The field settled slowly after the endurance run.
Several students still stood bent forward with their hands on their knees, drawing deep breaths while the instructors recorded the final times on the board. Assistants moved across the training ground carrying equipment from the storage sheds near the edge of the field. Wooden target posts were driven into the earth in a long row while crates of practice shuriken were placed beside them.
Roen watched the preparation without speaking.
The layout made the next drill obvious before the instructor even announced it.
Once the targets were secured, the lead instructor stepped forward again.
"Next evaluation: shuriken accuracy."
A shift moved through the gathered students. The fatigue from the run faded quickly as interest replaced it. Many of them straightened where they stood. Several students from the Uchiha group exchanged quiet glances, their confidence more visible now that the drill favored precision rather than endurance.
The instructor continued once the murmurs quieted.
"Each student will throw three shuriken."
He gestured toward the targets.
"Different distances. Your score will be based on accuracy."
Three throwing lines had been marked in the dirt. The closest stood only several meters from the targets, the second roughly twice that distance, and the third far enough away that careless throws would scatter wide of the boards.
Instructors gathered near the scoreboard again, ready to record the results.
The first student stepped forward.
A fourth-year civilian boy stepped forward first. He lifted a shuriken, hesitated a moment too long while aiming, and released the throw with visible tension. The blade spun unevenly through the air before striking the board well outside the center rings. His second throw landed better. The third barely clipped the outer circle.
Several classmates offered quiet encouragement as he stepped away.
Another student followed and performed slightly better, landing one clean hit and two that struck the outer ring. The instructors marked the board without comment.
Roen watched the pattern forming.
The drill continued.
When the clan students began stepping forward, the difference became more noticeable. A Nara boy released his shuriken with controlled wrist movement that sent two of the three blades into the middle rings. An Aburame student followed with similar precision, though his third throw drifted wide.
Kazuma Hyūga stepped to the line a few turns later. His stance remained steady as he released each blade in smooth succession. None of the throws struck the exact center, but all three landed within the inner rings.
A few approving murmurs passed through the students watching from behind the line.
Then another Uchiha stepped forward. Renji, a sixth-year student who trained in the same class as Kazuma.
His throws carried a sharper snap of the wrist, the blades cutting through the air with confident rotation. One after another they struck the board with clean accuracy, each landing within the inner circles.
The instructors updated the scoreboard.
The murmuring grew slightly louder.
The next name called silenced it almost immediately.
"Uchiha Itachi."
Itachi stepped forward without reaction to the attention around him. His movement remained calm as he selected the first shuriken from the crate and settled his stance at the throwing line.
He did not take long to aim.
The first blade left his hand and struck the center circle with a clean, solid sound. The second followed with identical control. The third struck the same mark so closely that the blades nearly overlapped.
A quiet wave moved through the watching students.
The instructor recorded the score without comment, though the board now showed Itachi clearly at the top.
Itachi returned to the group as calmly as he had stepped forward.
Roen was called several turns later.
He approached the line and picked up a shuriken from the crate. Shuriken work had never been his primary focus. His training leaned more heavily toward blade control and close combat, though the fundamentals remained familiar enough.
The first throw landed cleanly within the inner ring.
The second struck closer to the center.
His third release drifted slightly wider, the blade striking just outside the central mark.
A strong result, though not perfect.
The instructors marked the board.
When Roen stepped back into line, the updated rankings showed the shift clearly.
1 — Itachi
2 — Uchiha Renji
3 — Roen
The balance between them remained.
Near the scoreboard, two instructors exchanged a few quiet words.
"Those two again."
"First years."
One of them lifted his gaze briefly toward the surrounding trees before returning his attention to the field.
The motion was subtle, but Roen noticed it.
The observer remained there.
The figure beneath the branches had not moved since the beginning of the evaluation.
Once the final student completed the drill, the lead instructor stepped forward again.
"Final evaluation: taijutsu sparring."
The reaction among the students was immediate. Excitement spread through some of them while others shifted their weight nervously, already imagining the matchups that might follow.
Assistants moved quickly to clear the throwing area while the sparring circles drawn earlier in the dirt became the center of attention.
Roen watched the instructors as they gathered near the list of names.
The pairings were being written down.
He studied the way the instructors glanced toward certain students while organising the order.
This was not random.
The lead instructor turned back toward the field.
He began calling the first pairs.
Roen waited.
His name had not been called yet.
And he already understood that whoever stepped into the circle with him would not be chosen by chance.