Challenge During Study Hall

This happened at the end of the first week of school, or maybe the beginning of the second. Shinichi could not remember, because Naruto Uzumaki was using his eraser as a shuriken and throwing it out the window.

The cause was that Iruka Umino had been called away to an impromptu teachers' meeting. Before leaving, he wrote the words "Study Hall" on the blackboard and gave a few reminders like "Keep quiet and don't run around." The moment the door closed, the classroom volume switched from "library mode" to "marketplace mode." Kiba Inuzuka let Akamaru out of his backpack to help pass erasers around. Sakura Haruno and Ino were arguing fiercely over whether "Sasuke liked girls with long hair or short hair." Taking advantage of the chaos, Choji Akimichi ate his third bag of chips that day. Shikamaru Nara lay sprawled over his desk with his jacket pulled over his head, trying to block out the noise.

Shinichi sat by the window in the second-to-last row, with Chapter Three of Shuriken Throwing Trajectory Studies spread open before him. He had already finished the book and was only using it as cover. His real attention was on his notebook—he had spent the entire morning class drawing up a schedule of every night patrol shift change in Leaf Village, and was now adding notes in the margins. Naruto's tossed eraser flew past his ear, hit the wall at the back of the classroom, bounced back, and landed inside Shino's high-collared jacket. Shino did not move a muscle. He only adjusted his sunglasses.

Then Sasuke stood up.

He rose quietly, but amid the noisy classroom, the movement itself was a signal—an Uchiha Clan genius did not usually wander around during study hall. He walked over to Shinichi's desk with his ninja tool pouch in hand. The noise in the room subtly dropped by a level as everyone glanced over from the corners of their eyes. Sakura and Ino stopped arguing at the same time. Shikamaru pulled his jacket down just enough to reveal half an eye.

"We didn't finish our match in taijutsu last time." Sasuke's voice was not loud, but every word seemed nailed into the air by a kunai. "Today, shuriken techniques." It was not a question, but a statement. An Uchiha-style challenge—there was no option to refuse, only the chance to accept.

Shinichi looked up at Sasuke. The six-year-old heir of the Uchiha Clan stood with his back straight as a sword driven into the ground. There was neither provocation nor hostility in his black eyes, only something pure—the desire to prove that he was stronger. Shinichi had seen that expression many times in the original story. Watching through a screen, he had thought the kid was too arrogant. But seeing him face-to-face, he instead noticed what lay beneath that pride: Sasuke needed to confirm his own strength, needed to confirm that he was worthy of the Uchiha name.

"How do we compete?" Shinichi closed his book.

"The training ground. Three shuriken each. One round decides the winner. The target is the circular mark on the wooden post, about the size of a fist."

"Fine."

The two walked out of the classroom one after the other. Before the door had even closed behind them, the classroom erupted—Naruto was the first to jump up and shout, "I'm going too!" Sakura and Ino had already rushed to the door. Choji slapped his chips onto the desk and followed. Shino silently got to his feet and headed out, Naruto's eraser still caught in his high collar. Hinata set down her textbook, hesitated for a moment, then rose from her seat and quietly followed at the back of the crowd. Shikamaru sighed, shoved his hands into his pockets, and slowly trailed behind them, muttering, "What a pain."

The afternoon sunlight on the training ground was pleasant. The packed earth had been warmed slightly by the sun, and tiny motes of dust drifted slowly through the shafts of light. The wooden targets stood on the west side of the field, five of them lined up side by side. Their faces bore white-painted concentric rings, with red centers about the size of fists. Sasuke stood beyond the throwing line, three shuriken already held between his fingers. He glanced at Shinichi, who gestured for him to go first.

Sasuke took a deep breath and flicked his wrist. The three shuriken flew almost simultaneously, tracing three parallel arcs through the air—standard Uchiha-Style Throwing Technique. His wrist rotated inward, his fingertips releasing in sequence at the instant of the throw, sending the three shuriken toward the same target at different speeds. Thud, thud, thud—three sounds nearly overlapping. All three shuriken buried themselves within the red bullseye, no more than a finger's width apart.

The watching students let out low gasps of amazement. Sakura clasped her hands together, the hearts in her eyes practically leaping out. Ino nodded as well and said, "That's pretty impressive," though her tone clearly carried the unspoken meaning of, "But our Shinichi hasn't even thrown yet." Naruto's eyes widened as he nudged Shikamaru with his elbow. "Can you throw that accurately?" Shikamaru ignored him.

Shinichi stepped beyond the throwing line and adjusted the positions of the three shuriken between his fingers. He quickly weighed three options in his mind: a draw was the safe choice, but two draws in a row would make Sasuke think he was deliberately avoiding a clear result; losing was impossible, because it would weaken his standing in the class; the most suitable choice was a narrow but decisive victory, one that would make Sasuke realize he had encountered a true expert and pull him out of the habit of struggling alone.

The first shuriken. Wind-nature chakra lightly flowed into the blade. When it left his hand, it did not fly directly toward the bullseye, instead veering slightly left toward the edge of the target face. Sasuke's brow had barely twitched. The second shuriken had already caught up with the first—its tip struck the tail fin of the first with precise force, altering its flight path. The first was knocked rightward, drawing a small half-circle through the air before embedding itself along the right edge of the bullseye. The second bounced left on the force of the impact and lodged itself on the left side of the bullseye. The third flew straight ahead, sinking firmly into the exact center.

The three shuriken formed a perfect isosceles triangle on the target face, tightly enclosing Sasuke's three shuriken at its center.

The edge of the training ground fell silent for about two seconds. Then Naruto let out a cheer loud enough to shake a chunk of stone off Hokage Rock. The crunch of Choji chewing chips sounded especially crisp in that silence. Sakura opened her mouth, instinctively wanting to say something, but when she saw that perfect triangle on the target, she closed it again. Ino smugly flicked her ponytail.

Sasuke stood before the three shuriken he had thrown, staring silently at the triangular pattern enclosing them for several seconds. Then he turned to look at Shinichi. There was no anger and no unwillingness to accept defeat—only restrained acknowledgment. He did not come over to shake hands or say something like "You're strong." He simply gathered his remaining shuriken into his ninja tool pouch and pulled the zipper shut.

"Next time, I won't miss."

With that, he turned and headed toward the school building. After taking a few steps, he stopped. Without looking back, he merely turned his face slightly and asked, "Who taught you your shuriken techniques?" He emphasized "who taught you" heavily, as though he were considering someone's training methods.

"The same person." Shinichi slid his kunai back into his belt. Even as he said it, he felt the answer was both honest and sly—he did not want to say more, but at this point in time, it was too early to mention something like "scrolls left behind by the First Hokage." Rather than hand over all the information he had at once, it was more important to first bring Sasuke into a safe distance where he had an opponent but would not lose too badly, keeping him within Shinichi's tactical field of view.

Shikamaru revealed his whole face from beneath his jacket and watched Sasuke's retreating back. "Those two are going to be a huge pain someday," he murmured, too quietly for anyone but himself to hear. Then he pulled his jacket back over his head, leaned against the wall, and resumed pretending to sleep. Sakura stood where she was, looking first in the direction Sasuke had gone and then at Shinichi, a rare look of confusion appearing on her face—she did not know who to chase. Ino poked her from beside her. "Stop staring. They've both gone too far already." At the very edge of the crowd, Hinata quietly watched Shinichi's back. Her lips pressed together slightly, then she lowered her head, turned around, and followed the others back. Naruto was still excitedly gesturing a triangle with his hands. Shinichi walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "You finished copying it? Let's go. I'll treat you to ramen tonight."

(End of Chapter Thirty-Nine)