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"Alright, Naruto, it's your turn."
Naruto stepped forward a few steps and took the kunai Iruka handed him. Aim. Throw! And then nothing happened. Naruto's kunai didn't even hit the target; it completely missed.
Naruto: "..."
This left Naruto, who had high expectations for himself and wanted to perform well, feeling dejected on the spot.
"Iruka-sensei, can I try again?"
"It's okay." Iruka said, "Naruto, it's alright that you failed. This is just your first attempt. It's normal to fail. I wasn't very good at it back in the day either. Just practice slowly in the future. Today is mainly for you all to try it out."
Naruto looked at Iruka. "Iruka-sensei, did you miss the target too?"
"No, I didn't." Naruto showed a disappointed expression and stepped back.
"Next."
Uchiha Sasuke stepped forward. "Sensei, I'll go."
"Alright." Uchiha Sasuke took the kunai from Iruka's hand.
"Whoosh!" The next moment. "Ding!" Uchiha Sasuke's kunai hit the bullseye precisely.
Before entering the ninja academy, Uchiha Sasuke had undergone related training, including kunai and shuriken. Uchiha Sasuke's favorite thing was pestering Uchiha Itachi to teach him shuriken techniques.
"Amazing!"
"Sasuke is the best!" A group of girls, led by Sakura, cheered.
One by one, the students stepped forward. A small portion missed the target. Many could hit it. But only a few could hit the bullseye.
Uchiha Setsuna didn't expect the students' level to be so poor.
"Uchiha Setsuna." Iruka called out Uchiha Setsuna's name.
Uchiha Sasuke couldn't help but look over. As did Yamanaka Ino and Hyuga Hinata. But besides them, no one else paid attention.
The rift between the Uchiha and Konoha was already quite deep, and most people subconsciously resisted the Uchiha. Moreover, Uchiha Setsuna didn't perform as outstandingly as Uchiha Sasuke. By now, there were even people in the class who couldn't recognize Uchiha Setsuna.
Uchiha Setsuna stepped forward and took the kunai. 'If I can't aim for the bullseye, then aim for the third line, at one o'clock.'
Uchiha Setsuna flicked his wrist. "Whoosh!" The next moment, the kunai flew out. It hit precisely. The position it hit was exactly where Uchiha Setsuna had aimed.
"You hit it, well done, Setsuna." Iruka showed an encouraging smile. "Keep it up."
"Yes, Iruka-sensei." Uchiha Setsuna stepped back.
Originally, Uchiha Setsuna didn't intend to hide his skills in the kunai throwing class, but he didn't expect the students' performance to be so poor. Most of the class had already completed their first throw, but only Uchiha Sasuke had hit the bullseye. This meant that as long as Uchiha Setsuna hit the bullseye, he would stand out.
"Hyuga Hinata." Iruka called out Hyuga Hinata's name.
Hyuga Hinata stepped forward. "Whoosh!" Hit the bullseye. Like Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuga Hinata had also undergone a lot of ninja training before entering the academy. That's the advantage of a good background. Many students don't have such conditions.
"Well done, keep it up."
"Yes, Sensei." Hyuga Hinata stepped back and stood not far from Uchiha Setsuna. Hyuga Hinata glanced at Uchiha Setsuna.
From the first time she saw Uchiha Setsuna, Hyuga Hinata felt he looked familiar. And recently, images related to Uchiha Setsuna often appeared in Hyuga Hinata's mind. This left Hyuga Hinata feeling confused.
After hesitating for a long time, Hyuga Hinata took a step closer to where Uchiha Setsuna was. Finally gathering the courage, just as she was about to say something, Uchiha Setsuna moved to the side and quietly continued practicing kunai throwing.
In the real world, Uchiha Setsuna absolutely didn't want to get close to the Hyuga clan. The amount of chakra in his body, the Hyuga clan's Byakugan could easily detect something unusual.
Yamanaka Ino's affection for him, Uchiha Setsuna was well aware of. Hyuga Hinata's affection, Uchiha Setsuna was a bit puzzled by. But it seemed to exist.
If there hadn't been the night of the massacre, if the Uchiha clan's relationship with Konoha hadn't been so bad, if the Konoha higher-ups weren't targeting the Uchiha clan, if there wasn't Uchiha Itachi... Uchiha Setsuna would be happy to interact with them. But Uchiha Setsuna knew about the future, so he couldn't do that.
For their goodwill, he could only refuse. For their affection, he could only distance himself.
'This is fate.'
Uchiha Setsuna couldn't help but look towards the Hokage building.
'Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu... none of them are good. Uchiha Itachi, calling him a beast isn't an exaggeration. Uchiha Fugaku, weak and incompetent to the extreme. I also want to live a normal life.'
In the life simulator, Uchiha Fugaku's performance left Uchiha Setsuna very disappointed. Uchiha Setsuna no longer cared about the life or death of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto. But Uchiha Sayu, Uchiha Homura, Uchiha Riko... These people, Uchiha Setsuna absolutely wouldn't allow them to die at the hands of Uchiha Itachi or Konoha.
Uchiha Setsuna looked at Uchiha Sasuke. Right now, Uchiha Sasuke didn't know anything, so he could live happily. Uchiha Setsuna felt a bit envious.
The bell for the end of class rang, and Uchiha Setsuna walked out of the classroom, quickly heading home.
"Uchiha Setsuna." Uchiha Sasuke caught up.
"Hmm?"
"You train during the weekends, right? How about we train together next weekend? You can ask me anything you don't understand, and I'll tell you everything."
Uchiha Setsuna: "..."
"Let's talk about it next time."
Uchiha Setsuna didn't say much to Uchiha Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke opened his mouth, watching Uchiha Setsuna's back, and had to swallow the words that were about to come out.
Back home.
"Grandpa, I'm back."
Uchiha Setsuna once again refused Uchiha Sasuke's invitation to train together. However, this made Uchiha Setsuna feel a bit of urgency. The more Uchiha Sasuke interacted with him, the more likely Uchiha Itachi would notice him. Uchiha Setsuna couldn't guarantee what Uchiha Itachi would do. If Uchiha Itachi found out he was hiding his strength, he might take action.
'I should avoid Uchiha Sasuke as much as possible in the future. Uchiha Sasuke wants to help me, out of goodwill. But for me, it's trouble.'