After leaving the training ground, Hagoromo hurried to collect the lunchbox he had prepared and headed for the Ninja Academy.
When he arrived at the school, Hagoromo greeted a few of his colleagues before heading to his classroom.
Hagoromo glanced at the students in their seats and nodded when he saw that no one was absent.
He tapped on the lectern and said, "Today is the shuriken lesson, so we won't be having class in the classroom."
At this, the students, who had still been a little sleepy from waking up early, all brightened at once.
"Everyone, assemble on the playground."
"Yes!"
A chorus of affirmatives answered Hagoromo from the class.
These children would probably lose interest in this kind of training or practical lesson later on.
After all, they would generally have to warm up before training, and they couldn't slack off.
Hagoromo waved them on, and the students filed out in order.
Hagoromo waited until the last student had left the classroom before following.
By the time he arrived at the open area, they were all standing in position, waiting for his instructions.
"All right, first, get ready to run five laps around the entire playground."
Hagoromo pointed to the open area beside him, where a course had been marked out.
"Huh?"
The students, who had been expecting to start the lesson straight away, looked at one another. The Ninja Academy's playground was no small place.
They had to run five laps, too. How exhausted would they be after even one?
"Without a strong body, everything else is empty talk."
Hagoromo was in no hurry. He simply smiled and spoke with a warm expression.
Hearing their teacher say that, the students who had been wondering if they could run fewer laps all lowered their heads.
"Okay, Teacher Hagoromo! I'll be the first to finish!"
Naruto raised his hand in the crowd and shouted.
His voice was firm.
With that, he immediately started running around the playground.
Standing to the side, Sasuke watched Naruto get moving and lowered the arms he had kept folded in front of him.
He followed Naruto and began running too.
With someone taking the lead, the remaining students hesitated no longer and began running one after another.
Hagoromo stayed where he was, watching Naruto and Sasuke, who had already begun competing with each other a short distance away.
Perhaps he could have those two spur on the whole class later.
After all, children of this age...
Once they started competing, neither would yield to the other.
After five laps, even the students of the Shinobi World, where everyone's physical fitness was relatively high, couldn't help collapsing onto the ground.
They panted nonstop.
Hagoromo clapped his hands and called out:
"Would anyone like to volunteer to demonstrate how to use a shuriken?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto and Sasuke, who had still been looking at each other, immediately raised their hands.
"Teacher Hagoromo, me!" ×2
Hagoromo was more inclined to have Sasuke demonstrate, since there was some risk involved.
But seeing the hopeful look on Naruto's face, Hagoromo fell silent.
"All right, but first I'll explain how to throw a shuriken."
"You two need to listen carefully."
Sasuke had been about to say there was no need, but when he saw Naruto nod in agreement beside him, he said nothing more.
With a flip of Hagoromo's hand, a shuriken appeared in it. He crouched down and carefully explained the precautions to Naruto and Sasuke.
Sasuke was all right, while Naruto listened with a serious expression on his face.
After a while, Hagoromo stood up and looked at Naruto and Sasuke.
"Is everything clear?"
"It's clear!"
Naruto answered promptly, while Sasuke nodded beside him, looking a little helpless.
"Good. The shuriken lesson officially begins now."
"Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, you two will demonstrate for the class first."
After speaking, Hagoromo took out two shuriken and handed them to the boys, then stepped back a few paces.
Naruto held his shuriken as Hagoromo had just instructed and threw it at the upright wooden post.
Sasuke, unwilling to fall behind, threw his as well. The two threw at the same time.
Thud—
A dull sound rang out, and the students who had still been sitting on the ground all looked at the post.
When they saw that only one shuriken had lodged slightly in the post, they exclaimed in amazement.
"Amazing, Sasuke!"
"Yeah, he actually hit it on his first throw."
"So cool! Sasuke, I love you!"
The boys were one thing, but the girls all broke into cheers.
After all, Sasuke's looks spoke for themselves, and he hadn't had much contact with his classmates over the past two days.
It had to be said that a personality like that was immensely attractive to these girls, who were still children but were overly mature.
Hagoromo glanced at the shuriken that had fallen beside the post, then at Naruto, who had practically turned pale all over.
Although Naruto had arguably been the most attentive during the explanation, for a student holding a shuriken for the first time...
Hagoromo wasn't surprised by the result.
He went over to the two boys, first praising Sasuke and telling him to go rest.
Only then did he turn to Naruto. "Naruto, you've done very well to get this far on your first try."
Hearing Hagoromo's warm voice, Naruto finally recovered.
He looked at Hagoromo anxiously, deeply afraid that his performance had changed Hagoromo's attitude toward him.
Only after Hagoromo comforted him with a few more words did Naruto feel reassured.
Patting his chest, he promised, "Teacher Hagoromo, I'll work hard from now on!"
Hearing this, Hagoromo smiled and nodded. "You just need to practice diligently, but you could try practicing with wooden shuriken first, so you don't hurt yourself."
"Okay, Teacher Hagoromo!"
Naruto nodded and replied at once.
After telling Naruto to go rest as well, Hagoromo looked at the remaining students.
"All right, everyone, let's continue."
"Two to a group. Learn from each other."
"Yes, teacher!"
Hearing their answer, Hagoromo had the students, who had long been eager to begin, come forward in pairs.
On the roof of the Ninja Academy, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had just finished dealing with some documents, stood watching the students on the playground.
He had originally intended to find Hagoromo today to talk to him about Naruto.
After all, just last night, he had ordered Danzo to undo what he had done behind his back.
But when Iruka told him Hagoromo had gone to teach an outdoor lesson, he decided to come up to the roof and take a look.
Watching Naruto, who was sitting on the ground but still competing with Sasuke Uchiha, the Third couldn't help smiling.
After all, this was a different kind of bond. Boys were all like that.
After all, among his own disciples, Jiraiya and Orochimaru had been the same way.
But thinking of Orochimaru, the Third couldn't help sighing.
Orochimaru, his most outstanding disciple, had defected from the village.
That had directly caused the Sannin, the mainstays of Konoha, to fall apart.