forest.
The magnificent scenery seen once before was displayed in front of the girl again.
"Is it Haruno Sakura... I have been waiting for you for a long time."
The Slug Sage's voice came from the sky, as loud as thunder in the clouds, rumbling and extending, shaking the heavens and the earth.
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