I Hit It

Naruto took a deep breath, gripped the kunai tightly, aimed at the target, and flung it with all his might.

The first one missed, skimming past the edge of the target.

"I... My hand slipped," Naruto hurried to explain.

The second one went even farther off course, nearly hitting the neighboring target.

"I was too nervous." Sweat began to bead on Naruto's forehead.

The third one didn't miss, but he threw it with too little force. It fell to the ground halfway there.

"..." Everyone fell silent.

Naruto panicked, his face turning bright red. "I still have a secret weapon I haven't used!"

He grabbed the remaining six shuriken and, without worrying about his form, shut his eyes and flung them all at once.

Most of them lost momentum in midair and landed in a scattered heap in front of the targets. Not one even came close.

The students watching had their hopes raised again and again, only to have them dashed just as many times.

Seriously, man...

After that display just now, we really thought you had some skill.

And this is it?

If you keep doing this with no twist or turnaround, it'll be hard for us to believe you next time.

Naruto stood frozen in place, his face flushed red. Even with his thick skin, he was mortified.

Qiushui spoke up at just the right moment, his voice gentle. "It's perfectly normal to miss when throwing. Don't take it to heart. As long as you practice diligently, you'll hit the target before long."

Only then did the students turn their attention away and continue lining up to try.

During the throwing practice that followed, most of them performed about average, with nothing particularly impressive.

Aside from Uchiha Sasuke, the best performer turned out to be Aburame Shino.

He threw with steady focus, and four of his five shuriken hit near the bull's-eye. His movements were clean and precise, making Qiushui take a closer look.

Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka refused to back down to each other. They provoked one another while sneaking glances at Sasuke, but when their turns came, their aim was only average, whether from nerves or some other reason.

For the remaining two periods, Qiushui had them alternate between running and shuriken practice.

Qiushui began teaching them a few techniques. Standing at the front of the line, he demonstrated as he explained. "When you run, don't breathe only through your mouth. Breathe in through your nose every three steps, then out through your mouth every two. That'll keep your breathing steady and help you last longer. Don't swing your arms too wide, or you'll waste energy. Keep them relaxed and swing them back and forth, not from side to side."

Before, even with the Talent Aura helping him, the things he taught would have been much the same as what any other teacher said. But he'd happened to acquire max-level shuriken-throwing skills yesterday, and now they were coming in handy.

Naruto listened intently. He carefully recalled his running posture and breathing, and realized they were completely opposite to what Teacher Qiushui had just said.

Had he been practicing wrong all these years?

He felt a little unsettled.

Qiushui continued, "When you throw a kunai, don't stiffen your wrist. Give it a little flick at the very moment you release it. That'll help the kunai spin steadily as it flies."

He picked up a shuriken to demonstrate, then corrected their postures one by one. His movements were simple and clear, and his explanations were easy to understand.

After another ten laps, one of the boys said in surprise, "Hey, don't you think running the way Teacher Qiushui told us really is less tiring?"

He wiped the sweat from his face. He was still panting, but his eyes were full of disbelief.

Before, he would have been sprawled on the ground by now. Today, all he'd done was pant heavily.

Another boy chimed in, looking at the kunai stuck in the targets in the distance. "Yeah, I feel the same. I only hit the target once before, and that wasn't even near the center. Now I've hit it twice in a row, and both were right in the middle."

The others nodded in agreement.

Qiushui stood to one side, silently observing the students' throwing practice.

Compared to the chaotic mess at the start, they had clearly improved. At the very least, most of them could now throw their kunai at the targets.

He nodded slightly.

Qiushui could have explained all these techniques and rules from the very beginning, but he'd deliberately held back.

Some things worked best when you experienced them first and only then heard the explanation.

Let the students figure things out on their own, make mistakes, and feel what it was like to fail. Once they had questions and something to compare their experience against, a few pointers would sink in and stay with them.

If he'd poured all the techniques into them at the start, they'd have been nothing but empty theories, forgotten in a couple of days.

Some lessons were clearer after one fall than after a hundred explanations.

Naruto stood alone in front of the targets, a kunai in his hand, his eyes fixed on the bull's-eye in the distance.

He went over Teacher Qiushui's tips again and again in his mind, adjusting his grip each time before throwing the kunai. But it barely helped.

The ground was already littered with the kunai he'd missed with.

Qiushui walked over to him and said gently, "Naruto, don't rush."

Naruto turned to him, a rare hint of confusion in his eyes. "Teacher Qiushui... Am I just that bad?"

He really was starting to doubt himself.

Since class had started, he hadn't hit the target even once during the tool-throwing practice. He couldn't even match the girls.

Qiushui shook his head and reassured him. "Nothing ever succeeds on the first try. Behind every result that looks effortless are countless hours of practice."

He paused, then continued, "Keep practicing. I'll watch and help correct you."

Naruto nodded and gripped the kunai again, getting ready to throw.

"Your grip is wrong."

Qiushui raised a hand to stop him, then picked up a kunai and slowly demonstrated. "Hold the handle between your index and middle fingers, and press your thumb against the ring. That'll keep it steady."

Naruto watched his hand and clumsily adjusted his fingers.

The kunai spun halfway around in his hand and nearly fell. He hurriedly grabbed it, then decided that didn't feel right either, loosened his grip, and started arranging his fingers again.

After fumbling for a while, he looked up at Qiushui. "Is this right?"

Qiushui took a look. "Your fingers are in the right place, but you're gripping it too tightly. Loosen up a bit. Hold it like a pair of chopsticks, not like a clenched fist."

Naruto loosened his grip a little and looked down at his hand. Satisfied, he took a deep breath, raised his arm, and aimed at the target—

Then flung the kunai with all his might.

The kunai traced a slightly crooked arc through the air, then—

"Thwack."

It stuck into the edge of the target.

It was only the edge, and the angle was crooked, but it had actually hit.

Naruto froze for a second.

Then he leaped into the air.

"Whoa, I hit it! Teacher Qiushui, did you see? I hit it!"

Qiushui raised a thumbs-up and praised him earnestly. "Nice work, Naruto."