A heat bloomed behind Uchiha Itama's eyes.
In the next instant, he opened them.
Instinct told him something about his vision had changed.
He grabbed a mirror.
In the glass, a single tomoe turned slowly in each of his eyes.
"So this is the Sharingan."
He unlatched the window and looked outside.
A tiny mosquito drifted past.
His sight felt vastly sharper.
He could always see insects like this, but never with such clarity.
He found he could track it, even anticipate its next twitch in the air.
"This must be dynamic vision."
He knew the Sharingan fairly well.
As a reader, he had always skimmed the basic ninjutsu details.
But a system like the Sharingan, anyone would remember.
The Leaf had two special bloodline limits.
One was the Sharingan, the other the Byakugan.
The former enhanced the user, its hallmarks being motion tracking and, after evolving to the Mangekyo, unique abilities that differed from person to person.
The Byakugan granted x-ray sight and long range vision.
The next morning.
Itama had just stepped outside when he saw Uchiha Itachi.
"Itama, I heard Father started teaching you ninja skills. How is it going?"
A small figure popped out.
"Big brother Itachi, brother says he is a hundred times stronger than you now."
Itachi ruffled Sasuke's hair and smiled.
"Is that so."
"That is impressive."
He turned back to Itama.
"Training field?"
"All right."
Itama hesitated, then nodded.
They headed toward the grounds.
"Big brother, brother, wait for me."
Sasuke chased after them.
Uchiha Mikoto stood at the doorway, smiling at the three backs.
Beside her, a crease of worry showed between Uchiha Fugaku's brows.
"Fugaku, what is it?"
"Nothing."
He shook his head.
His suspicions about Itachi were still unproven.
He wanted to give Itachi another chance.
After all, Itachi was his son.
"Itama, how far have you gotten?"
"Just a few simple jutsu." Itama paused. "Since you have time, teach me shuriken throwing. Sasuke's favorite, after all, is shuriken."
Itachi glanced at Sasuke and nodded.
"Okay."
He turned to the target across the yard.
"For a ninja, shuriken are important tools. They are not powerful, but they are used everywhere and often produce unexpected results."
"To master them, three things matter most."
"First is focus."
"Second is feel."
"Third is intent."
Itachi said, "Focus helps you hit the mark. Feel comes only from long practice. Intent belongs to those truly skilled with shuriken."
"A few clever ideas can make a modest shuriken devastating, catching the enemy off guard. You could say it is the most important part."
"It sets the ceiling for what shuriken can do."
Itama understood.
First, hit at all.
Then, hit even under difficult conditions.
After that, add ideas the opponent does not anticipate.
In short, tactics.
"Watch closely."
Itachi flicked his wrist.
SWISH!
Air split with a sharp note.
THUNK!
The shuriken traced a perfect arc and nailed the bull's-eye. A crack spidered out from the point of impact.
"Itama, your turn."
"Okay."
He picked up a shuriken.
THUNK!
A hit, but not the center.
He had secretly practiced before, trailing behind Itachi and Fugaku.
The results had not been good.
His poor showing with shuriken had fed his belief that he was an ordinary Uchiha.
After all, this was the simplest of skills for a ninja.
Especially for one of the Uchiha.
Even after learning chakra extraction and ninjutsu with Fugaku, and realizing he was not ordinary but a genius, shuriken still did not inspire much confidence.
This time, though, he found he could see more clearly.
He had not activated the Sharingan, yet compared to before, everything was crisper.
Itachi nodded with a small smile.
"Hitting the target on your first try is already very good."
"When I started, I could not even hit the board."
"Itama, you are excellent."
"As long as you keep practicing, you will master shuriken for sure."