The peaceful routine of academy life meant that even the slightest disturbance spread like wildfire.
Akira had barely returned to his seat before Hiruko leaned over.
“Akira, I heard you challenged one of the Uchiha kids to a fight tonight.
Is it true?” Akira raised an eyebrow.
The news spread that fast?
He had only just challenged the guy, and somehow the rumor had already traveled from the fourth years to the second years.
Did these students seriously have nothing better to do?
There was no reason to hide it from Hiruko, so he nodded.
Hiruko immediately became excited.
Ever since mastering the Rasengan, he’d constantly felt like a hero with no battlefield, armed with a dragon-slaying technique but with no dragon to slay.
Now he finally had a chance to use it.
Seeing his enthusiasm, Akira quickly poured some cold water on it.
“Don’t get carried away.
At the end of the day, we’re all students from the same village.
It’s just a friendly spar.
Even if something unexpected happens, it’s nowhere near the point where you’d need to use the Rasengan.
Don’t get so excited that you accidentally hit someone too hard.” Hiruko looked a little disappointed.
Beside them, Tsunade had been quietly reading.
She flicked Hiruko squarely on the forehead.
Ignoring his bewildered expression, she planted her hands on her hips.
“Hiruko, I’ve realized something’s wrong with the way you think.
Why would you even consider using a technique that powerful against a fellow Konoha shinobi?
You’re not secretly planning to become a missing-nin, are you?
Akira trusted you enough to teach you his trump card.
If you ever betray Konoha, just see what I’ll do to you.” Hiruko immediately cried out in protest.
“I was just thinking about backing Akira up!
How does that make my thinking twisted?
I’m an outstanding inheritor of the Will of Fire!
I’m going to become one of the village’s pillars in the future!
How did that turn into betraying Konoha?” Akira coughed awkwardly.
Some time ago, while chatting idly with Tsunade, he’d jokingly made up a story about dreaming that Hiruko would one day single-handedly start the Fourth Ninja World War before ultimately being defeated by Akira’s Rasengan.
It had only been a silly story to kill time.
Unfortunately, Tsunade seemed to have taken it as a prophetic dream.
Every now and then she’d suspect Hiruko was destined to go rogue and become the great villain from Akira’s story.
Akira honestly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
While Hiruko really had become the main antagonist in one of the Naruto movies, that was a world where Akira didn’t exist.
Ever since his arrival, history had already changed.
He simply didn’t believe the Hiruko standing before him would ever betray Konoha.
Their personalities were completely different now.
The Hiruko of today was cheerful and outgoing, nothing like the deeply insecure boy whose inferiority toward the Sannin had consumed him in the movie.
After more than a year of surviving under the relentless pressure created by two ultimate study maniacs, Akira and Tsunade, Hiruko’s mental fortitude had undergone a complete transformation.
The timid, overly sensitive child had become someone with skin thick enough that almost nothing bothered him anymore.
A personality like that simply wasn’t going to “go dark.” Anyone capable of surviving alongside two people as obsessive as Akira and Tsunade wasn’t mentally weak.
Tsunade knew that too.
She was simply getting fed up with studying and had decided to vent her frustration by teasing Hiruko.
It was her way of relieving academic stress.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ After school, everyone gathered at Training Ground Thirteen.
Nearly the entire second-year class had shown up.
As soon as they heard that the top student of their grade was challenging an upperclassman, everyone became excited.
No one needed convincing, they all came on their own to support Akira.
Akira was genuinely touched.
When Mitsukage arrived at the training ground, he froze.
…Whoa.
Why are there so many people?
Are they planning to gang up on me?
I only brought two friends…
｡°(°¯᷄◠¯᷅°)°｡ Mitsukage had indeed brought only two companions.
One was Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
The other was Akimichi Mame.
The Uchiha rarely had many friends in the village.
Others tended to keep their distance from the Uchiha, and the Uchiha returned the favor.
These two were exceptions because of their fathers’ close relationships.
Shinnosuke was the son of Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Mame was the daughter of Akimichi Torifu.
Hiruzen and Torifu had been teammates under Tobirama alongside Kagami.
Having grown up together for well over a decade, they were extremely close.
They married around the same time, and naturally their children were all about the same age.
Since the parents were close, the children had become friends as well.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Akira and Mitsukage formed the Seal of Confrontation.
The next instant, both of them leaped backward simultaneously, widening the distance.
Almost in perfect sync, both flung handfuls of shuriken.
The differently sized projectiles collided midair, scattering bright sparks in every direction.
As the shuriken flew past Akira, Mitsukage suddenly pulled both hands.
Nearly invisible wires appeared, redirecting the shuriken in flight.
Several wires shot toward Akira, attempting to bind him.
Akira merely sneered.
He tossed down a smoke bomb.
His figure instantly disappeared.
The shuriken sliced harmlessly through the smoke before Mitsukage reeled them back in.
Rather than throwing them again, he drew a kunai from his pouch and remained on guard.
A heartbeat later— Three arrows shot toward him from three different directions.
Mitsukage’s expression changed.
He performed two rapid backflips.
Only then did he realize…
The arrows weren’t aimed at him.
Instead, they struck the ground around him.
The three arrows landed in a triangle, surrounding him.
The strange liquid burning on their tips erupted into towering flames, creating three walls of fire that sealed off every direction except above.
The sky was his only escape.
But Mitsukage doubted he could leap into the air without exposing himself to Akira’s next attack.
The Uchiha were masters of fire.
The “Fire” in the title Hokage represented the Uchiha’s Fire Release, while the “Wood” of Konoha came from Senju Hashirama’s Wood Release, a symbolic agreement made between Hashirama and Madara themselves.
No one understood fire better than the Uchiha.
Watching Akira try to trap him with flames…
Mitsukage almost laughed.
After only a brief glance around, he rapidly formed hand seals.
“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!” A massive fireball burst from his mouth, blasting straight through the wall of flames.
In an instant, he escaped the trap.
But the moment he broke free— Another arrow arrived.
Its timing was flawless.
It struck precisely during the instant when Mitsukage had exhausted his previous momentum but had yet to regain his balance.
The arrow flew directly toward his eye.
His expression changed dramatically.
He desperately tilted his head aside.
The arrow barely missed.
The next moment— The arrow transformed into Akira.
With a single palm strike, Akira slammed his hand against Mitsukage’s back.
Four Limbs Heavy Seal.
Mitsukage’s entire body went numb.
He couldn’t move.
Shinnosuke immediately rushed forward, throwing himself between them.
“We surrender!
Don’t hurt Mitsukage!” Akira shoved him aside with one hand.
“Relax.
Who said I was going to hurt him?
You’re awfully dramatic.” He casually released the seal on Mitsukage before smiling and forming the Seal of Reconciliation.
“Let’s introduce ourselves properly.” “I’m Akira, the top student of the second year.” Mitsukage flexed his slightly trembling fingers before returning the Seal of Reconciliation.
“Akira…” A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Good.
I’ll remember that name.” CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Hidden_Quill Thank you so much for reading!