He had two wins, Itachi had none, so that made three wins!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three shuriken flew out, tracing arcs through the air before hitting the targets twenty meters away.

Although they hadn't all hit the bullseye, they'd at least struck the targets, and their curved trajectories were clearly visible.

"Not bad." Shisui walked up to the targets and examined them.

"Arc angle: 12 degrees. One change of direction. Landing-point deviation... 1.3 inches to the left, 0.8 inches to the right, and 2.1 inches for the last one.

"For someone who's been teaching himself, that's impressive."

Qingyu felt a weight lift from his chest.

"But..." Shisui turned around. His smile remained, but his gaze had grown sharp.

"You made a fundamental mistake."

"A mistake?"

"You're trying too hard." Shisui came back and took a shuriken from Qingyu's hand.

"Uchiha throwing techniques aren't about how strong you are or how powerful your chakra is. They're about 'intent.'"

"Intent?"

"That's right." Shisui laid the shuriken flat across his palm.

"What were you thinking when you threw it? 'I need to turn my wrist this way.' 'I need to adjust my chakra that way.' 'What angle should I use?'

"Your head was full of techniques and numbers, right?"

Qingyu nodded honestly.

"That's why your shuriken has only 'form,' no 'soul,'" Shisui said.

"It's only carrying out your command. It isn't 'becoming' an extension of your will."

Qingyu was a little confused. Why did that sound so mystical?

In his mind, Izuna suddenly clicked his tongue.

Izuna: That sounds familiar.

Izuna: "The way this kid puts it... I think I heard something similar from my brother. He said, 'The highest form of shuriken is no longer a shuriken. It's the very thought of wanting to kill someone.'"

Tobirama: "A purely idealist argument, but it can't be denied that in certain extreme fields, one's mental state does affect chakra precision and the effectiveness of jutsu. There's experimental data to support this."

Tobirama: I tested it!

Qingyu: That's authoritative...

Shisui ignored Qingyu's bewilderment and continued, "Come on, let's try a different approach. This time, when you throw, don't think about any of the technical details. Just think, 'I'm going to hit the bullseye.'"

"That's... all?"

"Give it a try."

Qingyu picked up a shuriken and looked at the target thirty meters away. He silently repeated to himself, Hit the bullseye, hit the bullseye, hit the bullseye...

Whoosh!

The shuriken flew out!

Then it traced a crooked, wobbly arc through the air, missed the target entirely, and embedded itself in the tree behind it.

Qingyu: "..."

"Pfft." Shisui couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm not laughing at you. I just remembered when Itachi first tried this exercise, he threw his shuriken into a tree too—and nearly hit an Anbu passing by."

Qingyu felt even more embarrassed.

But Itachi had nearly hurt someone, and he hadn't, so that was one win for him.

He had one win, Itachi had none.

So that made two wins.

He had two wins, Itachi had none, so that made three wins!

A winning streak of three could lead to a thousand victories!

Victory!

Itachi: "If you've got the guts, try winning during Red Moon Night! Let's see if I can wipe you out!"

"It's all right. We'll take it slow." Shisui patted him on the shoulder.

"This 'Heart-Intent Style' of throwing is different from what they teach at school, and even from what most Uchiha are taught.

"It's more like a technique for... fighting by instinct. Once you've mastered it,

"your shuriken will fly a fraction of a second faster than anyone else's, its changes in direction will be more natural, and you might even be able to alter its trajectory after throwing it."

"You can change its direction after throwing it?!" Qingyu was astonished.

What is this, a bullet that can turn?

"In theory, yes." Shisui winked. "But I haven't reached that level yet. There may only be a few people in the clan who can do it—the Clan Head and a handful of elders."

Qingyu suddenly remembered that in the original story, Itachi Uchiha had seemed to pull off something just as ridiculous.

Shuriken collided in midair, changing their trajectories before ultimately striking their targets from blind spots.

So this wasn't just a plot power-up. The Uchiha really had a technique like this?

[ Ding! ]

[System Notification: A special training scenario has been detected.]

[Hidden Quest Triggered: The Hand of Intent]

[Quest Objective: Under Shisui's guidance, gain an initial understanding of the Heart-Intent Style of shuriken throwing and successfully perform a Heart-Intent Lock throw by the end of training (hit rate ≥80%).]

[Quest Reward: Unlock the special passive ability "Combat Intuition (Beginner)," slightly improving reaction speed and decision-making accuracy in moments of crisis.]

[Failure Penalty: Shisui's favorability will decrease, and the content of future special training may be reduced.]

Qingyu looked at the system notification and steeled himself.

I'm going for it!

Over the next two hours, Qingyu experienced the most "abstract" lesson of his ninja career.

Shisui's teaching style was nothing like a teacher's. He was more like a guide.

He rarely corrected Qingyu's movements directly, instead asking him one question after another:

"Does the shuriken feel like a 'tool' to you right now, or like 'part of your hand'?"

"How far away do you feel the target is? Not the distance measured with your eyes, but the distance you 'feel.'"

"If you close your eyes, can you still 'see' the bullseye?"

Qingyu's head was ready to burst from all the questions.

Shisui: Pressure!

Several times, he almost blurted out, "Could you be a little more practical, Senior? Just tell me how many degrees I should turn my wrist."

But every time, he saw Shisui's serious expression and swallowed the words.

In his mind, the two big shots were also deep in discussion.

Izuna: "This method... is a little strange. In our era, we just practiced throwing shuriken until it became muscle memory. Since when did it become all about 'feel' and 'intent'?"

Tobirama: "But the data does show a difference. In those throws Qingyu just made 'by feel,' his accuracy was inconsistent, but two of the shuriken followed unusually smooth arcs. Their air resistance coefficient was 7% lower than that of a standard throw.

"The only explanation is 'unconscious chakra optimization.'"

Izuna: "So what this kid is saying is that the practitioner enters some kind of 'semiconscious' state, letting the body make adjustments instinctively? Interesting..."

Tobirama: "Qingyu, for your next shuriken, try focusing all your attention on the target at the moment you throw. Forget that you're throwing anything."

Qingyu tried to do as he was told.

He picked up a shuriken and looked at the bullseye. Then... he tried hard to "forget" that there was a shuriken in his hand, simply "thinking" about the red dot.

Whoosh!

This time, the shuriken's trajectory was exceptionally smooth. It traced an almost perfect arc through the air, then...

Thud!

It hit the bullseye! Not the exact center, but it landed within the red circle!

"Beautiful!" Shisui applauded.

"That's it! Think about the target instead of 'controlling' its flight. Let your body handle everything in between."

Qingyu looked at the shuriken embedded in the target, feeling a little dazed.

That time, he really hadn't thought about any techniques. He'd just... wanted to hit it.

He suddenly understood a little: perhaps "intent" wasn't mystical at all. It was the ultimate freedom that came from internalizing every technique until it became instinct.

Could this mystical training method actually work?

Now that was great!

From now on, he'd shout "feel," "bonds," and "friendship" too—and power up on the spot!