"Perfect score for Takamine Shin."
In the training grounds, Shin stepped down amid a flurry of admiring and envious gazes.
On the wooden post, four shuriken were embedded in a neat line.
"I thought you'd be able to throw six at once by now," Kiba's voice reached him as soon as he returned to the group.
Shin gave a wry smile. These four this precision were the fruits of over a month of hard practice. Things had changed since before.
Shino, on the other hand, was eyeing Shin with faint curiosity. Something about Shin's throw just now felt… different.
"Next up, Uchiha Sasuke."
As usual, Sasuke followed right after Shin enough to make Shin wonder sometimes if Iruka-sensei was doing it on purpose.
Sasuke walked up without a word. One hand in his pocket, the other holding four shuriken. He didn't bother with a stance just flicked his wrist.
Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip!
"Uchiha Sasuke, perfect score."
He returned to his spot, both hands now in his pockets, indifferent to the squeals from the group of girls behind him.
"No matter how many times I see it, Sasuke's shuriken technique is always impressive," Shin muttered as he watched Sasuke's retreating back.
"That arrogant jerk!" Kiba growled, clenching his fists. "Always showing off!"
Then he turned back to Shin. "When are you gonna beat him, huh?! Teach that guy a lesson already!"
Shin rolled his eyes. "Easy for you to say. Why don't you beat him, then?"
"Tch." Kiba looked away.
Shin's thoughts drifted back to Sasuke's throw. His technique was noticeably different from others'. Most students including Shin, previously used a more basic style. But Shin had recently been imitating Sasuke's.
Still, without proper guidance, it was hard to grasp the finer points.
There was no choice but to keep training.
He sighed inwardly.
Early morning.
Shin stepped out of his house, gear in hand, heading toward the woods for solo training. The streets of Konoha were quiet, dotted only with early risers his neighbors, familiar faces who greeted him warmly.
"Hey, up early again, Shin? Full of energy!"
"You're always so diligent!"
"No doubt about it you'll become a great shinobi one day!"
Shin smiled and returned each greeting, his pace never slowing as he made his way westward, toward the forest.
Thwack!
A shuriken spun through the air, carving a wide arc before embedding itself into the bark of a tree.
Shin exhaled slowly and approached. The weapon had landed far from the mark he had carved into the tree trunk.
He sighed and pulled the shuriken free, walking back to his original position.
He replayed Sasuke's movement in his mind again his raised arm, the way he threw… Shin tried to mimic it exactly.
Steady breath. Focused mind. He released.
Thwack!
Same result. The shuriken didn't even graze the target.
He wasn't far barely ten meters but the throw required the shuriken to make a wide arc, far more difficult than the standard Academy test.
"How does Sasuke make it look so effortless?"
He had asked himself that more times than he could count.
"When he throws, it looks like second nature. But for me, every attempt feels clumsy and forced. Even if I eventually hit the mark, it won't be good enough for real combat."
The frustration was nothing new.
Still, he forced himself to calm down and try again.
He took out another shuriken and set his stance.
"Hey."
The sudden voice broke his concentration. Startled, Shin snapped his head toward the sound.
There, perched casually on the thick branch of a nearby tree, sat a man he hadn't noticed at all.
"That awkward posture of yours what's that supposed to be?" the man said with a smirk. He pulled out a shuriken from where, Shin couldn't tell and without standing, flicked it with a single, fluid motion.
It gleamed as it spun, cutting a brilliant arc through the air.
Thwack!
The shuriken landed dead center on Shin's mark.
A shinobi?
Shin looked at the man, startled and wary. The technique it was almost identical to Sasuke's.
"Who are you…?" he asked cautiously.
The man stood up on the branch. His body blurred, and the next instant, he was standing right in front of Shin.
He looked to be in his twenties, with short, slightly wavy black hair. Handsome though his slanted, fox-like eyes gave him a soft, almost bewitching appearance.
He wore a black short-sleeved shirt. On his sleeve, Shin noticed a familiar emblem: the Uchiha fan.
An Uchiha?
No wonder that throw looked familiar…
Shin's mind raced.
"Interesting. Where'd you learn your shuriken technique?" the man asked, smiling as he examined Shin.
Shin hesitated, but there was nothing to hide. "From Uchiha Sasuke."
"Sasuke?" The man blinked, as if recognizing the name. Then he chuckled. His eyes curved into a dazzling smile if it were any of the girls from Shin's class, they'd probably have swooned on the spot.
"You're in the Academy's third year?"
He seemed to know exactly who Shin was.
"You're Takamine Shin, right?"
"You know me?" Shin asked, confused. He had no idea who this person was.
"Top of your class, aren't you? Every year's top student gets talked about," the man replied, still smiling.
"I'm not the top student," Shin said with a bitter laugh.
"Then how do you know who I am?" he asked again.
The man gestured toward the scattered shuriken on the ground. "This level of skill isn't something an average student can manage. I heard Takamine Shin mastered kunai handling the first time he touched one. You said you're in the same year as Sasuke so I took a guess."
The logic was sound. Shin had no real counter.
"That throwing style just now did Sasuke teach it to you?" the man asked gently.
"No," Shin replied quickly. "I've just been watching and trying to imitate him. It's probably a clan technique, right? There's no way he'd teach me."
"So you're stealing it?" The man chuckled again, his gaze sharp, almost teasing, making Shin feel oddly uncomfortable.
"As expected… You live up to your reputation."
"I told you I'm not the top student," Shin said, exasperated.
The man didn't argue, but instead asked, "You want to learn shurikenjutsu?"
Shin knew exactly what he meant: the Uchiha throwing technique.
But he didn't understand the man's intention. After a moment of internal debate, he nodded.
The man smiled faintly, then turned to face the tree with Shin's carved mark.
Without explanation, he drew another shuriken and let it fly.
Thwack!
Direct hit.
"Did you catch that?" he asked.
Shin blinked. He… was teaching him?
But… why?
"Not really," Shin answered hesitantly.
The man wasn't annoyed. He simply took out another shuriken and threw again, identical motion, identical result.
"Did you see it that time?"
"I saw it… but I don't understand it."
"The key's in how you grip and release. Don't hook your finger through the ring or pinch the blade's edge. Hold it between the angled blades, then twist your wrist slightly as you throw."
He explained patiently, then stepped aside. "Try it."
Shin was still in a daze. He had no idea why this man was teaching him, or what he wanted in return.
But he stepped forward, took a shuriken, and followed the instructions.
Inhale.
He centered himself, eyes sharp, and released with focus.
Whoosh!
Thwack!
Dead center.
"Whoa…" Shin stared at his hand in surprise.
That felt... good, he thought.
"You…" Now it was the man who looked stunned, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Your talent… really is something else."
He had expected Shin to improve but not like this. Not a perfect throw on the first try.
"No wonder…" he murmured, still recovering.
"You…" Shin turned to him, hesitant.
"Why…?"
"Why are you teaching me this?"
"We don't even know each other. Isn't this a clan secret? You're an Uchiha, aren't you?"
"Aren't you afraid I'll surpass Sasuke?"
He blurted out the string of questions in one breath.
"Why so many questions?" the man laughed again, then turned away, walking toward the edge of the forest.
"I don't want anything from you. You don't have to do anything."
"Just keep being the top of your class."
With that, he leapt onto a branch, his figure flitting through the trees before vanishing from sight.
"…"
"Who was that…?" Shin whispered, staring at the place where the man had disappeared.