I just returned to Konoha and found that my entire clan was gone.

"So that's how it is..." Kakashi was really worried about Naruto.

"Besides, that child's foundation is too weak. He can't even properly control his chakra. If it's about teaching, I'd rather teach another girl in your class, Sakura Haruno." Seeing Kakashi's dejection, Ye Lan comforted him. Perhaps because of Sasuke, their relationship had improved a lot.

"You'd like to teach Sakura? Then it's a deal!" Kakashi said, seizing the opportunity.

"...Sakura doesn't need to participate in the competition, so what am I supposed to teach her? Besides, Sasuke doesn't need me. You need to know that Orochimaru's target is Sasuke. Can you stop Orochimaru by yourself?" Ye Lan didn't expect Kakashi to make such a decision so directly.

"Don't worry about Sasuke. I'll find a secluded training ground, and with some ANBU help, there shouldn't be any major problems. Sakura failed her exam, so I want her to continue her studies. However, I don't have much time to teach her. Don't worry, Sakura has a good foundation and a strong learning ability. She's just a bit rigid in her combat thinking and lacks some decisive tactics. You can just teach her however you like," Kakashi said quickly.

"I'll have Sakura come to the training ground to find you tomorrow, you have to come!" Before Ye Lan could react, Kakashi turned into a cloud of smoke. It turned out that what was left here was just a shadow clone of his.

This guy seems to have had this plan in mind all along. Ye Lan thought helplessly, it seems she can only take it one step at a time.

The next morning, Kakashi brought Sakura to the training grounds in Konoha.

"Sakura, you must study hard with Ye Lan. It took me a lot of effort to get him to agree to this. With your learning ability, you'll improve quickly. Besides, although Ye Lan isn't much older than you, he's one of the strongest people in the village, so you can rest assured about that," Kakashi instructed Sakura.

"Kakashi-sensei, is Ye Lan-senpai really that strong?" Sakura had only seen Ye Lan make a move twice in the Forest of Death, and didn't have a clear understanding of Ye Lan's strength.

"That's quite remarkable. Ye Lan was already on an S-rank mission when he was two years younger than you. Orochimaru, whom you encountered in the Forest of Death, is an S-rank rogue ninja from Konoha. Even I can't guarantee that I could completely stop him," Kakashi said. In fact, this was not only special training for Sasuke, but he also had to start training himself. Ye Lan's strength and the situation of the village put a lot of pressure on him.

"Senior Ye Lan is so amazing..."

Why is the training ground completely empty? Could he not be coming...? Kakashi thought awkwardly as he looked at the deserted training ground.

"You really know how to make decisions for others without permission, Kakashi." Just as Kakashi was wondering how to continue talking to Sakura, Ye Lan finally appeared in front of them.

"Haha, you're here! Sakura, quickly call him teacher." Kakashi said with an awkward scratch on his head and a smile.

"Ye Lan...Teacher?" Xiao Ying asked, looking at Ye Lan, who was two or three years older than her.

"No need... I'm too young to be a teacher." Ye Lan waved his hand, making Kakashi and Sakura think that he disagreed with teaching.

"Just call me 'brother' like Sasuke does. Although I've never heard that kid call me that before, Sakura, my training is very strict. Even Sasuke had some trouble handling it at first. Have you made up your mind?"

Hearing Ye Lan's words, Sakura was somewhat at a loss. Actually, she wasn't under pressure to participate in the competition, and training wasn't something urgent for her. However, when she thought about how she had been protected by Sasuke and Naruto in the Forest of Death, and how she hadn't been able to contribute much, and how they had both passed the preliminaries while she didn't know what to do, the confusion in Sakura's eyes gradually turned into determination. She looked into Ye Lan's eyes and said...

"Brother Ye Lan, I've made up my mind."

Chapter 18 Training Sakura

"Sakura, do you understand what you most urgently need to train in right now?" Ye Lan asked directly after Kakashi left.

Sakura shook her head.

"Of the three techniques—ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu—what you need most right now is to improve your physical fitness. Girls are naturally less physically strong than boys, and taijutsu is crucial for genin. What you need most right now is to improve your physical strength." Ye Lan pointed out Xiao Ying's current weakness. "Starting today, run ten kilometers and swim three kilometers every day. After you finish that, I'll teach you other things."

"A 20-kilometer run and a 5-kilometer swim!" This is a lot of training for a girl. After doing all that every day, what energy will she have left to learn other things?

"This is just the beginning. The requirements will gradually increase. Not only that, you can't use chakra. You have to complete it solely with your physical strength." Ye Lan won't supervise Xiao Ying. It's entirely up to Xiao Ying's self-discipline.

"I...I understand." Sakura hadn't expected such rigorous training right from the start.

"Go ahead, come find me when you're done. I'll be waiting for you at this training ground." After saying that, Ye Lan stopped paying attention to Xiao Ying. At his age, he was still in the process of rapidly increasing his strength and couldn't stop his training.

Sakura took a deep breath, silently encouraging herself. She knew this training was to improve herself and become a better ninja. She started running, each step filled with determination and resolve.

Ye Lan arrived at the lakeside of the training ground and opened the scroll given to him by Hiruzen Sarutobi. Inside were five ninjutsu, all of which were of B-rank or higher difficulty. The first ones that caught his eye were Water Release: Heaven's Cry, Hard Slice Water Blade, and Water Dragon Bite Explosion. Next was the Second Hokage's unique Chakra Sensing Technique, Dark Travel Technique.

Leaving aside Water Release for now, the Second Hokage's Chakra Sensing Technique, once mastered, could even sense chakra from a thousand miles away. However, no one has yet reached the Second Hokage's level. Ye Lan doesn't ask for much; he'd be satisfied if he could cover a range of a hundred miles. As for the Dark Travel Technique, it's an A-rank genjutsu, essentially a genjutsu the Second Hokage specifically designed to counter the Sharingan. By blocking the opponent's vision and completely plunging them into darkness, it's an extremely useful technique.

Let's start by learning chakra perception techniques. After reading the scroll, Ye Lan closed his eyes and began to release his chakra to perceive it, following the instructions on the scroll.

Xiaoying didn't finish her training until evening. When she arrived at the training ground, panting, Yelan was already preparing to leave.

"Have you finished training? I thought it would take you a few more days to finish," Ye Lan said. "Sit down first."

Sakura casually sat on the ground as Ye Lan instructed, curious about what ninjutsu Ye Lan would teach her.

Ye Lan slowly raised his right hand, reminding Sakura to carefully observe his hand movements and emphasizing the importance of concentrating chakra in his palm, but cautioning against concentrating too much chakra at once, but rather a gradual accumulation. Sakura watched Ye Lan's every movement intently, then imitated him, raising her own right hand. This process wasn't difficult for her, as she already possessed certain ninjutsu skills and chakra control abilities.

"Next, place your hand on your other arm and slowly release your chakra, letting the chakra stimulate your muscles."

"Will doing this improve my stamina?" Sakura asked curiously.

"It's just to help your muscles relax better. Your muscles are definitely tense after exercising. If you don't want to be unable to get up tomorrow, do as I say and stimulate all the areas you exercised with chakra," Ye Lan said expressionlessly.

Sakura blushed after hearing this. She realized that Ye Lan was teaching her this way because he felt it wasn't appropriate for him to personally help her relax her muscles.

Seeing that Xiaoying had already learned it, Yelan stood up and said, "That's enough for today. If you want to learn more, finish your physical training earlier every day."

"Yes." Sakura dusted herself off and left.

The next day, Sakura arrived at the training ground half an hour early. When she arrived, she found Ye Lan with his eyes closed, half-squatting on the ground, pointing a finger at the ground, seemingly doing something. Sakura didn't dare to disturb him and just watched from the side.

"I'm here," Ye Lan said directly before opening her eyes.

Sakura was surprised for a moment, but still nodded.

Ye Lan took out a card from his ninja tool bag and threw it at Sakura, then said, "This is chakra paper, a paper used to test chakra attributes. Inject a little bit of your chakra into it."

Sakura did as she was told, slowly pouring her chakra into the paper. Half of the chakra paper became wet, and the other half crumbled.

"Water Release and Earth Release," Ye Lan said, stroking his chin. "I'm skilled in Fire Release, Water Release, and Wind Release. I also know some Earth Release, but not as well as Water Release. Which one do you want to learn?"

If Sakura were to choose, she wouldn't know either, and looked at Ye Lan with some hesitation.

"Water Release is known for its wide attack range, but most of them require a huge amount of chakra. Earth Release, on the other hand, is known for its defense." Seeing that Sakura still had some doubts, Ye Lan continued, "Which type of ninjutsu you learn depends on your fighting style. Sakura, what is your ideal fighting style?"

Seeing that Xiaoying was still a little embarrassed and didn't know how to say it, Yelan said directly, "Once a person's fighting style is decided, it is very difficult to change. You'd better tell me what you really think."

Sakura blushed slightly and said shyly, "I hope that when Naruto and Sasuke are arguing, I can separate them and then each of them can punch the other in the head."

"Is that so..." Ye Lan thought for a moment, then pointed to a tree not far from them, "If that were Naruto or Sasuke, what do you think of me doing this?"

Ye Lan ran quickly to the tree, making several hand seals along the way. When he reached the tree, he swung his fist and smashed it down.

To Sakura's astonishment, the tree was blasted in two.

"I want to learn this!" Sakura's heart leaped with joy.

When Ye Lan turned around and saw Xiao Ying's sparkling eyes, he understood that she had decided on her fighting style.

"This technique is called Earth Release: Hardening Technique. By using Earth Release to strengthen your body, you can not only enhance the power of your taijutsu, but also strengthen your defense and reduce the damage your body takes from physical attacks. It's a pretty practical ninjutsu," Ye Lan said.

Sakura nodded; she was going to learn this. She could already picture herself beating up Naruto and Sasuke.

"Learning this technique requires precise control over chakra. You need to cover your body with your chakra. But if you don't have enough chakra, you can't maintain it for long if you use it directly. When attacking, it's best to only cover your fist, and when defending, cover the area being attacked. This will save a lot of chakra," Ye Lan explained.

Then Ye Lan explained to Sakura how to practice and control her chakra to cover her body. As expected of a top student, Sakura understood the principle after Ye Lan explained it once and was able to start practicing on her own. If it were Naruto, it would take him a long time.

Days passed by, and half a month had gone by in the blink of an eye. Sakura was finally able to finish her physical training before 2 p.m. every day. Then, to Sakura's surprise, Ye Lan prepared weighted leg wraps for her. Fortunately, they weren't like Li's, just two five-kilogram leg wraps. Even so, they still exhausted Sakura, and her speed slowed down considerably.

To make the most of her time training in ninjutsu, Sakura gets up early every morning to start running, abandoning her habit of sleeping in. Today, as she was finishing her run, she ran into an acquaintance—her best friend Ino.

"Sakura, what are you doing?" Ino asked in surprise, looking at Sakura who was covered in sweat.

"I'm doing physical training..." Sakura was a little embarrassed because she didn't expect to run into Ino during training.

"Training? You don't even have to participate in competitions, yet you still train. You're working so hard." Ino looked at him with newfound respect.

"It's precisely because I was eliminated that I need to train, otherwise the gap will only widen," Sakura said confidently, having regained her composure.

"Eh? I didn't expect you to have this idea. Is this a training goal that Kakashi-sensei assigned to you?"

"It seems like Kakashi-sensei is training Sasuke, and he arranged for Ye Lan to train me," Sakura explained.

"That examiner in the second examination room? Why did you call him brother?" This was even more surprising than Ino seeing Sakura training.

"He told me to call him that, saying that he's not much older than me, calling him 'teacher' would make him sound too old, and calling him 'senpai' would make him sound too distant, so just call him 'brother' like Sasuke does."

"I see. But you also said that Brother Yelan isn't much older than you. Can he teach you?" Jingye asked casually.

"Why do you call him that too? Brother Yelan is really amazing. I can clearly feel myself getting stronger in the past two weeks." Sakura looked at Ino with some curiosity.

"Hey, aren't we good friends? Just call me whatever you want. You said you've become a lot stronger, so what exactly did they teach you?"

"Hmph—" Sakura said, seeing a large rock not far away, "Then I'll show you."

As she spoke, Sakura bent down and sprinted toward the rocks.

Wow, that's fast! Much faster than during the Chunin Exams. Putting everything else aside, Sakura's current speed alone is enough to impress Ino.

"Take this!" Sakura shouted, swinging her delicate fist with a whistling sound as she smashed it against a boulder twice her size. A deafening crash followed, and the boulder shattered into countless fragments, scattering in all directions. Ino stared in disbelief, inwardly marveling: "No way? In just half a month, Sakura has become so powerful! If Sakura had been this strong half a month ago, she would definitely have lost," Ino gasped.

Sakura turned around triumphantly, a confident smile on her lips, and looked at Ino. "How about that? I'm pretty amazing, right?" Ino snapped out of her daze and sincerely exclaimed, "Wow, Sakura! But... you've practically turned into a violent woman..." Upon hearing this, Sakura's face darkened, her expression turning hostile. She raised her small fist, ready to strike. Ino, seeing this, waved her hands frantically, "N-nothing... it's nothing." She was joking; Sakura was a violent woman now, not someone to mess with! Ino quickly changed the subject to avoid getting beaten up.

End of Chapter 19

A month was almost over, and Sakura was training at the training ground as usual. She could now cover any part of her body with Hardening Technique in less than a second. Just as she closed her eyes to rest, Naruto came to the training ground and found her.

"Sakura, are you training?" Naruto scratched his head and walked towards Sakura somewhat embarrassedly.

"Naruto, aren't you doing special training?" Sakura hadn't seen Sasuke and Naruto for a long time and knew they were both training, so it was a little strange that Naruto had found her.

"Ah, I've been undergoing special training. The teacher who's been training me is really amazing! I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"Um...this...is..." Naruto kept twirling two fingers in front of his chest without saying anything.

Seeing Naruto's hesitant and dawdling manner, Sakura felt a surge of annoyance. Knowing she still had important training tasks to complete, she impatiently urged, "What do you want to say? Just say it!" However, Naruto remained hesitant, stammering, "It's just... it's just..." The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he still couldn't express them smoothly.

Sakura couldn't stand Naruto's dawdling any longer, so she turned to continue practicing her ninjutsu. Just then, Naruto hurriedly called out, "Wait... Sakura!" He frantically tried to catch up, but didn't pay attention to the path beneath his feet. As a result, he tripped and fell to the ground, his body involuntarily lurching towards Sakura.

Huh? Actually, if Naruto wanted to, he could easily regain his balance quickly with his strength. But at this moment, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind—maybe this would be the way to achieve his goal of hugging Sakura! So, he simply leaned over Sakura.

Sakura instantly sensed Naruto's intention. Her expression changed, and she shouted angrily, "What do you think you're doing?" Without hesitation, she swung her fist and struck Naruto hard in the face. Although she hadn't used the Hardening Technique, her speed and strength had significantly improved after a month of rigorous physical training.

Naruto only felt a blur before his eyes, and then he was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string. After spinning several times in the air, he finally landed awkwardly on the ground.

Naruto lay on the ground, dizzy and disoriented. Before his eyes seemed to be a cluster of tiny, shimmering golden stars, circling endlessly. He couldn't understand why Sakura had become so powerful, sending him flying with a single punch.

"The girl Naruto likes is so violent, she really has Tsunade's style back in the day..." Jiraiya, who was secretly watching from the side, couldn't help but think.

It seems this month of training has been very effective. Sakura was very satisfied with the power of her punch, and turned to walk towards the direction where Ye Lan was training.

When she saw Ye Lan and wanted to greet him, she noticed that the lake in front of Ye Lan seemed to be boiling.

Water Release: Water Dragon Bite

The lake water formed a huge whirlpool, and the upward-flowing water condensed and finally transformed into a giant water dragon. The dragon seemed to roar in the air before charging towards the center of the whirlpool with a deafening crash, splashing water everywhere and startling the fish in the lake into scattering in all directions. Ye Lan withdrew his hand gesture, a slight smile playing on his lips. He was fairly satisfied with the technique.

Sakura had never seen such an exaggerated water jutsu before. It took her a while to come to her senses. Then she excitedly ran to Ye Lan's side and exclaimed, "Brother Ye Lan, that water jutsu was amazing!"