"The Twelve Basic Hand Seal Gestures"
"Fifteen Close-Combat Techniques"
"Wilderness Survival Guide"
"Ten Ways to Throw a Shuriken"
"The Will of Fire – First Hokage's Version"
"The Will of Fire – Second Hokage's Version"
"The Will of Fire – Third Hokage's Version"
...
Nighttime.
Haruno Sakura sat cross-legged in her bedroom, flipping through the stack of books she'd borrowed. These were only introductory guides, skimming the surface of the techniques they described. Learning from them wasn't hard.
From what she'd gathered in these books, the second-year curriculum probably wouldn't be all that different from the first—just deeper, more refined versions of the same content.
Which made sense. Expecting a six-year-old kid to completely master the essence of these techniques would be pure fantasy.
Instead, the three "Will of Fire" books seemed to be the true core material.
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Early Morning.
Sakura was up before the sun, surprising her mother Haruno Mebuki, who had just gotten out of bed to start making breakfast.
"Sakura? What's going on?"
"Morning, Mom! I'm going out for some training. I'll be back soon!"
As she watched her daughter bounce out of the house full of energy, Mebuki instinctively touched her own forehead.
No fever…
Normally, wasn't Sakura the type to sleep in until the very last second before rushing off?
The Hidden Leaf was still draped in a light morning mist, the village quiet and peaceful. Sakura began with two rounds of warm-up stretches right there at the gate.
Strictly speaking, the Hidden Leaf wasn't just a village—it was a full-scale military organization representing the Fire Country, one of the strongest military forces in the ninja world. An organization based entirely on power.
And as a ninja, having a fit and powerful body was absolutely essential.
Which meant daily training was non-negotiable for Haruno Sakura.
"Alright, ten-kilometer endurance run. Let's go!"
Once she felt warmed up, Sakura took off running. That was her first goal for the day.
The ten-kilometer run was even part of the academy's physical assessment.
After all, chakra was formed by the combination of physical strength and mental energy. As long as you could use chakra, a ninja's body would inevitably be far stronger than an ordinary person's.
Even a first-year academy student like Sakura.
That's why it wasn't surprising at all that people like Might Guy and Rock Lee could shout "YOUTH!" and run hundreds of laps like maniacs.
Their lack of ninjutsu talent didn't mean they lacked chakra—in fact, their chakra reserves were quite strong. They just couldn't use ninjutsu.
Might Guy had at least some talent. But Rock Lee? He had zero.
Even with a six-year-old's body, Sakura could now probably beat up the six-foot-tall brute she used to be in her past life.
Time passed. Sweat beaded on her forehead, her breathing grew heavy.
But she pushed on.
Eventually, she made it back to her starting point.
Forty-five minutes.
Sakura looked at the stopwatch hanging from her neck and smiled.
Passing grade—achieved.
She didn't even care about the stickiness of her sweaty clothes. Without removing her shoes, she dashed into the backyard.
"Sakura!"
"Take off your shoes!"
Came her mother's disgruntled shout from the kitchen.
"Got it, Mom! Next time for sure!"
Sakura's voice echoed from afar.
"This girl…" Mebuki sighed as she looked at the little muddy footprints trailing across the floor.
Thud!
A sharp blade sliced through the air and stabbed into the trunk of a tree, pinning a tattered leaf dead center.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Three more shuriken followed in quick succession, all striking that same ruined leaf.
Sakura looked down at the last shuriken in her hand, exhaled slowly, eyes sharp. With a flick of her wrist, the final shuriken flew—and nailed the leaf perfectly.
Sakura stared at her own hand, momentarily stunned.
She had merged with the original Sakura's memories—but those memories contained no such precise shuriken-throwing skills.
In fact, the original Sakura had just entered the academy and didn't even know the basics of shuriken-throwing.
Yet she'd hit the target five out of five times.
A thought began to form in Sakura's mind. To confirm it, she pulled out the five shuriken, found a fresh leaf on the ground, and pinned it to the tree.
She took a few steps back to a farther distance, marked the leaf's position, then let loose five shuriken in one seamless motion.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
All five hit their mark—again.
It was like her body remembered it all on its own, like muscle memory. It felt natural, effortless.
The Yin Seal: Strength of a Hundred Technique…
Sakura reached up and touched her forehead instinctively.
Given time, a purple rhombus-shaped seal would eventually appear at its center.
Tsunade's ultimate move. Senju Hashirama's passive ability.
A true S-rank technique that guaranteed you wouldn't die until all your chakra was gone.
Staring at her own hand, Sakura's thoughts churned. Almost reflexively, she tried gathering her pitiful amount of chakra into her feet, guided by that unfamiliar but vivid muscle memory.
BOOM!
A dull crack echoed.
A shallow crater about half a meter deep exploded under Sakura's feet, the ground around it spider-webbed with cracks.
That was—Superhuman Strength!
No—more accurately, it was Heavenly Foot of Pain!
She wasn't just "Rookie Sakura" from early Naruto.
She was a miniature version of Fourth Great Ninja War Sakura!
To be precise, she was a downsized version of sixteen-year-old Sakura from the war arc—fully inheriting Tsunade's techniques.
Right now, aside from having a physically weak body, low chakra, and no access to memories from age seven to sixteen, she was otherwise identical to the peak version of Sakura from that period.
She looked down at her pale, slender hand and resisted the urge to bite her finger and summon something with the Summoning Jutsu.
If she really did summon Katsuyu right now, it would definitely draw attention—and Katsuyu would no doubt report it to Tsunade.
Wait a second…
Thinking it through again, was it really impossible?
Hadn't Jiraiya once used the Summoning Jutsu without a contract and accidentally summoned himself to Mount Myōboku?
So what if she accidentally summoned herself to Shikkotsu Forest?
That seemed like a very plausible "mistake," right?
The idea instantly lifted her mood. She even found herself smiling a little.
If she had inherited everything from sixteen-year-old Sakura, then this was her true cheat—her real "golden finger." Not just the Yin Seal.
This power might not be "overpowered" by transmigration standards, but it was more than enough.
Medical ninjutsu, monstrous strength, the Yin Seal: Strength of a Hundred, and possibly a full-fledged summoning contract with Katsuyu…
Sakura didn't ask for much. This was already far better than having nothing.
Feeling great, she spent a bit more time practicing her shuriken-throwing before heading inside to take a much-needed shower.
She was drenched in sweat—she probably reeked.
"Sakura!!"
"You didn't take off your shoes AGAIN!!"
Her mom's voice rang out before the bathroom door even closed.
"Next time for sure, Mom!"
Sakura shouted back cheerfully.
"Next time, next time—it's always next time! Why can't you just give me a break?!"
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(End of Chapter)
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