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Staring at Akio's back as he walked away, there was a flicker of something unreadable in Sasuke's eyes. He was thinking about the way Akio looked at Naruto earlier—so full of affection. It was just like... back then. Like how that man used to look at him.
"You still haven't found that Sound ninja after all this time?" Akio asked Shikaku.
"Yeah, not a trace. Forget missions today—come over to my place, let's play some shogi," Shikaku replied casually.
"...Again with the shogi," Akio muttered, pulling a face. Every time they played, it was a close match, and that just made Shikaku even more eager to play with him all the time.
"Haha! You're the only one who can actually go toe-to-toe with me. I'm starting to think your IQ might not be any lower than us Nara clan folks."
"My IQ's not low? If it's not low, how come I've been studying your clan's secret jutsu for almost a year and still haven't figured it out? That's kinda embarrassing." Akio walked alongside Shikaku as they chatted.
"Well, it is a secret technique. If it were that easy to crack, it wouldn't be much of a secret, would it?"
"A year ago, I really thought I was close. I used chakra to coat my shadow and thought I was almost there… but then my shadow just yanked itself off the ground and turned into a real shadow clone. A pitch-black version of me." Akio pouted a little. Back then, he genuinely thought he was on the right track.
But things started going weird fast. The shadow actually stood up and responded to his will—freaked him out at the time.
"Honestly, that's still pretty amazing. Even if you didn't learn Shadow Possession, you invented a whole new A-rank jutsu—Shadow Secret Technique. Only you and Kakashi have pulled off inventing a jutsu at thirteen."
"Your shadow technique even lets you switch places with your clone. That's a hell of a move."
"Yeah, but being able to switch places doesn't mean much to someone like me who already knows Flying Thunder God," Akio replied. His Shadow Secret Technique was kinda like Madara's Limbo clones, except his shadows were visible. He still didn't know how he ended up inventing it—just one of those 'oops, it worked' moments.
"That's exactly why you should just teach me Shadow Possession already! I'm your student, right? It'd be lame if I didn't even know your clan's signature jutsu!"
"Nice try, kid. Teacher is teacher, but secret techniques stay secret. Even if I'm your sensei, I can't teach you the Nara clan's jutsu." Shikaku laughed, and soon the two of them arrived at his house and sat on the porch to start their shogi match.
In terms of strength, Akio was probably around chunin level. If you threw in the surprise factor of Flying Thunder God, maybe barely jounin. But just having FTG doesn't guarantee you can take down elite-level guys—those kinds of opponents only fall for it once, maybe. That's with Akio's FTG.
Now, if we're talking Second Hokage Tobirama or Fourth Hokage Minato using FTG, that's a different story—just ask Uchiha Izuna or the masked guy, one got killed outright, the other had his arm wrecked.
But Akio wasn't anywhere close to that level. Not yet.
"Where's Shikamaru today? Not home?" Akio asked. Usually when he came over, he'd see the kid around.
"He had to head out too. Asuma's training the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho," Shikaku said while setting up the board.
"You probably don't know this, but your name's already making waves out there."
"Huh? What? Since when? Why didn't I hear anything about that?" Akio scratched his head. He seriously had no clue.
"Mastered the Fourth's Flying Thunder God and Rasengan, can pick up wind and lightning-style jutsu just like that, created his own A-rank jutsu… people are calling you the genius ninja, Namikaze Akio."
"...Seriously? And here I am not hearing any of this. Can't even enjoy my own gossip."
"Haha, well, honestly, I should be honored to be your teacher. You've got unlimited potential, kid." Shikaku laughed as they began playing.
"Yeah, well… the more famous you get, the more trouble comes your way," Akio sighed. "I learned FTG just to protect myself. The wind and lightning styles are because of my bloodline. And the jutsu I created? Total accident. Doesn't sound very 'genius' to me."
"That's what I like about you—you're humble. Still working on sealing jutsu lately, right? How's that coming along?"
"Not great. All the seals look like squiggles to me. I can't even understand one."
"Hmm... well, Kakashi knows how to use the Evil Sealing Method. But if you want someone who's truly good at sealing, there's only one person to ask—Hiruzen, the Third."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same. I plan to go ask the Third about sealing jutsu. I've got scrolls for Five Elements Seal, Eight Trigrams Seal, Diamond Chain Lock, and the Flame Seal—all super powerful sealing techniques that my mom left me."
"Those four are serious stuff. If you want to learn them properly, the Third's definitely the guy to go to. But Akio…" Shikaku's tone suddenly turned serious, his expression unusually grave.
"Whatever happens, never learn the Reaper Death Seal."
"I know." Akio nodded, his eyes flashing with a trace of sadness.
Seeing that look, Shikaku couldn't help feeling a little bitter too. The truth was, Akio had no real talent for sealing jutsu, but he pushed himself anyway, studying it relentlessly. Not for power, not for prestige—but because his mother was Uzumaki Kushina, the strongest sealing master in the Leaf.
He didn't want to bring shame to her name.
"Check." Akio dropped a piece on the board, cutting off Shikaku's king.
"Huh?" Shikaku froze, then gave a bitter chuckle. Didn't even realize he'd lost again.
With a sigh, he reset the board and finally put down his king—the 'gyoku' piece.
"Akio, do you know what the 'gyoku' represents?" Shikaku asked.
"The king?" Akio furrowed his brow. That was something Asuma once asked Shikamaru. It wasn't until after Asuma died that Shikamaru truly understood the answer.
"If playing shogi is today's mission," Akio said, "then the king is what I need to protect."
Shikaku blinked, surprised by the answer. He hadn't expected that.
"And if it's not a mission?" he pressed.
"If it's not a mission... then the king is still something I have to protect. If I lose my king, then everything else is meaningless."
"....."