Hidden Weapon Talent

There is a saying: pride leads to regression.

After Uchiha Yue defeated Hyuga Anihiko and Hatake Dansui, successfully becoming a notable talent at the Ninja Academy, many assumed he would regress due to arrogance. To everyone's surprise, Uchiha Yue became even more diligent during his training. The reason for this increased effort was that Uchiha Yue clearly recognized his own shortcomings; he was well aware that his talent was quite mediocre, and if he did not work hard, he would be left behind by those true geniuses.

In particular, Uchiha Yue had challenged Hatake Kakashi to a duel in three months, which gave him even more motivation to grow stronger.

However, what slightly disappointed Uchiha Yue was that he had originally thought he could enjoy a period of peace at the Ninja Academy after defeating Hyuga Anihiko. Who would have thought that defeating Hyuga Anihiko would not deter other challengers, but instead make them even more frantic in their desire to defeat Uchiha Yue and make a name for themselves.

Every day at noon, Uchiha Yue had to head to the Ninja Academy's training grounds to duel those who came to challenge him.

Some might ask, why didn't Uchiha Yue follow Hatake Kakashi's example and refuse those challengers who lacked sufficient strength?

That was because Uchiha Yue wanted to increase his own combat experience while accepting these challenges, which was why he did not turn away those who came to fight.

In Uchiha Yue's view, when two people possess equal strength, the one with the richer combat experience will undoubtedly be the one to achieve final victory.

Therefore, Uchiha Yue was very clear about the importance of practical combat experience. Even though he possessed a certain level of strength now, his combat experience remained a weak point. While the challengers who came to him might not all possess strength comparable to Hyuga Anihiko or Hatake Dansui, they still allowed Uchiha Yue to accumulate a certain amount of practical experience. Through repeated combat, he could slowly accumulate knowledge, summarize his own deficiencies, and improve his strength step by step.

Looking at Hatake Kakashi, he lacked Uchiha Yue's mindset; when he saw those weaklings coming to challenge him, he simply ignored them entirely.

Undoubtedly, in terms of accumulating combat experience, Uchiha Yue had already taken a step ahead of Hatake Kakashi. As long as Uchiha Yue could attain the same level of strength as Hatake Kakashi, the one to achieve final victory would surely be Uchiha Yue. However, Uchiha Yue did not know the true extent of Hatake Kakashi's strength; every time he saw Hatake Kakashi, he felt that the other's strength was unfathomable.

Yet, upon learning that Hatake Kakashi was very strong, Uchiha Yue did not feel the slightest bit discouraged.

The stronger Hatake Kakashi was, the more it ignited Uchiha Yue's determination, allowing him to be even more serious during his training.

Now, Uchiha Yue was training solely to surpass Hatake Kakashi. All other thoughts were cast aside, and he possessed infinite motivation!

"Sigh, this is so annoying! Why can't my kunai hit the target?"

Watching the kunai he threw miss the bullseye by a wide margin once again, Uchiha Obito slumped onto the ground in disappointment, losing even the interest to go and pick up the weapon.

Seeing Uchiha Obito feeling dejected, Uchiha Yue walked over, picked up the kunai that had fallen to the ground, and tossed it directly in front of him. "Obito, training isn't something that happens overnight. As long as you work hard, you will definitely be able to hit the bullseye. Besides, we only just learned the shurikenjutsu throwing method at the Ninja Academy; not hitting the bullseye doesn't prove anything!"

"But..."

Hearing Uchiha Yue's words, Uchiha Obito not only failed to feel comforted but became even more dejected. "But, Yue, you learned the same kunai throwing method as us! Look at you, every time you throw a kunai, you hit the bullseye, and now you've even started practicing throwing two kunai in succession! Isn't this just crushing me?"

As he spoke, Uchiha Obito reluctantly picked up the kunai in front of him and continued, "If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have trained with you, Yue. You can complete your training with such ease, but even after I train for days, I can't keep up with your pace. Yue, is it because my talent is too poor that I'm training so slowly?"

"Of course not, you are very talented!"

Casually fiddling with the kunai in his hand, Uchiha Yue stepped forward and gently patted Uchiha Obito on the shoulder. "Look, even Rin hasn't been able to hit the bullseye, and you are already not far from it. Obito, you want to give Rin a surprise, right? As long as you can hit the bullseye in tomorrow's practice, do you think Rin will..."

"Oh! I get it, Yue!"

Before Uchiha Yue could even finish his sentence, Uchiha Obito was instantly revived to full health and status, grabbing his kunai to begin training once again.

Uchiha Yue watched the diligently training Uchiha Obito and smiled helplessly before preparing to continue his own training.

However, when Uchiha Yue looked at the kunai in his hand, a strange glint appeared in his eyes.

Today was the third day Uchiha Yue had been attending the Ninja Academy. Their instructor, Sarutobi Shinsuke, had already begun teaching the students how to throw shuriken and kunai. Originally, Uchiha Yue had been worried that his lack of talent might lead to him making a fool of himself during practice. Yet, to his utter surprise, the moment he threw his first kunai, he discovered with delight that he possessed a natural talent for projectile weapons.

Possessing vast mental energy, Uchiha Yue's observational abilities far exceeded those of his peers, which meant his talent for projectile weapons was already far beyond that of an ordinary person. Moreover, because his mental energy was sufficiently vast, it allowed Uchiha Yue to control his body with minute precision; whether it was the force or the trajectory of his kunai throws, he could achieve perfection.

In this way, training with projectile weapons held no difficulty for Uchiha Yue, and the weapons he threw never missed their mark.

However, talent for projectile weapons still required tempering. Once Uchiha Yue reached the point where he could hit the bullseye every time, he began to attempt more difficult training methods. In his view, since he had this talent, he had to carry it forward—at the very least, he had to be able to do what Uchiha Itachi did in the original story: throw six kunai simultaneously and have them all hit bullseyes in blind spots.

The path of projectile weapons was not without a future; as long as one could master it to a high degree, it was just as much a trump card in battle as anything else!

If he could be like Uchiha Itachi in the original story, Uchiha Yue felt that he would be able to rely on the kunai in his hands to defeat all genin at his level, and perhaps even qualify to challenge some chunin. However, when Uchiha Yue began to throw three kunai at once, he discovered that the difficulty of throwing three was ten times higher than throwing two!

This meant that if Uchiha Yue wanted to be like Uchiha Itachi and throw six kunai at once, it would require a long period of training.

"Sure enough, there is no such thing as success overnight in this world!"

Watching the three kunai he had thrown, only two of which ultimately hit the bullseye, Uchiha Yue felt not a shred of discouragement in his heart; instead, it ignited his desire to win.

Just like that, the two thin figures of Uchiha Yue and Uchiha Obito continued to train at the grounds until it was dark, only dragging their exhausted bodies home when the sun had set.

However...

For Uchiha Yue, who held himself to strict standards, completing the projectile training was only a part of his regimen.

The true training, in reality, had only just begun.