Chapter 12: One Punch
The classroom was empty and silent.
The only sound was the scratch of Sakura's pencil as she worked through the exam. Iruka and Mizuki sat at the front, watching the girl write at a furious pace.
There was no hesitation. She scanned each question, put pen to paper, and moved on — not a single pause, not a single moment of doubt.
Iruka watched her calmly. No surprise on his face. He'd been observing Sakura closely for the past month. Combined with her already stellar grades, the written portion was never going to be the problem.
"Iruka-sensei, I'm finished."
Fifty minutes in, Sakura set down her pencil and looked over her answer sheet with satisfaction.
"Good. This afternoon there's a physical exam and a sparring match. Don't eat too much."
Bullseye!
Iruka marked another perfect score on the shuriken test while watching the girl throw from across the field.
He sighed quietly.
Becoming a ninja wasn't the glorious thing people imagined. The moment a child put on a forehead protector, their hands were stained with blood. And if your hands stayed clean — it only meant someone else's were stained with yours.
In the faculty office, Hiruzen Sarutobi lit his pipe and observed the girl through his crystal ball.
His thinking differed from Iruka's. Konoha needed fresh blood. Just like in previous wars, the younger generation needed a figure brilliant enough to stand in the spotlight.
After the Third Ninja War and the Nine-Tails disaster, Konoha's ranks were thinning. The pipeline was drying up.
Right now, one old man was all that held it together.
Before he stepped down, he wanted to nurture at least one more pillar for the village.
"Shuriken throwing — perfect score."
Iruka set down his clipboard. Frankly, that level of accuracy would pass even a graduation exam.
"Next — obstacle course."
"Perfect score."
"Next — five-hundred-meter sprint."
"Perfect score."
"Next — ten-kilometer endurance run."
"Perfect score."
Sakura stood in the sparring ring, breathing hard, and looked at her opponent.
Dark hair. Bandages across his forehead. Pale, pupil-less eyes. An expression of absolute calm.
Neji Hyūga.
The Hyūga clan's prodigy.
The difficulty for a first-year promotion exam is THIS high?
"Form the Seal of Confrontation."
At Iruka's command, both fighters raised two fingers before their chests.
The formality was done.
"You're already exhausted. There's no way you can beat me."
Neji regarded her coolly.
When Iruka had approached him, he'd been confused. A first-year wanted to skip to second year — fine. But why recruit him as the opponent?
Any random second-year would've done. Picking the Hyūga prodigy was either an insult to him or a death sentence for her.
Iruka had offered no explanation. Just told him to win.
"Whether I can beat you or not — who's to say?"
Sakura pulled a red ribbon from her pocket and tied her hair back. Then she fixed Neji with a burning stare.
And waited.
She's letting me go first?
Is she looking down on me?
A flash of indignation. Since when did a first-year get to be this arrogant?
Neji charged.
Neji went down.
Those pale eyes stared up at the blue sky as he tried to process what had just happened.
He'd rushed in. Activated his Byakugan. Went for a Gentle Fist strike combo on what looked like a fragile little girl.
She sidestepped his first hit. Then her fist slammed into his chest.
And that was it.
One punch sent him flying.
Is that the kind of strength a six-year-old girl is supposed to have?
Meanwhile, Sakura was staring at her own fist, slightly shaken.
Good thing I didn't accidentally cripple him…
She'd used her enhanced strength out of respect for the Hyūga prodigy. But the kid went down in one hit — and if she hadn't pulled back at the last second, things could've gotten ugly.
The field was dead silent. Nobody could believe the Hyūga genius had just been one-shotted.
In the faculty office, Hiruzen rubbed his eyes.
What did he just see?
For a split second, he could've sworn he saw the shadow of his own student in that little girl.
It was uncanny. Like a miniature Tsunade — and the thought dragged him back decades, to a time when a certain blonde girl used to climb walls and cause havoc all over the village.
"Winner — Sakura Haruno!"
As Iruka announced the result, Sakura walked over to Neji and offered her hand.
"Good match, senpai."
Neji stared at the smiling girl for a moment, then silently placed his hand in hers.
She hauled him to his feet, then bounced over to Iruka, eyes bright with expectation.
"Iruka-sensei — does that mean I passed?"
"The physical and sparring portions, yes. But the written exam results won't be ready until tomorrow."
Iruka sighed and ruffled her hair, looking at those hopeful eyes.
I'm sorry, Lord Hokage… there's nothing more I can do.
Spring gave way to autumn. In the blink of an eye, a full year had passed since Sakura's first skip exam.
She was seven now. Her studies had already reached fourth-year material.
Despite this, Iruka kept her in the original class. From second year onward, she was essentially self-taught — only consulting Iruka on the occasional question she couldn't figure out alone.
And with Sakura making no effort to hide her abilities, her reputation as a prodigy had spread steadily through the Academy.
"Winner — Sasuke Uchiha!"
As Iruka called the match, the girls crowding the sparring ring erupted into cheers.
"Sasuke-kun is so cool!"
"Sasuke-sama is unbeatable!"
"Sasuke, look over here!"
The beaten blond kid on the ground glared at the dark-haired boy, defiance burning in his blue eyes.
"Just you wait! I'll beat you someday!"
But Sasuke wasn't paying attention to Naruto or the fangirls. His gaze drifted toward the classroom.
He knew she was in there. The girl who sat quietly reading while everyone else sparred.
She'd stopped participating in these practice matches long ago — because no one in the class could give her a fight. The only time anyone saw her move was during physical training…