NOVEL NEXT Chapter 399: Vegetative People and Fungal People
Before I knew it, the winter break had passed.
Every day, Haruno Sakura had been training with Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, and others. Sometimes, Shino, Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba would join in as well.
And thus, Haruno Sakura's life went on, day after day.
In the morning, she trained with Naruto and the others to improve their Chakra control, worked at the tailor shop in the afternoon, reviewed in her mind space in the evening, and cultivated the Vacuity Four Seals early in the morning. Her days could not have been more fulfilling.
Finally, when the second semester started, Sakura had grown to a height of 1.60 meters, and Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino had developed beyond their classmates with heights around 1.30 meters.
When the five of them reappeared in the classroom, they were substantially taller than the other students, even Iruka was dumbfounded.
Sakura had only grown ten centimeters, not a significant change, but what was going on with Naruto and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio?
When had Naruto's diet improved so much?
And Choji, while still appearing broad and stout, now showed off a chest of solid, strong muscles instead of being merely plump and soft!
Iruka could imagine just how muscular Choji would look without his shirt—the physique was imposing!
"Naruto..." Hyuga Hinata stared at the "tall and handsome" Naruto, her eyes went wide, and because she occasionally trained with Haruno Sakura and others, her height had almost reached one meter as well.
Inuzuka Kiba and Shino were about the same.
"Iruka-sensei, can you teach us Ninjutsu this term?" Naruto laughed heartily, "We've been diligently studying and training during the winter break, and our height is the best proof!"
"No," Iruka was a responsible teacher, "You're only seven years old. You shouldn't learn dangerous Ninjutsu, and even the Three-body Skill can only be learned after the third grade."
"What! We already know how to do things like the Three-body Skill."
Not just Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji could also easily perform the Three-body Skill due to their physical development and increased Chakra.
"Shadow Clone Skill!" Naruto shouted, and dozens of Narutos suddenly appeared in the classroom, giving Iruka quite the fright.
"This Chakra!" Although Iruka knew Naruto had immense Chakra, he didn't expect that he had already mastered the Shadow Clone, and even gave off the impression of Multiple Shadow Clone.
After all, the difference between Shadow Clone and Multiple Shadow Clone is only in the number of clones.
Ordinary ninjas can't use Multiple Shadow Clone due to insufficient Chakra, but for Naruto, even using the Shadow Clone gave off the impression of Multiple Shadow Clone.
"Iruka-sensei, no need to be surprised. My maximum limit is to create over five hundred clones!" Naruto confidently said, "It's just that I haven't grown up yet, otherwise creating a thousand clones would be a trivial task."
Iruka was speechless, "Alright, quickly dispel the clones, the classroom can't withstand your antics."
"So many Narutos!" At this moment, Hinata's face turned red because a Naruto was standing right behind her, causing steam to burst from her head, and she fainted onto the desk.
Naruto dispelled the clones and gained the memories from the clones, muttering, "Looks like Hinata fainted again."
Shikamaru heard it and casually said, "Maybe she likes you."
"Really? Haha! I, Naruto Uzumaki, am indeed becoming popular." Naruto laughed heartily.
"This guy..." Shikamaru wasn't sure whether Naruto was genuinely oblivious or just feigning ignorance.
It was probably the former.
"Alright, alright, everyone take your seats, I'm going to start the roll call," Iruka instructed everyone to sit properly, then took out the roll call book and began calling names.
"Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Here!"
"..."
After calling attendance, Iruka said, "This is the first class of the new semester, let's review the last semester's materials. Those of you who already know can preview what we are going to learn this semester. If you already know it, please do your own thing and do not disturb the other students."
For the geniuses, Iruka felt quite lenient.
Especially for Haruno Sakura, Naruto, and the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho, Iruka felt he no longer had the credentials to teach them, at least in terms of ninja abilities, these people were almost comparable to him.
The students listened attentively to the class, except for one person who focused on Haruno Sakura and others.
Uchiha Sasuke.
This winter break, he had a great time at home because he could see his brother nearly every day, playing with him while casually practicing physical skills, Ninjutsu, shuriken, and kunai.
He felt that after a summer vacation, he should have become very strong, at least strong enough to catch up with Haruno Sakura, who far surpassed him owing to her height.
However, he hadn't expected that he seemed to be even further behind her, and even Naruto had suddenly grown a lot taller.
"Damn it! As a member of the Uchiha, I absolutely cannot lose to that guy!"
Uchiha Sasuke swore to himself, deciding to ask his brother for special training after school to definitely surpass Naruto.
By the way, he also wanted to casually ask his brother if there was any way to quickly grow taller.
As an Uchiha, he could not lose to anyone else in any aspect!
The day's lessons ended.
Like usual, Haruno Sakura and the others practiced together for a while, and then each went their own way, with Haruno Sakura quitting her job at the tailor shop to take a part-time job at a mushroom farming enterprise.
Sakura, too, understood the nature of mushrooms; within Konoha, this ingredient was extremely precious and could even sell for five hundred taels per pound.
The reason was simple: mushrooms required a dark, moist environment to grow, and such environments were not abundant in Konoha, with indoor cultivation not yet appearing.
Though the Forest of Death was dark enough, it was said to be home to various dangerous beasts; normally, ordinary people would not dare enter it, let alone forage for mushrooms.
The owner of the mushroom farm was a kind old man, known as Mushroom Grandpa.
The farm was located near the Forest of Death, beside a river that provided ample moisture for the cultivation site.
"Mushrooms are magical plants; they don't need sunlight, just rotting wood and water to grow, and they can provide ample nutrition for humans—it's truly incredible," Mushroom Grandpa said as he led Sakura into his dimly-lit shack, pressing an electric light next to the door to show her the shiitake mushrooms he was cultivating.
Cluster after cluster of brown shiitake mushrooms, tightly packed together like little umbrellas, seemed very cute to Sakura.
"Your daily task is to check the mushrooms' condition before six in the evening. If the rotting wood underneath is a bit dry, just drip in the nutrient solution I have prepared," directed Mushroom Grandpa, pointing to a wooden barrel behind the door filled with a brown liquid that had a rather pungent smell.
"What is this nutrient solution made of?" Sakura asked curiously.
"It's just water mixed with soil," Mushroom Grandpa chuckled, "It sounds simple, but choosing the type of soil and how much water to use, there's a knack to it!"
But what was the knack?
Mushroom Grandpa didn't say, as this was a skill to be passed on to his son and grandson, not to outsiders.
Sakura nodded to show she understood.
Indeed, in Konoha, many vegetable cultivations had their tricks. They sounded easy to do, but in practice, various problems could arise.
After Mushroom Grandpa had left, Sakura carefully began to inspect the growth of the shiitake mushrooms, her curiosity prompting her to ask, "Master, why do mushrooms and such plants prefer dark, moist environments?"
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"Strictly speaking, mushrooms and such organisms cannot really be classified as plants," Sun Wukong said calmly, "They should be considered as organisms lying between animals and plants."
"They can be classified as—fungi."
Sakura nodded vigorously.
Indeed, mushrooms had something plant-like about their rigidity but also something akin to muscle in their robustness, entirely like something transitioning from plant to animal.
After inspecting one side, Sakura took out a white microparticle from her hand and said, "This was left inside my clone by that guy who looked like a Venus flytrap; it must be something like a plant seed."
The spore that was intended to stay inside Kakashi had been detected by Sakura and collected.
She discovered that this tiny spore contained extraordinarily powerful life force, which, when chakra was injected, could resurrect it and quickly grow.
However, the chakra in Sakura's body belonged only to her, so naturally, she could inject it, and just as naturally, she could extract it.
"Those two people from before, and the organism these spores are supposed to grow into, they almost share the same body structure; they wouldn't happen to be plant people, would they?" Sakura suddenly thought of something and asked in surprise.
"To be precise, they are fungi people," Sun Wukong said without hesitation, "Their cells have fungal cell properties but are more active, capable of transitioning between animal and plant."
"However, when they transform into the form of a plant, it likely signifies that their thoughts have vanished, converting into the 'plant' form."
"This process is likely irreversible."
Sakura understood that once these "fungi people" truly became plants and their consciousness dissipated, even if it meant true death, they couldn't be revived again, only—
"Master, you said 'likely,' does that mean you have a way to reverse this process?" Sakura couldn't help but ask, "If that's the case, wouldn't these fungi people be immortal?"
"Of course, after all, in this universe, your master, I can barely claim to be omniscient and omnipotent," Sun Wukong stated unmodestly, "However, they aren't exactly immortal. They still depend on the environment. Once destroyed by a stronger force, or if burned by fire into ashes, they cannot be resurrected, can they?"