"I want to."
"Okay.
"First, Rock Lee is a pure Taijutsu ninja, so in theory he's completely countered by genjutsu... but you let slip that you're good at genjutsu."
"But it's common knowledge that the Sharingan is good at genjutsu," Shinna retorted.
"Not everyone knows every bit of common knowledge.
"Second, there was your choice of tactics." Shinmoku continued, "Do you know the story about Might Duy taking on the Seven Ninja Swordsmen by himself?"
"I do."
"Do you think Guy knows the Eight Inner Gates?"
"He does."
"Did you consider the possibility that Guy's handpicked student had learned the technique?"
"...I did."
"Then why drag out the fight? You could've taken him out with Majestic Destroyer Flame. It's a powerful area-of-effect jutsu, and it's already part of the information people have on you."
"..."
"And then you went and revealed a few more Water Release jutsu..."
The two of them talked while everyone else listened in.
So, in Shinmoku's eyes, had the exciting fight they'd watched been riddled with flaws?
At some point, everyone's eyes turned toward him in unison.
"What?"
"Look over there."
Shino Aburame pointed at the display screen, where the matchups for the official exams were posted.
His opponent was none other than Shinna.
Now it was Shinmoku's turn to fall silent.
After a long pause, he ventured, "Can I run something by you? How about we trade large-scale jutsu during the match and focus on putting on a show?"
The [Return] mission was stuck at 95%. He guessed the reason was that people didn't know what they could do—they only knew the two of them existed. The final match would be an excellent platform to promote them.
"I refuse," Shinna said coldly.
"...If I was too harsh, I'm sorry."
"No, you were right. I just wanted to prove that I'm no worse than you, even though I had no one to teach me while you had someone guiding you every step of the way and pouring their heart and soul into you."
"Hm?"
"Isn't that right?" Shinna asked. "The Raikage guided you in Lightning Release, Yugito Nii taught you swordsmanship, and my father taught you Fire Release and how to use the Sharingan."
"Didn't your uncle teach you?"
"No. I didn't see him once in six years. Or rather, ever since I could remember, you were all he cared about."
There was no emotion in Shinna's voice, as though she weren't talking about herself.
"..."
Shinmoku's mouth fell open, but he couldn't find a word to say.
Shinna turned and walked away. The matchups were all out now, and she had to go prepare.
"Oh! I get it!" Tenten came over. "That's why she couldn't tell me what your abilities were when I asked her the other day!"
Shinmoku said nothing. He formed the Tiger Seal, then the seal for One Thousand Years of Death.
"I'm sorry!"
Tenten clutched her backside and ran off.
The adults nearby looked like they couldn't bear to watch. Kakashi was the worst of all; he covered his face outright. Did every ninja in Konoha know he'd invented that jutsu?
"See you, everyone."
With that, Shinmoku left too.
He still had no way to fix the Uchiha's unique psychological problems, but one thing was certain: this fight couldn't be avoided.
The fights over the past few days had also exposed a few of his own shortcomings.
Back in Kumogakure, Yugito had been the team's main attacker, while his role had been sensing and restraint. He specialized in Spider Web and Four-Pillar Bind.
When he was on his own, he relied more on Lightning Release Chakra Mode and Super Vibration Lightning Blade.
The problem was that these two fighting styles didn't fit into the same system. That was why he'd closed in to finish Tenten off even after he'd already restrained her.
Of course, he could use Fire Release and Water Release now, but that meant forming another set of hand seals. So he wanted to modify and upgrade the jutsu he already knew, and he had an idea.
As for his second fighting style, he'd settled on it a long time ago—Flying Raijin Jutsu!
He'd had the scroll for ages, but he'd been too busy with everything else to properly start practicing. There was a month between the preliminaries and the main tournament, which would give him just enough time to work on it.
Both paths of improvement required precise chakra control, which was also the focus of his current training.
Tree climbing and Water Walking were ways to practice chakra control, but he'd mastered those when he was three. He'd also done all sorts of Water Walking drills on a yoga ball back in Kumogakure, so he couldn't think of anything better for the moment.
He racked his brains half the night and finally found inspiration in a dream.
Early the next morning, Shinna came out of her bedroom fully dressed. It looked like she was heading out too. He nodded and walked in the opposite direction.
His destination: the Konoha library.
Following the signs, he walked between row after row of bookshelves until he reached the last row.
Suddenly, something jolted against his chest. He'd walked right into someone.
"Cough, cough!"
"Hey, Hinata? How are your injuries?"
"Much better." Hinata's voice was still a little weak.
"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."
"It's all right. Are you looking for a book too?"
"Yeah."
"What are you looking for? I know this place pretty well."
"Um..." Shinmoku looked around and spotted the book in Hinata's hands. "That one."
The Art of Weaving
"Huh?" Hinata stared at him with wide, bewildered eyes. "This one?"
"Yeah."
"You want to learn how to weave?"
"I do."
This was the idea Shinmoku had come up with: control a knitting needle with chakra and use it to weave. Just imagining it was torture. He needed that kind of torture.
But there was one prerequisite—he had to know how weaving worked first. That shouldn't be too hard, right?
"Okay." Hinata didn't understand, but respected his choice and handed him the book.
"If you want to read it..."
"No, no." Hinata waved both hands repeatedly. She already knew the techniques inside and out; she was only looking for inspiration this time.
"Thanks."
After thanking her, Shinmoku found a seat and sat down.
But after reading for a little while, his brain started to short-circuit. Knit stitch, purl stitch, stockinette stitch, garter stitch... and those were just the basics. He didn't even dare look at what came next!
"Hehe..."
Curious, Hinata walked over to Shinmoku. Seeing him scratching his head, she couldn't help laughing.
It was a quiet laugh, but Shinmoku heard her and glanced over.
"Sorry..." Hinata immediately bowed.
"It's fine."
She really was a young lady from a great clan, with such good manners.
"Um..." Hinata suggested softly, "Would you like me to teach you?"
"Would you?"
"Shh—" Hinata held a finger to her lips. "Keep your voice down. This isn't the place to talk. Let's go outside. We can buy some yarn while we're at it. You can't learn to weave just by reading about it; practice is even more important."
"Oh, okay."