Kushina's invitation

The atmosphere between the two grew a little awkward, sinking into a strange silence.

Just as Qianye Lan was about to break the silence, the teacher in charge of their practical class walked over.

He swept his gaze over the crowd and asked with a frown, "Where did Shomaru and those other boys go?"

Then he turned his gaze to the class representative.

Almost none of the teachers liked those students who loved stirring up trouble.

But out of a sense of responsibility, he still had to ask.

The class representative replied, "I saw them go to the homeroom teacher, but I don't know what exactly they went for."

The practical instructor nodded without asking further, then began assigning the day's training.

"Today's main training task is shuriken throwing."

As soon as the teacher finished speaking, some of the students were already itching to try.

In particular, the member of the Uchiha Clan gave Qianye Lan and Minato Namikaze a hostile look.

The Uchiha Clan had secret shuriken techniques. How could civilian ninja like them possibly compete?

That member of the Uchiha Clan was named Genya Uchiha.

As a member of the Uchiha Clan, he had entered the Ninja Academy to demonstrate his clan's strength.

Yet he could only rank third in his year.

Even more humiliatingly, the two ahead of him were both civilian ninja.

He had been mocked quite a bit within the Uchiha Clan because of it.

And this shuriken-throwing session was his chance, Genya Uchiha's chance, to turn things around.

The teacher spoke again. "I'll demonstrate how to throw shuriken first."

This was their first lesson in shuriken throwing.

As their teacher, he had to teach the students the most basic ways to hold and throw shuriken.

"When holding a shuriken, you need to..."

After explaining the basic grip and throwing technique, he asked, "Is there anything you still don't understand?"

When no one responded, he handed the prepared shuriken to the class representative to distribute.

"All right, does anyone want to give a demonstration?"

Genya Uchiha was the first to raise his hand.

Then he stepped forward, looked toward the targets, took a deep breath, and threw the three shuriken in his hand.

All three struck the bull's-eye.

A wave of gasps rose from the crowd.

Hearing them, Genya Uchiha smiled smugly, then gave Qianye Lan and Minato Namikaze a challenging look.

But one of them was talking to the new student, while the other gave him a sunny smile.

It left him speechless.

The teacher nodded in satisfaction at the result, then said, "Good. Anyone else want to come up and demonstrate?"

When no one responded, he said, "Everyone has to come up and demonstrate, so you'd better volunteer."

When they still didn't respond, he said, "Then I'll call on you. Minato Namikaze."

Minato Namikaze stepped forward at his name.

Some of the little girls cheered him on as well.

He took out three shuriken, aimed at the target, and threw them. All three struck the bull's-eye too.

This also drew a wave of gasps from the crowd.

Some of the little girls even squealed outright.

Genya Uchiha was visibly surprised, but he still put on an aloof expression.

Qianye Lan was third. Kushina waved her little fist at him and said, "You can do it!"

Qianye Lan smiled at her and nodded.

A few scattered voices in the crowd cheered him on too.

But it was still far less than Minato had received.

In terms of looks alone, Qianye Lan's handsome appearance-second only to all you Daniel Wus-put him a little ahead of Minato.

But compared with the friendly Minato, the somewhat withdrawn Qianye Lan was less popular.

Then he walked over to the throwing area and took out his shuriken. With Genya and Minato having thrown theirs, the target was already full.

He pointed to the target on the right and said, "Teacher, I'll throw at this one."

Once the teacher nodded his approval, he took out five shuriken and casually tossed them, striking the bull's-eye with every one.

Even the teacher was stunned by this display.

In his teaching career, among those who could reach this level at this age,

he had only ever seen one, and that person's name was Orochimaru.

The other students were even more astonished.

The students from major clans understood the significance of Qianye Lan's display even better.

Throwing five shuriken simultaneously and hitting the bull's-eye with all of them was already within the realm of a Chunin.

And the ease with which Qianye Lan had just done it proved that this was far from his limit.

Genya Uchiha, in particular, fell into utter despair after seeing Qianye Lan's display.

He abandoned his unrealistic idea of surpassing Qianye Lan and turned his gaze to Minato Namikaze instead.

He silently vowed that if he couldn't surpass Qianye Lan, he would surpass Minato Namikaze first.

When Qianye Lan returned to his spot, Kushina couldn't help saying, "You're really amazing, Lan."

A few more students from major clans went up to demonstrate.

Although they weren't as good as the first three, each hit the bull's-eye with at least one shuriken.

The remaining students from civilian backgrounds and smaller clans performed much worse.

Those who managed to hit their own targets were already above average.

There was even a little incident among them.

One student said smugly, "Look, teacher! I hit the bull's-eye!"

Seeing his smug expression, the teacher held his head and said helplessly, "Take another look! You hit someone else's target!"

Only then did the student realize his throw had gone astray. He could only leave the throwing area amid everyone's laughter.

When Kushina's turn came, her little face was taut as she took out two shuriken and carefully aimed at the bull's-eye.

Everyone was waiting to see her make a fool of herself.

But with a flick of Kushina's wrist, both shuriken struck the bull's-eye precisely.

Gasps rose from the crowd.

Kushina walked smugly up to Qianye Lan and lifted her chin, looking as though she were saying, "Hurry up and praise me."

Qianye Lan couldn't help laughing at her cute appearance. He gave her a thumbs-up and praised her. "Impressive."

"Of course!" Kushina said smugly. "Who do you think I am?"

Then she walked to Qianye Lan's side, and the two chatted side by side.

Soon, once everyone had finished demonstrating, the teacher cleared his throat and said, "Practice on your own. Remember, at the end of the term, you'll need to hit the target with at least one shuriken to pass."

This requirement drew a chorus of groans.

Then he added, "Anyone who hit the bull's-eye can leave school early."

At the words "leave school early," Qianye Lan headed straight back to the classroom to pack his things.

Kushina followed close behind him.

The two packed their things together.

Then Kushina worked up her courage and asked, "Um, are you busy tonight?"

Qianye Lan answered honestly, "Not really. I'll just go back, keep training, and then rest."

Kushina invited him outright. "Want to come over to our house for dinner? Grandma Mito's cooking is really good."

After a moment's thought, Qianye Lan accepted Kushina's invitation.

His own cooking could only be called edible.

Getting a free meal was naturally the best option.