Chapter 280: The School's Master-Level Breeding Teacher
The Changchun Fruit in Sakura's hand was as large as an apple, its deep crimson color glistening like a piece of blood jade.
Even someone unfamiliar with such things could tell that this fruit had to be at least 50 years old.
But an expert was present.
A teacher from a nearby line—an elderly man around his fifties or sixties with a few strands of white hair—immediately approached, abandoning his previous task.
He pushed his glasses up and carefully examined the fruit in his hands.
After a moment, his eyes shone with excitement.
"This Changchun Fruit... It must be around 150 years old!"
Hearing this, Hikaru raised his eyebrows in surprise.
The teacher glanced at him, his gaze full of admiration.
"Student, I know where most of the high-grade Changchun Fruit trees are located. From whom did you obtain this fruit?"
Before Hikaru could answer, Sakura proudly stepped forward.
"Hehe, we traded it from a Nine-Tails. That Nine-Tails was really nice!"
The teacher nodded knowingly.
However, the surrounding students were in an uproar.
"Did he just say 150 years old? That kind of Changchun Fruit is practically an S-grade treasure!"
"And it's that big! One of those alone would be worth at least five million!"
"Could it be fake?"
Someone raised a skeptical voice, but it was quickly countered by another.
"Fake? Are you out of your mind? Do you know who that teacher is? That's Professor Yamashita, the dean of the Breeding Department at Central Youth University!
He's a master-level breeder who has trained countless top-tier breeding experts! Even the famous Master Luo Qingfeng was once his student!"
"If he says it's genuine, it's definitely real!"
The questioning student fell silent, while the others could only look on with eyes full of envy and disbelief.
The difference between treasure levels becomes enormous as you go higher, often increasing tenfold in value between tiers.
"Nine-Tails, huh? So you traded for it..."
The teacher adjusted his glasses, still a bit puzzled.
That Nine-Tails was indeed known to guard a 150-year-old Changchun Fruit tree.
But before he could delve deeper, Sakura kept pulling more fruits from the bag.
This time, they weren't as large as the first one—smaller, but still glistening with a vivid red hue, indicating around 70 years of growth.
Though these were impressive enough to make the teacher nod in approval, they didn't shock him as much as the first one.
For a master breeder like him, getting his hands on such fruits was relatively easy through university channels.
When all the 70-year-old fruits were laid out, Sakura paused for a moment.
The students around them, who had been holding their breath, finally let out sighs of relief.
"That's gotta be it, right? No way they've got more than this... right?"
But just as they were calming down, Sakura's next words reignited the frenzy.
"Please scan these first, Rotom. There's still more after that!"
More?
Even some of the upperclassmen who had been observing calmly were now openly gaping in disbelief.
"Rotom... Rotom..."
The floating Pokémon, Rotom, trembled a little as it carried out its duty.
It had never seen such a situation before.
After a moment, it announced the result:
"Energy Value: 2,743,861"
"Holy... crap..."
The crowd was in shock.
Considering that one unit of energy value roughly translated to 10 yen, this meant that their total value was at least 30 million yen!
"That seems a bit low..."
Sakura frowned slightly, her statement dripping with nonchalance, as if thirty million yen was nothing to her.
Everyone around her nearly passed out from the shock.
Even Hikaru felt a little exasperated by Sakura's tone but held back from commenting.
He knew the real shocker was still to come.
With a smile, Sakura resumed pulling out the rest of the fruits from the final space bag.
Each fruit was about the size of an apple, and they just kept coming.
At first, people were shocked, but after the fifth or sixth large fruit, they just became numb to it all.
It wasn't just one or two S-grade Changchun Fruits—it was dozens.
The audience had lost count and simply stared in awe.
The teacher, who had initially been returning to his post, couldn't help but rush back to Sakura's side.
His face was a mix of astonishment and seriousness.
"You two... what exactly did you trade with that Nine-Tails to get so many fruits?"
He couldn't believe a wild Pokémon would hand over such a treasure willingly unless it was something truly extraordinary.
Sakura gave Hikaru a questioning look, and Hikaru calmly responded.
"Just some self-made energy cubes. I guess they were particularly effective for Nine-Tails."
The teacher was momentarily stunned.
"Energy cubes? May I see one?"
Hikaru looked a bit embarrassed.
"Well... I gave all of them to Nine-Tails already..."
The teacher looked visibly disappointed.
A cube powerful enough to make a wild Nine-Tails part with such treasures?
That was unheard of.
It was evident that Hikaru had some unique method of crafting them, and the teacher's curiosity was piqued.
He didn't press further, though. Since he was still on duty, he returned to his position, while Rotom prepared to calculate the final result.
"Rotom... scanning... Total Energy Value: 7,352,647"
When the number appeared, the entire field went dead silent.
Even the most stoic upperclassmen were left speechless.
Seven million three hundred fifty-two thousand six hundred forty-seven.
The highest record ever set during freshman training was just over one million.
Even top-tier seniors couldn't reach seven million in one haul.
When the result was announced, Hikaru only gave a modest smile, but Sakura couldn't contain her excitement.
The surrounding students looked at them as if they were monsters.
One of the senior students who had been boasting earlier couldn't help but mutter,
"This year's freshmen are on another level... Are they even human?"
In the midst of the chaotic murmurs and shocked gasps, Professor Yamashita couldn't help but give Hikaru an approving nod.
"Your potential as a breeder is truly impressive. I'll keep an eye on your progress."
With those words, Hikaru knew that his achievements in breeding had caught the attention of one of the best mentors he could ever ask for.
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