"I'm here to help!"
On top of the Hokage Office building, Sakura landed in front of five Anbu members, her voice carrying a hint of exhaustion.
She was a bit tired, but still within her limits.
The leading Anbu member looked at her, quickly formed a hand seal to confirm her identity, and then let out a breath of relief.
"Sakura-sama, it's great to have you here."
As Tsunade's student, calling her "Sakura-sama" was only natural.
Sakura nodded, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and stepped into the center of the medical team. Without wasting any words, she formed a hand seal with both hands, sat down in the middle of the protective barrier, and channeled her chakra into it.
The surrounding medical ninjas all let out a sigh of relief.
There was no other choice. The Strength of a Hundred Healing Jutsu had strict requirements. Even if some of the medical ninjas had stronger healing abilities than Sakura, when it came to this jutsu, only Tsunade and Sakura could maintain it alone in all of Konohagakure. Anyone else would burn through their chakra too quickly.
A faint green light burst from the barrier as Sakura's expression grew serious.
"Summoning Jutsu: Katsuyu!"
With a cloud of smoke, a massive slug, as large as Manda, suddenly appeared in front of the Hokage's office. Its enormous body loomed over the ground, creating an overwhelming presence just by being there.
The giant slug lowered its head slightly, looking at Sakura on the rooftop. Its two tentacle-like eyes curved as if smiling.
"Sakura-chan, so you'll be maintaining the Strength of a Hundred Healing Jutsu this time?"
"Yes, Katsuyu-sama," Sakura replied with a small nod, keeping her hands in the seal position. "Please split yourself and provide healing to Konohagakure's ninjas. I will supply you with chakra from here."
Katsuyu gazed at her with a hint of concern.
"That won't be a problem, but Sakura-chan, your Yin Seal isn't fully charged yet. Are you sure you can use so much chakra at a time like this?"
If the Yin Seal wasn't fully charged before drawing chakra from it, all previous efforts would be wasted, and she would have to start gathering energy from scratch.
Sakura understood this well, but she simply smiled and shook her head.
"It's fine. The entire medical team is here. I'm just a conduit to transfer chakra to you. In reality, the chakra maintaining the jutsu comes from everyone."
Katsuyu tilted her head slightly.
"Please don't worry, Katsuyu-sama," an elderly man nearby said in a firm voice. "We won't let the hard work of our young medical ninjas go to waste. Sakura is a genius in medical ninjutsu."
Sakura let out a shy laugh.
Hearing this, Katsuyu gave a slight nod.
"I understand. Then I'll handle the healing."
As soon as she finished speaking, Katsuyu's massive body suddenly split into countless smaller slugs, each about the size of a human head. They spread out in all directions, moving seemingly slowly but reaching different parts of the battlefield with surprising speed to heal the injured ninjas.
Seeing this, Sakura quietly let out a breath of relief.
The Strength of a Hundred Healing Jutsu had two main requirements. First, it needed Katsuyu-sama's summoning, and second, it required a massive amount of chakra. That's why only Tsunade and Sakura could perform it in all of Konohagakure. The role of the medical team was to make up for the enormous chakra demand.
Even with the medical team's support, Sakura could only sustain Katsuyu's division at this small scale. If Tsunade were doing it, Katsuyu could split into even larger forms, as big as a person, and cover the entire village in healing at once.
Simply put, she wasn't strong enough yet.
Sakura took a deep breath, her determination growing stronger.
On the battlefield, one by one, the smaller Katsuyu slugs crawled onto the shoulders of wounded ninjas. Despite their small size, they provided healing comparable to that of a high-level medical ninja, astonishing everyone.
The older generation of ninjas watched the younger ones' expressions of amazement and couldn't help but chuckle.
"This is the battlefield healing technique that Tsunade-sama is so proud of. It can treat tens of thousands of ninjas at the same time. Back in the war days, Konohagakure won countless battles thanks to this technique."
"I never thought I'd get to see this again in my lifetime," one middle-aged ninja said with deep emotion.
A young ninja, looking somewhat dazed, glanced at the slugs tirelessly providing healing and then at the battlefield in the distance.
"But… isn't Tsunade-sama fighting on the front lines right now?"
The two older ninjas froze for a moment before instinctively turning their eyes toward Tsunade, who was battling Pain in the distance.
Then they both stopped in their tracks.
This… is a little awkward.
"Could it be the medical team?" one of the younger ninjas asked hesitantly.
"No, that's impossible," one of the older ninjas shook his head. "Only Tsunade-sama can summon Katsuyu-sama. Not just any medical ninja can gain her recognition. The one using this technique right now must be Tsunade-sama's student."
One of the older ninjas thought for a moment.
"I remember… it was a girl. Her name was… Haruno… Sakura?"
"Yes! That's her!" another ninja exclaimed in surprise. "I never expected even Tsunade-sama's disciple could already do this…"
"A healing technique of this level… I remember she's still just a young girl, right?"
"Impressive."
"Tsunade-sama finally has a successor."
The burst of chakra made Sakura's pink hair sway, glowing under the morning sun. A slug, about the size of a human head, rested on her shoulder, watching as she closed her eyes and maintained her jutsu. The excited voices of the frontline shinobi filled the air, and for a moment, the slug couldn't help but smile.
The first time they met, Sakura had been a timid girl, crying as she stood before the slug, saying she wanted to change.
And now, she was standing in front of it again—not as someone who needed protection, but as someone others could rely on. She had grown into a dependable kunoichi.
"This is nice..." the slug murmured with a smile.
Sakura paused for a second and opened her eyes. "Katsuyu-sama, did you just say something?"
Katsuyu shook its head. "No, nothing at all."
Sakura gave it a curious look but didn't press further. If Katsuyu said it was nothing, then that was that.
She closed her eyes again, focusing all her energy on maintaining the large-scale healing technique. She couldn't afford any mistakes—right now, she was responsible for the entire medical effort in Konoha.
Katsuyu continued to smile sweetly.
Boom—
Tsunade's fist smashed into the ground once again. As the earth shook and cracked, she seemed to sense something and stopped her attack, turning her head.
A slug, about the size of a human head, crawled out from a crack in the ground. Under Tsunade's serious gaze, it slowly climbed onto her shoulder.
The slug tilted its head and spoke, "Tsunade-sama, Sakura has begun large-scale healing. At this stage, all Konoha shinobi have started receiving treatment. We will maintain this until the battle ends."
"Good." Tsunade nodded, a rare smile appearing on her usually stern face. "I knew Sakura wouldn't let me down."
Even though the slug was still small, the fact that it could manage such a large-scale healing effort meant Sakura was already on par with Tsunade's younger self at fifteen.
"Hah, looks like I have a good eye for choosing disciples." Tsunade nodded proudly.
In the distance, five of Pain's bodies lay among the ruins. As he surveyed the destruction, Deva Path's eye twitched slightly.
"This woman has caused more destruction than we have… Is she really the Hokage? Why does it feel like she's fighting without holding back, while I'm the one being careful?"
This was her village. And yet, she was going crazier in battle than him.
It just didn't make sense.
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