Hierarchical concepts exist everywhere, even within the ivory tower of the Ninja Academy, nurtured by love. They are just hidden deeper due to the purity of children.
So it's no surprise that Sakura became popular.
In a very forceful way, she entered the sight of children big and small within the Academy.
"Hey, hey, did you hear? A girl beat up a whole group of people."
"Yeah, and they were older students too."
"More than that, I heard they were from Ninja Clans!"
"Shh..."
Entering the school grounds, Sakura's Observation Haki automatically picked up the bustling sounds around her.
For Konoha, which had enjoyed decades of peace, a brawl involving over a dozen people was already big news.
"Good morning, Sakura-chan!"
Two blond voices overlapped, making Sakura's eye twitch.
"Hello!"
There was no choice. Sakura gave a general reply to avoid these two, who couldn't stand each other, from fighting and splattering blood on her.
The morning theory classes passed quickly. Iruka's theoretical knowledge was good.
He meticulously explained the key points of some basic Taijutsu to the students in the classroom.
The afternoon was scheduled for the follow-up to the morning classes, preparing for practical training.
The boys' faces were filled with excitement. Many wanted to show off in front of the girls they liked, including Naruto.
"Sa..."
Naruto stepped forward, but a figure directly blocked his path. The fans following this figure also bumped Naruto away.
The newcomer was none other than the famous second Protagonist, Uchiha Sasuke!
"Tch, stuck-up guy."
Naruto clicked his tongue, glaring fiercely at Sasuke in the center of the crowd. Thus began their fated love-hate relationship.
"You. Fight me!"
Sasuke, who already had the embryonic form of a cool guy, pointed at Sakura, then hooked his thumb towards the sparring platform behind him.
Coincidentally, Mizuki, the teacher responsible for the afternoon's practical training, saw their conflict and showed an interested expression.
As a Civilian Ninja himself, he was very interested in this civilian genius who had rapidly gained fame within the Academy.
With this in mind, Mizuki intervened, saying, "Then for this afternoon's practical training, let's have Uchiha-kun and Haruno-kun go first!"
Upon hearing Mizuki's voice, Sasuke's lips curled into a smirk. He tilted his head towards Sakura and jumped onto the platform.
"Sakura!"
Ino, nearby, pushed through Sasuke's fangirls.
Compared to this object of her secret affection, Ino was clearly more concerned about Sakura before her.
"It's alright, Ino."
Sakura's Observation Haki sensed her friend's emotions, and she patted her head.
Her gaze turned to Sasuke on the platform, who is full of anticipation. Sakura also decided to show a little of her skill.
She stomped the ground dozens of times in rapid succession. The massive reaction force propelled her body.
Whoosh-!
The sound of air friction rang out. A pink streak of light flashed past, abruptly appearing on the platform.
Sasuke, seeing this, frowned deeply.
Equally astonished were Mizuki, presiding over the match, and an old man peeking through a crystal ball.
'Body Flicker Technique?'
'No, there's no Chakra involved. Some kind of self-developed Taijutsu based on physical prowess?'
Hiruzen, with his sharp eyes, lit his pipe, focusing intently on the scene within the crystal ball.
He had a premonition that the girl in the image would next display her own radiance to everyone.
Below the school's platform, the fangirls, seeing Sasuke's handsome posture, cheered for him.
"Sasuke, look at me!"
"So cool!"
"Sasuke, do your best!"
However, amidst the crowd, there were also two discordant voices.
"Sakura-chan, do your best!"
"Sakura, win!"
Naruto and Ino issued similar cheers, then glared at each other angrily, starting to butt heads.
"Form the seal of confrontation!"
The referee, Mizuki, timely started the prelude to this duel, stopping the commotion below.
"I don't care what kind of genius you are, but today, the winner will be me, Uchiha Sasuke!"
Sasuke struck a pose, pulling several shuriken from the pouch on his leg.
Even though the Academy hadn't started related courses yet, he had already practiced a lot at home.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Three rapidly spinning shuriken were thrown by Sasuke, his posture almost identical to the textbook example.
"Is that so?"
Sakura's Observation Haki locked onto the flying shuriken.
'Left… Right… Left!'
Her head swayed gently a few times, and the shuriken were easily dodged by Sakura.
She even had enough spare energy to snatch one of the shuriken out of the air and hold it in her hand.
"Wha...!"
Sasuke was greatly shocked. He'd never heard of anyone catching a thrown shuriken like that!
Compared to Sasuke's complete ignorance, Hiruzen before the crystal ball seemed to discern something.
"Mito-sama...."
Hiruzen lost his voice.
Because the ability the girl displayed was too similar to the Mind's Eye of the Kagura held by Konoha's first Jinchuriki.
'Monstrous strength, powerful sensory abilities, a massive amount of Chakra, the talent to develop Taijutsu independently...'
Hiruzen watched the fight while writing on Sakura's file.
'Stamina: 7, Strength: 6, Speed: 6, Chakra: 10...'
On the other side, Sasuke had already thrown out everything in his tool pouch.
The entire platform was littered with shuriken, kunai, and senbon.
"Finished throwing things?"
Sakura wanted to toss the shuriken she had intercepted.
'By the way, how do you throw this thing again?'
"You... don't get cocky!"
Sasuke panted heavily, sweat beading on his forehead.
He once again assumed a stance, employing Uchiha-style Taijutsu as he charged forward, preparing for close combat.
"Whatever, just throw it."
Holding the shuriken between two fingers, Sakura flung it.
Boom-!
A sharp sound of breaking air erupted, and a ring-shaped shockwave appeared in the void. The streak of light from the thrown shuriken was even difficult for Mizuki, a Chunin, to track.
A high-pitched sense of crisis screamed in Sasuke's mind. His pupils contracted to pinpricks.
'It's over. Am I going to die?'
Such thoughts emerged and swirled in Sasuke's mind, and his dark pupils began to show a scarlet color.
Finally, under the intense life-and-death crisis, a small tomoe began to rotate within his eye.
"Shar..."
Sasuke showed a smile, and then...
Bang-!
A immense force struck his body. Fortunately, the shuriken hit Sasuke with its flat side, not gutting him.
However, Sakura's unrestrained monstrous strength still sent him flying.
After crashing through several trees in the training ground, he was embedded in a tree trunk.
Amidst the flying dust, the entire Academy's training ground fell into silence.
Although they had heard of Sakura's strength, when that superhuman power was truly displayed before everyone, they were left speechless.
Even the fans who were once fanatical about the Uchiha dared not step forward to accuse the girl on the platform.
"Tch, how did she do that? She looks so thin and weak."
Shikamaru interlocked his fingers behind his head.
"She must have eaten enough snacks!"
Choji lifted the entire bag and poured its contents into his mouth at once.
"You think everyone is like you? But that girl is really cool! Right, Akamaru!"
Kiba jostled the puppy in his arms.
"Woof! Woof!"
The puppy Akamaru responded enthusiastically.
On the platform, Sakura, seeing that the people around her seemed to have no reaction, raised her own hand.
"Mizuki-sensei, can we form the seal of reconciliation now?"
The girl stuck out her tongue, her eyes already glancing at the system's notification.
The reason she had gone along with Sasuke's challenge was precisely for this moment.
[Notice, Achievement Unlocked: Sasuke's Lifelong Rival. +40 achievement points.]
"Oh, ye..."
'Yes, my foot! Can't you see the person is knocked out cold?'
Realizing something was wrong, Mizuki quickly ran into the woods and dug Sasuke out of the tree.
"I'll take Sasuke-kun to the hospital first. The afternoon class is changed to self-training!"
Mizuki, holding Sasuke, leaped high into the air.
As he passed over the platform, his gaze swept over the pink-haired girl stretching her entire body.
'Haruno Sakura... what a... monster!'