Chapter 9: The Real Cheat
The Twelve Basic Hand Signs. Fifteen Close-Combat Techniques. Wilderness Survival Guide. Ten Methods of Shuriken Throwing. The Will of Fire — First Hokage. The Will of Fire — Second Hokage. The Will of Fire — Third Hokage.
Sakura flipped through the books one by one in her bedroom. They only covered the basics — easy enough to pick up quickly.
From the content, she could already guess that the second-year materials would follow the same structure — just more advanced versions of the same skills.
That made sense. Expecting a six-year-old to truly master any of these techniques was a fantasy.
If anything, the three Will of Fire volumes were the real core of the curriculum.
The next morning, Sakura was up and dressed before dawn — which startled Mebuki, who was just getting up to start breakfast.
"Sakura, what are you—"
"Morning, Mom! Going out for a run. Be back soon!"
She watched her daughter bounce out the door and instinctively pressed a hand to her own forehead.
I don't have a fever…
Since when does Sakura wake up before she's practically late?
A thin morning mist hung over Konoha as Sakura did two sets of warm-up exercises on the spot.
Konoha was, strictly speaking, the Land of Fire's military apparatus — and the strongest military institution in the entire shinobi world. A violence machine, through and through.
And for a ninja, a body in peak condition wasn't optional.
Which meant daily training was non-negotiable.
"Alright — ten-kilometer endurance run. Go!"
Once her warm-up was done, she launched into her first goal.
The ten-kilometer run was also an exam requirement.
Since chakra was the fusion of physical and spiritual energy, anyone who could mold it was already far beyond a normal person physically. Even a first-year Academy student like Sakura.
That's how Guy and Lee could scream about the power of youth while cranking out hundreds of laps. Their ninjutsu talent might have been lacking, but their chakra was anything but weak.
Guy at least had some aptitude. Rock Lee had absolutely zero ninjutsu talent — but raw chakra? Plenty.
Even in this six-year-old body, Sakura could probably beat up her past life's five-foot-eleven self without breaking a sweat.
As time wore on, a fine sweat formed on her brow and her breathing grew heavier.
But she pushed through and made it back to the starting point.
Forty-five minutes.
She glanced at the stopwatch hanging around her neck and allowed herself a smile.
Passing mark — cleared.
Without bothering about the sweat clinging to her skin — and without even kicking off her shoes — she bolted straight through the house to the backyard.
"SAKURA!"
"Take off your shoes!"
Mebuki's voice erupted from the kitchen.
"Got it, Mom!"
"Next time for sure!"
Sakura's reply echoed from somewhere far away.
"That child, I swear…"
Mebuki stared at the trail of tiny footprints and sighed.
Thwk!
A blade sliced through the air and buried itself dead-center in a leaf pinned to the tree — Sakura's makeshift bullseye.
Fwip-fwip-fwip!
Three more shuriken in rapid succession, each one hitting the shredded remains of the same leaf.
Sakura eyed the last shuriken in her hand. She exhaled, eyes sharp, and flicked her wrist. It struck home.
Five for five.
She stared at her own hand, bewildered.
She'd checked the original Sakura's memories — the girl had never been this accurate. At this age, she'd barely started learning to throw.
Five shuriken. Five hits. Every single one.
A suspicion began to form. To test it, Sakura pulled all five shuriken from the tree, picked up a fresh leaf, hung it on a branch, and noted its exact position.
Then she moved much farther back.
She locked eyes with the distant leaf and let all five fly — one after another without pause.
Fwip-fwip-fwip-fwip-fwip!
All five hit.
The movements felt as natural as breathing — like muscle memory etched deep into her bones.
The Yin Seal… the Hundred Healings…
She reached up and touched her forehead.
Someday, a purple diamond mark would appear right there.
Tsunade's ultimate technique. Hashirama Senju's passive gift.
An S-rank jutsu that made you effectively immortal as long as you had chakra remaining.
Sakura looked down at her palm, her mind racing. Almost instinctively, she gathered her pitiful reserves of chakra and — following that strange, familiar muscle memory — channeled it into her foot.
BOOM.
The ground cratered beneath her — half a meter deep, cracks spiderwebbing outward.
That's… the Heavenly Foot of Pain!
No — wait. This wasn't the move set of some rookie "Rising Star" Sakura.
This was the Fourth Great Ninja War Sakura — the sixteen-year-old version — shrunk down!
The Sakura who had inherited everything from Tsunade!
Aside from her tiny body and her laughably small chakra reserves — and the absence of memories from before age sixteen — she was functionally identical to the wartime version.
She stared at her pale little hand and barely suppressed the urge to bite her thumb and try a Summoning Jutsu.
If Katsuyu actually showed up, that would be a disaster. The slug would absolutely rat her out to Tsunade.
Then again… was it really that crazy? Jiraiya had performed a Summoning Jutsu without a contract and gotten reverse-summoned to Mount Myōboku.
So if she tried it, she'd just get warped to the Shikkotsu Forest. Perfectly logical, right?
Sakura felt something click into place. A weight lifted from her chest, and a genuine smile crossed her face.
Inheriting everything from the sixteen-year-old Sakura — that was her real cheat. Not just the Yin Seal.
It wasn't the most broken ability in the world. But it was more than enough.
Medical ninjutsu. Superhuman strength. The Yin Seal and Hundred Healings. And a potential Summoning Jutsu still on the table…
Sakura wasn't greedy. It sure beat having nothing at all.
In high spirits, she practiced shuriken throwing for a while longer, then sprinted back inside toward the bathroom.
She was drenched in sweat and starting to smell.
"SAKURA!!!"
"YOUR SHOES — AGAIN!!!"
The bathroom door hadn't even closed before Mebuki's voice thundered through the house.
"Next time! I promise, Mom!"
Sakura called back with a laugh.
"'Next time, next time' — it's ALWAYS next time! Can't you give me ONE day of peace?!"