At the same time.
Ninja Academy playground.
Teacher Toriyama Kazunari stood in front of the target area, holding a Kunai in his hand, and was giving a demonstration.
“Listen up!
The most important things about Kunai throwing are three points——center of gravity, rotation, and timing of release!
Watch closely, all of you!”
With a flick of his wrist, the Kunai flew out and hit the bullseye precisely.
“Smack——Right on target!”
Sparse applause sounded from the audience below.
Toriyama Kazunari proudly pushed up his glasses: “Alright, now you guys come up and try one by one!
Line up according to your student ID numbers!”
The first to take the field was a chubby boy.
He mustered all his strength and threw it out——the Kunai brushed past the edge of the target and nailed into the back wall.
“Fail!
Next!”
The second, third, fourth…
“Fail!
Next!”
Occasionally, someone barely hit the target, and Toriyama Kazunari just curled his lip: “Passable, next!”
When it was Uzumaki Kushina’s turn, she took a deep breath and walked up to the throwing line.
Yesterday’s incident of “calling parents” had become known to the whole school, so the playground was quiet at the moment, and no one dared to jeer anymore.
But Kushina always felt that those gazes were staring at her.
“Come on, believe in yourself, Kushina!” Minato Namikaze showed a gentle smile, warm like a little sun.
However, Kushina didn’t look at him, but instead cast her gaze into the crowd, onto that red-haired boy just like her.
Uzumaki Mirai locked eyes with her and smiled as well: “Don’t be nervous, just do as the teacher said.”
Only then did Kushina withdraw her gaze and take a deep breath.
She bit her lip, picked up the Kunai, and threw it hard with all her might——
“Whoosh——Smack!”
The Kunai drew an exaggerated arc, flew far past the target, hit the ground, bounced twice, and rolled into the bushes.
The whole place fell silent for a moment.
“Haha…
Mph!” Someone almost laughed out loud, but was quickly muffled by a companion next to him,
remembering those unlucky fellows tied up like rice dumplings by golden chains yesterday, they forcefully swallowed their laughter back down.
Kushina’s face turned red in a flash, her red hair fluttering without wind, like a burning flame.
She grabbed the second Kunai and threw it with all her might——
“Whoosh——Smack!”
It flew even more crookedly than the first one, directly embedding itself into the ground three inches in front of Teacher Toriyama Kazunari’s feet.
Toriyama Kazunari broke out in cold sweat and took half a step back: “Uh…
well…
there is strength, but the accuracy still needs practice…”
Blushing, Kushina clutched the third Kunai, her fingers trembling.
“Let me teach you!” Uzumaki Mirai slapped his forehead, walked out from the line, and patted Kushina on the shoulder,
“The strength is too big, relax your wrist a bit, just like this.”
He stood behind Kushina, held her wrist holding the Kunai, and adjusted the angle: “Look at that bullseye, don’t stare at the whole target, stare at that red dot.”
“Breathe, don’t hold your breath.”
Feeling the temperature on her wrist, Kushina’s face turned even redder, completely resembling a little chili pepper.
Mirai, is he holding my hand?
“What are you spacing out for!”
Hearing Uzumaki Mirai’s words, she snapped back to her senses and glared at him,
and then concentrated, chanting silently in her heart: Just pretend my hand was bitten by a dog!
Uzumaki Kushina slowly adjusted her breathing and relaxed her wrist a bit.
“Right——Release!”
The Kunai flew out, cutting through a graceful arc——
“Smack!”
It hit the outer ring of the bullseye.
Although it wasn’t the exact red center, it firmly nailed into the target.
Kushina was stunned, then suddenly turned her head to look at Uzumaki Mirai, her red hair flying up: “I hit it!
Mirai, I hit it!”
“I told you you could do it.” Uzumaki Mirai grinned, took a step back, and put his hands in his pockets.
Teacher Toriyama Kazunari watched from the side in dumbfounded amazement——this kid, only seven years old, and his teaching level is already better than his?
When it was Uzumaki Mirai’s turn, he casually picked up three Kunai, too lazy to even bother with aiming motions, and flicked his wrist.
The movement was precise and elegant.
“Smack!
Smack!
Smack!”
The three Kunai flew out almost simultaneously, one hitting right in the red center, and two pinning respectively above and below the first one, forming a straight vertical line.
The whole audience gasped.
Toriyama Kazunari pushed up his glasses, the corners of his mouth twitching: “Full marks…”
Minato Namikaze followed closely behind, his Kunai also hitting the target and firmly pinning within the red center zone.
“Full marks.” Toriyama Kazunari nodded, secretly making a mental note of this blonde brat.
“Next——Uchiha Naori.” (Solemn declaration: Naori here is not the Naori of the Sengoku era.
With the Uchiha Clan’s centuries-old history, it’s inevitable that people share names, right?
Everyone can just think of her as an ordinary Uchiha genius, thank you!)
A little girl with long straight black hair walked out from the line.
Her face was as delicate as a porcelain doll, but her expression was as cold as if a snowfall had just passed.
She walked up to the throwing line, unhurriedly picked up a Kunai, and didn’t even pause much——
“Whoosh——Smack!”
Bullseye.
The second one——”Smack!” Bullseye.
The third one——”Smack!” Bullseye.
The three Kunai were neatly embedded right in the center of the bullseye, with distances almost completely identical.
Toriyama Kazunari opened his mouth, and after a long while squeezed out a sentence: “…Full marks.”
Uzumaki Mirai narrowed his eyes, looking at that expressionless long-straight-black-haired girl.
“Uchiha Naori…” He chanted this name silently in his heart, a genius of the Uchiha Clan?
Anyway, this throwing technique was clean and neat, without a trace of superfluous movement, and just like him,
proudly chose to throw three Kunai——one could only say she truly lives up to being an Uchiha.
After finishing her demonstration, Uchiha Naori walked back to the end of the line expressionlessly, without looking at anyone the entire time.
“Are people of the Uchiha Clan all this aloof?” Uzumaki Mirai muttered softly.
Minato Namikaze smiled nearby: “Not necessarily.
I heard from my parents that Ninjas of the Uchiha Clan are all very strong, but their personalities are indeed rather…
introverted.”
“Introverted?”
Minato smiled helplessly and didn’t take up the conversation.
Kushina happily pulled on Mirai’s sleeve beside him: “Mirai!
I really hit it just now!
Look at that target, my Kunai is right on it!”
“Saw it, saw it, awesome, awesome.” Uzumaki Mirai perfunctorily patted her head, but his gaze glanced toward Uchiha Naori once again.
That girl stood at the very end of the line, quiet and still, like a mute black lily.
An Uchiha girl who didn’t even appear in the original work, yet her looks were already this high.
Then how pretty must Mikoto-neesan, who is hailed as the number one beauty of the Uchiha, be?
Uzumaki Mirai rubbed his chin, planning to find some time to go check out the upper grades.