145 Naruto Mobile Game

"Basic attack movement to dodge the skill! Perfect timing!"

"Time for a mind game! Last round the opponent opened with Lightning Sword Transformation… my god! This round again! Are you really guessing whether I'll do it again or not!"

"Nice! A wrong Y-axis opening!"

"Just a sliver of HP left, just a sliver left! He hasn't given up yet! He's still struggling, still struggling!"

"Eye feint baiting the substitution—sub or not sub—movement pulls away… suddenly turns back for a basic attack! Second opening!"

"It's over! Now the opponent is going to be grinning!"

"Match over! Thank you… for bringing us such a wonderful match!"

....

Sakura opened her eyes and looked at the clean white ceiling above her. Her originally foggy mind gradually recovered its senses.

She sat up and raised a hand to rub her head.

Maybe she had been restless while sleeping—her beautiful hair was as messy as a bird's nest.

Most likely it was because she had been watching too many matches lately. That commentator's excited words had actually shown up even in her dreams.

She got dressed, got up, washed up, and ate breakfast.

After leaving the house, Sakura looked up and saw the light curtain hanging at the edge of the sky, appearing at some unknown time.

"I feel a bit nervous," she murmured.

She wondered if she should go find Kakashi-sensei early, or Naruto and Sasuke, to ask for some advice.

After all, it was her first time attending an information conference.

[A medical ninja standing on the front line!]

[Enduring harsh training!]

This High-Class Recruitment preview was pretty obvious. Just from the silhouette and the fluttering cherry blossom petals, one could guess it was Haruno Sakura.

Haruno Sakura was a character with extremely strong presence in the story, standing in a league of her own among all the female characters.

What's more, as a member of Team Seven, it was something many people had long predicted that she would be part of High-Class Recruitment.

Of course, following the seasonal tradition of releasing two High-Class Recruitment ninjas at once, besides Haruno Sakura, there was another one.

[Power of the Six Paths · The eyes that control life and death!]

[Create a world without conflict!]

If, after Pain's invasion, some people had guessed that among the Six Paths of Pain, aside from the Deva Path, the other five might become High-Class Recruitment candidates—

The later release of B-rank Asura Path and B-rank Animal Path directly denied that idea.

So that left only Nagato's original body.

The first day of the Unlimited Class Tournament finals had ended, and all matches in the winners' bracket were finished.

Tomorrow would be the losers' bracket, and the day inserted in between was the best time to open the information conference.

"Welcome to the information conference for the latest High-Class Recruitment ninjas. I'm your old friend, Kuroda."

"Hello everyone, I'm Haruno Sakura."

"Nagato."

At the information conference venue, three people and three sofas—truly evenly matched… just kidding, it was mainly because they couldn't all fit together.

Sakura secretly glanced at Nagato. He looked exactly like he did when he appeared in the story—thin and frail, his body housed within a device.

After seeing Nagato's true form, many viewers suddenly understood why the Deva Path had replaced Nagato as the leader of Akatsuki.

Even considering Yahiko's influence, Nagato's own appearance clearly lacked the intimidation of the Deva Path.

"Why is it Edo Tensei?"

Nagato didn't care about anything else; he was simply puzzled by the character illustration that appeared on the large screen behind him.

His body looked intact, and he was even wearing a red robe, yet the name had the suffix "Edo Tensei" attached.

Was he still not at peace after death, crawling out of the ground again? Did he even get another chance to appear?

Actually, Sakura had her own thoughts as well. Her ninja being High-Class Recruitment A was no surprise, but the suffix was "Hundred Healings," and her outfit looked like it was from wartime.

"Well, you'll understand after the game update," Kuroda didn't explain much about it.

But speaking of it, Nagato was probably one of the earliest Edo Tensei ninjas in Ninja Mobile Game, right? From then on, the era of the living dead began.

Nagato pondered for a moment, then stopped asking further questions and picked up his phone. Seeing this, Sakura hurriedly picked up her phone as well.

Next came the main topic of the information conference.

"Before the two of you introduce your ninjas, we can first take a look at the recruitment animations. Everyone can also watch them yourselves after the ninjas go live."

After Kuroda finished speaking, the light curtain switched scenes.

The two recruitment animations weren't long. Nagato's animation began with summoning several large summons, and in the end his arm transformed into a cannon barrel aimed at the camera.

In comparison, Sakura of the Hundred Healings was the real hard-to-watch one.

You could see Sakura, wearing Konoha's green ninja flak jacket, violently punching a massive boulder, and finally charging up a punch that smashed it apart from the top.

No one knew what mindset others would have seeing this, but Sakura herself nearly wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

She felt that others would probably laugh themselves to death—especially Naruto and Ino, those two!

It was bizarre and ferocious, crude in the most brutal way!

"Ahem, everyone, let's first take a look at my ninja!" Sakura proactively spoke up to pull things back on track.

The light curtain switched scenes again, arriving at the training ground, where the two new ninjas could be seen standing face to face.

Sakura ignored Nagato and went straight into her introduction.

As soon as she started using it, she felt a sense of impact—like attacks connecting with flesh—giving her the inexplicable feeling that this ninja had excellent handling.

[Haruno Sakura · the Hundred Healings] was a pure taijutsu ninja. Everyone had already been mentally prepared for that after watching the recruitment animation.

The first four basic attacks pushed forward, and the fifth A grabbed the opponent, flipped them over, and slammed them into the ground. If the fourth A didn't hit, the fifth A wouldn't trigger.

It was worth noting that Sakura of the Hundred Healings's basic attacks had a certain Y-axis reach, which might be useful at critical moments.

As for this ninja's two skills, they looked like enhanced versions of Shippuden Sakura's skills.

First skill, Cherry Blossom Hold: she lunges forward to grab the target. If the grab succeeds, she holds the target, leaps up, and then smashes them heavily into the ground.

It was very similar to Raikage A's hug.

Second skill, Cherry Blossom Rush: Sakura of the Hundred Healings gathers chakra in her hands, then rapidly throws a straight punch directly forward.

This skill immediately caught many people's eyes. Though simple and brutal, its damage, range, and speed were all quite impressive.

Next came the highlight, and also the special way this ninja's skills were used.

Both the first and second skills could be slid into a basic attack to trigger Cherry Blossom Leap—that is, a high flip jump.

While in the air, you could tap basic attack to perform a downward side kick, which was the second stage of Cherry Blossom Leap.

If you hit an enemy during the takeoff, she would directly clamp onto the target and smash them into the ground.

Sakura of the Hundred Healings had a unique mechanic.

If Cherry Blossom Leap hit a target, it would trigger Awakening, entering the Hundred Healings Mode for 25 seconds.

During Awakening, Sakura of the Hundred Healings's attack power increased significantly, and her skills and basic attacks were enhanced.

Each basic attack hit turned into two hits. The first skill could be held down—after grabbing the enemy, she would spin several times and throw them flying. If they collided with terrain, they would bounce back.

In the awakened state, when Sakura of the Hundred Healings was attacked by enemies, part of the damage would be converted into a white HP bar that gradually decreased.

When she attacked the enemy again, a portion of that white HP bar would be converted into normal HP recovery.

She could heal?

That was what most people were thinking at that moment.

In the current version, there were very few ninjas capable of healing, aside from a summon—Slug.

And when people saw Sakura of the Hundred Healings use her ultimate, sending the target flying, and then, after they landed, still being able to follow up with the first skill, some realized something.

This ninja would definitely become mainstream!