Kiyono Shuji nodded when Rin immediately focused on the assessment.
This was how a top student should behave, unlike the two dead lasts before her, who had given him quite a scare.
Still shaken by Obito’s earlier performance, Kiyono Shuji positioned himself slightly farther to the side of the target this time.
“All right, let the assessment begin.”
Rin didn’t appear to aim.
More precisely, she had already completed the entire aiming process instinctively.
As she held the shuriken, a familiar sensation passed through her hand, as though she had performed this exact movement countless times before.
She instinctively knew that, within this distance, the shuriken would obey her as naturally as her own hands.
Following that feeling, she flicked her hand outward.
The three shuriken immediately began spinning, producing sharp whistles as they traced three beautiful arcs through the air.
Then—
“Thunk!”
Yes, there was only one sound.
The three shuriken converged and struck the bull’s-eye at exactly the same moment.
Unlike Kakashi’s throws, none of Rin’s shuriken landed beside the bull’s-eye.
The first person to be astonished by this display was their chūnin instructor, Kiyono Shuji.
As someone familiar with shurikenjutsu, he understood how technically difficult it was to throw three shuriken from the same hand and make them converge on the bull’s-eye simultaneously.
Could he accomplish that himself?
While Kiyono Shuji was still in shock, the students erupted into loud cheers.
“Wow, Rin is even better than Kakashi.”
“Yeah, even though there was a gap between each shuriken when she threw them, we only heard one impact.”
“Exactly. There was only one sound, and all three hit the bull’s-eye. Shuriken really can curve through the air.”
Children rarely concealed their thoughts.
They praised what impressed them and mocked what didn’t, saying whatever came to mind.
In a way, it truly was…
fair.
Nearby, Rin looked at the three shuriken embedded in the bull’s-eye and found it somewhat difficult to believe herself.
Performing the technique had felt as natural as breathing. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
At the same time, worry arose in her heart because she hadn’t forgotten where her current shurikenjutsu skills had come from.
This meant that the young man who possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan could also perform what she had just done—and perhaps do it even better.
No wonder he had easily killed her with a single shuriken in the notebook’s text adventure, even after she closed her eyes and avoided his genjutsu.
While Rin was lost in thought, the chūnin instructor announced, “Rin, full marks, plus ten bonus points. You may return to the group and let the next student take your place.”
However, Rin came back to her senses and shook her head.
“Instructor, I want to try again.”
Kiyono Shuji was startled.
“Why? Your performance was already excellent. Aside from the shuriken aimed directly at the center, the other two required slight adjustments to their trajectories and greater force to make all three converge simultaneously.”
Rin, however, said, “No, Instructor. Those slight adjustments aren’t what Obito meant when he said shuriken could curve. That’s why I want to demonstrate it again.”
This time, the surrounding students knew how skilled Rin was.
Instead of mocking her, they looked at her with anticipation.
Even Kakashi became interested.
His lazy expression disappeared as he began observing her intently.
Seeing this, Kiyono Shuji could only say, “All right, Rin. You may try again.”
Rin nodded, returned to the basket of ninja tools, and took out two more shuriken.
She then looked toward the target and said, “Instructor, can you place one target on either side of me, somewhere outside my direct line of fire?”
Kiyono Shuji was surprised, but he had prepared many spare targets for the lesson, so he replied, “All right.”
He quickly set up the two targets, positioning them where Rin’s shuriken couldn’t possibly hit them if thrown in a straight line.
The surrounding students were astonished when they saw this.
“How could she possibly hit those? They’re on opposite sides. She’d have to throw at least twice.”
“Yeah, that’s completely impossible. Even if shuriken can curve, the trajectories would have to change too sharply.”
At that moment, Obito excitedly approached Kakashi and said, “Kakashi, Rin can definitely do it, right?”
Kakashi hesitated.
He had already guessed what Rin intended to do, but that only made it harder for him to believe that she could succeed.
He murmured, “Is she planning to make the shuriken collide with each other? The precision and accuracy required for that would be extraordinarily high.”
“When did Rin master a technique like that?”
Obito immediately became indignant.
Kakashi first gave Obito a disdainful look before saying, “Rin is indeed far more impressive than I expected.”
Obito understood the meaning behind Kakashi’s disdainful gaze and gritted his teeth.
“Kakashi!”
Kakashi wanted to tell Obito that complaining wouldn’t make him any better and that he simply needed to practice more.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t yet find the right words to express that thought.
At that moment, Kiyono Shuji, having finished positioning the targets, said, “I’m ready. You may begin whenever you want.”
“Rin, I think I understand what you’re trying to do, but it’s extremely difficult. I’ve only seen it performed once before, by an Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan.”
Rin nodded.
“Trust me, Instructor Shuji.”
With that, she held two shuriken between the thumb and forefinger of her right hand.
She then turned around, placing both targets completely outside her field of vision.
Soon, a sense of absolute certainty settled within her.
Following that instinct, she swung her hand forward.
The two shuriken immediately flew through the air and suddenly collided with each other nearby.
Still spinning rapidly, the two shuriken changed direction and traced separate, unusual arcs.
“Thunk!” “Thunk!”
Following the two impacts, each shuriken struck the bull’s-eye of a target that everyone had previously considered impossible to hit.
Kiyono Shuji couldn’t help but gape.
For a chūnin of his level, this kind of shurikenjutsu existed only in stories.
Not only was he incapable of performing it, but even jōnin who were stronger than him would fail unless they specialized in shurikenjutsu.
Rin’s shurikenjutsu had reached at least the level of a jōnin.
If her chakra reserves and other fundamental abilities improved, then according to Konoha’s standards, this skill alone could qualify her to become a Special Jōnin.
Comparing himself to such a talented student was truly frustrating.
Their class already had one exceptional genius, Kakashi Hatake, who was clearly destined to surpass him before long.
Now…
had another genius appeared in the form of Rin Nohara?
It really helps the fic grow!