Minato's Terrifying Skill

"Soji, good luck!" Minato Namikaze smiled as he cheered for Soji, who was about to take the field.

Beside him, Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi, Inoichi Yamanaka, and several classmates who were on good terms with Soji also cheered him on.

This showed the difference between Soji and Uchiha Homura in their everyday lives. When Uchiha Homura had taken the field, aside from Minato, Soji, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and a few others, not a single boy had supported him.

"Hyuga Soji, let me see what the Hyuga Clan's genius is capable of." Uchiha Homura looked quite interested.

He did not believe he would lose to Hyuga Soji in Ninja Tool Throwing. After all, this, along with genjutsu, was the Uchiha Clan's specialty.

Although Uchiha Homura was not confident he could beat Hyuga Soji in taijutsu, this training was not about taijutsu.

"Yeah, don't worry. I won't disappoint you," Soji replied calmly.

They started with kunai throwing as well. Standing before the targets, Soji first weighed the kunai in his hand, then closed his eyes.

Suddenly, his eyes opened, but he did not activate his Byakugan. Although there were no restrictions on using the Byakugan for Ninja Tool Throwing here, Soji had no intention of relying on his bloodline limit to overpower others.

He held three kunai by the blades in each hand, then flung them out in rapid succession.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh." "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh."

Without question, all six kunai struck the bullseye.

Then the teacher's voice rang out. "All six kunai hit. Ten points each!"

There were still four remaining. Soji did not take any more chances and chose to throw them one at a time.

"Whoosh." "Whoosh." "Whoosh."

"Ten points, ten points, ten points."

Three more kunai struck the very center of the target in succession, and as expected, the teacher announced three more ten-point scores.

"How is that possible? Since when has the Hyuga Clan been this good at Ninja Tool Throwing?"

Uchiha Homura, who had witnessed everything, looked utterly shaken.

He had never imagined that Ninja Tool Throwing, which he had thought he was guaranteed to win, would produce such an upset. It would have been one thing if Soji had activated his Byakugan before throwing, but Soji was currently relying purely on his physical ability, just like him.

"Damn it. When I get home today, I'm asking my sister to help train my Ninja Tool Throwing."

Uchiha Homura was full of unwillingness, but he knew he had lost this contest. Even though one kunai remained unthrown, he did not believe Soji would score less than eight points.

As for shuriken, Uchiha Homura no longer held out any hope of winning.

"Homura, don't be discouraged. You can beat Soji next time." Seeing Uchiha Homura's expression, Minato Namikaze began stirring things up again behind Soji's back, never one to fear making trouble.

"This is my first time seeing a Hyuga Clan genius make a move. His reputation is well deserved." Choza Akimichi watched intently.

"Yeah, looks like we've got a rival now," Inoichi Yamanaka commented.

"I just hope Dad doesn't force me to take first place in the graduation exam." Shikaku Nara was already thinking about graduation.

Soji still had one kunai left. After looking over the ten-point area several times and confirming there was no spare spot where he could score another ten, he could only helplessly throw his last kunai into the nine-point area.

"Kunai throwing complete. Nine tens, one nine, for a total score of ninety-nine." After announcing Soji's score, the teacher could not help but admire him inwardly.

"I never thought a child from this generation of the Hyuga Clan would surpass the Uchiha Clan. No wonder he's called a genius."

Naturally, no one on the field knew what the teacher was thinking.

Next came shuriken throwing.

Once again, Soji threw six shuriken at once, and all of them hit the bullseye, unquestionably landing in the ten-point area.

That alone had already surpassed Uchiha Homura.

Uchiha Homura had still clung to the hope that Soji might not be as skilled with shuriken as he was with kunai, but now he finally gave up completely.

After observing the remaining ten-point spots around the center of the target, Soji decisively threw two shuriken in succession.

"Whoosh." "Whoosh."

"Ten points, ten points."

At that point, eight shuriken had hit the ten-point area, leaving two remaining.

Soji did not force it any further and sent both remaining shuriken into the nine-point area.

With that, Soji's shuriken score was also out: eight tens and two nines, for a final score of ninety-eight.

He then strolled off the field to applause even more enthusiastic than what Uchiha Homura had received.

Several boys clapped until their palms turned red, yet they kept going.

To them, it was enough that someone had appeared who was better than that smug brat Uchiha Homura.

Their thinking was simple. Sure, we're not as good as you, Uchiha Homura, but you're not as good as Hyuga Soji either.

"You did amazing!" Minato Namikaze was the first to congratulate him.

Then several close friends, including the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, praised Soji's Ninja Tool Throwing skills as well.

"Hmph, I lost this time, but next time I'll definitely beat you." When Soji had first stepped off the field, Uchiha Homura had looked like a defeated rooster. Now, he had immediately pulled himself together and issued a challenge.

He was not someone who could not accept defeat. He had lost this time, so he would win next time. He would make Soji understand that one victory did not mean eternal victory!

"Yeah, yeah, whatever makes you happy." Soji humored him casually, then stopped paying attention to Uchiha Homura.

That enraged Uchiha Homura. He secretly swore that once his sister taught him better Ninja Tool Throwing techniques, he would definitely repay this "one-arrow grudge."

After that, the other students took the field one after another.

Shikaku Nara scored ninety-six in kunai and ninety in shuriken.

Inoichi Yamanaka scored ninety-four in kunai and ninety-two in shuriken.

Choza Akimichi scored ninety-five in kunai and ninety-one in shuriken.

Soji could only say, Seriously? Are your three Ino-Shika-Cho clans really this united? Even your total Ninja Tool Throwing scores have to be identical?

Uchiha Homura, meanwhile, looked extremely wary. He had not expected that aside from Hyuga Soji, who had surpassed him, there were other classmates whose scores were nearly catching up to his. He decided that while working even harder to catch Soji, he would also leave the Ino-Shika-Cho trio far behind.

As for Minato Namikaze, he stood at the side with a smile, encouraging every classmate who took the field and congratulating them when they came down.

"Tsk, tsk. No wonder they call him a social butterfly," Soji muttered quietly.

"What did you say?" Uchiha Homura asked curiously after hearing Soji mumble.

"Nothing. Keep watching. Minato should be up soon."

As soon as Soji finished speaking, the teacher called Minato Namikaze's name.

"Minato, good luck!"

"We'll always support you!"

"We believe you'll be the best!"

"Minato, you have to take first place!"

Both the boys and girls in the field cheered for Minato, showing just how popular he was among his classmates.

Minato smiled and waved at everyone before calmly taking the field.

"Teacher, may I throw kunai and shuriken at the same time?" The moment he stepped onto the field, Minato said something so audacious to the teacher.

"Ah, ahem. You can, but are you sure you'll be alright, Minato?" The teacher froze for a moment, then quickly recovered and used a cough to hide his surprise, while not forgetting to show concern for Minato.

"Mm, it won't be a problem." Minato answered confidently.

"Hey, Soji, is Minato usually this arrogant?" Uchiha Homura immediately began doubting Minato Namikaze's usual persona.

In Uchiha Homura's view, Minato Namikaze gave him a good impression. He was friendly, and Uchiha Homura was willing to talk with him. But deep down, he still felt that Minato, who came from an ordinary family, could not possibly have attained such a high level of Ninja Tool Throwing after only being in school for such a short time.

He, Hyuga Soji, and the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans had all received this kind of training early because they came from ninja clans. That was why they had reached their current level.

If he had only just started learning this like an ordinary person, he would have been doing well if he occasionally got lucky and hit a ten.

"Heh, don't underestimate Minato. He always looks like a smiling nice guy around everyone, but his Ninja Tool Throwing might be even better than mine." Soji had more confidence in this future Fourth Hokage than anyone else.

That made Uchiha Homura look at him as if to say, Are you kidding me?

If Minato Namikaze, who came from an ordinary family, was better at Ninja Tool Throwing than Hyuga Soji, then what did that make him? Should he just jump into the river in front of the village?

Meeting Uchiha Homura's doubtful gaze, Soji gave him a look that said, Watch for yourself, then ignored him.

On the field, Minato Namikaze looked at the two targets. He held three kunai in his left hand and three shuriken in his right. After a brief moment of concentration, he flung them simultaneously toward the two targets.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh." "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh."

"Kunai: ten points, ten points, ten points. Shuriken: ten points, ten points, ten points." This move alone stunned everyone present, including the teacher.

Kunai and shuriken differed not only in shape but also in weight, requiring different amounts of force to throw.

Yet Minato had achieved the exact same result with both. Aside from the teacher, no one present was likely capable of that.

Minato then threw another three kunai and three shuriken simultaneously, once again scoring three tens with each.

Only after both targets had six ninja tools stuck in them did Minato stop using that method of throwing three shuriken and three kunai at the same time.

Three sounds of air being torn apart rang out.

Another three "whooshes" followed as three kunai lodged steadily in the very center of the target, earning Minato another three tens.

At that point, there was no space left in the ten-point area of the kunai target, so Minato had no choice but to temporarily set aside the final kunai in his hand.

He then turned his attention to the shuriken target, but this time, Minato carefully threw them one at a time.

The watching students all held their breath in stunned silence, afraid that even breathing in or out might disturb Minato Namikaze's intense focus.

"Whoosh."

"Ten points." Soji and the teacher said it at the same time.

"Whoosh."

"Ten points." The teacher, Soji, Uchiha Homura, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and the other friends close to Minato all said it together.

"Whoosh."

"Ten points!" The teacher and all the students shouted together.

Everyone's faces were full of excitement. He was going for a perfect score!

At that moment, the teacher was stunned. He had never expected an ordinary student from this class to emerge and overpower students from ninja clans such as the Hyuga Clan, the Uchiha Clan, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

After this training was over, he had to report this student's situation to the Third Hokage as soon as possible.

Looking at Minato Namikaze, who still had his eyes closed as he seriously considered how to throw his final kunai and shuriken, the teacher seemed to see another ordinary ninja like Orochimaru or Jiraiya about to rise.

Finally, Minato moved. He directly tossed out the kunai.

"Oh no, Minato's under too much pressure. It's going to miss the target!"

"No way, what a shame. He didn't need to insist on getting ten points with the final throw. Nine points would have been fine too."

"Sigh, Minato is too obsessed with perfection."

However, before the people in the field could continue sighing in regret, Minato immediately threw his final shuriken.

The shuriken launched later but arrived first, striking the blade of the kunai. Then everyone heard a clear ding.

Then two bangs rang out in quick succession.

Everyone looked toward the two targets and saw that the final kunai and shuriken had each wedged themselves into the gaps left between the other kunai and shuriken.

At that moment, the entire field fell silent!