Chapter 99: I've Heard Great Things About You, Haruno Sakura
No matter how much they gossiped behind her back, it couldn't harm a single hair on Sakura's head.
Therefore, she had always treated it as nothing more than a spring breeze brushing past her face.
However, if she were to mention words like "human experiments" in her report, those rumors and gossip would probably take the opportunity to stir up trouble. Sakura never believed that the contents of a private letter wouldn't be leaked. Heh...
Konoha was not a place where the Hokage's word was law; the political waters ran very deep. If a storm were to truly brew at that time, not to mention Danzo, even those high-ranking officials, and even the two Hokage advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, might want to take the opportunity to stir up some trouble and take a shot at the Hokage's faction. It wasn't impossible.
In Konoha's political system, the Hokage's advisors and the Hokage's faction could not truly be considered to be on the same side. These were things that Sakura had gradually begun to understand after being taken in as Tsunade's disciple and being considered a member of the Hokage's faction.
Sakura hesitated again and again, putting her pen down several times only to pick it up again.
"Sigh!" In the end, she let out a sigh. She was unwilling to step into this muddy pit, so she had no choice but to put down her pen and put away the scroll.
Taking the scrolls with her, the young girl went straight to the Hokage's office.
She walked directly to the office door, and no one stopped her—as the Hokage's disciple, she still had the privilege of visiting the Hokage at any time.
Just as she was about to push the door open, Tsunade's lazy and somewhat hoarse voice came from behind the door: "Is that Sakura? Don't come in, wait a moment. There's a meeting in here. If you have something, you can come back after this is over!"
Just as Sakura was about to retreat, she heard an old, hard, and unfamiliar voice say, "No matter. Lord Fifth Hokage, there's still a little time before the meeting starts. Let your disciple come in and speak!"
Then she recognized the voice of the Third Hokage, his tone the usual gentle and kind one he used with Konoha's younger generation: "That's fine. Sakura, you can come in."
Sakura frowned slightly. The ones speaking were clearly important figures, but she had no impression of the old man's voice in the middle and didn't know who he was.
With a hint of doubt, Sakura pushed the door open and entered.
Standing by the door with a pipe in his mouth, puffing away, was the small and thin figure of the Third Hokage, whom she was familiar with. She quickly bowed her head in respect. "Good afternoon, Lord Third Hokage."
Next was Tsunade, sitting behind the desk, half her face obscured by a mountain of documents. Sakura could vaguely see the faint dark circles under her eyes. She must not have rested well since taking over as the Fifth Hokage. The girl continued to nod and greet her, "Good afternoon, Master."
Finally, there was the third person in the room. His head was wrapped in thick bandages, tightly covering one of his eyes. He turned his head, and the one exposed eye squinted, its vulture-like, sinister gaze landing on Sakura. A gloomy presence suddenly enveloped the girl.
The man sized Sakura up with a scrutinizing gaze and said slowly, "You're Haruno Sakura, are you?"
His voice sounded like dry, rotting wood, withered and hoarse, carrying an air of decay.
As a transmigrator, Sakura of course recognized that this old man, who was filled with the aura of a superior just by standing there, was Danzo.
However, Sakura was "supposed" to not know him. Therefore, she just nodded and looked at Danzo with a trace of confusion. "Yes, I am. And you are...?"
"I am Danzo. I have heard great things about you, Haruno Sakura..." Danzo said meaningfully.
Without realizing it, Sakura's brow had already furrowed slightly. Her current height was 163cm (Note), not much shorter than the 170cm Danzo, but the way he looked at her was from a high and mighty, condescending perspective.
This was an extremely hard-line person.
Sakura had not come to this conclusion based on the manga from her previous life, but from the man's expression, actions, and words.
The seemingly polite greeting was even more pregnant with hidden meaning.
As the leader of Root, to say to a ninja with ulterior motives that he had heard great things about them was, in Sakura's eyes, almost equivalent to saying, "We've been watching you for a long time."
Sakura believed that she had always acted openly and aboveboard, without any ulterior motives, and was not the kind of sneaky transmigrator. As a pure and upright child of Konoha, she, Haruno Sakura, could withstand scrutiny and was not afraid of being watched by any person or any organization.
However, to be told such a thing to her face was, in any case, an unpleasant matter. To be able to say such a thing—even if Danzo might not think Sakura could understand—could undoubtedly be seen as a small show of force.
If Orochimaru was a venomous snake hidden in a dark corner of the woods, waiting for an opportunity to devour people, then the feeling Danzo gave Sakura was like a giant crocodile hidden deep in a muddy swamp, its body covered in mud, waiting covetously for its prey.
In her previous life on the internet, how did people describe this person? Sakura had already forgotten a lot, but now she could recall it.
"It's an honor to meet you, Lord Danzo," Sakura said faintly, bowing slightly.
Being pressured and probed by Danzo's presence and words, although she was dissatisfied in her heart, she couldn't act out in front of the three great figures. So she just responded politely, without any meaning of dissatisfaction.
From the outside, one could not in any way say that this girl was being disrespectful.
But magically, Danzo, as well as Tsunade and the Third who were present, could not in any way see any meaning of respect from Sakura.
Her clear and cold tone, the way she slightly narrowed her eyes and lowered her eyelids, the slight curve of her lips, her graceful and independent posture, and even her hands, which were folded and placed on her abdomen.
And even the ice-cold chakra hidden beneath her quiet exterior.
Sakura would certainly not choose to have a direct conflict with Danzo—the two Hokage would not support her in doing so either. Not only could she not conflict with him, but she also had to show the etiquette of a subordinate to a superior.
But she also had the ability to express an emotion, a response to Danzo's suppression of a junior.
The Third Hokage took a deep drag of his pipe, smacked his lips, and turned his head to look out the window, as if a white cloud on the horizon had suddenly caught his interest.
Tsunade, as if suddenly sleepy, yawned, leaned back, and changed to a more comfortable position, lying on the high-backed office chair.
Only Danzo, his face as unmoving as if carved from a stubborn rock, showed not a trace of expression in his turbid eyes.
And Sakura herself suddenly felt that her throat was very dry.
The air suddenly became quiet.
A light breeze blew into the office, lifting the clean white curtains and rustling through the documents on the desk.
It also stirred a strand of black hair on Danzo's forehead.
His expression finally moved. His eyes, which seemed to be forever half-closed, opened slightly for an instant, and then returned to the stillness of a steadfast rock. Sakura looked at him, unable to guess what this man was thinking at this moment.
After a good while, as if he had just remembered that he had not yet returned Sakura's greeting, he gave her an almost imperceptible nod.
As if a switch had been flipped, the air suddenly began to flow again.
Tsunade, who had returned to a proper sitting posture at some point, asked Sakura, "Alright, what did you come here for?"
Sakura took two steps forward and handed over the scroll. "Master, the Ice Clone has been successfully developed. This is its ultimate principles scroll."
"And this," she took out another scroll and handed it to Tsunade, "is a summary of the R&D problems of the new ninjutsu. Please have a look."
Tsunade took the first scroll, glanced at it casually after opening it, and then put it aside. Then she took the second scroll. "Is it the one based on the Body Pathway Derangement?"
Seeing Sakura nod, she put down the scroll and said, "Alright, leave the things with me for now. I'll find time to look at the second scroll. After I've answered your questions, I'll have Shizune send it to you."
"The Ice Clone?" the Third Hokage suddenly interjected. "That ninjutsu, has it already been successfully developed?"
Sakura nodded and smiled, "Yes, it was all completed this morning. The materials you gave me were very inspiring."
"Hehe... even without those materials, you would have been able to develop it sooner or later. This kind of ninjutsu is not difficult for you," the Third Hokage said with a smile and a wave of his hand, not taking any credit.
He walked over to Tsunade's desk, took the Ice Clone scroll, and began to read it.
The Third Hokage, known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, had reached the pinnacle of his attainments in the field. Many of Haruno Sakura's ninjutsu had received his guidance. The Third also had a share of the credit in the R&D of this Ice Clone ninjutsu.
"A clone jutsu of Ice Style? That's a good line of thought. Your idea is...?" the Third Hokage had said at that time. That was not long after the end of the Chunin Exams. The Third Hokage had just recovered, and when Sakura was visiting him, they had chatted for a while and had touched upon the topic of the ice clone.
"To develop an Ice Style clone with reference to the Shadow Clone? It's not a bad method, but just that is not enough to fully tap the potential of a Kekkei Genkai clone jutsu." At that time, the Third Hokage's body was still a bit weak, but he was still in high spirits and full of vigor, not at all like an old man who had just recovered from a serious injury.
Holding his pipe with his only remaining left hand, he tapped it on the table again and again. Amidst the swirling smoke, the old man seemed to fall into a reminiscence. "Speaking of powerful and practical clone jutsu, the First Hokage Hashirama Senju's Wood Clone is number one. The clones created using the Kekkei Genkai Wood Style, compared to ordinary elemental clones and shadow clones, are stronger in combat, have a higher similarity to the original body, and have an absolute advantage in all attributes."
He had opened up, reminiscing about his youthful years, talking about the glorious past of fighting alongside the First and Second Hokage, chattering on like an ordinary old man.
Finally, he concluded, "Ice Style is also a Kekkei Genkai, and in principle, it is on the same level as Wood Style. If the Wood Clone is used as a reference, the power of the developed ice clone will surely be comparable to the Wood Clone and far surpass other types of clone jutsu. Of course, the power of a ninjutsu varies from person to person. The First Hokage..."
The Third fell silent, as if in memory of something, and stopped talking.
And so the topic of the ice clone ended there.
On that day, when she was leaving, the Third had given Sakura the ultimate principles scroll of Hashirama Senju's Wood Clone.
This was the reason why Sakura had specifically mentioned the Wood Clone in her scroll.
While Sakura was briefly recalling the previous scene, the Third Hokage had already reviewed the Ice Clone ultimate principles scroll that Sakura had submitted with extreme speed. He smiled and nodded, clearly very satisfied with the new ninjutsu that Sakura had developed.
"Sakura, demonstrate the ice clone here for us. Let us broaden our horizons," the Third said kindly with narrowed eyes. "A Kekkei Genkai clone, we haven't seen one of those in a long time!"
(Note: In the official databooks, Haruno Sakura is only 161cm by the final battle. Here, Sakura's height is 163cm because her physical development has been positively stimulated by Ice Style.
That being said, a girl being a little taller is better looking than being short.)
(Danzo is a very contradictory character. What I've written might be a slight deviation from the original, this is considering that the Third didn't die, and Danzo's ambition hasn't swelled that much yet.)
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