Iruka was helpless; he only knew he couldn't let the students overthink things. Bringing everyone back to school and giving them a test would surely stabilize their emotions!
He mouthed "ramen" to Naruto, and Naruto, who had been completely unwilling, changed his attitude drastically and started cleaning up like a gust of wind.
"Sasuke, are you alright? Do you need me to take you to the hospital?" Iruka asked.
Sasuke's body and spirit were very weak, and he wanted to lie down immediately, but his personality wouldn't allow him to faint, nor would he condescend to explain. At this moment, he could only force himself to stand.
"No need! I'm fine!"
Injured? Impossible! I wasn't injured at all!
Ino also apologized to Shikamaru and the others. Given her condition, Amaguriama's 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 her Chakra was depleted, making her face as white as paper, and she desperately needed rest. The latter was covered in blood, swaying as he walked. His willpower was strong, but his body couldn't hold up; at the very least, his wounds needed to be treated. Asking them to return to the classroom to take a test now? That would be murder!
Iruka didn't force them. He left Naruto to clean up the battlefield, instructed Hinata to take Ino home, and then asked Sasuke again. Finding the boy exceptionally stubborn, he could only watch Sasuke limp off alone down the path.
In the classroom, Sakura kept looking back at Ino and Sasuke's empty seats, feeling sad! Aggrieved! And even more hateful of her own powerlessness! Unknowingly, her tears had soaked her test paper.
Ino, don't you like Sasuke? Why did you strike so mercilessly?
Sasuke, don't you know Ino likes you? Why did you fight her to that extent?
Is winning and losing really that important to you?
The twelve-year-old girl couldn't understand. She thought and thought, and in the end, she realized she didn't understand Ino at all, nor did she understand Sasuke. Their performance today was so unfamiliar. It was ridiculous that she had thought she understood them before.
Now? She felt like an outsider, an unnecessary person.
She cried at her desk for half the class, turning in a blank paper for the first time in all her years of schooling.
She hadn't written a single word on the paper, and spent half the day like a zombie. After school, she returned home with her backpack.
After casually answering her parents, she took out a scroll from the bottom drawer of her desk. This scroll concealed the "First Hokage's treasure."
Before, she had been busy studying. While Ino was absent, she had fiercely taken first place several times and hadn't paid attention to the treasure. Now, she was very confused and could only hope that this scroll contained the answers she needed.
According to the scroll's records, she found the so-called treasure's burial site in a small cave in the Village's back mountain.
Using the Kunai she carried, she dug furiously and soon unearthed another scroll from the bottom of the pit.
It was similar in style to the previous scroll, but there was a character "first time" (chū, meaning 'first') on the side of the scroll.
With immense hope, she trembled as she opened the scroll.
The handwriting that met her eyes made her pause.
"Greetings, descendant of Konoha Village. I am the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama. On that day in the Valley of the End, I fought XXXX. Later, I succumbed to my injuries... Actually, I didn't die, but have been in a deep sleep. Now, I am about to awaken!"
Even though Sakura was full of vexation, she was startled by the information on the scroll. Good heavens?! The First Hokage was still alive?!
There was a deliberately smudged name on the scroll, and she didn't know who it was. She was a little curious but still unrolled the scroll to continue reading.
"Descendant of Konoha Village, my revival requires money. As long as you deposit money into the account below, after I revive, I will grant you a corresponding position based on the amount of your donation. The highest is Hokage Advisor, and the lowest is Chunin!"
The First Hokage revived and then appointed her as Hokage Advisor?
Sakura's eyes filled with hope. If she became a Hokage Advisor, she could stop meaningless battles like those between Ino and Sasuke, couldn't she?
After the excitement, she quickly calmed down. The reason for her calm was very real: she had no money!
She noticed there was more writing on the back of the scroll and quickly unrolled it to continue reading.
The scroll read, "If you have no money, that's also fine. I am the First Hokage, and I follow 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 be used 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 forcibly break.
Sakura didn't understand Sealing Technique and had no idea how to break it.
The scroll stated simply that after depositing the money into that account, she would receive a letter the next day containing the release method for this Sealing Technique.
Sakura was very hesitant. She didn't have much pocket money, but fortunately, her usual expenses were small. Five thousand ryo... She thought about it repeatedly. Her entire savings seemed to be exactly five thousand ryo?!
She looked at the scroll up, down, left, and right several times. Could this scroll read minds? How did it know she had exactly five thousand ryo?
Sakura worried it was a scam, but she didn't want to give up this opportunity. Seeing how serious the scroll made it sound, with phrases like "extremely important" and "affecting one's entire life," she felt that if she gave up, she would be the one losing the most!
She gritted her teeth and went for it! For Sasuke!
She would get this training method and give it to Sasuke! Let Sasuke learn this method, and next time, he could thoroughly beat Ino!
Returning home, she took out all her savings and deposited them into the secret account on the scroll.
Then began an agonizing wait. The next day after school, she indeed found a letter in her mailbox.
Sakura hadn't learned Sealing Technique, and the sender hadn't intended to teach her. This "extremely important," "life-affectaffecting" training method was written directly in the letter.
"Tree climbing? What kind of training method is this?" She looked closely and found this training method to be utterly unheard of.
"Control your Chakra, then gather Chakra at your feet, and use adhesion to firmly stick yourself to a tree, then climb up step by step?"
The letter also listed numerous benefits of this training. Sakura looked, and wow, there were eighteen of them! Things like increasing Chakra control and increasing Chakra extraction speed seemed reasonable, but effects like skin whitening, breast enhancement, and improved posture seemed a bit strange. Was this training really that powerful?
The letter also included an explanation: if she deposited another ten thousand ryo into that account, the sender would send an even more important training method.
Sakura had no money left! She wouldn't think about that "even more important" training method for a while. For now, she would start this tree-climbing training. If it was effective, she would recommend it to Sasuke!