Chapter 136: The Hokage's disciple should be amazing!
Hinata diligently imitated him from the side, but her movements always seemed a bit stiff and lacked confidence, and her gaze habitually darted away.
"Incorrect." Uchiha Akira had, at some point, walked over to stand beside the 2 of them.
"Lord... Akira," Kurenai Yūhi's movements paused, and she looked at Akira with some surprise. "Is there... something wrong with my demonstration?" She was quite confident in her taijutsu. Although she wasn't a specialized taijutsu Ninja, as an Elite Jōnin, she had put in a lot of hard work in that area.
"Your method of exerting force is fundamentally flawed," Akira shook his head.
"Flawed?" Kurenai was stunned. How could that be? This method of exerting force was something she had refined through countless real combat situations, the most suitable method for herself.
"To achieve speed and stealth in your attacks, you've excessively relied on the explosive power of your wrists and shoulders. This might be sufficient when dealing with ordinary Ninja. But against true taijutsu masters, it will be seen through instantly. Every time you exert force, you prematurely reveal your attack intentions."
Kurenai nodded. She thought back carefully, and it seemed... it really was as Akira said. In several encounters with taijutsu-type Jōnin, her attacks were indeed easily predicted by the opponent. "Then... how should it be done?" she humbly inquired.
Akira didn't speak; he simply walked behind her. Akira's aura instantly enveloped Kurenai. "Stand still." His voice rang in her ear. So close. A blush instantly rose on her cheeks. She instinctively straightened her body. A hand gently rested on her lower back.
"Relax." Her body froze. Her mind was blank. She was a Konoha Jōnin. She had experienced countless life-or-death battles and could maintain absolute calm even against the most vicious enemies. But now... she felt like she couldn't calm down.
"Your center of gravity is too high." Akira's hand, following Kurenai's waistline, gently pressed downwards. "Sink down. Use your core to feel the transmission of power. From your soles, to your ankles, to your knees, and then to your hips." His other hand held her wrist, guiding her arm. "Then, it's your shoulders, arms, and finally, explode from your fingertips."
Akira's body was almost completely pressed against Kurenai's back. He held her in a half-embrace, in a posture meant to correct her form. Kurenai could clearly smell Akira's pleasant scent. A violent heartbeat echoed within her chest.
"Do you feel it?" Akira asked.
"I... I feel it..." Kurenai's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, with a hint of an imperceptible tremor. So... this was the correct way to exert force. It's just... was this teaching process... a little too intimate? Was Akira... doing it on purpose, or... by accident? Kurenai's heart was completely in turmoil. She didn't dare to look up.
Akira released his hand and stepped back. "Try it yourself again."
"Yes... Akira." Kurenai took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the flutter in her heart, and following the feeling from just now, she repositioned herself and thrust out a palm. Whoosh! The palm wind was sharp, much stronger than before! It even produced a slight popping sound in the air! Just a change in posture, and the power had improved so drastically! As expected of Akira... he's truly amazing!
Akira nodded. He retreated to the side and continued to watch quietly.
A few days later, at the Ninja School training ground behind the mountain, sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled light spots. Today was another shuriken throwing class. The instructor was Chūnin Yamada.
"Alright, students, quiet!" Yamada-sensei clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the chattering students. "Today's lesson is shuriken accuracy training. Everyone gets 10 chances. Now, according to your student number, come up and test in order!" The students immediately lined up.
"First, Uchiha Sasuke!" Yamada-sensei called out. Sasuke walked out of the line with a cool expression. He walked straight to the throwing line. Among the crowd, the girls immediately started screaming.
"Sasuke-kun! You can do it!" Sakura Haruno cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, her face flushed as she cheered him on. Ino Yamanaka, not to be outdone, shouted even louder.
Sasuke ignored them. He casually pulled a shuriken from his ninja tool pouch. His movements were fluid and graceful. Whoosh! The black shuriken cut a straight trajectory through the air. Clang! Right in the bullseye. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Another 9 followed. All 10 shuriken, without exception, were precisely embedded in the very center of the target's bullseye. Some even overlapped.
"Wow—!" The entire class gasped in admiration. "As expected of Sasuke-kun!" "So amazing! 10 out of 10!"
Yamada-sensei nodded in satisfaction and wrote a big "100 points" on the scoreboard. "Very good, Uchiha Sasuke, perfect score. Next, Nara Shikamaru."
Shikamaru yawned and walked up with an expression of "what a pain." He casually threw 10. His score was neither good nor bad, barely passing. For him, as long as he didn't get held back a year, it was fine.
"Akimichi Chōji!"
"Inuzuka Kiba!"
...
Students came up one after another to test. The results varied. Sakura and Ino, as the top girls, also got good scores, which led to another round of competition between them.
"Next, Hyūga Hinata." Yamada-sensei looked at the list in his hand and then called out the next name. Hyūga Hinata. The Hyūga Main Family young lady who always looked down, spoke softer than a mosquito, and had an extremely low presence. Now, she was also the disciple of the Fifth Hokage. In the impression of most of her classmates, her grades had always been mediocre.
Among the crowd, a delicate figure trembled slightly. Hinata buried her head even lower. She clutched her clothes tightly. It was like this again. Everyone's gaze felt heavy, pressing down on her and making it hard to breathe. Although she had overcome a lot after Akira's guidance, she still instinctively got nervous at times like this.
"Hinata!" "Senior Sister!" "You can do it!" "Show them your spirit! Let them see how amazing you are!"
All eyes, in unison, turned to the source of the voice. Uzumaki Naruto. He stood in the line, fists clenched, a bright, somewhat foolish smile on his face, putting all his strength into cheering for the shy girl.
Naruto-kun... he... he's... cheering for me? Hinata's cheeks rapidly flushed a vibrant crimson at a visible rate. Buzz— Her mind went blank. All the surrounding sounds disappeared. Only Naruto's magnified face, with its big smile, echoed repeatedly in her mind.
"Hinata?" Yamada-sensei prompted, a bit puzzled.
Hinata jolted, snapping back to reality. She took a deep breath; the almost suffocating tension seemed to be diluted by Naruto's voice. I can't... I can't disappoint Naruto-kun. And I can't disappoint Akira-sensei.
Hinata walked to the throwing line. She stopped. Her legs slightly bent, her center of gravity sinking. It was an incredibly standard, incredibly steady stance. She pulled a shuriken from her ninja tool pouch. Whoosh! Her arm swung out, her wrist flicked. The black shuriken turned into an afterimage, cutting through the air. Clang! A crisp metallic sound. The shuriken was firmly embedded in the target. Right in the center!
The entire place was silent. Everyone's eyes were wide. This... was this really Hyūga Hinata? Hinata herself was stunned. She looked at her hand, then at the distant target. She succeeded... A huge wave of joy and confidence rose in Hinata's heart.
She pulled out another shuriken. Whoosh!Clang! The third! The fourth! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Every shuriken flew precisely to its target. Clang! Clang! Clang!
Yamada-sensei's hand, holding the scoreboard, was trembling slightly. "Hyūga... Hyūga Hinata... 90... 98 points!"
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