Recovering from his shock, the Third Hokage stood at the edge of the massive crater, sensing the lingering Wind Release chakra within. He turned to Shinju and asked,
"That jutsu… where did you learn it?"
This type of Wind Release—he had never seen anything like it before!
As the professor of all ninja, he had spent years studying every kind of jutsu.
In the crater, he could clearly see the marks left by a Rasengan attack!
But the Rasengan was a non-elemental technique—it shouldn't leave any traces of Wind Release chakra.
That meant… his preliminary conclusion was that this was a Wind Release jutsu developed and reconstructed from the Rasengan's foundation!
"I just figured it out just now."
Shinju answered with an innocent expression.
As he spoke, Shinju pointed toward Yamato, who was lying on a stretcher.
"Just now, I thought he was an assassin sent from another village. In the heat of the moment, I tried using Wind Release chakra to mimic the shape of a shuriken…"
"Go on."
The Third Hokage's gaze sharpened, curious to hear what Shinju had learned from the experience.
Meeting the Third's eyes, Shinju braced himself and continued,
"And then… it worked."
Third Hokage: ???
It just… worked?
That's it?!
You created a brand-new jutsu—one with incredible destructive power—and it just worked like that?!
Even back when the Second Hokage developed new jutsu, it had taken repeated experiments.
And you… just brushed over it in one casual sentence?!
At this point, the Third didn't even know how to put his feelings into words.
He had originally thought Shinju was just a normal genius—someone who'd been hiding his abilities for years, only to reveal them in one burst.
But now it seemed Shinju's talent was utterly terrifying!
Until today, despite his decades of studying ninjutsu, the Third Hokage had never seen anything like this Wind Release.
Not even the village's scroll archives had any record of it!
Which meant there was a very high chance Shinju had invented it himself!
To think that in just a few short years of learning ninjutsu, he'd mastered the Rasengan—
And then built upon it to create an immensely destructive Wind Release technique!
If that's not monstrous talent, what is?!
"Shinju, I'll ask again. Are you absolutely sure no one taught you this jutsu? Not Jiraiya, or maybe…"
The Third couldn't help but verify it one more time.
Shinju thought the Hokage was blaming him for recklessly developing a jutsu and causing trouble.
"No… I did it all by myself."
He lowered his head.
Seeing this, the Third didn't press the matter further.
Afterward, worried that word of a super-genius in Konoha might leak to other villages, he ordered all the patrol squad members to keep quiet about tonight's events.
At the same time, not wanting Shinju to get too arrogant, he said deliberately,
"Shinju, your jutsu was impressive this time… but your control still needs work. Otherwise, you wouldn't have destroyed your own house."
"So, don't just chase after a wide variety of techniques. Take one of your strengths and refine it to the extreme."
Shinju nodded at those words.
Of course.
The road to mastering ninjutsu was long and slow!
He was just a rookie chick who'd barely stepped into the world of shinobi!
These little achievements weren't even worth mentioning!
Thinking that, he looked up at the Hokage.
As expected of the Hokage!
Such constructive advice—truly enlightening!
"Understood, Hokage-sama. I'll specialize in this technique and train it to its peak!"
Shinju said seriously.
The Third, hearing this, gave Shinju a look of approval.
Then, he prepared to leave with the Konoha patrol squad and Yamato on the stretcher.
...
Shinju hesitated—his house was gone. Where was he supposed to sleep tonight?
"Hokage-sama…"
Shinju called out softly.
The Third turned back. Seeing Shinju standing awkwardly in the empty lot, he immediately understood.
"Tonight, you can stay at Naruto's place."
"Shinju, you're smart, and you're friends with Naruto. Help guide that kid a little more."
"Of course, Hokage-sama!"
Shinju nodded.
A few minutes later, the patrol squad dropped him off at Naruto's door.
Standing outside, Shinju could faintly hear a series of thuds from within.
"Naruto!"
He knocked twice and called out.
A few seconds later, Naruto opened the door, looking puzzled at Shinju standing outside.
"Shinju? What are you doing here?"
Naruto asked.
Facing Naruto's question, Shinju explained,
"Some shinobi from another village attacked my house and blew it up."
He wasn't trying to lie to his friend—it was just that the Third Hokage had ordered him not to reveal what had actually happened tonight.
Hearing that his friend had suffered such misfortune, Naruto quickly ushered him inside.
"Whoa, you're really unlucky. Hurry, get in!"
Once inside, Shinju noticed a wooden target dummy set up right in the middle of the living room.
Several shuriken were still embedded in it.
From the scene inside, the faint noises he'd heard outside, and Naruto's sweat-covered, tired appearance, it was easy to tell—Naruto had been secretly training at home!
"How's the practice going?"
Shinju asked.
Naruto's face flushed. Knowing Shinju had already guessed, he admitted,
"Not great… I feel like whether I hit the bullseye or not is all up to luck."
Shinju recalled the Third's instruction to help Naruto out.
Since he had just grasped the essence of shuriken throwing tonight, he explained without holding anything back.
"Actually, throwing shuriken isn't just about endless practice—you also need to figure out some techniques along the way. For example, you could try this…"
As Naruto listened, his expression grew more and more excited.
"Shinju! Where did you learn this stuff? Iruka-sensei never taught us anything like it!"
"Of course Iruka-sensei wouldn't. He said we have to figure it out ourselves. I came up with these on my own."
Shinju said matter-of-factly,
"Sasuke, Shikamaru—our other classmates—they've probably already mastered this."
"We can't fall too far behind, or we won't be able to graduate."
"Anyway, enough talking. Try practicing exactly how I just explained."
Naruto stood there, utterly shocked.
(꒪⌓꒪)
Wait… according to Shinju…
Sasuke and Shikamaru had already mastered Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique?!
They could already throw ten shuriken at once and hit ten targets?!
Even make a shuriken bounce off the terrain more than ten times and still land on the bullseye?!
That's insane!
Before, Naruto had never thought he was that far behind his classmates.
But after hearing Shinju's explanation, he realized the gap was enormous!
Forget graduating—just being able to sit in the Academy classroom now was probably only thanks to Iruka-sensei's mercy!
Taking a deep breath, Naruto accepted reality and shouted with renewed determination,
"Shinju! I guess I'll have to work even harder from now on, or I'll never catch up to everyone!"
"Yeah! We'll both work hard together!"
Shinju nodded.
...
(Chapter for the review)