Shisui squinted his eyes and looked at the impact point on the target, and slowly raised the corner of his mouth in an arc.
"There is progress. Come again. This time, adjust the strength of the fourth shot. When you shot, it was a few tenths of a millinewton heavier, and the direction was deviated by two degrees."
Itachi didn't say anything, but took out six new Shuriken from his ninja tool bag and stood in front of the wooden stake again.
His fingers were still wrapped with a bandage that Shisui had just tied, and the white strip of cloth was stained red with blood, but he didn't care.
He closed his eyes.
The wind is still blowing from the left. The sound of the waterfall is still directly ahead and to the right.
Shisui's breathing was steady and even two steps behind him.
He feels everything and then takes action.
The moment the six Shuriken were released, the wind howled.
There were six crisp sounds from the target. They all hit the bullseye hole.
"Not bad, not bad." Shisui's voice was full of satisfaction that could not be concealed.
"All six hits. With eyes closed, the shooting speed and angle have improved by at least two percentage points compared to last week. That ends today's training."
Itachi turned around, a thin layer of sweat finally forming on his forehead.
He looked up at Shisui, waiting for the routine training summary - usually at this time, Shisui would take him to sit down and analyze the problems and improvement directions in today's training one by one. Sometimes he could talk for half an hour.
But today Shisui didn't sit down.
He looked up at the sky. The setting sun was sinking from the ridgeline to the west of Kumogakure, dyeing the entire sky deep orange.
Then he looked down at Itachi, with a glint in his eyes that Itachi couldn't quite understand.
"Change your clothes and wash your face."
Shisui said, "Let's go to your brother Ai's wedding."
Itachi was stunned for a moment. Brother Ai--Third Raikage's son, Taijutsu's strongest person among the younger generation of Kumogakure, the fighting madman who can tie with Killer B.
Of course he knew Ai, there was no one in Kumogakure who didn't know Ai. But the wedding? He didn't receive any news at all.
"Today?" Itachi asked subconsciously, "Brother Ai is getting married? To whom?"
"Uchiha Mei."
Shisui has already started to clean up Shuriken and Kunai on the training ground, moving quickly.
"One of the first eleven clan members to come to Kumogakure with my elder brother. You have seen her. She was sitting in the third seat from the left of the long table at the last clan dinner. She has long black hair and a mole on the left corner of her mouth."
Itachi searched in his mind, and an outline vaguely emerged.
He didn't have a deep impression of Uchiha Mei. He only remembered that she smiled quietly and didn't talk much. But when she stood with Ai, that quietness turned into something very special - like a steady light in the storm.
Itachi quickly put away his ninja bag, rinsed his face with cold water, and put on a clean dark blue short shirt.
The two of them walked down the mountain along the cliff path, crossed the street of Kumogakure, and walked in the direction of Raikage Building.
The wedding venue is located in the open-air courtyard behind Raikage Building.
This courtyard was specially built after Shaoyu took office. The ground is paved with blue-grey slates collected from the mountainous area in the north of Land of Lightning. The four corners are planted with Gunbai maple trees like those on Uchiha Clan Crest. In the middle is a small pool. The water surface reflects the rising stars and dozens of paper lanterns hanging from the branches of the maple trees.
The lantern is painted with thunder patterns of Uchiha Clan Crest and Kumogakure. The two patterns are staggered and emit warm and soft light in the twilight.
When Shisui and Itachi arrived, many people had already gathered in the courtyard.
The wedding customs of Kumogakure are different from those of Konoha.
Konoha's weddings are usually solemn and short, with vows exchanged, three glasses of wine drunk, and then the wedding ends.
But Kumogakure's wedding was more like a grand banquet, with guests holding wine glasses and walking around under the lanterns.
Children were chasing and playing around the pool, and the aroma of barbecue and sauce wafted from the open-air grill on one side of the courtyard, mixing with the cool breeze of the autumn night and filling the entire courtyard with the smell of fireworks.
Itachi followed Shisui through the crowd, his eyes constantly turning.
He saw Killer B leaning against the trunk of a maple tree, holding a notebook in his hand and mumbling words, obviously making up some new rap lyrics.
I saw a red-haired Uzumaki Zhili standing by the pool, chatting with several young female ninjas from the Kumogakure medical class. Their laughter floated crisply across the water.
I saw Aunt Keiko walking through the crowd carrying a large plate of barbecue skewers. Her little son was tugging on the corner of her clothes and trying to reach the grilled chicken wings on the plate on tiptoes.
She saw Samui walking from the kitchen with a pile of dishes that was taller than her. Her face was expressionless but her steps were fast. She was laughed out of the way by several jounin who were passing by.
Then he saw Uchiha Setsuna.
The old man was sitting on a stone bench in the center of the courtyard, leaning on a cane. His white hair shone silvery under the lantern light. There was a circle of people around him, including Uchiha clan members and Kumogakure ninjas from this village, all listening to her.
Uchiha Setsuna has a very special position in Kumogakure - he is the core figure of Uchiha and one of Shaoyu's most trusted think tanks. He usually lives in seclusion and only appears on such important occasions.
"Uchiha Setsuna Hello grandpa." Itachi walked up to the old man and bowed politely.
Uchiha Setsuna raised his eyelids and glanced at him, an imperceptible light flashed in those cloudy eyes.
He didn't say much, he just tapped Itachi's knee lightly with the head of his cane, said "Grow taller", and then turned to Shisui.
"Shaoyu is in the study, calling you over."
Shisui nodded and patted Itachi on the shoulder. "Go around by yourself first, don't run too far."
Itachi watched Shisui walk through the courtyard towards the side door of Raikage Building, then turned around and looked at the courtyard illuminated by the lantern again.
He found a relatively quiet corner and stood there, leaning against a Gunbai maple tree. His eyes scanned the crowd and finally landed on tonight's protagonist.
The groom Ai stood in the main area directly opposite the pool, wearing a Kumogakure traditional black patterned haori with a red camellia pinned to his chest.
His skin tone was darker than usual, whether it was because of nervousness or the angle of the lighting.
He was talking to several fellow Jonin, but his mind was obviously not on the conversation.
His eyes would drift towards the entrance of the courtyard every few seconds, then back, and then drift over again, as if he was waiting for someone who was about to change his entire life to appear.
"I'm nervous!" Killer B swayed over from the maple tree at some point, hooked Ai's neck, and said loudly with his unique strange rhythm.
"The muscles are harder than steel, and the heartbeat is louder than thunder! Brother Ai won't box today, and he feels more panicked than when he goes on the field!"
Ai pushed Killer B's head away. "Shut up, you idiot."
Killer B was not angry after being pushed away. Instead, he smiled even brighter. He took out his notebook and started writing furiously. The jonins around him burst into laughter.
Ai's face turned red under the lantern light.
At this moment, there was a commotion at the entrance of the courtyard. The crowd automatically separated to both sides to make way for a passage.
Uchiha Mei appears at the end of the channel.