Year

Whoosh!

The shuriken sliced through the air and landed steadily on the target.

While all the other students had gone home, Second Pillar alone remained at the academy, practicing his shuriken throws.

Looking at the shuriken that had landed slightly off the bullseye, Second Pillar furrowed his brow.

Not enough...

Ever since Haruno Sakura had taken first place from him in the physical training competition, he had never managed to take it back.

Or rather, he had taken it back, because Haruno Sakura no longer participated in shuriken throwing contests like this.

First place naturally became his.

Thinking of his father's calm gaze, Sasuke also wanted to hear him say—

"Just as expected of my son."

Whoosh!

Another shuriken flew from his hand.

This time, the rapidly spinning shuriken struck the target's red center with precision.

"Looks like it's going to rain?"

Haruno Sakura had rarely given herself a day off. After school, she did nothing—neither read nor trained. She had merely wanted to sit on the roof, enjoy the evening breeze, and count the stars.

But looking at the gloomy night sky, that plan was clearly ruined.

The cool night breeze lifted the tips of Haruno Sakura's pink hair.

"Sakura, it's going to rain! Hurry and come down!"

Haruno Meiko's voice came from inside the house.

"Got it!"

Sakura answered her mother, but then her nose twitched slightly.

A faint scent of blood drifted into her nostrils on the wind.

Her body was a miniature version of sixteen-year-old Warring States Sakura. As someone outstanding in Medical Ninjutsu, she was naturally extremely familiar with the smell of blood.

Even though the scent was nearly imperceptible, Haruno Sakura still identified it.

Haruno Sakura looked in the direction the wind was coming from.

That was the direction of the Uchiha compound.

The Uchiha compound lay at the very edge of Konoha, quite far from the Haruno Family. For the smell of blood to drift all the way here, one could imagine just how many people had died...

Eugh~~

What had nothing to do with her could stay far away from her...

She had not even finished worrying about her own problems. Why would she have time to deal with this mess?

Besides, she had no ability to deal with it.

Sakura returned inside, and rain had already begun to fall outside in a soft drizzle.

Seeing that the raindrops seemed about to blow through the window into her bedroom, Sakura casually shut and locked it tight.

--

The next day

After being washed by the rain, Konoha's air was especially fresh. As usual, Sakura prepared to head to the Ninja Academy.

Although she now had almost no need to listen to Iruka's lessons, Iruka still required her to attend the Ninja Academy every day except weekends.

The moment Sakura stepped outside, she felt that today was different from usual.

There were far fewer pedestrians on the streets, and she occasionally caught sight of hurried ninja. In a fleeting glance, she even saw an Anbu member flash past.

They were all generally rushing toward the edge of the village...

That made Sakura understand immediately.

So the Uchiha Clan Downfall had happened after all.

That Uchiha Weasel she had met once had made his move.

What an arrogant guy.

Unable to figure out how to solve the problem, he had simply solved the people causing it, directly wiping out all three clans at once.

That was truly extreme.

Sakura inwardly looked down on him a little, then stopped thinking about it and headed straight for the Ninja Academy.

Before long, she would need to prepare for the exam to advance from fourth grade to fifth grade.

She had no spare time to think about something like this.

As another year passed, Sakura could feel the Yin Seal on her forehead absorbing Chakra faster and faster.

As Sakura gradually grew older, her Chakra also slowly increased.

Naturally, the amount of excess Chakra increased as well.

Sakura had a feeling that the Yin Seal would form within five years.

That made her even more eager to skip grades and advance. Within those five years, she not only needed to become a ninja, but also find some way to obtain the Yin Seal.

It really was a daunting task...

As for defecting?

Sakura had never even considered it.

Abandon her mother?

Abandon her father?

"Morning, Ino."

The moment she entered the classroom, Sakura saw Ino standing by the door like a woman waiting for her husband to return.

"Sakura?"

Ino looked somewhat disappointed.

"What? Seeing me disappointed the young lady of the Yamanaka clan?"

Sakura teased Ino.

"No, no, no, not at all."

Ino shook her head like a rattle drum.

After saying that, Ino swiftly looked around to make sure no one was paying attention before leaning close to Sakura's ear and whispering:

"Sakura, stay away from the Uchiha compound for the next couple of days."

"A lot of people died there."

The warm breath from the girl slipped into her ear, making Sakura feel a little ticklish.

"Mm-hmm, got it."

Sakura waved her hand, looking utterly unconcerned.

"Huh? Sakura, aren't you surprised?"

Ino looked strangely at her best friend.

Sakura tilted her head, thought for a moment, then suddenly put on an astonished expression and exclaimed in surprise:

"Wow."

"That's so scary~~"

Ino pursed her lips as she looked at this girl's terrible acting.

"So fake."

"No, I really was scared."

Sakura looked at Ino with a serious expression, her emerald eyes conveying nothing but, Please believe me.

"I'd be a ghost if I believed you. All you do is bully me all day."

Ino complained as she lightly punched Sakura, though the force behind it looked more like she was acting spoiled.

"Alright, alright, alright, my mistake."

Sakura patted Ino's beautiful hair and returned to her seat on her own.

She did not need to ask to know who Ino had been waiting for.

The sole surviving orphan, the last Uchiha.

But unfortunately, Ino was destined to wait in vain. When Iruka entered the classroom, she had no choice but to return to Sakura's side.

"Ahem. Something happened at Sasuke's home today, so he may not be able to come for the time being."

"Everyone, try not to discuss Sasuke too much over the next few days."

Iruka only briefly mentioned Second Pillar's situation without saying anything more.

People were like that—the harder you suppressed them, the more fiercely they rebounded.

If you only mentioned something lightly, people would not take it too seriously, and the matter would simply pass.

Most of the students in the class also kept their mouths shut after hearing Iruka's words. Clearly, they had each received some news from their elders beforehand.

Sakura ignored everyone's reactions and took out a copy of The Third Hokage's Will of Fire from her desk to continue reading.

Having advanced three times already, she clearly understood that compared to those so-called classes and training, the Will of Fire was what the exams truly focused on.

But after going through nine years of compulsory education, she felt that the Will of Fire really had nothing much to it.

My new book went live tonight. Please keep reading.