Double-transformation: I, Sakura Haruno! Will crush the pirates!

Tsunade arrived with Shizune and Jiraiya, who happened to be returning to the village, and saw Sakura standing innocently in the middle of the scene.

Why is it that you're always the one causing trouble?

Tsunade stepped forward with a hint of annoyance and gently tapped Sakura's forehead.

"Trust me, Tsunade, I'd also like to know the answer to this question."

Sakura playfully stuck out her tongue, hugged Tsunade's arm, and nuzzled her master affectionately.

"Traces of natural energy... this guy is using Sage Chakra?"

After examining the girl lying in the pit, Jiraiya approached them.

"Let's go, let's take this guy back first!"

Chapter 261 The Holy Land's Invitation and the Twisted Fate of Class Seven

Inside the dark dungeon, ten chains, each bearing a sealing spell, tightly bound a large white serpent.

Black patterns spread across her body, suppressing her absorption of external energy and hindering her extraction of her own chakra.

"Shout!"

Upon opening its eyes, it found itself bound like a large white snake and immediately began to struggle.

Its thick tail slammed against the iron cage in the dungeon, making a loud noise that startled the ninja guarding it, who hurriedly ran out to report.

Before long, four or five figures stepped onto the damp stone steps of the dungeon and walked to the front of the cell.

"Stop trying. The chains on you were specially arranged by Fukasaku based on the flow of natural energy within your body." Seeing Orochi still trying to break through the seal on his body, Jiraiya laughed.

"That wretched toad!"

The enormous snake head lunged towards them, kicking up a cloud of dust. "Damn it, let us go, or Ryuchi Cave will never forgive you!"

"So, what brings the sage from Ryuchi Cave to Konoha?"

Tsunade stepped forward and spoke on behalf of Konoha, "Konoha may decide whether to wage war against Ryuchi Cave based on the circumstances of any ninja who attacks our village!"

Even if Ryuchi-dong is high above and ranks among the holy sites, so what?

Now we live in the age of humans. No matter how powerful a holy land may be, it would be easily slaughtered by any one of the five great nations.

This is why, despite possessing cultivation methods that harness natural energy and having powerful immortals, the three holy lands still reluctantly open spirit communication contracts, absorbing talented humans to share their immortal power.

"Tch..." The serpent's imposing aura immediately deflated. "I am Princess Ichikishima. My sudden visit is due to my eagerness to see the dragon. Please forgive me!"

"Oh, so you can speak properly after all?"

Sakura reached into the cell to tease the giant snake, which, enraged, repeatedly clashed its fangs against the girl's arm.

Sparks flew as they ignited in the dimly lit dungeon, leaving Tsunade and Jiraiya speechless.

"dragon??"

Sasuke, realizing what was happening, shuddered and mechanically turned his head towards Orochi, raising a finger to point at himself.

Who is the dragon? Me?

"Yes, yes, it's you!"

Princess Ichikishima's enormous snake head nodded repeatedly, and her ferocious snake mouth was forcing out a smile.

"But I am not a dragon, just a lucky one who obtained this power."

Sasuke had already turned to Sakura with dead fish eyes, his resentful gaze darting back and forth on the girl.

As expected, everything this seemingly innocent but actually cunning person provides comes at a price; the only difference is whether it arrives early or late.

"The White Snake Sage of Ryuchi Cave has heard about your story and is eager to see you. Please do come to Ryuchi Cave!"

Princess Ichikishima eagerly leaned her head against the cell bars, her large eyes fixed on Sasuke.

"What a realistic snake. It didn't have this attitude when it came before."

Sakura pretended not to see Sasuke's gaze and pulled her hand back from the cell.

Princess Ichikishima felt no psychological burden whatsoever, exhaling two puffs of white mist from her nostrils. "The law of the jungle is the nature of living beings, and it is also the principle of Ryuchi Cave."

Tsunade, who had been deep in thought for a long time, made a gesture to the group in front of them.

He led them out of the dungeon and onto the sunlit surface.

The moment Sakura stepped onto the ground, Tsunade's iron clamps gripped the soft flesh of her face.

"I usually don't care about your little secrets, but this time it involves the village and the sacred land of immortal arts, you have to give me an explanation!"

When the dragon appeared in Sunagakure, Team 7 made no attempt to conceal it. As the information leaked out, various organizations in Konoha naturally got their hands on it immediately.

It wasn't that no one in the village wanted to question Team 7 about this, but Tsunade suppressed all such dirty tricks with her own strength, and even argued with the two old men in the political office several times.

However, the current situation is special, and as the Hokage, Tsunade still needs to understand some details to determine whether this matter will harm the village.

"Okay, okay!" Sakura grabbed Tsunade's hand and broke free from the iron clamps.

“I gave them both a secret treasure that allows the user to gain an extra ability without any side effects. You can think of it as a non-heritable bloodline limit.”

"hiss!"

Jiraiya and Tsunade's eyes widened upon hearing this, and they both gasped.

Gaining bloodline limit, no side effects...

These words may not seem like much on their own, but when put together, they can drive any organization in the ninja world crazy.

"The secret treasure must absolutely not be revealed!"

Recovering from the shock, Tsunade looked around at the three people present, finally stopping on Sakura. "Make up an excuse to fool those old fogies!"

"Simple, just say it's a further development of Orochimaru's technique~"

Sakura shrugged, revealing a mischievous smile. "Tell them the prerequisite is the Eight-Headed Serpent Technique. Those who want to learn it can go ahead~"

Konoha also has techniques that can turn people into mythical beasts, and the most classic one is fully recorded in the Book of Seals of Konoha.

Access to that thing is something only a high-ranking person can have, but after all these years, there hasn't been a second White Scale Serpent besides Orochimaru.

Surely it's not that none of these people want to learn.

“Indeed, those who value their lives don’t have that kind of courage.” Tsunade nodded in agreement.

"And what about me? The people from Ryuchi-dong are here to see me, right?"

Sasuke, realizing he was almost left unattended, raised his hand to make his presence known.

"Ryuchi Cave is a place where madmen who crave power gather. If you can, I suggest you stay away from them," Jiraiya solemnly instructed Sasuke.

As practitioners of the immortal arts of the three holy lands, they had obviously learned a lot about Ryuchi Cave from Mount Myōboku.

Not to mention that one of his missions during his ten years of wandering was to hunt down Orochimaru, who was also one of the three great holy land contractors.

"However, doesn't becoming their contractor also mean I can use their power?" The boy pondered, looking down at the Uchiha mark on his wristband.

"More than that, if you're lucky, you might even be able to cultivate immortal techniques."

Sakura teased him playfully, but Tsunade pressed her head down with her claws.

Then, she put on a serious expression, "But what Jiraiya-sensei said makes sense. Those snakes covet your power, and who knows, they might end up with a few little snakes bearing the Uchiha surname in the future!"

"I've decided, I'm going to Ryuchi Cave with her!"

Sasuke looked up, his eyes no longer showing any confusion.

So many things have happened these past two days, from gaining the power of the Devil Fruit to Sakura being injured for my sake, and then learning the inside story of the Uchiha clan from back then...

Chaos, anger, grief, disappointment... a complex mix of emotions overwhelmed Sasuke, leaving him unsure how to face the village, his clan, and his mother.

Therefore, it would be better to take advantage of Ryuchi-dong's invitation to leave the village for a while and calm down.

"No, no, no, let's think about this again!"

Tsunade and Jiraiya were shocked upon hearing this, and they forgot about Sakura and started nagging and trying to dissuade her.

This only strengthened Sasuke's resolve, and he strode toward the dungeon.

Over the next two days, Sasuke packed his bags, said goodbye to Sakura and Naruto, entered the dungeon, and signed a summoning contract with Princess Ichikishima, who then sent him to Ryuchi Cave via reverse summoning.

The seventh class, which had finally managed to gather together, was paralyzed again due to a lack of members.

Sakura, being a Jonin, is alright; she can take on missions independently, and even if she doesn't go on missions, she can still work at Konoha Hospital.

But Naruto, whose rank is still genin, is in a bad situation.

Because they couldn't gather the three-person team needed for a mission, Tsunade temporarily put them into the newly graduated ninja academy team.

He even came to Sakura and complained about it for a long time.

Time passed day by day, and Sakura, back at Konoha Hospital, spent her days seeing all sorts of patients and honing her medical skills.

As the summer winds began to blow through the village streets, a beige-clad figure came to the hospital.

He covered Sakura's eyes with both hands and blew air into her ear.

"Hehehe, guess who I am."

Chapter 262 Ino's Meal

"Is this my kind, beautiful, lovely, and charming Miss Ino?"

Sakura, wearing a white lab coat, tilted her head and twirled the pen in her hand.

"You're so glib. If you were a boy, I don't know how many people would have been fooled by you."

The hand covering Sakura's eyes was released, and her beautiful figure, outlined by a purple crop top and a fishnet bodysuit, came into view.

"I've finally caught you, Sakura-chan!"

With her long, beige hair, Ino opened her arms and embraced Sakura's head, taking it into her already ample bosom.

"Don't talk to me like I'm some rare summoned beast, Ino."

Sakura gently inhaled the delicate fragrance of cosmos flowers emanating from Ino and wrapped her arms around Ino's gracefully curved waist.

Those mischievous hands playfully pinched their friend's chubby little belly, eliciting a coquettish complaint from the other.

"Mo, do you know how difficult it is for me to see you?"

Ino, having let Sakura go, clung to her arm and lingered beside her.

Judging from her travel-worn appearance, she must have just returned to the village after completing a mission and came directly to find her.

I missed her when I returned from the border, and by the time Ino rushed back, Sakura had already left because of a mission in Sunagakure.

As if tricked by fate, every time Ino wanted to visit her friend, she would be cleverly arranged to leave.

—It's like being trapped in an infinite Tsukuyomi!

"Alright, I'll treat the lovely Ino to something delicious after I get off work. Would you do me the honor?"

Sakura reached out and gently pinched the girl's high, straight nose, causing her to shrink back slightly.

"Hmph, that's more like it, but we'll have to wait until next time."

Ino: "When I returned from this mission, my mother planned to treat my teammates to a meal. She happened to hear that a certain poor guy was all alone at home, so she specifically asked me to invite you."

Clearly, the well-informed Ms. Rino knew that her unreliable husband had abandoned their daughter and gone off to enjoy their own private time. Feeling sorry for her, she sent her daughter, Ino, to extend an invitation to her.

"Just kidding, what do you mean by being alone in an empty house? I'm just a happy single aristocrat!"

Sakura stood with her hands on her hips, her beautiful emerald eyes staring intently at Ino.

So what if no one's home to cook? Sakura has been eating at every restaurant in Konoha these past few days, and she's had a blast!

"Just tell me whether you want to go or not!"

Ino tilted her head with a girlish air, her blue eyes full of amusement, the meaning of which was equally clear.

You can fool your brothers, but don't fool yourself.

"....go!"

After a moment of silence, Sakura accepted Ino's invitation amidst her soft laughter.

After sending Ino away, Sakura stayed until Konoha Hospital closed before taking off her white coat and heading to the mountain flower shop.