What Do You Mean, "You're a Teacher Too"? Don't You Know How to Talk to People!

The morning sun slowly rose, breaking the silence.

After getting ready, Hagoromo headed out to the small training ground on the edge of the Forest of Death.

This was where Hagoromo had always trained his body. It wasn't large, but at least it was quiet.

The morning breeze drifted past, stirring the hem of Hagoromo's clothes.

As a ninja from a civilian background, Hagoromo had to meet mission quotas before he could exchange them for Ninjutsu and Genjutsu.

The only other ways he could grow stronger were to build up his body and learn to use ninja tools skillfully.

Having finished warming up, Hagoromo closed his eyes and focused on what he felt.

Then he flipped his hands over, and two shuriken appeared in his palms.

Looking at the two wooden posts standing in the middle of the training ground, he threw one shuriken straight out.

He then sent the other shuriken flying at the first from an uncanny angle.

"At this angle, I wonder if it'll work..." Hagoromo watched the paths of the two shuriken closely.

The second shuriken overtook the first and struck it, throwing off sparks and changing its original trajectory.

Thump—

The sound of a shuriken striking a wooden post rang out, marking yet another failure for Hagoromo.

Just as I thought... without the Sharingan, mastering this technique is unbelievably difficult.

Hagoromo took a deep breath, but he wasn't discouraged.

After all, in the whole story, Uchiha Itachi was the only one who could pull off all sorts of tricks with shuriken.

"Again..."

The next moment, Hagoromo resumed practicing with his shuriken. To an outsider, his throwing would have looked less accurate than that of a Genin fresh out of the Ninja Academy.

"Almost..."

"Still no good..."

As he practiced again and again, time slowly passed, and the sun climbed higher.

Hagoromo gradually forgot everything around him. All he could see were the spinning shuriken and the two wooden posts.

By now, he was growing a little determined to get it right, though not because he was angry out of embarrassment.

Rather, he had suddenly realized that he really seemed to be making some progress.

After all, this time both shuriken had embedded themselves in the wooden posts.

They were still far from hitting their targets at the angles he had intended, though.

"Phew..."

Hagoromo let out a deep breath and finally stopped training.

He glanced at the sky. It was almost time to go to work at the Ninja Academy.

Taking the ninja tool pouch off his lower back, Hagoromo slowly began gathering the shuriken scattered around him.

These ninja tools weren't cheap. All told, they were worth about two months of Hagoromo's wages.

"There's something wrong with your practice..."

An unfamiliar voice came from not far away.

Hagoromo turned toward the trees beside the training ground, and a shuriken shot toward the speaker along his line of sight.

Then he jumped back, putting some distance between himself and where he had been standing.

Clang—

The shuriken collided with a shower of sparks. The one Hagoromo had thrown and the one the newcomer had used to block it embedded themselves precisely in the wooden posts.

And their positions were exactly the angles Hagoromo had been practicing.

"Angles matter in the Shuriken Technique, but you can't blindly follow that principle to the exclusion of everything else."

As the voice fell silent, a figure jumped down from the tree that had concealed him.

He held both hands high, signaling to Hagoromo that he meant no harm.

With that spiky hair and distinctive dark blue clothing,

Hagoromo recognized him at a glance. This man...

Was from the Uchiha Clan.

Hagoromo straightened up and looked at the two shuriken in the wooden posts.

Blocking an enemy's shuriken like that to strike the enemy at the angle he wanted—

It all showed that the Uchiha before him was no ordinary man.

"Who are you?"

Hagoromo looked at the Uchiha, who still had both hands raised, and couldn't help asking.

"Uchiha. Shisui."

Shisui Uchiha paused, then readily gave his name.

...Damn!

Hagoromo froze at the name, then completely lost his composure inside.

Who ran into someone who could be called one of the most renowned geniuses in the current Uchiha Clan while they were training?

Body Flicker Shisui. Although he wasn't an Uchiha Clan genius who had risen to prominence during the Third Shinobi World War,

He had still earned his reputation through mission after mission.

"So... what are you doing here?"

Now that he knew who the man before him was, Hagoromo instead grew calm.

At that, Shisui Uchiha suddenly looked a little embarrassed.

After all, unless one was their supervising Jonin, watching a ninja train was strictly taboo, no matter where or why.

"Actually... I was just passing by, and seeing you practice reminded me a little of a younger brother of mine. So I stopped and watched for a while."

"I'm really sorry!"

With that, Shisui Uchiha hurriedly bowed in apology.

"..."

Hagoromo, caught quite off guard by Shisui Uchiha's apology, was somewhat at a loss for words.

What could he do? The man had already apologized.

Besides, apart from the Third Hokage, the man before him was the strongest person he had encountered since coming to this world.

"It's nothing. I was careless myself."

Hagoromo waved a hand. His own lack of vigilance really had been the problem.

At the same time, he silently warned himself not to lose himself like that again.

One careless mistake, and he might lose his life right here.

"Uh, to make it up to you, how about I tell you a few tricks and things to watch out for when practicing this technique?"

Shisui Uchiha straightened up, looked at Hagoromo, and pointed to the two shuriken in the wooden posts nearby.

"???"

Hagoromo was a little bewildered by the offer. Although the Third Hokage and Danzo had played a part in the Uchiha's current predicament in Konoha,

It had more to do with their own personalities.

It wasn't as though every one of them was arrogant and overbearing, but an aloof attitude like Uchiha Itachi's should have been more common.

So why, in Shisui Uchiha's case, was there no sign of that personality? Instead, he was a little like...

The thought made Hagoromo a little doubtful. After all, Shisui Uchiha had only appeared once or twice in the whole story.

If it was because of this personality, it really could indirectly explain why he had become Uchiha Itachi's mentor.

In terms of ideas, of course.

After all, the earlier example... no, Naruto and Sasuke didn't count either.

In any case, a person who was so open and uninhibited was the most likely to reach someone who had closed off his heart.

"Thanks, but maybe another time. I have to go teach at the Ninja Academy now."

After saying that, Hagoromo felt his face grow a little warm.

After all, compared to Shisui Uchiha, he felt that someone of his strength teaching students was, in a way, doing them a disservice.

"So you're a teacher too. I'm really sorry. I'll come back next time I have a day off."

With that, Shisui Uchiha apologized once again.

Hagoromo said nothing more. He waved and took his leave.

If he stayed any longer, he felt he would disregard the difference in their strength and have to spar with Shisui Uchiha.

What do you mean, "You're a teacher too"? Don't you know how to talk to people?!