Hokage, no one knows better than me how to cultivate talent.

Naruto took a deep breath, gripped his kunai tightly, aimed at the target, and swung it forcefully.

The first one went astray, grazing the edge of the target.

"I...I accidentally dropped it," Naruto quickly explained.

The second one was even more off-target than the first, almost hitting the target next to it.

"I'm so nervous." Naruto's forehead began to sweat.

The third one didn't go off course, but it wasn't strong enough and fell to the ground halfway through.

"..." Everyone fell silent.

Naruto panicked, his face turning bright red, and shouted, "I still have a powerful move I haven't used yet!"

He grabbed the remaining six shuriken and, without caring about any particular posture, flung them all out with his eyes closed.

As a result, most of them lost momentum in mid-air and landed sparsely in front of the target, without touching it at all.

The students watching were repeatedly filled with anticipation, only to be dashed again and again.

No, buddy...

Judging from your posture just now, we really thought you had some skills.

Is that all?

It's always like this, with no twists or turns. We'll find it hard to trust you anymore.

Naruto froze on the spot, his face flushed red. Even with his thick skin, he felt utterly humiliated.

Qiu Shui spoke up at the right moment, saying gently, "It's normal to fail at throwing. Don't worry about it. As long as you practice diligently, you'll be able to hit the target soon."

The students then regained their attention and continued to line up to try.

In the subsequent throwing practice, most people performed only moderately, without anything particularly outstanding.

Aside from Sasuke Uchiha, the best performer was surprisingly Shino Aburame.

He was calm and focused when he made his move, and four out of the five shuriken hit the bullseye steadily. His movements were clean and neat, which made Qiu Shui take a second look.

Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka were both unwilling to admit defeat, provoking each other while secretly glancing at Sasuke. However, when it was their turn, whether due to nervousness or some other reason, their aim was rather poor.

For the remaining two lessons, Qiu Shui had them alternate between running and shuriken throwing.

Qiu Shui began to teach them some techniques. He stood at the front of the group, demonstrating and explaining at the same time: "When running, don't just breathe through your mouth. Inhale every three steps and exhale every two steps. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. This will prevent your breathing from becoming too disordered and will allow you to last longer. Don't swing your arms too much, as this will waste energy. Keep your arms relaxed and swing them back and forth, not side to side."

In the past, even with the added advantage of his talent, the content he taught would have been similar to that of other teachers. But yesterday, he happened to acquire the max-level shuriken throwing technique, which came in handy.

Naruto listened attentively, carefully recalling his running posture and breathing method, which were completely opposite to what Teacher Shusui had said.

Did I just waste all those years of training?

He felt uneasy.

Qiu Shui continued, "When throwing the kunai, don't keep your wrist stiff. At the last moment of release, there should be a slight tremor so that the kunai will spin steadily after it flies out."

He picked up his shuriken and demonstrated, then corrected their postures one by one. His movements were simple and clear, and his explanations were easy to understand.

After a group of boys finished running ten more laps, one of them exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, don't you guys feel that running like Teacher Qiushui said really isn't so tiring?"

He wiped the sweat from his face, still panting, but his eyes were full of disbelief.

In the past, he would have collapsed to the ground long ago, but today he was just panting heavily.

Another boy chimed in, looking at the kunai on the target not far away, and said, "Yeah, yeah, I think so too. I only hit it once before, and it wasn't even in the center. Now I've hit it twice out of three times, and both times it was in the center."

The others nodded in agreement.

Qiu Shui stood aside, silently observing the students' throwing training.

Compared to the chaotic scene at the beginning, things have clearly improved now; at least most people can throw kunai at the target.

He nodded slightly.

In fact, Qiu Shui was fully capable of explaining all these techniques and rules clearly from the beginning, but he deliberately didn't.

Because some things are best experienced firsthand before listening to explanations; the latter is more effective.

Let students explore, make mistakes, and experience failure on their own first. Only when they have doubts and comparisons in their minds can you give them some guidance. Only then will they be able to listen and remember.

If you cram all the techniques into your head from the beginning, it's just a bunch of empty theories that you'll forget in a couple of days.

Some truths are easier to understand than being told them a hundred times, than to be truly understood by taking a fall.

Naruto Uzumaki stood alone in front of the target, holding a kunai in his hand, his eyes fixed on the bullseye in the distance.

He kept replaying the techniques that Master Qiushui had just taught him in his mind, adjusting his hand gestures again and again, and then throwing out the kunai, but unfortunately, it had little effect.

The ground was covered with kunai that he had missed throwing.

Qiu Shui walked to his side and said gently, "Naruto, don't be in such a hurry."

Naruto turned his head, a rare look of confusion in his eyes: "Shusui-sensei...am I really that bad?"

He was indeed starting to have doubts about life.

Since starting class, he hasn't hit the target once with his ninja tools, not even as well as the girls.

Qiu Shui shook her head and comforted her, "Nothing can be accomplished in one go. Behind every seemingly easy success lies countless hours of practice."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Keep practicing, I'll watch from the side and help you correct your mistakes."

Naruto nodded, gripped the kunai tightly again, and prepared to throw it.

"Your posture is wrong."

Qiu Shui gestured for him to stop, then picked up a kunai and slowly demonstrated, saying, "Hold the handle between your index and middle fingers, and press down on the ring with your thumb; that's how you keep it steady."

Naruto stared at his gestures and awkwardly adjusted his own fingers.

The kunai spun halfway in his hand, almost falling off. He quickly grabbed it, then realized something was wrong, let go, and rearranged it again.

After fiddling around for a while, he finally looked up at Qiu Shui and asked, "Is that so?"

Qiu Shui glanced at it and said, "Your fingers are in the right position, but you're gripping too tightly. Loosen your grip a bit, like you're holding chopsticks, not a clenched fist."

Naruto relaxed a little, looked down at himself, and, satisfied, took a deep breath, raised his arm, and aimed at the target—

With a forceful flick.

The kunai traced a slightly skewed arc in the air, and then—

"Yes."

It struck the edge of the target.

Although it was only on the edge, and although it was crooked and twisted, it did manage to get there.

Naruto paused for a second.

Then he jumped up.

"Hey, I won! Teacher Qiushui, did you see that? I won!"

Qiu Shui gave a thumbs up and earnestly praised, "Naruto, well done."