Konoha Ninja Academy.
"Sasuke-kun, you—"
"Where's Iruka?"
"Sensei hasn't come yet. He's probably still in the office."
Sakura froze, answering on reflex—
Sasuke's expression was terrifying.
It was the first time she had ever seen such a look on his face.
Bang!
Sasuke shoved the door open and stormed off toward the teacher's office.
"What's going on? Damn it, Forehead, did you piss him off by clinging to him all the time?"
Ino came in through the back door with a bucket of water.
"How could it be me, you pig! Don't slander me!"
Sakura snapped back, fuming.
Shikamaru sighed quietly, speaking in his usual lazy tone.
"It's probably because of that upperclassman, Yagyū Chiba. There's a rumor he graduated early and went to train with the Medical Department."
"What?"
Sakura blinked in disbelief.
"No way!"
Kiba and Ino shouted in unison, and even Chōji, who usually didn't care about such things, turned his head.
Early graduation had been suspended long ago, hadn't it?
"Yeah, I heard Lord Hokage himself came to the school yesterday."
Shikamaru's voice was calm as ever.
"..."
The whole class fell silent.
If the Third Hokage had come in person… then it must be true.
"Hey, hey, hey! You kids heard, right? Someone in the upper grades got to, uh, what's it called ?"
Naruto burst in noisily.
Sakura twitched her mouth. This kid… where do you even start with him?
"Graduated early."
"Yeah, yeah, that! They're all taking exams right now! Oh—Iruka-sensei's here!"
He rushed to his seat, afraid of being punished to stand .
A few seconds later, Iruka entered with Sasuke in tow. Sasuke sat down silently.
Iruka scanned the classroom and sighed.
"Alright, I'm sure you've all heard the news by now. Yes, Yagyū Chiba has indeed graduated early. But the test he took wasn't a graduation exam—it was one for full-fledged genin, even chunin level."
"Huh?"
"Anyway, I'll be handing out your test papers now. Answer carefully."
Iruka began distributing the papers.
He hadn't planned to do this at first—it was too discouraging—but Sasuke had insisted on taking the same test in the office. So Iruka figured, might as well let everyone take it and see the difference for themselves.
Maybe then, they'd push themselves harder.
The room fell completely silent. Soon, only the sound of pencils scratching filled the air.
Iruka leaned back, eyes closed, not bothering to check for cheating.
They couldn't possibly get full marks anyway.
Besides, if he kept his eyes open, he'd just end up slamming the desk at their clumsy attempts.
Let them take it seriously for once.
Minutes passed. Beads of sweat started forming on many foreheads.
It was hard!
Sakura frowned in concentration. Some of the questions even she couldn't be sure about—especially the tactical battle scenarios—but at least she managed to finish.
Ino saw her put down her pen and immediately used the Mind Body Switch Technique to sneak a look at her answers.
After a while, Iruka opened his eyes.
"Time's up. Hand in your papers."
"What? Already?"
Groans erupted. Even those from prominent clans like Shikamaru were scratching their heads in frustration—
Being smart didn't mean being studious.
Iruka collected all the papers, sat down, and began grading.
Some time later, he smiled slightly.
"The top score belongs to Haruno Sakura, 80 points. second place, Uchiha Sasuke, 76. As for the rest of you… if you passed, you already know why; if you didn't, you definitely know why."
"..."
No one dared argue.
Sakura glanced at Sasuke. Seeing the frustration on his face, she spoke first.
"Sensei, does 80 pass?"
Iruka chuckled. "Chiba got a perfect score."
He added, smiling faintly, "Lord Hokage told me the second stage of his exam was to force the Hokage's shadow clone to use something other than taijutsu."
"What?! Isn't Kankurō unable to use ninjutsu?"
Sakura's question burst out before she could stop it.
Sasuke clenched his fists.
A shadow clone.
Even if it was just a clone, it was still the Hokage's. Forcing him to use something besides taijutsu—how difficult must that be? And Kankurō, the one who supposedly couldn't use ninjutsu, had actually done it.
Damn it!
What have I been doing all these years?
He realized how foolish he'd been. All this time, he'd been proud of his grades at the academy, while Kankurō had already stepped far ahead—
Even if they were only a year apart.
No one else said a word.
The same thing was happening in Neji's class, too.
If anyone had still thought, "I could do that if I tried," those thoughts evaporated completely after hearing words like chunin-level exam and perfect score.
"Lord Hokage said that if any of you can do the same, he'll also allow you to skip classes to study or train on your own."
"Lord Hokage really went that far… Alright, I don't know all the details, but starting today, you may come here during the day to study with the Medical Department."
Kitayama Xu looked over the file with a slightly amused expression.
Early graduation?
So the Third had even created a special rule for him. What a curious child.
"By the way, which field do you want to focus on?"
"Medical knowledge."
Chiba knew nothing about medicine yet. If he rashly asked to observe surgeries, Kitayama Xu would probably march straight to the Hokage's office to complain.
He had no intention of angering this instructor.
"Good choice. Theory is the foundation of all ninjutsu. You're not like those other kids who just want to learn fancy jutsu right away."
Kitayama Xu nodded approvingly.
Pushing up her glasses, she went into her office, then came back with a book.
"This is Basic Medical Theory. Take it home and read it. You might never master medical ninjutsu, but kidning more knowledge never hurts."
Chiba accepted it with both hands.
The author's name on the cover read—Tsunade.
He bowed deeply in gratitude.
Class was ending soon, so there was no need for him to stay. Holding the book, Chiba jogged away, reading as he went, completely absorbed.
Boring? Not at all.
Boredom only came from not understanding—but thanks to the "Light Orb," his learning ability was phenomenal. Even while multitasking, he could rapidly absorb knowledge.
Every time he read a book, it felt like his mind was being cleansed.
No wonder he spent so much time in the library.
Unfortunately, the academy's library didn't have that many books, and he'd already read most of them. Now, once , he felt the pure joy of learning.
Bang!
He turned a corner—and ran straight into someone.
"Ah! Sorry, sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going!"
Ignoring the pain, Chiba immediately bowed in apology.
Standing before him was a silver-haired ninja, forehead protector worn at an angle, a mask covering his face—and a small book in hand.
"Young man, you weren't reading something questionable, were you?"
"No, no! This is one of the Sannin's works—it's amazing! So clear and insightful!"
"One of the Sannin… wait."
Kakashi's single visible eye widened. He tilted his head, leaning closer to see the cover. His expression went from puzzled to stunned.
Basic Medical Theory
Author: Tsunade.
Good grief!
He's actually absorbed in that?
He'd thought it was the same type of book he himself was reading!
This kid's a real one!
He almost made a joke, but then noticed the boy's appearance—twelve years old, maybe.
Alright… way too young to be buying that kind of literature anyway.
It's me who's filthy, Kakashi thought with shame.
Outwardly, he nodded approvingly.
"Not bad. Keep studying hard—you'll make a fine ninja someday. But try not to read while running, okay?"
"Yes, sir!"
Chiba bowed and dashed off, book in hand, still reading as he went.
Kakashi tilted his head, watching him disappear. Even with his mask on, his bewilderment was obvious.
A student that obsessed with studying actually exists?
Well, I'll be damned.
"Yo, Kakashi! Fancy meeting you here! How about a fiery duel of youth?!"
"I'm studying. Maybe next time."
Kakashi brushed him off instantly.
kid glanced at the boy disappearing into the distance, then down at the book in Kakashi's hand.
"You're calling Icha Icha Paradise studying? What a waste of youthful passion! Come on—let's fight it out!"
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