Konohagakure
Sakura stared blankly at her teacher Tsunade's domineering declaration, and unconsciously averted her gaze.
The assembled ninjas below the Hokage Tower were also quite shocked, though some of the older ninjas shook their heads with a resigned sigh. They were familiar with Tsunade's temperament.
Afterward, Tsunade gave a long speech, rambling on and on. When she finished, the villagers cheered. After all, regardless of anything else, this new Hokage was recommended by the Third Hokage, and the villagers who respected the Third Hokage naturally respected his choice.
After the ceremony concluded, Sakura was about to leave and go home to catch up on sleep, but an Anbu member who suddenly appeared before her stopped her.
"Sakura Haruno, the Fifth Hokage requests your presence."
"Okay, I understand," Sakura replied to the masked Anbu messenger. "Karin, you go ahead and do what you need to."
"Okay," Karin replied, preparing to go to the Sealing Team when the Anbu surprisingly called out to her as well...
"Karin Uzumaki, the Fifth Hokage requests your presence as well."
"Huh? Karin too?" Sakura looked strangely towards the Hokage Tower but couldn't see Tsunade's figure. She turned to Karin and said, "Well, looks like there's no helping it. Let's go together, Karin."
"Okay, Sakura," Karin nodded and followed behind Sakura, heading towards the Hokage's office.
Karin instinctively felt a sense of closeness to the Fifth Hokage. Although it wasn't the same kind of warmth as the Third Hokage, at least there was no malice.
When Sakura brought Karin into the Hokage's office, she found Jiraiya and the Third Hokage were also present.
"Hmph, you're here," Tsunade said, looking at Sakura.
"Hehe, yeah. Did you need something, Master?" Sakura asked.
"We'll talk about your matter later," Tsunade said, turning her gaze to Karin. "Come a little closer."
Karin timidly replied, "Yes," and inched forward.
Tsunade carefully examined her and asked, "Your name is Karin Uzumaki?"
"Yes, Fifth Hokage-sama," Karin replied, still timid.
"Don't be afraid. I just want to ask you a few questions," Tsunade said. "Do you know any medical ninjutsu?"
"A little bit. Sakura taught me," Karin's eyes clearly flashed with fear, evidently having some psychological trauma related to anything medical.
The only reason Karin was willing to learn medical ninjutsu was because Sakura asked her to.
"You seem to be very afraid of medical ninjutsu?" Tsunade asked curiously, noticing the fear in Karin's eyes.
"No... I'm not..." Karin instinctively denied it. If she delved into the reason, it would inevitably lead to her special ability, and Karin didn't want too many people knowing her secret unless absolutely necessary.
Under Tsunade's persistent gaze, Karin unconsciously hid behind Sakura, seeking her protection.
"Master, Karin is averse to hospitals and things like that because of her special ability," Sakura directly revealed Karin's secret. Although Karin might not trust Tsunade, Sakura completely trusted everyone present.
After saying that, Sakura felt Karin's grip on her arm tighten.
"It's okay, don't be afraid," Sakura turned and patted Karin's hand, comforting her.
"Hmm, a special ability, I see," Tsunade thought for a moment, as if she'd thought of something, and then asked, "Karin Uzumaki, are you willing to learn medical ninjutsu from me?"
Huh? Sakura was stunned. Her master was taking on another disciple? And she wanted to take Karin...
"Uh.....I..." Karin nervously glanced at Tsunade, then at Sakura. Finally, she gritted her teeth and said, "I am willing."
Karin agreed because she trusted Sakura. If it were any other civilian, they would be ecstatic at the prospect of Tsunade personally taking them on as a disciple, perhaps even laughing in their sleep. But for Karin, it was as terrifying as a raging flood or a wild beast.
"Good. You don't need to go to the Sealing Team classes anymore," Tsunade nodded. "I'll teach you fuinjutsu myself."
"But.... The Third Hokage-sama... arranged that..." Karin said weakly.
"Karin, just learn medical ninjutsu from Tsunade. Tsunade can teach you fuinjutsu as well," the Third Hokage interjected.
"Hmph, you old man, are you satisfied now?" Tsunade said, turning her head.
"Cough, cough, it's all for the village. I appreciate your hard work," the Third Hokage said, somewhat embarrassed.
Sakura's later turn towards a combat-oriented style was something the Third Hokage hadn't anticipated. Among ninjas, combat-type ninjas were predominantly male, and even if there were female combat ninjas, they were extremely rare. Generally, female ninjas didn't engage in much direct combat.
And even though Sakura's talent was good, the only thing the Third Hokage could think of was to have Tsunade teach her, combining combat and medical skills. But even with Tsunade, her medical skills surpassed her combat skills.
However, unexpectedly, Sakura only learned the strengths of Tsunade's style at a mediocre level – mediocre by Tsunade's standards, of course. She was quite proficient in the ninjutsu that Tsunade used to support her combat, and later even synthesized her own Kekkei Genkai. This made the Third Hokage think of another person.
That person was Karin. Karin's constitution was suitable for learning both fuinjutsu and medical ninjutsu without much difficulty. Since Sakura had already developed into a combat-type ninja, the Third Hokage decided to have Tsunade cultivate another one. He couldn't let Tsunade's medical skills disappear from Konoha.
Perhaps Tsunade didn't have many thoughts about whether her skills could be passed down, but as the Third Hokage, who had toiled for the village his entire life, he couldn't watch the village's precious assets disappear. Therefore, he had to ask Tsunade to take on another disciple.
Tsunade initially refused. Although Sakura's learning was mediocre, she was still much stronger than ordinary medical ninjas and was fully capable of treating the sick and injured.
When she heard that the person the Third Hokage recommended was from the Uzumaki clan, Tsunade became interested. After all, the Senju and Uzumaki were distant relatives, and the Uzumaki clan no longer existed.
Since she had become Hokage, Tsunade was mentally prepared. At worst, she could just dump the teaching responsibilities on Sakura later.
"Haha, congratulations, Tsunade," Jiraiya said with a laugh.
"Tch," Tsunade ignored Jiraiya and turned to Sakura. "Now, let's talk about your situation."
"My situation?" Sakura said, confused.
"Let's put it this way: for the time being, you will be leading Team 7 on missions."
"Huh? Me? What about Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, surprised.
"He has other duties on the border for a while. It just so happens that you've been promoted to Chunin, and the village has seen an increase in requests, leaving us short-handed. So, you'll be leading the team to complete missions," Tsunade explained. "Once this busy period is over, we'll reassign you."
"Uh..... So, that means I'm taking Kakashi-sensei's place for now?" Sakura asked hesitantly.
"Yes, that's right. So, I'm entrusting Karin to you. She'll be temporarily assigned to Team 7," Tsunade confirmed.
"Karin?" Sakura suddenly had a bad feeling.
"I've just taken over as Hokage, and there are many things I need to handle. So, you'll take Karin with you and do some D-rank missions for now," Tsunade continued. "And while you're at it, teach her some basic medical ninjutsu."
Just as she'd feared... Sakura felt like crying. She thought she'd finally escaped D-rank missions and could do C-rank, or even B-rank missions, but Tsunade had just dumped Karin on her.
After the village was attacked, the number of mission requests suddenly increased, both from within the village and from surrounding small countries. Although Konoha had been attacked, it also showed the surrounding small countries Konoha's strength, so many missions were being entrusted to Konoha.
And because the surrounding small countries were entrusting their missions to Konoha, the surrounding ninja villages weren't happy. They were becoming restless at the borders, so the village's Jonin were sent to the border to maintain order.
And Tsunade, having just taken office, had a lot of things to deal with and didn't have time to teach a new disciple, so she threw her to Sakura.
Karin's current status was that of a Konoha Genin, but her situation was a bit awkward. She hadn't undergone systematic training. She knew some medical ninjutsu, fuinjutsu, and a smattering of theoretical knowledge. She couldn't be considered a Genin, but to say she wasn't a Genin, she was slightly better than one.
So, this was also an opportunity to let Karin gain some experience in carrying out ninja missions.
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