Sasuke's time to show off!

"Ranged throwing, as a ninja's core means of attacking from a distance, is something every ninja must start learning from childhood."

Iruka held a shuriken in each hand as he addressed the students.

After all, not every ninja had Hashirama's absurd amount of chakra. In fact, the vast majority of ninja didn't even have half as much chakra as Naruto did now.

Kakashi, Konoha's current Anbu Captain, didn't have much chakra either. In battle, he relied more on a strategy of weaving ninjutsu into taijutsu.

As for most of these students, who might only ever become genin, forget offensive ninjutsu-even the three basic techniques had to be used sparingly.

That made starting their ninja tool throwing practice early very useful for them.

It could also raise their potential to a certain extent, with examples like Lord Third's Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique and the Fourth's Flying Thunder God.

Both used ninja tools to some degree.

Even Hashirama, the former God of Shinobi, had taken a large sword into his decisive battle against Madara, who wielded a scythe and the Gunbai, hadn't he?

Hashirama: I fooled you. Actually, I didn't use a sword at all that day. It was all Wood Dragon plus Thousand-Armed Buddha. ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄

Madara: What gave you the illusion that I had a chance to use the Gunbai to reflect Hashirama's Wood Dragon when I fought him???

Sasuke watched how Iruka held the shuriken and shook his head disdainfully.

After all, as a member of the Uchiha Clan, he had practiced with shuriken since childhood.

On top of that, his big brother often taught him how to throw shuriken. So although Sasuke wasn't as strong as Iruka, he genuinely looked down on him when it came to shuriken throwing.

"All right, everyone, hold it like this, then use your wrist and fingers together, and locate the enemy with your eyes."

With a whoosh, the shuriken sliced through the air and lodged in Dummy No. 3's head.

His fundamentals were solid. His technique certainly wasn't as fancy as the Uchiha Clan's, but it was more than enough to teach children.

Watching Iruka's stance, Kiba volunteered to be the first to try.

With Akamaru barking encouragement, he held six shuriken between his two hands and threw them before Iruka could react.

Oh, crap!

Iruka hadn't expected Kiba to be so reckless. Throwing six at once-did he think he was Uchiha Itachi, who had graduated a few years ago?

Sure enough, only three of the six shuriken flew toward the dummy, while the other three flew toward the students beneath the tree.

Their targets were the blonde Ino and the pink-haired Sakura.

Both girls were sitting on the ground. Neither had expected shuriken to come flying at them, and they couldn't react in time.

Tch. Boring.

Taking the Wooden Kunai in his hand, Sasuke flipped over the two girls' heads and knocked down two shuriken with a swing.

But one shuriken still hit him in the waist.

Hmm. Weak and feeble. Even with the weight of a normal shuriken, it didn't come close to Naruto... no, it didn't even compare to Hinata's fist.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun, are you all right?"

"Hey, don't be so reckless!"

Ino and Sakura recovered from their shock. One stepped forward to check Sasuke's injury, while the other went to confront Kiba over his failed attempt to look cool.

"I'm fine."

Sasuke stopped the two girls from approaching, tossed the kunai into the air, caught it in a reverse grip, and hooked it at his waist before walking back to Naruto's side.

"Wow, he's so cool."

Sakura stared blankly at Sasuke's figure, hearts gradually appearing in her eyes.

"He really is cool. Sakura-chan, don't tell me you're going to compete with me?"

Ino realized what her best friend was thinking. After all, she'd just had the same thought herself.

"Huh? Ino, you've fallen for Sasuke-kun too?"

"Too? Sakura, you've turned bad!"

"Darn it, you can't compete with me."

"Bleh, bleh, bleh. I'm going to."

Ino stuck out her tongue and looked at Sakura provocatively.

"Aaah, Ino-pig!"

Successfully riled up a little by Ino's provocation, Sakura started calling her by the nickname she'd given her before.

"Damn you, forehead girl!"

A throbbing vein appeared on Ino's forehead, and she shot back without backing down.

Naruto watched the two girls trading barbs over Sasuke, then looked at Sasuke, who had his hands in his pockets and was looking at him, eager to have a go. He shrugged helplessly.

Iruka praised Sasuke, snatched Akamaru out of Kiba's arms and set him aside, then began scolding Kiba fiercely.

Akamaru: Thank you, dog lover.

After that, Iruka watched the students like a hawk as they took their shuriken, to prevent another show-off like Kiba from appearing.

"Hey, Naruto, let's go."

Sasuke pulled Naruto over to Iruka to get their shuriken.

Yes, even Sasuke Uchiha was only allowed two shuriken, while Naruto, who had greater destructive power, received only one.

Iruka: If Naruto's throw went off course, I'd be fine, but these children might not be.

Beneath the shade of the tree, Hinata watched the two figures, one black-haired and one blond, standing on the training ground, her eyes filled with nervousness and anticipation.

After all, this was Sasuke's thirty-seventh challenge to Naruto.

Fresh from his scolding, Kiba picked Akamaru up again and walked into the shade. He knew Naruto and Sasuke were going to compete.

"Hey, Naruto, you can do it! Don't disgrace your status as the boss!"

Kiba was actually very unhappy with Sasuke's perpetually cold expression and his attitude of "heaven comes first, earth comes second, and I come third." Although Sasuke was indeed much stronger than him, he still couldn't beat Naruto, could he?

So Kiba was absolutely going to enjoy watching this contest!

"Hey, Shikamaru, do you think Sasuke will win?"

Munching on potato chips, Choji asked Shikamaru, who was enjoying the strands of sunlight filtering through the shade with his eyes narrowed.

"What a drag. That depends on what they're planning to judge the winner by."

"If it's accuracy and control, Sasuke will probably win."

"If it's just about landing a hit, that's hard to say."

Shikamaru gave it a little thought, and an image appeared in his mind.

Man, Hinata said this was already the thirty-seventh time. Sasuke really doesn't give up.

Sakura and Ino walked over, first glaring fiercely at Kiba, making him hastily scratch his head and apologize before they looked away.

"Hey, Choji, what's going on? Why is Kiba cheering for Naruto?"

Ino sat down beside Shikamaru and Choji with Sakura and asked.

After all, their families had been friends for generations, and the three of them had known each other since childhood, so they were quite close.

"Oh, crunch... Sasuke and Naruto are having a throwing contest, so Kiba's cheering for Naruto."

Choji chewed his potato chips and answered Ino's question.

"Huh? Why isn't anyone cheering for Sasuke?"

Ino put the question unhappily to the glutton sitting on the ground eating potato chips and the slacker lying on the ground basking in the sun.

"Well, Sasuke probably doesn't have a chance of winning anyway."

Shikamaru spoke blandly.

Sakura was very unhappy about that, but she still had to appear a little calmer on the surface. After all, she wasn't that close to them yet.

"Why? Isn't Sasuke-kun really strong?"

Well, at those words, Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba silently turned to look at Dummy No. 1's head.

Although they hadn't answered Sakura's question in words, they had already given her an answer.