Chapter 16 – Boom
"Hehe~~ Sakura~~"
A blond-haired, spiky-headed boy stood on a stool, carefully studying a recipe book placed to the side as he followed along to learn a new dish.
With practiced movements, he cracked the eggs into a bowl and whisked them thoroughly, then poured the mixture into a pot of water for steaming.
It had already been a full year since Sakura had gifted him that cookbook.
By now, Naruto had picked up a decent set of cooking skills. Though he still occasionally resorted to instant ramen, most of the time he prepared his own meals or headed over to Ichiraku Ramen for something a bit more substantial.
As Naruto stood there cooking, he couldn't help but drift into thought, recalling the pink-haired girl he'd seen just earlier that evening.
That smile of hers—it was probably something he would never be able to forget for the rest of his life…
Steam began to rise from the pot as the water bubbled up with soft gurgles. Naruto scooped out the rice he had prepared earlier in the morning and filled a bowl. Then he opened the fridge and retrieved the leftover bone broth from the night before, placing it into the microwave to heat.
Thanks to his recent improved behavior and attitude, Hiruzen Sarutobi had decided to increase Naruto's monthly allowance—from 5,000 ryo to 6,500 ryo.
That extra money allowed Naruto to enjoy meat dishes with almost every meal.
In just this past year, Naruto had grown taller and a bit more muscular.
He sat at the table beside the window, resting his chin in his hand as he gazed out at the clear night sky, his mind wandering.
What could Sakura be doing right now…?
—
Sakura, on the other hand, was poring over the chakra enhancement scroll gifted to her by Hiruzen Sarutobi. She casually skipped over the introductory training methods and went straight for the section about chakra control.
Chakra—the fusion of physical and spiritual energy—was essential for performing any kind of ninjutsu. It needed to be skillfully directed through the body's chakra network and activated using hand seals.
From what she could tell, Tsunade's original idea behind the technique of "monstrous strength" was likely quite similar to Minato Namikaze's philosophy—eliminating the need for complex hand seals in favor of seamless, direct chakra execution.
And the success of the monstrous strength technique was a testament to that vision.
With just one punch, the user could unleash more force than most jutsus. Even something as powerful as the Rasengan couldn't compare to Tsunade's raw strength.
Moreover, the chakra consumption for monstrous strength was considerably lower than that of a Rasengan.
But with great power came great requirements. In the original timeline, only Tsunade and Sakura were able to use this technique effectively. Even Shizune couldn't manage it.
Was it because Tsunade refused to teach others?
Now, holding the actual scroll in her hands, Sakura finally understood the truth—monstrous strength was simply too difficult for most people.
Its threshold for chakra precision was extremely high. In fact, just understanding that requirement would eliminate 95% of shinobi from being able to learn it.
Each hand alone contained six meridian channels—like the Lung Meridian, the Large Intestine Meridian, the Heart Meridian, and so on…
In total, both hands had twelve meridians. To execute one punch properly, all six channels in a single hand had to be perfectly synchronized. It was the equivalent of multitasking with six separate thought processes.
Wait a second…
A strange idea suddenly popped into Sakura's head.
She thought of Nagato of the Akatsuki and Sasori of the Red Sand.
This technique... it might actually suit them quite well, weirdly enough.
She quickly shook her head, brushing aside the bizarre thoughts that kept popping up.
Focus.
In essence, using monstrous strength was like asking someone to draw a circle with their left hand, a square with their right, a triangle with their left foot, and a pentagon with their right—while reading a book and singing a song at the same time.
It was the kind of jutsu that only the highest-level players could master.
But still, in this world, a few exceptional shinobi had indeed achieved that level.
Besides Nagato and Sasori, there was also Chiyo from the Hidden Sand Village, who could control ten puppets simultaneously in combat.
Fortunately for Sakura, her "golden finger"—the advantage brought over from her past life—meant she didn't need to train all this from scratch. These precision chakra control methods were already instinctive to her body.
Now, her focus was on applying those advanced control skills to other types of ninjutsu.
She couldn't simply rely on her original War Arc self. If she wanted to reach her goals, staying stagnant wasn't an option.
"Sakura, dinner's ready!"
"I made your favorite—sweet red bean rice dumplings!"
Came the voice of Haruno Mebuki from outside her room.
"That stuff is way too sweet… Let's go with bone broth tomorrow instead, alright~?"
That was something the old Sakura liked—not the current her.
"Eh? When did you stop liking it? Kids these days, always changing their minds…"
—
Night.
BOOM!!!
The peacefulness of Konoha was suddenly shattered by an explosive boom, echoing through the night sky and causing the windows of nearby houses to rattle.
Sakura, who had just tucked herself into bed and was starting to doze off, jolted upright under the covers, her entire body trembling from the shock.
What the hell was that!?
She climbed out of bed, glancing outside. All around, other homes had started turning on their lights—clearly, they had also been startled by the massive sound.
Looking in the direction the explosion came from, Sakura let out a small chuckle.
No way… don't tell me that was Naruto's gas stove exploding…?
She tried to brush the absurd thought away—but then hesitated.
If it's Naruto… it's entirely possible.
Slipping on her slippers and tiptoeing past her parents' room, which remained undisturbed, she snuck out of the house.
As she drew closer to Naruto's home, more and more villagers were gathering, many whispering in concern and curiosity.
With her petite frame, Sakura easily squeezed through the crowd and into the front.
The sight that greeted her was nothing short of shocking.
A part of Naruto's apartment building had been completely demolished.
Her gaze shifted upward to the upper floor—his home had definitely suffered damage. At least half of it had collapsed.
And sure enough, the explosion seemed to have come from the kitchen.
No way… it really was the gas stove!
But she quickly composed herself.
Naruto should be fine. If she remembered correctly, he had ANBU agents secretly watching over him at all times.
"Eh? Sakura, you're here too?"
A familiar voice chirped from nearby.
Sakura turned to see a small, cheerful blonde girl bounding up to her. It was Yamanaka Ino.
Behind her stood a middle-aged man with the same light-blond hair—Yamanaka Inoichi.
"Uncle Inoichi," Sakura greeted politely.
"Oh, Sakura. That blast didn't scare you too much, did it?" Inoichi asked, his voice gentle.
Despite Sakura being a civilian-born ninja, Inoichi had never looked down on her. He was aware of how close she was with his daughter and respected that bond.
"A little, yeah. That's why I came out to check it out. Didn't expect it to be Naruto's place…"
She glanced toward the debris again, worry creeping across her face.
"Uncle Inoichi, do you know if Naruto is okay?"
It would be more than ironic if Naruto had learned how to cook only to blow himself up doing it.
And if he had died in the explosion… who would inherit Asura's chakra? Who would stop Sasuke—the reincarnation of Indra?
"No need to worry. Naruto, he—"
Just as Inoichi was about to explain, a familiar voice rang out across the crowd.
"Eh? Sakura? What're you doing here?"
Naruto appeared, wearing a sleeping cap and pajamas, rubbing his eyes with one hand, still clearly not fully awake.
Sakura stared at him for a moment, speechless.
This guy…
He didn't even wake up from an explosion right next to him. Truly the Child of Prophecy…
She let out a long sigh of helplessness, unsure whether to laugh or scold him.
---
(End of Chapter)