Konoha: I, Ninja War Sakura, rely entirely on skills!

Chapter 237 Old friends are dying one after another
Sarutobi House

It has been half a year since Sarutobi Hiruzen abdicated. Even though he is no longer worried about government affairs and is in high spirits, as the days go by, this old man, who was already in worse health than before, is visibly aging day by day.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat hunched over on the corridor in the courtyard, with a cup of steaming tea beside him.

The potted plants and green plants in the courtyard have already sprouted new buds, and there are several winter cherry trees planted in the center of the courtyard.

The cold cherry blossoms bloom early, and now that spring has just arrived, the whole yard is already filled with pink petals.

A sound of light footsteps came from the entrance. Sarutobi Hiruzen did not turn around to see who it was. Instead, he took a teacup from the tea set beside him and placed it opposite him, then poured tea into it.

The visitor sat down opposite Sarutobi Hiruzen, looked at the still warm tea, and drank it up without hesitation.

Sarutobi Hiruzen spat lightly when he saw this, feeling somewhat dissatisfied but helpless.

"You are drinking the best new tea like this, it's like a cow chewing a peony."

Sakura didn't care about it at all. She just poured herself another glass in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen and drank it all in one gulp.

"It's just a cup of tea, you are so stingy, old man."

Looking at Sakura pouring another cup, Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He drank his tea helplessly and then savored the taste.

Only Sakura could be so presumptuous in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Tell me, there is no such thing as a visit without a request."

"You suddenly come to me, an old man. What do you need me to do?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen put down the teacup in his hand, looked at the cherry blossoms floating all over the yard, and sighed softly.

"how?"

"As a disciple, can't I come to see my dear master?"

The girl raised her eyebrows.

"Okay, but it's work time now."

Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at his disciple gently.

Sakura's body stiffened slightly, then she said nonchalantly:
"Don't you have a shadow clone?"

The old man didn't take his disciple's words to heart.

This disciple is very outstanding. He can take advantage of every advantage while stabilizing Konoha, a machine that is always running.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had no intention of interfering with the other party's considerations and plans.

But suddenly, the master and disciple fell silent.

As the cherry blossoms fall from the trees, time passes by minute by minute.

Finally, Sakura broke the silence.

"Someone in the village died."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked calm, as if he was neither surprised nor shocked.

death.

He's seen too much.

He just said calmly: "How did he die?"

"In order to protect the younger generation from leaving, he sacrificed himself by blocking two members of the Akatsuki organization."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression remained unchanged. He slowly drank the tea in the cup, his tone filled with sentimentality and melancholy.

"He's a hero."

Listening to Sarutobi Hiruzen's words, Sakura slowly stood up.

"Are you going to attend Senior Gu Jie's funeral tomorrow?"

When he heard this name, Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression seemed to remain unchanged, but there seemed to be a slight change.

After a long while, he slowly spoke.

"I'll be there."

This is how he answered.

However, the pink girl from before had already left at some point.

With cloudy eyes, he stared at the cherry blossoms falling from the tree to the ground. At this moment, no one knew what Sarutobi Hiruzen was thinking.

After a long time, a sigh was heard from this small courtyard.

"Old friends are dying one after another..."

-

next day
Gloomy sky
There weren't many people coming to the Konoha Cemetery.

Maruboshi Kosuke is an elder in Konoha, but he is often alone.

When he was young, he caused the death of his teammates due to his own mistakes. He felt guilty and painful about it, so he chose not to be promoted for life. Even though he had the strength of a jonin, he was still a genin in name.

Asma placed a bunch of white chrysanthemums in front of the old man's tombstone, and then took out two rings from his pocket and placed them in front of the tombstone.

Santai of the dawn, Big Dipper of the dawn.

This is the ring that belonged to Hidan and Kakuzu.

After Asuma, Baiyun Zaojian, Kakashi, Might Guy, and Mei Terumi also came forward to present flowers.

Even Hongdou, who was in the hospital, forced herself to stay healthy to see the old man off for the last time.

Then, it was the younger generation headed by Sakura.

Karin, Sasuke, Naruto.

Naruto and the old man have carried out missions together, so they are naturally familiar with Maruboshi Kosuke.

Karin and Sasuke both participated in the mission to kill Kakuzu and Hidan.

Naturally, I know that this is a senior who deserves respect.

At this moment, the rain is falling lightly.

Sakura, dressed in black mourning clothes, looked back at the entrance of the cemetery.

There was a staggering figure, walking towards this side with difficulty using a cane.

The rain fell on him, but he didn't care.

Just take every step seriously.

Sakura stepped forward and tried to support Sarutobi Hiruzen, but after making eye contact with the old man, Sakura's hand stopped in mid-air.

He does not need it.

He wanted to come over in person to see this old friend off.

Everyone stood on both sides of the road, silently looking at the hunchbacked old man.

Watch him walk step by step to the monument of Maruboshi Kosuke.

The rain had started to fall heavily, and Sarutobi Hiruzen's clothes were soaked.

Sakura winked at Karin, who immediately understood and quickly disappeared from the spot.

Not long after, Karin came with a black umbrella and handed it to Sakura.

Sakura took the umbrella, came behind Sarutobi Hiruzen, and silently held the umbrella for him.

The rain fell on the umbrella, slid around, and inevitably fell on the girl Sakura's pink hair.

"Everyone go back."

"Especially Hongdou, your injuries haven't fully healed yet, don't make them worse for an old man like me."

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not turn around, but spoke in a low voice.

"……Yes."

Everyone was silent for a while, and then left one by one.

"Sakura..."

There were water stains on Naruto's face, and it was unclear whether it was from the falling rain or the tears.

"...let's go."

Sasuke pulled Naruto's sleeve and left as well.

At this moment, only the girl and the old man were left in the cemetery.

Time passed little by little, and the old voice sounded in the rain.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, for getting you wet in the rain."

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not look back.

"fine."

Sakura spoke calmly.

"In fact, when you get older, you should let go of everything."

"but……"

Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped talking here.

But Sakura understood.

No matter how you understand death.

When faced with the departure of an old friend, it is not something that can be brushed aside simply by saying "let it go".

And one of Sarutobi Hiruzen's disciples, Orochimaru.

It is because we cannot accept this that we keep pursuing eternal life.

The old man carefully looked at the portrait of Maruboshi Kosuke on the tombstone, as if he wanted to engrave it in his heart.

But he was old, and his eyes were not as sharp as before, so he had to get closer to see clearly. After carefully wiping the rain off the photo, Sarutobi Hiruzen was able to see the familiar old friend in the photo.

At this moment, the only sound I can hear in my ears is the sound of rain, and no other sounds can be heard.

"Let's go back."

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke.

"it is good."

After saying that, Sakura stepped forward and was about to help the old man leave.

But just as Sakura's hand was about to touch Sarutobi Hiruzen's sleeve, in the girl's astonished gaze, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had never fallen down in the face of war, the siege of Konoha, the Nine-Tails Rebellion, Orochimaru's defection, Jiraiya's departure, Tsunade's departure, and the First and Second Generations, fell to the ground at this moment.

This moment was so sudden that Sakura's mind went blank for a moment.

"Old man!"

Seeing this, Sakura didn't care about anything else and quickly squatted beside Sarutobi Hiruzen, holding him in her arms. While holding an umbrella with one hand, she used the other hand, which emitted a faint golden light, to place on Sarutobi Hiruzen's chest.

However, the moment Sakura's hand was placed on Sarutobi Hiruzen's chest, it froze in mid-air.

As the most powerful medical ninja in the ninja world.

The moment the golden light touched Sarutobi Hiruzen's body, Sakura already knew Sarutobi Hiruzen's situation.

Simple, very simple.

old.

He should go.

All the organs in his body were exhausted, and the hidden injuries caused by fighting on the battlefield in his youth burst out like a flood.

Even though Sakura's Yang Release had warmed Sarutobi Hiruzen's body, and Tsunade had provided medical care to Sarutobi Hiruzen from time to time.

but……

Medical ninjutsu is not omnipotent, and Yang escape is not omnipotent either.

Sakura was unable to extend the life of an old man who was supposed to have reached the end of his life.

"Sakura..."

In the rain, a withered hand grabbed Sakura's hand.

"Take me back."

"I'm old and can't walk anymore..."

A weak but irresistible voice sounded.

"……it is good."

As soon as the words fell, Sakura disappeared from the spot with Sarutobi Hiruzen.

-

Sarutobi House

At this moment, there was no one else in the Sarutobi residence except Sakura, Asuma, Kurenai Yuhi, Konohamaru and Kakashi.

Tsunade is currently at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain, and cannot get away for the time being.

As for Jiraiya, Sakura had already used the Ninja Hawk to convey his order to temporarily put the task at hand on hold and return to Konoha first.

As for the others, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not want to make it public.

Especially at this moment, the Iwagakure delegation led by Huang Tu is still in Konoha.

Sakura looked at the old man on the bed in silence, feeling complicated but also a little powerless.

"Sakura..."

"Do you know what you should do now?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen opened his eyes with difficulty.

At this moment, there was no one else in the house except Sakura and Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Asuma and the others stood silently outside the door, leaving Sarutobi Hiruzen's last moments with Sakura.

"As the Hokage... my most urgent task now is to get information about Akatsuki from Hidan..."

"Akatsuki is Konoha's current enemy. The damage they have caused to Konoha is not to be underestimated..."

"And over there in Iwagakure Village..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was very low, but his thoughts were clear at this moment.

"……Yes."

Sakura didn't dare tell Sarutobi Hiruzen about the Terracotta Warriors, for fear that the old man would be furious when he found out that she had openly led an army of 100,000 to march through the Land of Fire.

"Go."

"Don't wait for me."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the silent girl in front of him with loving eyes.

It was as if he wanted to engrave the face of this girl in his mind until the last moment of his life.

This is his last and most gratifying disciple.

I originally thought that since Minato Namikaze died, I would force one of Tsunade or Jiraiya to become Hokage by threatening to die.

did not expect……

I met this kid at the last moment...

She was so outstanding that at one point, Sarutobi Hiruzen even thought he was dreaming.

Fortunately, God let me meet her.

Now that he has woken up from the dream, reality tells him that he was not dreaming.

He was able to hand over Konoha, for which he had worked all his life, into her hands.

He has no regrets anymore.

If there is any regret, it is that I didn’t see the moment when the baby was born from the red belly.

"Let Asuma and Hong come in..."

Listening to her master's words, Sakura silently stood up and walked out of the house.

……

After conveying Sarutobi Hiruzen's words, before leaving, Sakura looked towards the cherry blossoms in the courtyard that were almost falling.

The cherry blossom season is very short...

Even in the spring when everything comes back to life, the flowers only bloom for half a month.

Then I quietly waited for the coming year...

Sakura is gone.

Back to the Hokage's office.

Sakura frowned slightly as she looked at the bored clone sitting in the Hokage's position.

"Are you getting weaker?"

The one sitting in the position of Hokage at this moment is not the Shadow clone, but the Yang clone.

That is Sakura's Yin escape, that is, Ri Sakura.

I had made three rules with Liying before and asked her to come out and play regularly.

If she does something out of line, she will never have a chance to get out again.

Using this as a threat and knowing that she couldn't possibly be a match for Sakura now, the other party really listened to her.

But at this moment, Sakura discovered that she didn't know if it was her illusion.

She felt that this guy was getting weaker.

If the Rika that appeared before through the medium of Yang clone had 80% of the strength of Sakura herself.

However, she only has 60% of her strength now.

"It's not that I've become weaker, it's that you've become stronger."

Liying sat in her seat and turned around in circles out of boredom.

"You have Yang escape and have learned fairy arts. How can a poor and helpless woman like me be a match for the high and mighty Fifth Generation~~~"

Listening to Riying's sarcastic words, Xiaoying didn't take it to heart.

Just think of it as a complaint about forcing her precious time to go out and play to stay in this boring Hokage's office.

"What's going on today?"

Sakura came to the desk and looked at the documents on it. She was so confused that she couldn't read a single word.

"They are all small matters. Only the old fellow Senju Tobirama worked with a man named Tono Hosuke in the research institute to come up with scientific ninja tools."

Ri-Ying nonchalantly pulled out a document from the pile and threw it into Sakura's hand.

Looking at the document in her hand, Sakura didn't read it. Instead, she looked at the guy in front of her with unhappiness written all over his face and reached out to rub her head.

"what?"

Liying said dissatisfiedly and stopped spinning.

"I'm sorry, we had an agreed time, but I asked you to help me with this kind of thing."

"So can I go out and play?"

"Next time, I will be very busy in the near future."

(End of this chapter)