A few minutes later, in the office of the Hokage Building.
Naruto and Jiraiya stood before Tsunade's desk being lectured, while Sakura and Sasuke sat on the sofa drinking tea.
"Listen, if I receive another report like this again, the two of you are dead."
Tsunade raised a hand, clenching a single fist that made a knuckle-cracking sound. "Understood?!"
Jiraiya and Naruto nodded repeatedly like little chicks, tightly sealing their lips, not daring to make a sound.
Seeing the two sufficiently chastised, Tsunade stopped going on and got straight to the point. "The reason I called all of you here today is simple: I want the three of you to have a match!"
"The two of us probably don't need to. Over these two years at the border..."
Putting down his teacup, Sasuke frowned, about to refuse.
"Not allowed." Tsunade shook her index finger. "This task is assigned to the entire Team 7. You three have been apart for too long, so you need to increase your understanding of each other!"
To be honest, the vast majority of missions in Konoha, like Konoha's politics, heavily rely on teams.
Teammates who grew up in the Ninja Academy together, graduated together, and grew together are a Ninja's natural political resources and allies.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were the juniors Tsunade had held in the highest regard since taking office two years ago. She had long earmarked them for key positions in various crucial departments of Konoha in the future.
Therefore, she currently hoped the three could take advantage of their youth to carry out more missions together, understand each other's styles and methods, and develop their own team chemistry.
That way, many years later when she stepped down from the position of Hokage, the three, supporting each other, could become new pillars, sheltering Konoha from wind and rain.
"Alright, let's listen to Tsunade-nee."
Sakura pressed her hands on the two boys' heads, ruffling their slightly prickly spiky hair. "It'll be good to see how much you've grown too!"
"Then it's settled!"
Worried the other two might make a fuss, Tsunade hurriedly finalized the decision, sweeping Naruto and Sasuke out without giving them any chance to object.
Noon, at the training ground outside the village. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stood facing each other.
On a tree beside them sat a white-haired man holding a small orange book.
"Wait, why is Kakashi-sensei here?!"
Naruto's eyes turned into white circles as he pointed at Kakashi and shouted.
Kakashi smiled, squinting his eyes and giving Naruto a peace sign. "Well, how should I put it? I've been invited by Tsunade-sama to be the referee!"
"Idiot, Kakashi-sensei is here to make sure we don't get killed!"
Sasuke, standing beside Naruto, had already checked all the ninja tools he could take out. He drew the blade from his waist, assuming a stance.
'This idiot Naruto had no idea what kind of hell we were about to face.'
Among those present, only Sasuke clearly understood just how terrifyingly the strength of the third teammate in Team 7 had expanded over these years.
"Killed?" Naruto swallowed hard. "That's way too harsh..."
The boy's voice grew softer because, before him, an unprecedented, terrifying aura shattered the ground of the training field.
"Then, with the will to fight to the death, begin!"
With Kakashi's command, he decisively retreated backward.
Naruto was about to protest, but his blue pupils reflected the figure of the pink-haired girl with a maniacal grin, her eyes stained crimson.
"Naruto!"
Sasuke's shout came as four steel wires wrapped around Naruto's limbs, yanking him into a backbend.
The next instant, the girl's fist swung through the air where Naruto's stomach had been.
Boom!
The forest behind him was gouged through, and a small hill was smashed to pieces by the shockwave from the punch.
"I... I almost got killed!"
Trembling, Naruto, dragged to Sasuke's side, rubbed his arms.
"Idiot, we're still in battle! Show the results of your training from these two years!"
Sasuke flicked his fingers, retracting the steel wires, then gripped his blade with both hands and closed his eyes.
An invisible purple aura slowly coiled from his fists onto the blade, while faint white-hot lightning crackled along the Chakra-conductive metal edge.
[One-Sword Style: Thunder Hunt!]
With fighting spirit singing and thunder surging, Sasuke merged with the lightning, cutting a line of afterimages in the air.
The girl's body swayed slightly, and the afterimage was sliced apart by his blade light.
"Chase her, Thunder Hunt!!!" Sasuke roared.
The lightning at the blade's tip, mixed with faint Haki, suddenly extended, turning as agile as a python hunting prey, slashing at high speed toward Sakura behind Sasuke.
Clang!
Sakura raised a hand, stopping the extended blade with just a single finger, preventing it from advancing further.
"I told you, didn't I? Don't use this move before learning to forge a Black Blade!"
As she spoke, Sakura flicked the blade aside, curling her fingers into a claw, reaching for Sasuke's sword.
"Not good!"
Sasuke's eyes widened in horror. If caught by this, his sword would definitely be destroyed.
That was a sword blended with Chakra-conductive metal, bought with a loan from the Cat Shop using his status as the Uchiha Clan's young heir. If it broke, he'd have to live on air for the next six months.
"Don't leave me out of this!"
A furious roar sounded. Naruto, charging toward them, held a transparent, spinning shuriken in his hand.
The Rasengan infused with Wind Nature Transformation Chakra emitted a sharp screech, even giving Sakura a slight sense of danger.
[Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!]
'Good brother!'
Seeing Naruto charge over, Sasuke, on the verge of having his sword crushed, was so moved he nearly cried. He sheathed his sword, rolling away from Sakura's side.
"It seems Jiraiya-sensei taught quite seriously over these two and a half years!"
Sakura didn't hinder Sasuke's retreat either, turning to face Naruto, who was dashing toward her.
In his widened eyes, Sakura's figure began to gradually blur and multiply. In a matter of seconds, the entire training ground was filled with Sakura's figures.
"Huh?! Why are there so many Sakura?!"
Naruto, in mid-charge, panicked, losing his direction of attack.
"Idiot, use your Observation Haki to sense her!" Sasuke, having pulled back, shouted at Naruto above.
Though not skilled in Observation Haki, Naruto had no other choice at the moment. He forced himself to close his eyes, using his senses to locate Sakura's real body!
In the pitch-black field of vision, vague outlines appeared. A sensory 'illusion' reminded him of the enemy's location.
"Found it!"
Naruto opened his eyes. Armament Haki blackened his arm for protection as he thrust the Rasenshuriken toward one of the Sakura.
This time, he had no hesitation or doubt.
Hum!
The Rasenshuriken solidly struck Sakura, pushing her backward. The high-pitched hum instantly vibrated everyone's eardrums.
The Rasenshuriken exploded. Half of a light sphere, entangled with Shape-transformed Chakra, rapidly expanded. The roar of a storm burst forth.
"That guy Naruto, has he already learned such a dangerous technique?"
Raising his robe sleeve to block the constantly blowing soil and dust, Sasuke strained to keep his eyes open, determined to witness the full process of this technique.
"Hehe, I won, right?!"
Keeping his blackened arm in the throwing pose, Naruto braced a hand on his knee, panting heavily.
Even with his Uzumaki Clan's naturally massive Chakra Reserves, releasing a technique like this emptied his reserves.
"Unfortunately, when Observation Haki cannot precisely locate the enemy, conserving stamina and Chakra for deterrence is the correct approach."
The gaze of the afterimage behind Naruto became animated. It hefted a giant sword spewing iron clouds and walked up behind Naruto. "You two, seems like you still have a lot to learn!"
A surging aura began to flow. On the blackened sword blade, a wisp of dark lightning silently coiled, responding to the thunder rumbling in the sky above.
"Spear of Elbaf: Hakoku Sovereignty-!!!"
Hearing Sakura's voice from a distance, Kakashi's pupils contracted. He used the Body Flicker Technique, rushing in front of Sakura in an attempt to stop her.
But when his gaze focused, he found the girl raising the giant sword giving him a smile.
'Wait, are you coming for me, you rebellious disciple?'
Boom—!!!
The violent Legendary Spear tore through the sky at this moment. An invisible shockwave erupted among the clouds, sweeping across the sky above all of Konoha.
"The sky... it's split open!"
Bent into a C-shape backward, Kakashi's head hit the ground. He swallowed several mouthfuls of saliva in shock.
If he hadn't grasped the basics of Observation Haki in that instant, sensed the direction of Sakura's attack, and dodged in time...
Then what split open, along with the sky, would have been Kakashi.
"Now I finally understand why you said Kakashi-sensei is here to protect us from being killed."
"Don't even mention it. This is the reason no one dared to cause trouble at the border for the past two and a half years."
Amidst the aftermath, the two brothers-in-arms supported each other. Finding a common target to complain about, the long-separated sense of unfamiliarity instantly vanished.
"Oh my, what interesting things are my two partners chatting about? Can I listen in?"
The girl's voice, carrying the giant sword, sounded behind the two, making cold sweat drip from Naruto and Sasuke's temples.
"N-no, nothing! Just chatting about daily life!" x2
At this moment, Naruto and Sasuke's synergy reached an unprecedented height.
"Alright, I've gotten a decent understanding of your two's levels, and Kakashi-sensei's Observation Haki has been successfully forced out too." Sakura dispersed her dual Haki, sheathing her sword.
"So the mission is successfully completed. You can go back and rest now. Dismissed!"