Chapter 586: Sakura Uchiha's Arrangement (Part 2)
Tsunade only found it funny, waving her hand and saying: "Looking at me like that is useless, sit properly."
The girl hurriedly sat up straight, obediently placing her hands on her knees.
"Before you guys returned, Sakura—Haruno Sakura—communicated with me twice using Katsuyu, explaining your situation. She and I discussed the arrangements for you." Tsunade took out two letters from her drawer and said sternly, "Do you want to hear her suggestions?"
"Mhm!" The girl nodded repeatedly.
"First, you can use the Dragon Vein energy in the Rouran ruins to travel to another worldline and become the only Sakura Uchiha in that other world."
Sakura Uchiha's expression changed. She could accept this condition; at least it was better than being imprisoned by the original body and losing her freedom. With her strength, she might even be able to become a tyrant in another world, hehehe...
She nodded secretly and continued to sit quietly, waiting for Tsunade to go on.
"Second, you can temporarily operate as an Anbu, slowly adjusting your ninjutsu and physical features, and later take off the mask and become an ordinary ninja under a different identity."
This one is also good, the girl thought to herself. The original is so good to me!
Both are very good. So, which one to choose?
Sakura Uchiha thought for a moment and was about to state her answer when Tsunade raised her hand to interrupt her: "Don't rush to give your answer just yet."
"Before making a choice, your Sakura-kun has some demands for you!"
She pulled out a piece of paper from the envelope, covered in densely packed text; Sakura Uchiha felt a sudden chill on her scalp upon seeing it.
She took the piece of paper from Tsunade and slowly read the text aloud:
"First, given the current situation in the ninja world, you must serve the village and myself, Haruno Sakura, as a Konoha ninja for a period of time, primarily assisting with combat and guard duties." (The girl secretly curled her lips: I knew it.)
"Second, during this period, when I am not in the village for a while due to secluded training or other reasons, you must appear as Haruno Sakura to prevent foreign enemies from taking the opportunity to invade." (The girl secretly rolled her eyes: Hehe, wants to travel to other worlds to play again.)
"Appendix: When operating under my identity, you must observe the following:"
"One, pay attention to maintaining my external image. Do not wear strange clothes, strictly prohibit colorful non-mainstream styles, wear skirts less often, especially miniskirts shorter than 10cm, prohibited, prohibited, prohibited!"
"..."
Below that, a full 8 items were written, meticulously restraining Sakura Uchiha down to the smallest detail.
"Hmph," the girl curled her lips disapprovingly. "It's not like you're the one exposing yourself, what are you so nervous about, you old spinster nun!"
However, a final line was added at the bottom of the paper: "If you violate this, you will be personally taught a lesson by the original. If you repeatedly refuse to change, your self-consciousness might be erased!" The instant she saw this sentence, the girl's arrogance vanished without a trace, and she no longer dared to belittle that thin sheet of white paper.
I knew it would be like this! Sakura Uchiha helplessly put away the paper, pouting and criticizing the original in her mind, feeling that she would sooner or later be squeezed dry of her last drop of utility value by the cunning Sakura...
But when she put away that piece of paper, she still couldn't help but feel a wave of relaxation all over her body.
Tsunade smiled secretly to the side. Seeing her put away the paper without daring to raise protests or objections, she said: "Recently, Sakura will be in secluded training in the Shikkotsu Forest, so you will temporarily operate under Haruno Sakura's identity! Remember to walk around the village a few times so people see your presence, sending a signal to the outside world—especially Akatsuki—that after fighting Pain, Haruno Sakura is not dead, she has returned!"
"Yes!"
Sakura Uchiha bowed respectfully.
...
The distant Shikkotsu Forest.
On the tranquil lake surface, rosy clouds steamed and colorful mist rose, looking just like a fairyland.
Among several towering ancient trees, covered by lingering thin, veil-like mist, an unimaginably gigantic mollusk was quietly lying in the lake water.
That giant translucent creature was exactly Katsuyu the Slug Sage, of unknown age.
On its pink back, through the translucent body, a naked young girl could be seen lying quietly inside the slug, having fallen into a deep, profound sleep.
She had a slender figure and clean features. Her smooth pink hair was scattered inside the slug's gelatinous body, like a sleeping princess.
This girl was the original Haruno Sakura.
The evening sun was already setting in the west. Dappled sunlight passed through the dense leaves, and one beam happened to land on Haruno Sakura's face, turning her snow-white cheeks golden.
Abruptly, Sakura's eyelashes trembled slightly, and a pair of eyes as clear as emeralds suddenly opened.
"Ah. I'm awake."
She crawled out of the slug's body, and the mucus on her body dried in the wind.
"The final deep treatment is finished."
She stretched her limbs, feeling the changes in her body, and said calmly.
"How do you feel?"
Katsuyu the Slug Sage's resonant voice rumbled.
The girl smiled faintly, carrying intense confidence between her brows: "I feel... relaxed like never before!"
As if her entire body had been reborn!
No, it should be said that this kind of treatment by Katsuyu—penetrating deep into the bone marrow, reaching every single cell, healing everything from new injuries to deeply hidden old injuries and hidden traumas—inherently carried the flavor of "being reborn"!
Ten days of deep treatment meant Haruno Sakura had lain inside the slug's body for a full ten days!
Ever since graduating from the Ninja Academy, she had never experienced such a long period of rest. This treatment could actually be considered a rest, allowing the body named Haruno Sakura to release its tense combat stance. It was like a machine that had been running at high speed for a long time finally stopping, being cleaned, polished, and having lubricating oil added, to radiate new combat power.
Not just some subtle physical changes; more importantly, it was the new realm of Water Release she had comprehended after a major battle and a long period of secluded training.
"I even grew two centimeters taller."
She condensed an ice mirror and examined her naked self in the mirror.
The Ice Release chakra was still transforming her genes, prompting the girl to grow towards a more perfect state.
But with the deepening of her Water Release realm, this time, the influence of Water Release chakra seemed to have been added as well.
What about her power?
Haruno Sakura forcefully gathered her ki. Her chakra responded to her thoughts, and the surging energy instantly exploded and overflowed, turning into a momentum as heavy as a mountain!
Boom—!
The lake water surged, and giant waves rolled!
Haruno Sakura's hair scattered behind her head, floating up strand by strand. The tips of her toes barely touched the ground, looking like a goddess ascending.
With a single thought, she disrupted the peace of the Shikkotsu Forest!
"Alright, alright," Katsuyu the Slug Sage hurriedly said. "Do you want to destroy this place?"
It turned its head, looking at the girl letting out a long breath, its tone a bit complicated.
"Oh my... in just such a short time."
"You've become stronger again."