Ninja Academy.
"Sasuke-kun, you…"
"Where's Iruka-sensei?" Sasuke cut her off, his voice low and dangerous.
"Uh, Sensei's not here yet... probably still in his office," Sakura stammered, caught off guard by the sheer intensity on Sasuke's face.
It was the first time she had ever seen Sasuke look so furious, his expression almost predatory.
Without another word, Sasuke slammed the classroom door open and stormed out, sprinting down the hall toward the teachers' office.
"What the heck just happened?" Ino demanded, walking back in through the rear door with a bucket in hand. She narrowed her eyes at Sakura. "Hey, you must've annoyed him again, right?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Ino-pig!" Sakura snapped back, cheeks burning.
In the corner, Shikamaru sighed heavily and muttered lazily, "Nah, it's probably because of that upperclassman, Garou Zenin, right?"
"Word is, he just graduated early. Got recruited into the medical division for special training."
"What?!" Sakura gasped, stunned.
"No way!" Kiba and Ino shouted in unison. Even Choji, who barely cared about anything that didn't involve snacks, turned his head in shock.
"I heard the Hokage himself came to the school yesterday," Shikamaru added, his tone neutral, almost bored.
Silence blanketed the room.
If the Third Hokage had personally shown up, then it wasn't just some rumor. It was real.
At that moment, Naruto came crashing through the door, loud as ever. "Hey, hey! You guys hear? Some kid from the upper classes is doing that early... early... something early...."
Sakura facepalmed internally. 'Seriously, how is he like this?'
"Early graduation," she corrected flatly.
"Right, right! They're all taking some kind of big exam! Oh, and Iruka-sensei's here!" Naruto scrambled back to his seat at lightning speed to avoid getting scolded again.
Moments later, Iruka entered the classroom with Sasuke in tow. Sasuke sulked back to his seat, visibly tense.
Iruka scanned the class, then sighed. "I'm sure by now, you've all heard the news. It's true. Garou Zenin has officially graduated early. But the tests he took weren't standard academy exams. He completed chunin-level assessments."
A collective gasp rippled through the room.
"Anyway, your own test papers are being handed out now. Get ready to start."
Iruka began distributing thick stacks of test sheets.
Originally, he hadn't intended to bring them.
He knew the results would probably crush their spirits. But Sasuke had insisted.
He had demanded the chance to take them. So Iruka thought it would be a harsh but necessary reality check for everyone.
They had to understand just how far ahead Garou Zenin truly was.
The classroom sank into a heavy silence, broken only by the scratchy whisper of pens on paper. Iruka leaned back against the desk, shutting his eyes to rest.
He didn't even bother policing for cheating, not because he trusted them, but because their attempts at cheating were so clumsy it made him want to flip a desk in frustration.
It was better to just let them struggle honestly.
Minutes dragged into an hour. Sweat beaded on foreheads.
It was brutal.
Sakura bit her lip as she scribbled furiously. She found herself uncertain on the battlefield analysis sections, definitely not her strongest suit, but she gritted her teeth and managed to finish.
Ino, noticing Sakura setting down her pen, immediately prepared a Mind Transfer Jutsu to sneak a peek at her answers.
Finally, Iruka opened his eyes and called out, "Time's up! Pencils down!"
"Wha… already?!" groaned several students, including Naruto, clutching their heads in despair.
Even the likes of Shikamaru looked irked.
After all, being smart didn't mean you studied hard.
Iruka collected the tests, sat down, and began grading on the spot.
It took some time, but when he finished, he smiled faintly. "Top score goes to Sakura, eighty points. Next, Sasuke, seventy-six. As for the rest... well, either you failed outright or you know how you got your score."
Dead silence.
No one dared protest.
Sakura turned to glance at Sasuke, who seemed ready to explode with frustration. She decided to speak first, raising her hand, "Sensei, is eighty points enough to pass?"
Iruka gave a wry chuckle. "Garou Zenin got a perfect score."
The class collectively winced.
"And there's more," Iruka continued, voice softening. "Hokage-sama personally tested him. The second part of his exam was to force the Hokage's clone to use abilities beyond taijutsu."
"What?!" Sakura blurted out.
Even Sasuke's fists clenched at the desk, trembling slightly. Forcing a shadow clone to use actual ninjutsu sounded simple but it was insanely difficult. Especially since even a mere clone of the Hokage was terrifyingly strong.
And yet, Garou had succeeded.
'Dammit!' Sasuke seethed internally. 'All these years, what have I been doing?'
For the first time, the gap between him and a true genius felt like an impassable chasm.
Everyone else stayed quiet, thoroughly humbled.
Meanwhile, similar discussions were playing out in Neji's class.
Once, the idea of early graduation might have inspired defiance. Hearing about full marks on chunin-level exams and personal endorsement from the Hokage crushed those illusions.
"If you can reach that standard," Iruka said softly, "Hokage-sama said you, too, can skip the academy to train professionally."
---
Later that day.
"Honestly, Hokage-sama is being way too generous," sighed Kitayama Sho, one of the senior instructors in the medical training division, flipping through Garou's files with a bemused expression.
Early graduation was rare enough.
But a personal recommendation from the Third Hokage was unheard of.
"Alright, what field do you want to study?" Kitayama asked.
"Medical knowledge," Garou replied immediately, bowing respectfully.
Truth be told, he knew nothing about medicine yet. If he'd foolishly asked to assist in surgeries already, Kitayama would probably have filed an official complaint to the Hokage about reckless behavior.
"Good answer," Kitayama said approvingly, adjusting her glasses with a faint smile. "Theory is the foundation of all ninjutsu. You're wiser than most kids who barge in demanding to learn flashy healing techniques right away."
She ducked into her office briefly and came back with a thick, well-worn book.
"Here. This covers the basics. It's dense, but if you're serious, you'll want to study it carefully. You might not master medical ninjutsu anytime soon, but knowledge never goes to waste."
Garou accepted the heavy tome.
The author's name gleamed in gold lettering.
[Tsunade]
The medical class was ending for the day, so Garou tucked the book under his arm and headed out, reading as he walked.
He was utterly engrossed.
It was not boring in the slightest.
Thanks to the glowing orb, Garou absorbed knowledge at an astonishing rate.
Even while walking, he could dive deep into the material, feeling as though each page cleansed and sharpened his mind.
In fact, he had already devoured almost all the books in the academy library, which only made him hungrier for more.
Now, with Tsunade's teachings in hand, he felt that same exhilarating joy once again.
Turning a corner too fast, he crashed full-speed into someone.
"Ah! Sorry, sorry! I wasn't paying attention!" Garou apologized, jumping to his feet.
The figure he collided with stood calmly, hands in pockets, a silver-haired ninja with his headband tilted to one side and a mask covering half his face. His one visible eye curved in faint amusement.
"You alright, kid? What's got you so distracted?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow.
Garou hurriedly held up the book. "This! It's amazing! The way Lady Tsunade explains everything, it's incredible!"
Kakashi leaned over to glimpse the cover, curious.
When he saw it, his one eye widened in disbelief.
Medical Theory: Author, Tsunade.
'...Seriously? This kid was entranced by medical theory?'
At first, Kakashi had thought maybe the boy was sneaking a peek at something less appropriate, like a certain orange-covered book he kept hidden away, but no.
Instead, there was a genuine bookworm, lost in medical texts at full sprint.
'Incredible,' Kakashi mused, covering his amusement with a lazy nod.
"Good job, kid. Keep it up, and you might just become a legendary ninja someday. But next time, maybe watch where you're running, yeah?"
"Yes, sir!" Garou beamed, bowed again, and took off down the corridor, still reading.
Kakashi watched him go, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Yo! Kakashi!" called a loud, energetic voice from down the hallway. "Care for a youthful, passionate spar?!"
"Busy studying. Maybe next time," Kakashi deadpanned without missing a beat.
Might Guy scowled, noticing the book Kakashi casually held.
"Studying? With Icha Icha Paradise in your hands?!" Guy barked, appalled. "Kakashi, you're wasting the springtime of your youth! Come fight me instead!"
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