Leaving the Training Ground, Shinji rushed to grab the bento box that had already been prepared and headed towards Ninja School.
Upon arriving at the school, he greeted some colleagues before making his way to the classroom. He glanced at the seats and nodded, seeing that no one was absent.
He tapped the podium and said, "Today is shurikenjutsu class, so we won't be having it in the classroom."
Hearing this, the students, who were still a bit sleepy from waking up early, immediately brightened up.
"Everyone, gather on the playground."
"Yes!"
In the classroom, Shinji heard a chorus of agreement.
He figured these children would probably lose interest in this kind of training or combat class later on. After all, warm-up exercises were usually done before training, and there was no slacking off.
He waved his hand, and the students filed out in order. He followed, being the last to leave the classroom.
Upon reaching the open space, everyone was already lined up, waiting for Shinji's instructions.
"Alright, for now, get ready to run five laps around the entire playground."
Shinji pointed to the marked area of the open ground.
"Huh?"
The students, who had expected to start the lesson directly, exchanged bewildered glances.
Ninja School's playground was not small.
And to run five laps? How exhausted would they be after just one lap?
Shinji was in no hurry, simply smiling with a gentle expression. "Without a good body, everything is empty talk."
Hearing their teacher say this, the students, who had been hoping for fewer laps, lowered their heads.
Naruto, in the crowd, immediately raised his hand and shouted loudly, "Okay, Shinji-sensei! I'll be the first to finish!"
His tone was very firm.
After speaking, he immediately started running around the playground.
Standing aside, Sasuke, seeing Naruto already in motion, lowered his clasped hands from in front of him. He then started running, following behind Naruto.
With someone leading, the remaining students no longer hesitated and all began to run.
Shinji stood in place, watching Naruto and Sasuke, who were competing with each other in the distance. Perhaps, later, he could have these two motivate the entire class. After all, once children of this age started competing, neither would ever concede.
After five laps of running, even the students of the Ninja World, who generally had higher physical fitness, couldn't help but collapse to the ground. They were panting continuously.
Shinji clapped his hands and shouted, "Are there any students who would like to volunteer to demonstrate how to use a shuriken?"
As soon as his voice fell, Naruto and Sasuke, who had been glancing at each other, immediately raised their hands.
"Shinji-sensei, me!"
"Shinji-sensei, me!"
Shinji was more inclined to have Sasuke demonstrate, as such things carried a certain risk. However, seeing the eager look on Naruto's face, he fell silent for a moment.
"Alright, but I'll explain the shuriken throwing method first. Both of you need to listen carefully."
Sasuke, hearing this, initially thought of saying it wasn't necessary, but seeing Naruto nod in agreement, he said no more.
Shinji flipped his hand, and a shuriken appeared in it. He crouched down and carefully explained the precautions to Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke was fine, but Naruto listened with a very serious expression.
After a while, Shinji stood up and looked at Naruto and Sasuke.
"Is everything clear?"
"Clear!"
Naruto quickly replied, while Sasuke, beside him, nodded somewhat helplessly.
"Good, then the shurikenjutsu class officially begins. Naruto, Sasuke, you two will demonstrate for your classmates first."
After Shinji finished speaking, he took out two shuriken and handed them to the two, then retreated a few steps.
Naruto held the shuriken and, following the grip Shinji had just explained, threw it towards the upright wooden stake.
Sasuke, not to be outdone, also threw his at the same time.
Thud—
A dull sound echoed, and the students, who had been sitting on the ground, all looked at the wooden stake.
When they saw only one shuriken slightly embedded in the stake, they let out exclamations.
"Wow, Sasuke, that's amazing!"
"Yeah, he hit it on his first throw."
"So cool! Sasuke! I like you!"
While the boys were relatively quiet, the girls cheered enthusiastically.
After all, Sasuke's appearance was striking, and he hadn't interacted much with his classmates these past two days. This kind of personality was attractive to this group of girls who were still children but overly mature.
Shinji glanced at the shuriken that had fallen next to the wooden stake, then looked at Naruto, who was almost completely white with shock.
Although Naruto had been arguably the most serious when listening, for a student holding a shuriken for the first time, this result was not surprising to Shinji.
Coming to their side, Shinji first praised Sasuke and told him to rest.
Then he turned to Naruto and said, "Naruto, doing this well on your first try is already very good."
Hearing Shinji's gentle voice, Naruto finally recovered.
Naruto looked at Shinji somewhat nervously, fearing that his performance might change Shinji's attitude towards him. Only after Shinji reassured him a few more times did he relax.
He patted his chest and promised, "Shinji-sensei, I will work hard later."
Shinji smiled and nodded, saying, "Consistent practice is all it takes, but you can try practicing with wooden shuriken first to avoid injuring yourself."
"Okay, Shinji-sensei." Naruto nodded quickly in response.
After telling Naruto to go and rest as well, Shinji then looked at the rest of the students and said, "Alright, students, let's continue."
"Two people per group, learn from each other."
"Yes, sensei."
After hearing their reply, Shinji allowed the eager students to pair up and come forward.
On the roof of Ninja School.
Hiruzen, who had just finished some documents, stood on the rooftop watching the students on the playground.
He had intended to approach Shinji today to discuss Naruto's situation. After all, Danzo had already been ordered by him last night to retract the actions he had taken behind his back.
However, after Iruka mentioned that Shinji had already gone for an outdoor class, he decided to come up to the roof to observe.
Watching Naruto, who was sitting on the ground but still competing with Sasuke, Hiruzen couldn't help but smile.
This was a unique bond, boys were all like this. His own disciples, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, had also been like that in the past.
However, thinking of Orochimaru, he couldn't help but sigh.
His most outstanding disciple, Orochimaru's defection, had led to the disintegration of the Sannin, who were the pillars of Konoha.