Konoha Ninja Academy.
"Sasuke-kun, you—"
"Where's Iruka-sensei?"
"T-The teacher hasn't come yet. Maybe he's in the staff room."
Sakura froze a little as she instinctively answered.
Sasuke's expression… was terrifying.
She had never seen him look like this.
Bang!
He pushed the door open and strode toward the teachers' office.
"What the heck? Forehead-girl, did you annoy Sasuke so much he snapped?"
Ino returned from fetching water at the back door.
"Impossible! Don't slander me, Ino-pig!"
Sakura shot back immediately.
Shikamaru sighed, then said weakly, "It's because of that upperclassman… Yagyu Souma. Rumor says he already had an early graduation assessment and will be studying with the Medical Division."
"What?"
Sakura stared blankly.
"No way! Impossible!"
Kiba and Ino yelled together.
Even Chōji stopped chewing and looked over.
Early graduation had been abolished years ago.
"I heard Hokage-sama himself came to the Academy yesterday."
Shikamaru added lazily.
"…"
The whole class fell silent.
If the Third Hokage personally came…
The rumor was probably true.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Did you guys hear? Someone in the upper grades is gonna— uh… gonna do something early!"
Naruto burst into the room energetically.
Sakura's mouth twitched.
Sometimes she truly didn't know what to do with this idiot.
"Early graduation," she muttered.
"YES, THAT! They're all taking exams right now! Oh—Iruka-sensei's here!"
Naruto scrambled back to his seat, terrified of getting punished again.
Iruka walked in with Sasuke, who returned to his place.
Iruka scanned the room and sighed.
"All right, it seems all of you already know. Yes—Yagyu Souma has indeed completed an early assessment. However, he didn't take the Academy graduation exam. He solved the written test used for fully-fledged genin—even chūnin-level."
"W-What?!"
Iruka began distributing exam papers.
He hadn't wanted to bring these, fearing the psychological impact.
But Sasuke had insisted on seeing the test in the staff room, so Iruka figured everyone might as well take it—to understand the gap between themselves and Souma.
Maybe that would motivate them.
Silence settled over the class.
Soon, only the scratching of pencils remained.
Iruka closed his eyes to rest.
Not because he trusted them not to cheat, but because their cheating methods were so obvious he worried he'd slap the desk if he watched.
At least this way, he could pretend not to see it.
Minutes passed.
Foreheads beaded with sweat.
Too hard!
Sakura frowned, struggling through several questions.
Though she excelled academically, battlefield-scenario analysis wasn't her strong suit.
Still—she managed to finish.
Ino saw her put down her pencil and immediately used the Mind Body Switch Technique to copy her answers.
Finally—
"Time's up. Pass your papers forward."
"Huh?! Already—?!"
Students groaned in agony.
Even Shikamaru and other clan heirs struggled.
Being smart did not equal being studious.
Iruka sat and graded for a long while.
Then he smiled.
"Highest score: Haruno Sakura. Eighty. Second place: Uchiha Sasuke. Seventy-six. As for the rest… either you failed or you know exactly how you passed."
"…"
No one dared deny it.
Sakura peeked at Sasuke, who was staring at his desk in frustration.
She quickly asked:
"Iruka-sensei… is eighty enough to pass?"
Iruka chuckled.
"Well, Souma scored full marks."
"And I heard from Hokage-sama that the second round of his exam required him to force the Hokage's shadow clone to use something other than taijutsu."
"That guy isn't even capable of ninjutsu, right?" Sakura blurted out.
Sasuke's hands tightened.
A shadow clone.
Even if it was "just" a clone, it was still the Hokage's clone.
To force it to use something beyond taijutsu…
That talentless guy who couldn't use ninjutsu somehow managed it.
Damn it.
What have I been doing all these years?
He realized how stupid he'd been.
He had been satisfied with a few good grades while Souma had already stepped beyond the Academy—
even though they were one year apart.
The rest of the class fell utterly silent.
Across the Academy—in Neji's class—the same shock rippled.
The moment the words "chūnin-level test," "full marks," and "Hokage personally approved" spread…
Any thought of "I could've done it too" vanished instantly.
Iruka added,
"Hokage-sama said: If any of you can reach that level, he will also allow you to skip classes and pursue training elsewhere."
"Hokage-sama really… Well, I don't know the detailed circumstances, but starting today, you can come study with the Medical Division during the day."
Kitayama Oki finished reading the paperwork and gave Souma a complicated look.
Early graduation?
Special authorization?
The Third personally arranging all this?
What an unusual child.
"So, what do you want to learn first?"
"Medical knowledge."
Souma answered honestly.
He didn't dare request to observe live surgeries—Oki would likely file a complaint to the Hokage immediately.
He did not intend to offend this teacher.
"Good. Theory is the foundation of all techniques. You're not like those kids who want to jump straight into learning medical ninjutsu."
Oki nodded approvingly.
She pushed up her glasses, entered her office, and returned with a thick book.
"This is a medical fundamentals text. You may take it home to study. Even if you can't learn medical ninjutsu, knowledge is always useful."
Souma accepted it.
The author's name stood out in bold:
Tsunade.
He bowed deeply.
Medical Division classes had ended, so Souma didn't linger.
Book in hand, he ran while reading.
Boring? Impossible.
Boredom came only when something couldn't be understood.
With the help of the "light orb," Souma's comprehension had grown monstrous.
He could absorb information even while multitasking.
Every book felt like it "purified" his mind.
That was why he could practically live in the library—
though its collection was small and he had quickly exhausted it.
Now, with Tsunade's medical text in hand, the joy of learning washed over him again.
Wham!
Turning a corner, he crashed into someone.
"Sorry! Sorry! I was too absorbed and didn't pay attention!"
Ignoring the pain, Souma immediately bowed.
Before him stood a silver-haired shinobi with a slanted forehead protector and a masked face—holding a book of his own.
Kakashi looked down at him with half-lidded eyes.
"Kid, don't tell me you're reading something… inappropriate?"
"No, it's one of the Legendary Sannin's works. It's incredible! Clear, insightful—really well written!"
"One of the Sannin? Don't tell me—"
Kakashi's single visible eye snapped open.
He leaned forward curiously to inspect Souma's book.
Medical Fundamentals.
Author: Tsunade.
Good lord.
You can get immersed in this?!
He had assumed it was the same genre as the book in his own hand…
Turns out the boy was actually studying legitimate material.
And he was twelve.
Right.
Far too young for… other kinds of books.
Kakashi suddenly felt dirty.
He coughed lightly and nodded.
"Good. Keep studying. You'll become an excellent ninja one day. But don't read while running."
"Yes, sir!"
Souma bowed again and continued running, eyes glued to the text.
Kakashi watched him disappear, baffled.
A child… reading medical theory… while sprinting?
What kind of creature was this?
"Yo, Kakashi! Fancy seeing you here! Come—let's have a fiery contest of youth!"
"I'm studying. Maybe next time."
Kakashi replied coldly, doing his best to ignore Guy entirely.
Guy glanced at Souma disappearing around the corner, then looked down at Kakashi's book.
"You call that studying? Reading Icha Icha Paradise is a waste of youthful passion! Come! Duel me instead!"
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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