Correct Shooting Is Certain to Hit

"May I, senpai? Let me draw the bow next. But I'm a complete novice-I know next to nothing about kyudo rules." Uchiha Naruto turned to Yasero Saki.

"Of course. Everyone starts with the basics." Yasero Saki's eyes lit up as she looked at Uchiha Naruto. "Uchiha, since you're here to try out the Kyudo Club, would you like to try on our hakama?"

"Wouldn't that be too much trouble?"

"Not at all. The hakama is one of kyudo's most distinctive features. How could you say you've experienced kyudo if you've only shot an arrow without wearing one?"

Her enthusiasm was impossible to refuse. A few minutes later, Uchiha Naruto had changed and was standing in the dojo.

The hakama outfit, white on top and black below, made the tall, slender Uchiha Naruto look especially dashing. Some girls had already taken out their phones to sneak pictures of him.

"It fits just as well as I imagined. I'd say our Kyudo Club has the best-looking uniform of any club."

Yasero Saki looked at Uchiha Naruto with satisfaction and spoke proudly.

"This one has a ten-kilogram draw weight. Just right for a boy who's starting out." Yasero Saki tested Tanaka Hikaru's bowstring, then handed the bow to Uchiha Naruto.

She then had Uchiha stretch out his arms and selected an arrow of the appropriate length for his arm span.

"In kyudo, you need three pieces of equipment of your own: a bow, arrows, and finally, a protective yugake."

The yugake looked like a leather glove that left the ring finger and little finger exposed. Like an archer's thumb ring, it kept the bowstring from snapping back and scraping the fingers after a shot.

"Uchiha, the first step in shooting is called ashibumi, setting your footing. Spread your feet like mine. Your stance is too narrow; you won't be able to keep your upper body steady, and your arrow will go off course. Yes, I use the single-step method. Just like that, a little wider."

"No, you're nocking the arrow wrong. Do it like this. Then lift the bow and nocked arrow above your head. Draw it, keep drawing. Look at the target, and keep the arrow level with your line of sight. Your form is, well, passable."

As she watched Uchiha Naruto's awkward, unpracticed movements, Yasero Saki grew increasingly enthusiastic about instructing him for some reason.

Could Saki-senpai be the sort who just loves playing teacher?

With Yasero Saki guiding him hand over hand, Uchiha Naruto painstakingly imitated her shooting movements. In the end, his imitation was still a mess. Judging by proper form alone, even Tanaka Hikaru did better than him.

There was no helping it, though. The Eight Steps of Archery consisted of only eight movements, but each involved many subtle details. Even when the eyes saw and understood, the body often couldn't keep up or follow through.

"All right, that's more or less it. Now try shooting an arrow on your own."

Uchiha Naruto slowly let out a long breath and followed the steps she had taught him: setting his footing, aligning his body, nocking the arrow, raising the bow, drawing it, and finally reaching full draw, poised to release. The arrowhead pointed straight at the target twenty-eight meters away.

Watching Uchiha Naruto's badly distorted shooting stance, riddled with basic mistakes, Yasero Saki shook her head in disappointment. This wouldn't work. The arrow was bound to miss.

But she quickly caught herself. His earlier movements had made it obvious that Uchiha was a complete novice trying kyudo for the first time. Missing was only natural; hitting would be a fluke. She herself had trained for a long time before hitting a target for the first time.

I can't expect too much from a beginner.

Sure enough, Uchiha Naruto's arrow flew high, sailed over the target, and struck the Azuchi behind it.

Yet there was not a trace of disappointment on Uchiha Naruto's face. Instead, he looked thoughtful.

"What a shame! You only missed by a little!" Tanaka Hikaru exclaimed.

Even Uchiha Naruto blushed a little at that. The arrow had clearly missed the target by a considerable distance-it hadn't even grazed the edge.

"Even someone chosen by kyudo couldn't expect to hit the target with their first arrow. Your arms were too tense on that shot, and you weren't using your waist correctly. You had plenty of strength, but lacked a little finesse. Still, getting the arrow off properly on your first try was already pretty good."

"Uchiha, try practicing a little more. I'll correct your form," Yasero Saki said with a smile, taking another arrow and offering it to him.

To her surprise, Uchiha Naruto shook his head instead of accepting it and handed the bow back to Tanaka Hikaru.

"Thank you, senpai, but there's no need. As I am now, I'm certain to miss."

"Uchiha, it's all right to miss. Kyudo isn't just about hitting the target. Kyudo is an art. Beyond accuracy, it places even greater importance on truth, goodness, and beauty!" Yasero Saki said earnestly.

"Correct posture is truth, and hitting the target is truth. Beauty is expressed through proper shooting etiquette, and the bow itself is full of beauty. But even more important are the dignity of the movements, the elegance of the shooting stance, and the beauty they convey to the audience. In an official competition, even if you shoot very accurately, you can still be disqualified if you compete with completely unacceptable form."

"A kyudo competition isn't a bodybuilding contest. No matter how pretty your stance is, it's useless if you miss. It's a shooting sport-isn't shooting accurately enough? What's the point of all these fancy extras?"

Tanaka Hikaru couldn't help complaining. Yasero Saki's smile faltered, and she was about to say something when Uchiha Naruto, staring intently at the banner in the dojo that read "Correct Shooting Is Certain to Hit," murmured almost without thinking:

"Correct Shooting Is Certain to Hit. If kyudo really is as you say, senpai, and proper shooting form guarantees a hit, then hitting the target would be very easy for me."

"Hah, is that so?"

Yasero Saki's already strained smile was now on the verge of collapsing. A faint trace of anger even tightened her pretty face.

It was the anger any expert would feel upon seeing an outsider pontificate and boast about a field they knew well.

He's a newcomer who doesn't even qualify as a beginner, yet he dares to make such a grand claim. Does he have no self-awareness at all?

Uchiha Naruto knew what Yasero Saki was thinking the moment he saw her expression.

But for Uchiha Naruto, who possessed the Sharingan, this really wasn't a boast.

Once the Sharingan developed two tomoe, it gained the ability to copy Taijutsu. It could even copy the various forms of Taijutsu honed through countless trials for life-and-death combat in the shinobi world. Copying the comparatively child's-play shooting forms used in kyudo competitions would naturally be no trouble at all.

The atmosphere afterward was naturally less friendly. Yasero Saki did not invite him to join the Kyudo Club. Instead, in a polite but distant tone, she asked him to continue watching the club's demonstration.

Since she hadn't asked him to leave, Uchiha Naruto took off the hakama and returned it, then sat down in the back row to watch again, taking out his phone while he was at it.

What day and age is this, still practicing kyudo the traditional way? It's the internet age now-of course I'm going to copy and paste!