NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5: Chapter:5
Iruka looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Naruto…"
"Sorry Iruka-sensei." Naruto sighed as he let his anger go, "It's been a pretty shitty week for me."
"Still sore about that spar against Sasuke?" Iruka guessed.
The blond pulled a sour face. He had been paired against Sasuke in a spar the previous day. The 'Avenger' had sucker punched him out of the arena.
"The bastard needs to be taken down a peg." Naruto grumbled, "I'm not going to let him win just like that! No way! I don't give up!"
"Good attitude." Iruka noted with a smile, "Now try your hand at the throwing range, OK?"
"Gotcha!" Naruto strapped on his new holster and walked to the edge of the range. The target dummies of the Academy Shuriken Range, known affectionately as 'Training-kun', are human shaped straw dummies with red and white circular target boards on them. There are five boards on the body; one per hand, one on the head, one over the heart and one over the groin area.
The centre of each of each target board is referred to as a vital area. Any hit with a kunai or shuriken to that area counts as a disabling hit to that area. In the case of the head and heart area, it counts as a kill shot.
"{Observe}" Naruto whispered as he hefted one of his new shuriken into his line of sight as he pretended to get a good idea of how much it weighed.
[Academy Shuriken]
An average-quality shuriken used by students of the Konohagakure Shinobi Academy. It is well balanced and can, in a pinch, be used in combat, although this is more of a practice weapon than an actual weapon.
Thrown Weapon
LV3
10 Damage
OK, so this shuriken is five times as effective as the damn fake ones he had been using up until now AND there is noaccuracy penalty to using these ones, so he hoped he could at least get a decent score.
With a quick flick of the wrist, he sent the shuriken he held at the target, but misjudged it because of how light it was compared to his old ones, so it flew wide, missing the dummy altogether.
"Dammit!" Naruto cursed, "OK, test throw over. Now to get serious…"
Naruto then pulled another shuriken from his holster and, after confirming that it was indeed another Academy Shuriken, threw it at the dummy, aiming for the groin area of the Training-kun dummy.
{THUNK}
"Ata! Dead centre!" Naruto fist-pumped at his successful hit, although he mentally winced at the thought of being struck there of all places by a shuriken. Ouch.
To Naruto's delight, the next three throws were just a successful, with three shots to the centre of the head, heart and left arm. He missed the centre of the right arm just barely according to Iruka-sensei, but Naruto still felt good about his accuracy currently being 90%.
He moved three paced to his left so he could target a fresh Training-kun and then let loose with his remaining five shuriken, scoring a hit with every single throw.
"Aw hell yeah!" Naruto celebrated. He had just scored 90% with 9 hits out of 10. As he expected, another small box appeared.
[Congratulations!]
Objective Complete! You attained a hit ratio of 80% or more!
Objective Completion Reward: + 100 EXP, +1 DEX.
Bonus Objective Completion Reward: Mystery Award from Iruka after the quest is over.
Hidden Objective Reward: Attain a hit ratio of 90% or more: +200 EXP.
Even as he was reading that one, another box popped up over part of it.
As a result of a specific action, the skill [Shurikenjutsu] had been created.
[Shurikenjutsu] (Passive/Active) [Level 1, 00.00 EXP] [5 CP]
Shurikenjutsu is the art of thrown weapons. Any handheld bladed weapon that has [Thrown Weapon] in its description can be used with this skill. Shuriken, Senbon and Kunai are a few examples.
Passively increases DEX by 2%
Passively increases damage with Thrown Weapons by 5%
Actively increases accuracy of Thrown Weapons by 5%
'I already knew how to throw shuriken before I got this skill!' Naruto yelled to himself in a fit of pique, 'I mean c'mon!…Gah! Another one just popped up!'
Through diligent training, your DEX had increased by 1.
Naruto decided to just dismiss the odd messages and figure out what they were all about later. He turned to face Iruka-sensei and waved his hands in what seemed like a random, excitable way, but was in fact him hitting the button-like things that closed the boxes.
"Did ya see that Iruka-sensei?" Naruto yelled excitedly, "I did it!"
"So you did." Iruka smiled at the boy who was practically bouncing with excitement, "Now, the last part of the training I'm going to give you is Taijutsu. I want you to show me your forms for the Academy's Hakage Style and I'll correct your forms as needed. Then we'll have a spar. Sound good to you, Naruto?"
"Hell yeah!" Naruto cheered. He reallywanted to get better at Taijutsu so he could wipe the smirk off Sasuke's brooding, smug face.
That and maybe prove to Sakura that he wasn't a complete loser.
[Quest Update!]
You're on the final leg now. Demonstrate your Hakage Style Taijutsu to Iruka and allow him to make corrections to your stances, punches and kicks before you engage in a spar with him.