Combat Drill

One week later, Ninja Academy training ground.

"Wow! Sasuke is so cool."

"Yeah! Sasuke is amazing!"

"Sasuke is the top of the class for a reason, a true genius!"

"..."

Sasuke stood in an open space dozens of meters away from the wooden target dummies. His hands moved like lightning, reaching to his waist to grab a kunai in one hand and a shuriken in the other. He threw them simultaneously. A series of 'swish, swish, swish' sounds cut through the air, the projectiles moving as fast as arrows released from a bowstring. "Thud! Thud! Thud!" The sounds rang out in unison; every single kunai and shuriken hit the bullseye perfectly, with not a single one missing.

Cheers erupted instantly. The original owner of this body was already the top student in the grade and hailed from the Uchiha clan, a genius in his own right. Even without him transmigrating here, the original could have achieved this level of performance.

In truth, he could already perform all sorts of fancy tricks with shuriken and kunai now. He could vary the speed, combine fast and slow throws, and even make a trailing projectile catch up to the one in front to strike the bullseye at the same time.

He could also throw ten kunai at once, calculating the speed and angles to make them collide mid-air, ensuring the enemy could never predict the flight path of his hidden weapons.

He just didn't want to show it off right now. Hitting the bullseye directly was already a perfect score, so he simply couldn't be bothered with those flashy displays.

Furthermore, the current Sasuke was close to mastering the Fuma Shuriken: Shadow Windmill and the Wire Manipulation Shuriken Technique, which the original body wouldn't master for another four years. His eyesight was already fully capable of keeping up, even far exceeding the requirements.

It was just that his finger speed was still lacking, mostly because the wire cut into his fingers so painfully, even with chakra protection. The sharp pain made it difficult to manipulate his fingers with agility.

His progress over these two months was decent, considering he hadn't put much of his primary focus into projectile arts.

"Hmph!"

Listening to the cheers nearby and watching the calm expression on Sasuke's face, Naruto felt a belly full of frustration. Especially seeing Sakura, the girl he liked, among those cheering—and cheering the loudest—made Naruto feel even more annoyed.

"Watch me, the great Naruto!"

Naruto walked straight up, shot a provocative look at Sasuke, then pulled out a handful of shuriken and hurled them violently at the wooden dummy in front of him.

That motion was less of a throw and more of a smash.

Swish, swish, swish.

All ten shuriken missed, flying off into parts unknown.

"How is that possible?"

Naruto's face flushed red, and he muttered in disbelief. Then, he turned to point at Sasuke, shouting angrily, "You jerk, Sasuke! It's because you were standing there that I couldn't focus! Otherwise, I definitely would have gotten a perfect score!"

"How did you do that?"

Sasuke asked indifferently.

Naruto was stunned. "What do you mean?"

Sasuke clapped his hands, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, his tone playful. "To be able to perfectly avoid the wooden dummy with ten consecutive shuriken at this distance—in a way, you're quite impressive!"

"I... I..."

Looking at Sasuke's calm demeanor, Naruto's cheeks puffed up in a deep red, but he stammered, unable to find a way to retort.

Even though Sasuke's words were technically praise, Naruto could clearly hear the mockery in his tone.

Seeing Naruto's flushed face, Sasuke felt a spark of amusement. He shook his head, shoved his hands into his pockets, and turned to walk away, leaving behind a cool, detached silhouette.

"Damn it!"

That stuck-up guy!

Naruto clenched his fists, just about to say something, when Iruka stepped forward. He took a casual glance and announced the results without any surprise.

"Uzumaki Naruto, zero points!"

"Huh?" Naruto's face fell instantly. He shouted, "Iruka-sensei, give me one more chance! It was that guy Sasuke who distracted me just now, otherwise I definitely would have gotten a perfect score!"

Iruka rolled his eyes internally. He wanted to refuse the request, but seeing the earnest look in Naruto's eyes, he nodded anyway.

"Yosh!"

The previously dejected Naruto was instantly revived, filled with fighting spirit. He pulled out another handful of shuriken and hurled them violently at the wooden dummy again!

Bang!

Only one of the ten shuriken hit, and it didn't even hit the target; it struck the base of the wooden dummy. The other nine had long since flown off to who knows where.

Iruka helplessly covered his forehead and announced the score.

"Uzumaki Naruto, 0.5 points!"

"..."

Soon, the projectile assessment for the drill class ended. Iruka took out a new score sheet and announced to everyone, "Alright, the ninja tool throwing assessment is over. Students, the next subject is the combat assessment. Please give it your all and show your strength; I will be observing your performance from the sidelines."

The combat assessment was not only for recording grades but also for the teachers to observe the students' fighting styles, adaptability, and shortcomings during actual combat, so they could provide guidance accordingly.

Every combat assessment was the most exhausting and nerve-wracking time for the Ninja Academy teachers. Although the ninja tools used were unsharpened, to ensure the teachers could identify the students' flaws as accurately as possible, the students went all out during these sparring matches. In this world, there was no such thing as holding back during a friendly spar.

To avoid injuries or even death, the teachers dared not be the least bit careless, ensuring they could intervene the moment any accident occurred.

"I will assign opponents based on the results of the last combat assessment. Now, I will call out the names of the students who should step forward."

"Uchiha Sasuke versus Inu..."

"Wait a minute!" Before Iruka could finish, Naruto shouted, "I want to challenge Sasuke!"

"Naruto!" Veins popped on Iruka's forehead, and just as he was about to reprimand him, he heard Naruto continue triumphantly: "You said it yourself, opponents are assigned based on the results of the last practical assessment, so Sasuke's opponent is me!"

Iruka was taken aback. To avoid lopsided matches, the Ninja Academy usually assigned opponents of similar strength to each pair, which made it easier for teachers to observe their respective strengths and weaknesses and better gauge an individual's potential.

The last practical assessment had been the final exam of the previous semester, and since Sasuke had been absent and had no score, Naruto's claim was, in a sense, technically consistent with the assignment rules.

"This..."

Iruka was momentarily speechless. He glanced at the calm Sasuke standing to the side, feeling quite conflicted.

"Hehe!" Seeing Iruka remain silent, Naruto immediately pointed at Sasuke and provoked him: "Bastard Sasuke, don't tell me you're too scared to fight?"

Sasuke nodded and agreed directly: "Fine, I accept your challenge!"

Iruka had originally intended to find a reason to refuse Naruto's request, but seeing that Sasuke had actually agreed, he simply went with the flow.

Seeing this, Inuzuka Kiba, who had been somewhat nervous, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew exactly how strong Sasuke was, and unless it was absolutely necessary, he really didn't want to go up there and get abused.

What an idiot, Naruto.

Inuzuka Kiba mocked him in his heart.