One Punch

The classroom was empty.

There was no one else around.

Only the scratch of Haruno Sakura's writing could be heard. Iruka and Mizuki sat at the front, watching Sakura write furiously.

Sakura did not hesitate in the slightest as she answered the questions. She skimmed through every problem, then began writing, never encountering the slightest obstacle or pause.

Iruka watched Haruno Sakura answer the questions at lightning speed, his expression calm and utterly unsurprised.

He had watched Sakura's every move these past few days. Combined with her already outstanding grades, the written subjects were nothing more than a piece of cake for her.

"Iruka-sensei, I'm done."

Fifty minutes had passed. Haruno Sakura set down her pencil and looked at her completed paper with satisfaction.

"Good. There will be a physical fitness test and combat sparring this afternoon. Remember not to eat too much."

--

Whoosh!

Bullseye.

Whoosh!

Bullseye!

Iruka recorded Sakura's shuriken test results while sighing as he watched the girl throwing shuriken in the distance.

Becoming a ninja was not as wonderful as people imagined.

Even a child, once they put on a forehead protector, would have blood on their hands. And if they did not stain their hands with blood, their own blood would stain someone else's hands.

Tap~

Hiruzen Sarutobi smoked in the teachers' office as he watched the little girl taking her promotion exam in the distance.

Unlike Iruka, he believed that Konoha needed fresh blood. Just as it had during the previous Shinobi World War, the younger generation needed someone brilliant enough to stand in everyone's sight.

After the Third Shinobi World War and the Nine-Tails' Rampage, Konoha was already showing signs of a gap between generations.

Now, Konoha only had this old man barely holding it together...

Before retiring, he wanted to nurture someone capable of shouldering Konoha's burdens.

"Shuriken throwing, full marks."

Iruka put down the score sheet he had been recording. Honestly, this level of shuriken accuracy was more than enough even for the graduation exam.

"Next event: cross-country obstacle course."

"Full marks."

"Next event: five-hundred-meter sprint."

"Full marks."

"Next event: ten-kilometer endurance run."

"Full marks."

Huff~

Haruno Sakura breathed lightly as she stood on the sparring grounds and looked at her opponent.

He had black hair, bandages wrapped around his forehead, Pure White Eyes, and a calm expression.

Neji Hyuga.

The genius of the Hyuga clan.

Was first-year promotion really this difficult?

"Form the Seal of Confrontation."

At Iruka's command, Haruno Sakura and Neji Hyuga each held their sword fingers before their chests.

And with that, the Seal of Confrontation was complete.

"You're already tired. You can't possibly be my opponent."

Neji Hyuga looked at his opponent and spoke calmly.

To be honest, when Iruka had approached him, he had been rather confused as well.

A first-year Academy student wanted to advance to the second year early?

Then why had Iruka come looking for him?

Wouldn't any second-year student have done?

Was asking him to be this first-year's opponent an insult to him, or did Iruka simply not want that first-year to advance at all?

But Iruka offered no further explanation. He simply told Neji to defeat that first-year student.

"Who says whether I'm your opponent or not?"

Sakura pulled out a red hair tie from her pocket, tied her slightly long pink hair behind her head, then fixed Neji Hyuga with a blazing gaze.

She signaled that he could make the first move.

She was letting him attack first?

Was this girl looking down on him?

Neji Hyuga felt a surge of embarrassment and anger. Since when could a first-year junior be this arrogant?

Neji Hyuga charged.

Neji Hyuga fell.

His Pure White Eyes stared at the azure sky, and he could hardly believe what had just happened.

He had rushed forward, intending to use the Byakugan and unleash a set of Pressure Point Attacks on this seemingly delicate little girl. Yet she dodged his first strike, then drove a fist into his chest.

Then there was no then.

His entire body had been sent flying by a single punch.

Was that the strength a six-year-old girl should have?

Good thing, good thing... she hadn't crippled him with one punch...

Sakura looked at her fist with lingering fear. To show proper respect for this Hyuga clan genius, she had used Monstrous Strength.

Who knew he would be so unable to take a hit? One punch had sent him flying. If she had not pulled back at the last moment, she did not know whether he might have been crippled on the spot.

The field fell silent. No one could believe that the Hyuga clan's genius had been instantly defeated with one punch.

Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his eyes in the teachers' office. What had he just seen?

He seemed to have seen the shadow of his own disciple in that little girl.

They were practically identical...

She was simply a miniature Tsunade. It made the sixty-three-year-old old man think of the young Tsunade who had loved climbing walls everywhere.

"Winner, Haruno Sakura!"

After Iruka announced the result, Haruno Sakura walked over to Neji Hyuga and held out her hand.

"Thank you for going easy on me, Senior."

Neji Hyuga looked at the smiling Haruno Sakura before silently offering his hand.

Sakura pulled Neji Hyuga to his feet, then happily went to Iruka's side and looked at him expectantly.

"Iruka-sensei, does this mean I passed?"

"You passed the physical fitness and combat portions, but the written portion won't have results until tomorrow."

Iruka helplessly rubbed Sakura's head. Looking at the little girl with expectation filling her eyes, he sighed inwardly.

I truly am powerless, Hokage...

--

Spring turned to autumn. In the blink of an eye, a year had passed since Haruno Sakura's exam to skip from the first year to the second year.

Haruno Sakura had also turned seven, and her studies had already progressed to the fourth-year level.

Yet even so, Iruka had kept her in her original class.

It could be said that ever since the second year, she had been teaching herself. Aside from occasionally asking Iruka about a few things she did not understand, she had basically studied on her own.

And with Haruno Sakura making no effort to hide herself, word of her genius gradually spread.

"Winner, Second Pillar!"

As Iruka announced the result of the match, all the little girls around the sparring grounds cheered.

"Sasuke is so handsome!"

"Sasuke-sama is invincible!"

"Sasuke, look at me!!"

The Blond Kid whom Sasuke had defeated glared at the black-haired boy before him with an unwilling expression.

"Just you wait! One day, I'll defeat you!"

Second Pillar ignored both Uzumaki Naruto, whom he had defeated, and the swooning girls cheering around him. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the classroom.

He knew there was still a girl quietly reading there.

She had long stopped participating in this kind of combat practice, because no one was her match. Only during physical training could anyone still catch sight of her...