Explosive Shuriken

After Inuzuka Kiba's second provocation ended, Uchiha Ling gained a clearer understanding of his own abilities.

He could already keep up with the best of his peers in close combat, but what could truly give him a decisive edge over others was still the unique nature of his chakra itself.

Compression brought explosive force.

And rupture was the truly sharp edge.

The only problem was that he still lacked a suitable medium and a sufficiently stable trigger point.

That night, Ling stopped all his other training and focused solely on studying shuriken.

Compared to kunai, shuriken were lighter, thinner, and had more complex rotational trajectories. If he could conceal the embryonic form of rupture within them, the penetration and tearing damage after impact would be harder to defend against. But precisely because they were so light and thin, the slightest imbalance could cause them to collapse before they even left his hand.

The moonlight in the courtyard was cold, and a wooden post stood ten paces away.

Ling sat cross-legged, placing an ordinary shuriken before his knees before gradually feeding chakra into its four blade points. The Divine Pattern Eye opened slightly. In his vision, chakra patterns slowly spread across the metal like fine threads.

First, compress.

Second, layer.

Third, leave an extremely tiny unstable node at the center.

By the time he reached this point, sweat had already appeared on Ling's forehead.

He knew full well that if his rhythm slipped even slightly on the next step, the shuriken would explode directly in his hand. Yet at times like this, the oppressive sensation brought by the God Tree Seed inside him became increasingly clear, as though it were silently urging him onward.

Ling's gaze darkened, and his fingertips pressed down one final time.

Buzz.

The shuriken trembled lightly.

It worked.

At least, it worked for now.

Ling did not hesitate. He raised his hand and flung it out.

A silver flash tore through the air, spinning faster than usual. The instant it struck the wooden post, the external impact violently tore open that tiny imbalance at its center.

Boom!

A muffled explosion, not loud but perfectly distinct, erupted in the courtyard.

Cracks burst across the surface of the wooden post. Its center caved in, and wood chips flew everywhere.

Ling stood where he was, his chest jolting along with the blast.

This was not some small-scale experiment with pebbles.

This was a genuine explosive ninja tool that could be used in battle.

"Explosive Shuriken..."

He murmured the name, and for the first time, an undisguised sharpness surfaced in his eyes.

But the next moment, the fingers of his right hand suddenly went numb. Even the meridians in his forearm felt as if they had been hit by the recoil, making him frown sharply from the pain.

Still not stable enough.

That success had largely been due to his Divine Pattern Eye forcibly maintaining the balance. If he used it repeatedly in battle, neither his eyes nor his meridians might be able to endure it.

"Make a second one first, at least."

Suppressing the pain, Ling picked up another shuriken.

The second one failed, scattering apart the moment it left his hand.

The third struck its target, but only produced half the explosion.

It was not until the fourth attempt that he barely recreated the first attempt's power. By then, the night had grown completely deep. The wooden posts in the courtyard had been battered into ruins, and Ling's hands were so sore and numb that he could barely feel them.

When class began the next day, his fingers still carried a faint stiffness.

Iruka noticed quickly, but he did not question him in public. He only kept Ling behind alone after the afternoon's extra training. "Have you been combining ninja tools with your chakra transformation lately?"

Ling glanced at him, then nodded after a brief silence. "I tried."

"And the result?"

"It works, but the cost is high."

As if he had expected this, Iruka sighed. "I knew you wouldn't behave yourself. Show me once, but don't make it too powerful."

Ling froze for a moment.

His teacher was observing him, not stopping him.

He did not waste the opportunity. Walking over to an old wooden board, he took out a shuriken he had prepared beforehand. Chakra silently flowed into it—compressed, layered, its center locked. His movements were half a beat faster than the night before.

The shuriken shot through the air.

Bang!

A fist-sized hole exploded through the board, its edges curling with splintered wood. Though Ling had deliberately restrained its force, it was still far more vicious than an ordinary chakra-infused ninja tool.

Iruka's pupils contracted slightly.

Even though he had been prepared, the effect still exceeded his expectations.

"This is what you've been working on these past few days?"

"Mm." Ling slowly exhaled. "It explodes after it hits."

Iruka stared at the hole in the board for a long time before speaking seriously. "Unless it's necessary, you're not allowed to use it carelessly in classrooms or public training grounds from now on."

"Why?" Ling asked.

"Because this kind of power is already enough to make many people remember you." Iruka fixed his eyes on him. "Remember, not every kind of attention is worth drawing."

Something stirred in Ling's heart.

His teacher had clearly guessed that more people might have seen his file.

"I understand." He nodded.

Iruka withdrew his gaze, his voice softening slightly. "But there is one thing I have to admit."

"What?"

"This technique is very impressive."

Ling was stunned for half a breath. Then the sharpness hidden beneath the calm in his eyes finally glimmered faintly.

Being acknowledged was not important in itself.

What mattered was that it proved he was heading in the right direction.

When he returned to the classroom that evening, Kiba was bragging to several others about reclaiming his pride in the next assessment. Seeing Ling enter, he snorted and was about to say something, but his gaze fell upon a shuriken at the edge of Ling's ninja tool pouch, its rim chipped slightly.

"What new thing did you make this time?"

Ling swept a glance over him and replied with only four words.

"Faster than you."

Kiba gritted his teeth, thoroughly choked by the response, while Ino laughed so hard she nearly collapsed onto her desk.

At the back of the classroom, Shikamaru watched the shuriken, its edge subtly warped, and his expression quietly darkened.

On the other side, Hinata watched the hand Ling used to grip that shuriken. She could not understand the details of the technique, but she could see his knuckles tightening again, as if he were enduring something. In that instant, she almost instinctively wondered whether the medicine box she had given him before still had enough left.

He had a feeling.

This Uchiha might soon produce something that would truly make everyone unable to sit still.