Chapter 29. Control

When Natsuki observed Sasuke's frustrated appearance, he refrained from immediate explanations.

Instead, he waved, summoning a member of the Uchiha clan to the outer courtyard.

"Find one of our Uchiha genin, the younger, the better," Natsuki ordered.

"Yes."

After a while, a young Uchiha genin arrived for the task.

"What's your name? Have you opened your eyes?" He inquired.

The visitor responded calmly, "Back to Sir Natsuki, my name is Kota, and I haven't opened my eyes yet."

Natsuki nodded, saying, "Attack me now, use all means."

Uchiha Kota didn't waste words, swiftly adopting a fighting stance.

"Sasuke, watch carefully," Natsuki reminded, signaling for him to join them.

Kota moved with agility, retrieving shurikens from his bag and accurately throwing them.

Natsuki skillfully dodged each shot. Seizing an opportunity, Kota formed hand seals, unleashing a powerful fireball technique toward Natsuki's reserved path.

Once again, Natsuki swiftly avoided the fireball. Kota abandoned the fireball technique, evaded Natsuki's hand knife, and delivered a quick kick.

Though Natsuki allowed Kota to attack for a round, he effortlessly kicked Kota away when the genin attempted a mid-air kick.

"Okay, that's enough. Don't engage in too many physical movements before opening your eyes," He calmly advised.

"Yes! Thank you, sir!" Kota expressed his gratitude and left without further questions.

"Do you understand, Sasuke?" Natsuki queried.

"Is the teacher saying I move too much?"

Thwack!

Natsuki lightly hit Sasuke on the head.

"Wrong!" Natsuki exclaimed, and Sasuke rubbed his head.

"Your fault isn't that you have too many taijutsu moves, or that you throw shurikens poorly, or that you use the powerful fireball poorly," Natsuki explained, "It's your lack of control over them."

"Control?" Sasuke raised his head.

"Yes, it's not a disadvantage that our Uchiha style has many taijutsu moves. Having more moves can make our attack methods more varied. Fists, feet, elbows, shoulders, knees, etc.—all these can be the places we attack," Natsuki continued.

"Our Uchiha fluid arts can be as graceful and gorgeous as dancing on swords."

"But there is a requirement for this, and that is the Sharingan."

"Sharingan?"

"Without the assistance of Sharingan, you cannot keep up with the opponent's speed and cannot adjust your taijutsu in time. Then the movements of Uchiha-style taijutsu become repetitious."

"Oh!" Sasuke suddenly realized that Itachi praised him while learning the Uchiha fluid technique because Itachi possessed the Sharingan.

'But if I still use these actions without the Sharingan, I have absolutely no control over them.'

"Your shuriken is very accurate, but you have to know that your enemy is not a target that just stands still. Just throwing the shuriken is useless. You also need to predict the enemy's hiding position."

"If you can't predict the enemy's reaction, then what's the purpose of throwing your shuriken? Do you expect the enemy to stand still and be killed by your shuriken?"

"Your brother Itachi's shurikens are quite famous. He can change the landing point of the shurikens by colliding with each other in the middle of their flight."

"When you were performing the arrogant fireball technique, you couldn't see where your enemy was at all, and you didn't even know to interrupt the technique when the enemy was in front of you. Will the enemy wait until you finish using the ninjutsu before hitting you?"

"The fireball doesn't need to be set too big; it just needs to be set for a long time. It's about controlling the time and opportunity to release it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sasuke kept nodding. The more he listened, the more it made sense. Fighting and training are two completely different things.

It turns out that before, his brother was really just playing games with him.

"Whenever you throw a shuriken, which way will the enemy dodge? You should continue to use the shuriken to create opportunities for yourself or use fire escape to force the opponent into your trap."

"You need to figure out one thing," Natsuki raised a finger.

"The powerful fireball technique that everyone in Uchiha knows is usually only used to compress the enemy's position or to use flames to cover one's body and attack."

"There are very few ninjas who have truly died due to the Fireball Jutsu."

"Yes, teacher! I understand!" Sasuke now knew that he still had a lot to learn.

Natsuki stretched out his hand and tapped Sasuke's forehead: "You can't control your power at all now. When you can use ninjutsu and shoot shuriken at moving targets, I will teach you again."

"Also, you are not allowed to use Uchiha Fluid Technique before opening."

"I understand, sensei." 

On the contrary, his relationship with him has become much closer.

"Mastering all the skills you know is a required course for a strong person."

"Sasuke, you want to become a strong man. Then every time you learn a skill, you must fully master it before you can use it to fight."

"Otherwise, you will most likely be killed by yourself."

"Yes, teacher!"

Looking at Sasuke, who is now well-behaved and obedient, Natsuki still likes him very much.

No matter how much Sasuke can remember what he said, as long as he is no longer so arrogant and more down-to-earth, his achievements will only be higher.

"Okay, school starts tomorrow. You go and get ready. You are almost 6 years old, and your brother graduated from the ninja school when he was seven."

"Don't worry, teacher, I'm Itachi's younger brother. I will definitely be able to graduate early." Sasuke's face was full of confidence.

Natsuki waved his hand.

Itachi graduated early because of environmental reasons, and there was a shortage of people on the battlefield.

Basically, anyone who can throw a shuriken or use a substitute technique would go to the battlefield, especially a genius like Itachi.

"Ninja school is a good place to lay the foundation. You also need to learn to get along with others in school. Being able to communicate well with your peers is also something you need to learn."

"If you get first place in Ninja School, then consider graduating early."

"Teacher, I will definitely get first place!" Sasuke said firmly.

...

The border of the Land of Fire.

Uchiha and his party, who have been traveling and dining along the way, are finally about to enter the country of fields. Everyone is very tired from the journey.

Many Uchiha quickly take out sleeping items from the storage scrolls and set up tents, using Water release to get water and Fire release to make fire.

Some team members, if quick enough, go to the surrounding area to hunt for prey, and others gather wood to prepare cooking utensils. Everything goes smoothly.

After a while, several team members successfully shoot a deer and a wild boar, providing enough food. Itachi takes out the plan that Natsuki gave him and starts reading it.

Shisui sits next to Itachi. Itachi raises his head and asks, "Has your eye recovered?"

Shisui nods, "It's the first time I've used another technique against so many people. I thought the power of both eyes would be exhausted, but now there's only one left."

"Natsuki-senpai should have made a plan. Your remaining eye will be useful here."

Shisui notices a familiar name in the direction Itachi is pointing: Orochimaru.