That afternoon, Sarutobi Ichinori brought all the students out to the training field.
"This afternoon's lesson is shuriken throwing. Just like before, today's results will be recorded."
Ichinori pulled out several shuriken and casually threw them at the wooden target behind him.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Every shuriken struck dead center.
It was a simple display of Ichinori's skill with throwing weapons.
But did you think this was just ordinary shuriken practice?
Of course not.
"Also, make sure you control how much chakra you coat your shuriken with when you throw. That will be graded separately, and I'll personally inspect the chakra coating on every throw."
As he spoke, Ichinori took out another shuriken and spun it around one finger.
Chakra flowed over its surface.
This was chakra coating—covering a kunai, sword, or shuriken directly with neutral chakra to reinforce the weapon and slightly increase its cutting power.
It did not consume much chakra, but it demanded relatively fine chakra control.
Yes. This was one of the most basic things taught at the Ninja Academy in this world.
As for the more difficult lessons...
There was the incomplete space-time ninjutsu known as True Substitution, which students could only begin learning after mastering the Summoning Jutsu.
There was the Transformation Jutsu, which had to be combined with genuine physical disguise and imitation.
And then there was the Clone Jutsu, whose effect was almost identical to the original Shadow Clone Jutsu.
What? Then what was the Shadow Clone Jutsu in this world?
A genuine physical clone created by materializing one's shadow.
Its advantage was that it would not disappear after taking a single hit and could fight normally. Unless it suffered a fatal injury, it could keep going indefinitely.
The downside?
If your shadow clone died, it was actually dead, and you would never be able to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu again.
As for the forbidden Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, Gen had never learned it, so he had no idea how it worked.
Still, he imagined it had to be ridiculously powerful.
"All right, break's over. We're starting now."
Ichinori casually tossed away the shuriken he had been spinning and clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention.
"Remember what I just said. Your scores will be recorded. And especially you, Obito Uchiha—don't try anything weird. Kurenai Yuhi, you're first."
"Yes."
The black-haired, red-eyed girl answered softly before stepping out from the crowd.
A wooden target stood a hundred meters ahead of her. Beside her was a basket filled with specially made practice shuriken.
Kurenai picked one up.
A faint glow flickered through her red eyes.
She raised her arm and threw.
The shuriken ripped through the air, sharpened by the chakra coating its surface, before burying itself in the wooden target.
"Six points for accuracy. Seven for chakra coating. Not bad. Shuriken throwing is one of the most basic skills a ninja needs. Your Illusion Eyes kekkei genkai is ultimately better suited to genjutsu. Trying to use it for targeting like the Uchiha's Sharingan or the Hyuga's Byakugan will be difficult."
Ichinori noted Kurenai's score before offering a few words of advice.
"I-I understand. Thank you, sensei."
Kurenai shyly glanced at Gen before quickly lowering her head.
"..."
Having been looked at for no apparent reason, Gen remained speechless.
As for Kurenai suddenly possessing an ocular kekkei genkai called the Illusion Eyes, which clearly specialized in genjutsu judging by the name alone...
Gen accepted it without the slightest reaction.
At this point, he could calmly accept just about anything.
"Next, Might Guy."
Boom!
After a blast of displaced air, Gen raised an eyebrow at the wooden target that had been smashed in half by a shuriken—and the small crater that had suddenly appeared in the ground behind it.
Mm. He had only thrown a shuriken hard enough to make a crater.
Perfectly normal.
"Zero for both. Next, Obito Uchiha."
Ichinori calmly clapped his hands and had someone replace the shattered target before calling the next student.
"Ah! I messed up my control again! Might Guy, how can you ever catch Kakashi like this?! I've decided! After school, I'll put on my new weights and frog-jump around Konoha five hundred times with Dad! If I can't finish before nine, I'll do another two hundred laps around Konoha while walking on one hand!"
Guy burst into tears at the double zero.
Then, one second later, his fighting spirit exploded back to life. He dropped to the ground, did several push-ups, and loudly announced a training plan that would have killed a normal human being.
Gen had been Guy's classmate long enough to be used to this.
"Finally, my turn."
Obito excitedly walked forward and picked up a shuriken.
"Now you'll finally see what I'm capable of! I've been secretly practicing shuriken throwing for ages! Wahahaha!"
He hurled the shuriken forward.
"Miss. Zero points. Eight points for chakra coating, though."
Ichinori looked at the completely untouched target and spoke in a tired voice.
"Impossible! I don't believe it! That was an accident! It had to be an accident! Let me try again! I always hit the target when I practice!"
Fuming, Obito immediately threw another shuriken.
The target remained completely untouched.
'As expected. It passed through...'
Gen glanced at Obito before shifting his gaze back to the empty target.
Beneath his black cosmetic contact lenses, his One-Tomoe Sharingan glowed faintly red, replaying Obito's throw frame by frame in slow motion.
Of course the One-Tomoe Sharingan in this world possessed enhanced dynamic vision and could replay movement one frame at a time.
That was perfectly reasonable, right?
From Gen's slowed perspective, Obito's shuriken had not struck the wooden target and bounced away.
The instant the blade should have collided with the wood, it had quietly turned intangible and passed straight through.
Was this the first hint of an Academy-student version of Kamui?
Interesting.
"Still zero. Obito, settle down. Stop disrupting the class."
Seeing Obito grab yet another shuriken, Ichinori spoke helplessly.
"It was a mistake! A mistake! That's really not my level, sensei! Give me one more chance!"
Obito quickly glanced toward Rin Nohara in the crowd, then rushed over to Ichinori and clasped his hands together in desperate pleading.