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"I don't know who that guy was… but Sound Ninja are seriously mysterious. We still don't even know who's running the show over there," Shikaku said, looking worried.
"Well, it looks like he's gone. We should get back to the village and report this as soon as we can," Gai added. Everyone agreed and started heading out.
"Already that strong, huh… That insanely fast kunai just now, and the way he vanished in a flash… Flying Thunder God… What was that?" Neji stared seriously at Akio's back. "He's the same age as me… I'm supposed to be a genius, but this guy's on another level. If he's that much stronger than me, then what does that make him…?"
Once Akio and the others were gone, a figure stepped out from behind a tree. He peeled off a layer of skin from his face, revealing a blood-covered cheek. He licked the blood clean with a long, snake-like tongue as he stared at the charred, human-skin mask he held.
"Minato's adopted son, huh? Interesting…" The man was none other than Orochimaru. Seeing Akio reminded him that this boy was the adopted son of Minato—the Minato who had taken the Hokage title from him. Minato was dead now, but that old grudge lived on, and the moment he saw Akio, that killing intent flared up again. Akio had felt it, if only for a second.
It was that sudden spike of killing intent that made Akio instinctively throw his Lightning-style kunai, which had ended up wounding Orochimaru.
"The Chūnin Exams, huh… I'll have to give this little brat some special attention," Orochimaru said with a sinister grin.
Back at the main gates of Konoha, Akio and the others finally returned.
"I'll report everything that happened out there to Lord Third," Gai said, then left with his Team 3 squad. Tenten waved goodbye to Akio.
Akio smiled and waved back at her.
"That guy had insane reflexes. He dodged the combo of Flying Thunder God and Rasengan like it was nothing. He's at least elite jōnin level. And someone like that's lurking around the outskirts of the village…" Akio still hadn't realized the man he encountered was Orochimaru. He just assumed he was an elite Sound Ninja sent to gather intel.
"Most likely reconnaissance. The ANBU will probably be looking into it soon," Shikaku told Akio. "Still, the fact you were able to catch an elite jōnin off guard—that's impressive."
"I just got lucky. Took him by surprise, and even then, I barely grazed him. If it was a straight-up fight, I'd be dead by now."
"Not cocky, not arrogant. Good," Shikaku nodded approvingly.
"It's getting late. See you tomorrow, Shikaku-sensei," Akio said after glancing at the sky. Shikaku nodded, and they went their separate ways.
Akio strolled through the streets of Konoha, eventually ending up at Ichiraku Ramen for a bowl of noodles. After that, he wandered to the lake, sat down by the water, and stared at the rippling surface.
The lake gently swayed, much like his thoughts. Ever since he ended up in this world, things had gone relatively smoothly. He was strong enough to either fight or flee when needed. Life had settled into a peaceful rhythm.
But he was still too young—and he'd taken on the responsibility of protecting Naruto. That meant he'd have to go up against Naruto's enemies: the Akatsuki, the Ōtsutsuki clan… People way beyond his current level. He had to become stronger.
But chasing that strength would destroy the quiet life he'd finally earned.
"I still don't even know how I ended up in this world. What's the point of stumbling around confused like this?" he muttered, throwing a rock into the lake. It sank without a splash.
"Who are you?" came a voice from behind him.
Akio turned around. It was Sasuke Uchiha. Standing up, Akio said, "Akio."
"You're Uchiha Sasuke, right?"
"Akio?" Sasuke furrowed his brow. The name sounded familiar. "Ah, Bofeng Akio. That's it."
"Yeah," Akio nodded.
"This is my spot. You should leave," Sasuke said bluntly—basically telling him he was on his turf.
"Is that so?" Akio just chuckled, walked up to him, and said, "You're nothing like him." Then he left, leaving Sasuke standing there, totally confused.
"Not like Naruto at all… Ashura and Indra's reincarnations, huh…" Akio shook his head, then headed home, tidied up, and went to bed.
After that, it was back to doing boring missions—until the day Naruto got assigned to his team. Just like usual, Akio met up with Shikaku at Training Ground Three. He grabbed a quick breakfast and brought along an apple. But today, there were some extra faces at the training ground.
Akio and Shikaku arrived from opposite directions. In the middle of the clearing were three kids already sitting and waiting: Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. So today was their team formation day.
"Hey, Akio! What are you doing here?!" Naruto jumped up when he saw him and ran over.
"I always meet up here," Akio said casually. "You guys got assigned to a team?"
"Yup! Kakashi-sensei told us to be here at seven—and didn't even let us eat! But it's already way past that and he's still not here!" Naruto clutched his rumbling stomach.
"You haven't eaten?" Akio reached into his pocket and pulled out the apple he'd brought. "Here, take this."
"Huh? Awesome! Finally, something to eat!" Naruto eagerly grabbed the apple and chomped down. Akio just smiled as they walked together toward the others.
"Wait a sec… That's Akio, isn't it? Naruto, you know him?" Sakura asked. She'd seen Akio from a distance around the village before, but now that he was up close, she realized—this guy was really good-looking.
"Yeah, I've known him for ages," Naruto replied, mouth full. Akio answered for him and shot Sakura a friendly smile.
Sakura immediately fell into fangirl mode and started giggling like an idiot.
"Alright, Akio, let's head out for our mission," Shikaku called out. Akio nodded. "Naruto, I'm off. Watch out for Big Bro Kakashi."
Naruto nodded as he munched the last of the apple. "See ya!" he called after Akio.
Akio waved without looking back.
"....."