Iruka's Enlightenment

Ninja School

The black-haired boy walked through the corridor outside the classroom, with a look that seemed to say, "Stay away from me."

The recent massacre of the Uchiha clan, now fully revealed over the past two weeks, caused an uproar in Konoha. Uchiha Itachi was promptly labeled an S-rank criminal by Konoha, and all Konoha ninjas were ordered to kill him on sight.

As the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke Uchiha bore the weight of this deep-seated blood feud.

The girls who had always admired him now gazed at him with sympathy and pity, a look that only darkened Sasuke's already troubled heart.

"Wow, Sakura, you're amazing!"

"You're already studying sixth-grade material!"

Just outside the classroom, Sasuke overheard Ino's surprised voice.

"That means you might be graduating soon."

"Then I'll probably have fewer chances to see Sakura in the future…"

Hearing Ino's words, Sasuke stood by the door and clenched his fists.

Haruno Sakura—a genius of the year. He felt like a mere jester in her presence.

The one-sided "competition" they had half a month ago made him feel humiliated.

I… I can't even compare to a girl in strength…

Standing at the classroom door for a while, Sasuke eventually turned away, a dark expression on his face.

He was determined to find Iruka. He wanted to skip a grade too!

"Don't say that, Ino."

"I could come pick you up after school," Sakura said, flipping through her textbook and laughing in response to Ino's words.

She had passed her fifth-grade exams just yesterday and felt the strain for the first time.

It wasn't the academic aspect that posed a challenge—it was the physical one.

After all, she was only seven years old, and fifth-to-sixth-grade promotion was typically reserved for students around eleven.

Furthermore, the physical fitness test did not allow the use of chakra; everything had to be done with pure physical strength. Otherwise, Sakura could just gather her chakra to her feet and leap dozens of meters.

I'll need to give myself time to grow a bit.

"Huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

Ino tilted her head, imagining Sakura standing at the school gate with a mature smile, waving like other parents, and calling out, "Ino, over here!"

Oh, what a strange thought…

"No, no! When you graduate, Sakura, please don't pick me up!"

"Just meet me in secret!"

The girl in beige hugged Sakura around the waist and rubbed her face against her, unwilling to let go.

"Hehehe, alright, I'll come pick you up secretly in the future."

Meanwhile, Iruka looked at the boy before him with a solemn expression.

This child was also a center of attention in Konoha—and even across the ninja world—recently.

The last Uchiha.

Who would have thought that a clan with a thousand-year legacy would be wiped out overnight?

"Iruka-sensei, please!"

Sasuke bowed deeply before Iruka.

Iruka chose his words carefully, mindful not to provoke Sasuke's raw emotions.

"Sasuke, can you tell me why you want to skip a grade?"

Sasuke raised his head, a look of hatred on his face.

"I want to kill that guy!"

It was clear whom he was referring to.

"Sasuke, I think you may have misunderstood something," Iruka said as gently as possible.

"You want to skip a grade like Sakura, and your determination is admirable."

"But Sakura didn't grow stronger because she skipped a grade."

"She grew stronger first, and then she skipped a grade."

"Sakura only needs to listen to class for fifteen minutes. She doesn't even need to pay attention to the rest of the lecture."

"Sasuke, if I condense a lesson into fifteen minutes, do you think you could follow it?"

"And that's just the academic part. There's also the physical component, which I think you of all people can appreciate."

Iruka's words left Sasuke standing there, fists clenched in frustration.

"In fact, you don't have to skip a grade to become stronger."

"After all, skipping a grade is just a promotion."

"A promotion is just a new title. Strength isn't determined by a title."

"Sakura feels that class time is simply a waste, so she chose to skip."

"But if Sasuke hones himself throughout his six years at the Ninja Academy and graduates a strong ninja, it won't affect his strength."

Iruka tried his best to persuade Sasuke that with his current temperament, skipping grades to graduate and become a ninja would likely lead to early sacrifices on missions.

"Iruka-sensei, what you're saying is that I don't need to skip a grade; I just need to work harder?"

Sasuke's expression softened as he began to absorb Iruka's words.

"That's right, Sasuke. If you have any questions in the future, feel free to come to me."

"Even if I don't know the answer, I'll help you find a ninja who does."

Iruka's expression softened, looking at Sasuke with sympathy.

"Understood. Thank you, Iruka-sensei."

At noon, Sakura left the Ninja Academy early. In the afternoon, they only had general studies, which she didn't need to attend.

What she needed most was time to let her body grow a little more. By eight, she could consider graduating.

But if she waited until she was eight, she'd only have a year to acquire the Yin Seal.

That was her absolute limit.

One year to acquire the Yin Seal, three more years to accumulate chakra. When she turned twelve, she'd meet Tsunade...

The timeline was so tight...

Sakura sighed as she walked toward the Hokage Building.

Half a month ago, Hiruzen Sarutobi had told her she could come to him with questions about super-strength techniques.

This was an opportunity Sakura couldn't miss.

She arrived at the Hokage Building and was stopped by two Chunin guards.

"What brings you here, little miss?"

The guard bent down kindly, smiling at the girl before him.

In terms of looks, Sakura was quite cute. After all, Kishimoto himself used the word "beautiful" to describe her.

"I'm here to see Lord Hokage."

"Lord Hokage said I could find him."

Sakura deftly showed the guards the scroll of advanced ninjutsu.

Each high-level jutsu had its own code, and the two guards could tell at a glance that it was genuine.

"Is that so? Then please, wait inside, little miss. I'll go inform Lord Hokage."

No drama here—this was how things were usually handled.