A Toy Idea

By the time Shuichi reached a spot not far from the training ground, he could already make out its general state. Oddly enough, although quite a few people were still practicing, several target lanes stood empty.

After thinking it over carefully, Shuichi could roughly guess why. During the last few years of the Second Shinobi War, Konoha had been squeezing its manpower hard, and most people had gone to the battlefield. Now that the war was nearing its end, the vast majority of ninja were utterly exhausted. Not many still wanted to polish their ninja fundamentals.

As he got closer, he found that many of the people practicing there still looked like teenagers. It was safe to conclude that most of them were students from the Ninja Academy.

Shuichi and the others stood in an open area nearby and watched for a while. Ishikawa Tatsuki, however, soon grew restless with anticipation and said impatiently, "There are finally some empty targets today. Let's give it a try."

Shuichi and Takashima Heijin did not object. They quickly gathered stones from the nearby open ground, the kind many children usually used to play ninja games, then headed together to a relatively secluded target lane and began taking turns throwing them like ninja.

Since they were children, Shuichi and the others generally stood between ten and twenty meters from the target. The closer each throw landed to the center of the circular target, the higher the score. Each person threw ten times, and they were ranked by their total score.

It was quite similar to the Shuriken tests Shuichi remembered from the Ninja Academy. This must have been passed down by some Ninja Academy students. As long as it did not involve Chakra, Konoha's restrictions were not particularly strict.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

When Shuichi began throwing, he followed the memories originally belonging to this body. After just three throws, he realized that his control over his body had improved enormously compared to before.

Was it the increase in Mental Energy? Or soul fusion? Shuichi pondered silently.

He did not dwell on the question. Instead, he recalled movements from javelin throwing, darts, and card throwing from movies in his previous life.

First, he extended his left foot forward and turned his body thirty degrees sideways toward the target. Then he placed his right foot parallel to his left, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.

Next, he raised his left hand to shoulder height and aimed it at the bullseye. He lifted the stone in his right hand near his ear, then released it in one smooth motion over his head, somewhat like a flat basketball shot.

After throwing, his left hand followed through behind him with the force of the motion, while his waist bent forward at the same time as though cushioning the movement.

"Bang!" The stone struck the edge of the third ring from the center, not much different from Shuichi's previous three attempts.

"Bang, bang, bang..." Maintaining exactly the same posture, Shuichi calmly finished his remaining six throws.

Ishikawa Tatsuki's mouth gradually fell open as he watched the later throws, while even Takashima Shota's somewhat stern expression seemed to change slightly.

Shuichi looked at the two of them and thought that, if this were a manga from his previous life, the accompanying caption would probably be: How is that possible? Did you turn on cheats?

The marks on the target made it obvious that Shuichi's last six throws had left much clearer impacts than any of theirs.

Moreover, his fifth throw had already landed in the innermost ring. The final four all struck the bullseye. Their positions differed, but every one of them was extremely close to the center.

"Shuichi, why are you so amazing today?" Ishikawa Tatsuki shouted impatiently.

"Haha, it's nothing. Try finding a stance that suits you and give it another shot. It should work pretty well," Shuichi said, appearing perfectly calm on the surface, though he was rather pleased inside.

Not long after leaving home today, he had discovered that his body's talent was far stronger than before. It felt incredibly satisfying, as though his luck had finally turned around.

"Alright! I'll give it a try too. Watch the Ishikawa Family's signature throwing technique..."

The three played until close to noon. Since they were still children, hunger soon caught up with them.

Ninja might have Chakra, but they were still ordinary people. And because of their training, they actually needed to eat more than most.

Some Ninja Academy students began leaving the training ground to rest. Shuichi's group of three was tired from playing as well, so they prepared to head back for lunch.

As they left, Ishikawa Tatsuki seemed reluctant to go, while Takashima Heijin had resumed his signature stern expression. Shuichi, on the other hand, did not appear much different, though inwardly he was quietly delighted.

Even after following his guidance and playing for over an hour, Ishikawa Tatsuki and Takashima Heijin had only improved a tiny bit. The difference in natural physical talent was clear.

Shuichi now deeply understood that when one's happiness was built upon someone else's suffering, the satisfaction could multiply several times over.

It was like the professional gamers he had seen in his previous life teaching complete beginners: "Hey, I'm telling you, this hero is really easy. Just follow my combo like this... and then the enemy dies!" The beginners would eagerly follow the expert's guide, only to get slaughtered until all they could do was yell in disbelief.

Although Ishikawa Tatsuki had felt rather frustrated today, his original intention had been to help Shuichi pull himself together. Seeing that Shuichi had recovered quite well, he invited the other two to eat at his home.

Ishikawa Tatsuki's home was not in Konoha's central district, but it was not far away either. The three set off from the training ground in the direction opposite Hokage Rock, and before long, they arrived at Ishikawa Tatsuki's house.

From memories of his previous life, Shuichi roughly understood Konoha's housing layout. From this point until the end of Naruto, most civilian buildings in the village resembled those of the island nation before its modernization era. Ninja Clan residences were completely different. It was a dense urban layout, with small wooden houses packed tightly together, one family right beside the next. Ishikawa Tatsuki's home was one of them.

At the Ishikawa Family home, Shuichi met Ishikawa Tatsuki's mother, Ishikawa Kyoko, a gentle-looking middle-aged woman. Shuichi and Takashima Heijin both greeted her politely.

Ishikawa Kyoko seemed to be in a good mood today and showed considerable concern for Shuichi, who had suffered a setback not long ago.

Before leaving home, Shuichi had already prepared a basic script for dealing with these social interactions. His response was full of resolve and hope, making everyone feel that the good child had returned.

After a delicious sushi feast, Shuichi politely bid farewell to the Ishikawa Family and walked home alone.

Since he had deliberately brought money with him before leaving, intending to buy a few things, he began wandering around Konoha's central district. After asking a helpful Konoha resident for directions, Shuichi arrived at the entrance of a children's toy store.

"Hello, sir. What kinds of toys do you have here?"

"Huh? Little guy, did you come here alone? It's pretty rare for someone as young as you to buy toys by himself. Well, the shelves on both sides are basically all the stock in my shop. Take a look and see what you like."

Though the Toy Shop Owner was a little surprised, he responded warmly.

Shuichi looked over the shelves on both sides and found that many of the items were miniature Shuriken, balloons, pinwheels, and the like. Unable to find what he needed, he did not waste words and directly asked the owner for what he wanted.

"Sir, do you have any toy balls that are really bouncy? The kind that can bounce pretty far after hitting a wall?"

"Uh... the kind of toy you want definitely isn't on the shelves. I've got some toys in the warehouse that didn't sell very well before. I'll bring them out and see if there's anything you want."

As he spoke, the owner briskly opened the door behind him. Before long, he brought out a large wooden box covered in dust. "Here, everything that's left is in here. If what you want isn't here either, then there's nothing I can do." As he spoke, he set the box down in front of Shuichi.

Shuichi did not mind the dirty-looking box. He quickly opened it and began searching through it.

Before long, he pulled out two ball-shaped toys. They were not large, small enough for an adult to cover with one hand, and looked like miniature versions of the ball the cat used to teach Naruto the first stage of the Rasengan.

Though they hadn't fully met his expectations, Shuichi readily decided to buy the two little balls. The owner was pretty decent too; since they were expired products, he only charged Shuichi a token one hundred ryo.

"Sir, when you restock next time, could you ask if they have rubber bouncy balls with really strong elasticity? I'd be incredibly grateful if you could get a few in, since I really need them."

Shuichi didn't give up right away. The man seemed like a good person, so he hoped he could help look for them.

"..."

"Phew! Today's mission is basically accomplished." Not long after, Shuichi left the Toy Store. In the end, the owner couldn't withstand his persistent pleading and persuasion and agreed to mention it to the supplier next time.