Talent for Throwing Weapons

The saying went, "Pride makes you fall behind."

After Uchiha Yue defeated Hyuga Anihiko and Hatake Dansui, becoming the Ninja Academy's most celebrated genius, many people thought pride would make him regress. But who would have guessed that Uchiha Yue would work even harder at training? The reason for his increased effort was that he clearly understood his own shortcomings. He knew very well that his talent was mediocre, and if he didn't work hard, those true geniuses would leave him behind.

Especially after Uchiha Yue challenged Hatake Kakashi, promising to face him in three months, he had even more motivation to grow stronger.

Still, Uchiha Yue was a little disappointed. He had thought that after defeating Hyuga Anihiko, he would enjoy a peaceful stretch at the Ninja Academy. But defeating Hyuga Anihiko hadn't discouraged the challengers at all. Instead, they became even more determined to make a name for themselves by beating Uchiha Yue.

Every day at noon, Uchiha Yue went to the Ninja Academy training ground to fight the challengers who came looking for him.

Someone might ask: Why didn't Uchiha Yue turn down challengers who were too weak, like Hatake Kakashi did?

Because by accepting their challenges, Uchiha Yue could gain more combat experience. That was why he didn't refuse anyone who came to challenge him.

In Uchiha Yue's view, if two people had the same strength, the one with more combat experience would definitely win in the end.

So Uchiha Yue understood how important combat experience was. Even though he already had a certain level of strength, his lack of battle experience was still a weakness. None of the challengers who came to face him were quite as strong as Hyuga Anihiko or Hatake Dansui, but they still helped him build up his combat experience. By fighting again and again, he could gradually learn from his shortcomings and steadily improve his strength.

Hatake Kakashi, on the other hand, didn't have Uchiha Yue's mindset. When weaker challengers came to face him, he didn't even bother to respond.

Without a doubt, when it came to building combat experience, Uchiha Yue had already gained a step on Hatake Kakashi. As long as he could reach Hatake Kakashi's level of strength, Uchiha Yue would surely be the one to win in the end. But he didn't know how strong Hatake Kakashi was. Whenever he saw him, his strength seemed unfathomable.

Still, learning that Hatake Kakashi was powerful didn't discourage Uchiha Yue in the slightest.

The stronger Hatake Kakashi was, the more it fueled Uchiha Yue's resolve, driving him to train with even greater focus.

Now, Uchiha Yue trained to surpass Hatake Kakashi. He put every other thought aside, and that gave him endless motivation!

"Ugh, this is such a pain! Why can't my kunai hit the bull's-eye?"

Watching his kunai miss the center by a wide margin yet again, Uchiha Obito slumped to the ground in disappointment. He couldn't even be bothered to pick up his kunai.

Seeing that Uchiha Obito was feeling down, Uchiha Yue walked over, picked up the kunai lying on the ground, and tossed it in front of him. "Obito, training takes time. If you keep at it, you'll hit the bull's-eye eventually. Besides, we only just learned how to throw kunai at the Ninja Academy. Missing the center doesn't mean anything yet!"

"But..."

Hearing Uchiha Yue's words didn't make Uchiha Obito feel any better. He grew even more dejected. "But, Yue, you learned how to throw kunai with us! Look at you—you hit the bull's-eye every time, and now you're already practicing throwing two kunai at once! Isn't that just rubbing it in?"

As he spoke, Uchiha Obito reluctantly picked up the kunai in front of him and continued, "If I'd known, I wouldn't have trained with you, Yue. You breeze through your training every time, but even if I practice for days, I can't keep up. Yue, is it because I have such poor talent that I'm so slow to improve?"

"Of course not. You have plenty of talent!"

Casually twirling the kunai in his hand, Uchiha Yue walked over and gently patted Uchiha Obito on the shoulder. "Look, even Rin can't hit the bull's-eye. You're already close. Obito, you want to surprise Rin, don't you? If you hit the bull's-eye in tomorrow's practice, do you think Rin might..."

"Heh heh! I get it, Yue!"

Before Uchiha Yue could finish, Uchiha Obito instantly sprang back to life, full of energy. He grabbed his kunai and started training again.

Watching Uchiha Obito train so diligently, Uchiha Yue smiled wryly, then got ready to resume his own practice.

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

Today was Uchiha Yue's third day at the Ninja Academy. His instructor, Sarutobi Shinsuke, had begun teaching the students how to throw weapons. Uchiha Yue had worried that his talent might not be good enough, and that he would embarrass himself during practice. But he never expected that when he threw a kunai for the first time, he would be pleasantly surprised to discover his talent for throwing weapons.

With his immense spiritual energy, Uchiha Yue's powers of observation far surpassed those of his peers, giving him a natural advantage in throwing weapons. And because his spiritual energy was so abundant, he could control his body with great precision. That meant he could throw a kunai with perfect force and trajectory.

As a result, training with weapons posed no difficulty for Uchiha Yue at all. Every weapon he threw hit its mark.

Still, talent with weapons needed to be honed. After Uchiha Yue could hit the bull's-eye with every throw, he began practicing more difficult ways to throw kunai. Since he had a natural talent for throwing weapons, he wanted to develop it to its fullest. At the very least, he wanted to reach the level of Uchiha Itachi in the original story, throwing six kunai at once and hitting bull's-eyes tucked away in blind spots.

The art of throwing weapons wasn't useless. Once mastered, it could be one of the most effective trump cards in battle!

If he could become like Uchiha Itachi in the original story, Uchiha Yue felt that he could defeat any Genin at his level with nothing but the kunai in his hands—and might even qualify to challenge some Chunin. But when Uchiha Yue tried throwing three kunai at once, he discovered it was ten times harder than throwing two at a time!

In other words, if Uchiha Yue wanted to throw six kunai at once like Uchiha Itachi in the original story, he would need to train for a long time.

"Sure enough, nothing happens overnight!"

Looking at the three kunai he had thrown, only two of which had hit the bull's-eye, Uchiha Yue didn't feel discouraged at all. Instead, he felt his competitive spirit flare.

And so, the two slight figures of Uchiha Yue and Uchiha Obito kept training at the training ground until nightfall, then dragged their exhausted bodies home.

But...

For Uchiha Yue, who held himself to strict standards, training with weapons was only one part of his practice.

His real training was only just beginning...