I think I may have spoken more than I should… again.
The thought lingered as Akira sat in the academy classroom, eyes forward, mind elsewhere.
Akira… or Corvus, depending on which mask he wore.
He had wanted to establish his uniqueness to the current ruling power. Not defiance. Not loyalty either. Usefulness. A sharp enough edge that they would think twice before discarding him as excess baggage.
The stunt had worked.
Too well.
Attention followed. Suspicion followed. Orochimaru followed.
Becoming Orochimaru's disciple was an opportunity, yes, but also a blade hanging by a thread. Akira had a familiar, unpleasant feeling that he had bitten off more than he could chew, just like the last time he had been too clever for his own good… back when he spoke to the Blacks.
The difference now was simple and terrifying.
This time, he had no godfather. No grandfather. No unseen hand ready to intervene.
Mito Uzumaki had been in the Hokage's office.
That alone meant lies were impossible. Half-truths were the only safe currency. Anything more would invite scrutiny he could not afford.
Only time would tell how today's choices would echo into the future.
For now, his priority was simpler.
Top the exam.
And under Orochimaru's tutelage, he believed he could do so without drawing too much attention.
That hope wavered the moment he left the Hokage Tower.
A pale snake slithered across the ground, stopping at his feet. Its mouth opened, a scroll slipping out before it vanished into smoke.
Training Ground Seven. After school.
Akira exhaled slowly.
Of course.
Training Ground Seven
The moment he stepped into the clearing, danger announced itself.
A giant snake surged from the undergrowth.
Akira reacted instantly.
"Substitution!"
A puff of smoke. A log shattered beneath snapping jaws as Akira reappeared several meters away. Basic Clones burst into existence, scattering in multiple directions to confuse and harass.
It didn't work.
The snake's tongue flicked once.
It knew.
The massive body coiled and lunged.
Akira moved.
Shuriken flew from his hands, chakra-infused wind sharpening their edges. Thin wires followed, nearly invisible. The spinning shuriken struck each other midair, tangling the wire perfectly around the snake's neck before embedding themselves deep into surrounding trees.
"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu!"
Flames raced along the wire like a fuse.
The clearing filled with heat and smoke.
Snake barbecue.
Then—
Pop.
The burnt body vanished.
A kunai screamed toward Akira's head.
He ducked as clones burst outward, filling the space with motion. Akira himself transformed into a small pebble mid-fall, rolling into the dirt as he layered a subtle sound-based genjutsu, warping perception just enough to distract.
The kunai changed direction.
Straight toward the pebble.
Damn.
Another substitution.
This time, a kick met him mid-air.
Akira blocked, but the force sent him flying. He flipped, landed hard, and rolled. A smoke bomb hit the ground, erupting into thick clouds. From within, kunai flew in erratic patterns, forcing distance.
Akira transformed again.
Pebble.
Silence.
The smoke thinned.
A tall figure stepped forward, yellow eyes gleaming with interest.
Akira sprang.
Chakra roared in his palm, unstable, violent, spinning against his skin.
A miniature Rasengan.
Before it could connect, Orochimaru caught Akira's wrist effortlessly and pressed his palm downward.
The jutsu slammed into the earth.
The ground collapsed with a thunderous crack, dirt and stone spiraling into a deep crater.
"Subarashi, Akira-kun," Orochimaru said, voice smooth with fascination. "Another jutsu in the making. Incomplete… but promising."
Akira pulled back, panting.
"Good evening, Orochimaru-sama. Yes. It's incomplete. I call it Rasengan. A seal-less technique where chakra is compressed and rotated into a sphere. I'm… not proficient yet."
Orochimaru's smile widened.
"You have potential."
Then his eyes sharpened.
"Before I accept you as my disciple, answer me this."
"What does life mean to you?"
"And what does jutsu mean?"
Akira inhaled, steadying himself.
"Life means possibilities," he said. "Where there is life, possibilities exist. Death is simply the end of them."
He met Orochimaru's gaze without flinching.
"As for jutsu… jutsu is a means to an end. The application of chakra toward a purpose. For a warrior, it is a tool to kill. For a medic, it is a tool to save."
"Chakra enables creation and opportunity," he continued, voice calm but intense. "And at the same time, destruction and death."
A pause.
"I believe we've barely begun to explore its true potential."
The clearing fell silent.
Orochimaru's smile shifted. It was no longer playful, no longer indulgent. It sharpened, like a scalpel finding bone.
Akira continued, voice steady despite the weight of that gaze.
"I asked my mother once… what chakra truly is."
"She told me the Sage of Six Paths brought chakra to the world."
Akira tilted his head slightly, as if revisiting an old conversation.
"But if the Sage brought chakra, then where did he get it from?"
"Did it arise naturally within his body?"
"Did he invent it?"
"Or did he discover it?"
He paused.
"And if he discovered it… then where?"
"Was the Sage even from our lands?" Akira asked quietly. "Or did he come from beyond the oceans? From the skies? From the stars?"
A faint breath escaped him.
"When I asked these questions, my mother told me not to think so deeply about origins. She said chakra is chakra. Learn to use it. Become proficient. And perhaps… one day, the answers would reveal themselves."
His eyes met Orochimaru's.
"So that's what I'm doing. Exploring. One step at a time."
"Sometimes exploration leads to results," Akira said. "Sometimes it leads to failure. Either way, I learn, and I move forward."
Orochimaru's tongue flicked briefly over his lips.
"And what," he asked softly, "have you observed so far?"
Akira answered without hesitation.
"Chakra can pass through any medium," he said. "But its efficiency depends on the medium itself."
"Living organisms react to chakra differently. Some gain intelligence. Some lose it. Some adapt. Some mutate. Some burst apart and die."
"I don't yet know whether this variance is due to the limitations of my experiments… or whether that is simply the nature of life."
He exhaled.
"I also believe that our bodies are not singular," Akira continued. "That they are composed of countless tiny organisms, too small to be seen by the naked eye. Our bodies may be ecosystems rather than structures."
His gaze sharpened.
"My next course of action is to understand myself biologically. Completely. Then compare my composition to that of my mother, my cousin, other Uchihas… and then to other clans. And finally, to civilians."
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed.
"I've also found," Akira added, "that if telescopes can magnify distant objects, then with modification, they can be repurposed to magnify the near."
"Microscopes."
"With them, we may be able to observe organisms invisible to the naked eye. Diagnose illness before it manifests. Understand life down to its smallest unit."
"A single unit," he said quietly. "So that we can truly differentiate."
Akira fell silent.
Then, as if remembering himself, he added,
"And everything is a hypothesis."
"Truths. Lies. Myths. Even legends."
"All are assumptions until proven otherwise."
"That," he concluded, "is the approach I follow."
Silence stretched.
Orochimaru slowly straightened.
For the first time since Akira had met him, the Sannin was no longer smiling in amusement.
He was smiling in recognition.
"…Fascinating," Orochimaru murmured.
"Tell me, Akira-kun."
His shadow seemed to stretch unnaturally across the ground.
"Are you prepared to be proven wrong?"
"In what way, Orochimaru-sama?" Akira asked calmly. "As I said, all theories are assumptions unless replaced by a more convincing theory or a proven fact. It isn't about being right or wrong."
"It's about continuing to explore," he continued, "and enriching our understanding of life… of the world… and of the universe."
For a moment, Orochimaru simply stared.
Then—
"Hahaha…"
The laughter spilled out, low and genuine, echoing through the clearing.
"Very well," Orochimaru said, eyes gleaming. "Then take this."
A scroll landed at Akira's feet.
"Next week, we will meet again. By then, I want you proficient in that technique."
"And I want written theories. One on your sound-based genjutsu… and one on that chakra sphere."
"I will review them personally."
Akira bowed slightly. "I understand, Orochimaru-sama."
A pause.
"Call me sensei."
The air rippled.
Orochimaru vanished.
Akira exhaled slowly, the tension finally draining from his shoulders. He knelt and unsealed the scroll.
His breath caught.
Shadow Clone Technique.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment.
I needed this.
Not for strength.
Not for recognition.
But for time.
_______________
Days slipped into weeks.
Akira mastered the Shadow Clone Technique in three days.
After that, the real work began.
One clone focused entirely on sealing theory. Another refined chakra control. At night, Akira and his clones drilled basic jutsu until muscle memory replaced thought. By the time Orochimaru's next summons approached, Akira could perform single-handed seals with quiet efficiency.
The Academy remained unchanged.
Lessons repeated. Instructors droned. His classmates, however, had developed a habit. They asked him to sing.
Akira obliged.
Not out of kindness, but necessity.
Every performance was a controlled experiment. Rhythm, pitch, emotional resonance. Each note was another step toward refining his sound-based genjutsu.
On the day of the meeting, a familiar pale snake arrived with a note.
Training Ground Seven. Now.
Akira arrived on time.
Orochimaru attacked immediately.
A blur of motion. Killing intent. No warning.
The figure Akira struck burst into smoke.
A shadow clone.
"It seems you've mastered shadow clones in under a week," Orochimaru said calmly.
"Good."
He turned.
"Come with me."
Orochimaru's residence lay hidden beneath layers of concealment. Beneath the house, deeper still, was a laboratory.
Cold stone. Harsh light.
Shelves filled with specimens. Preserved organs. Caged creatures. On a metal table lay a human body, lifeless and dissected with unsettling precision.
"I tested your microscope hypothesis," Orochimaru said casually. "You were correct."
Akira's attention sharpened.
"Human blood is not uniform. There are multiple components. Red. White. Variations between individuals. Even blood types differ. Some are compatible. Others are not."
Akira was genuinely surprised.
He had offered a hypothesis.
Orochimaru had already verified it.
"Sensei," Akira asked, "were you able to find any biological difference between elemental users? For example… fire versus earth?"
"There are differences," Orochimaru replied. "But I have not yet identified the governing factor. The mechanism varies between individuals."
He gestured to a table.
"Before I continue, give me a blood sample. And test your chakra nature."
Akira nodded.
He drew blood with a syringe and handed it over. Then he focused chakra into the paper.
It split.
One half burned.
The other crumpled and tore.
"Fire, Wind, and Lightning," Orochimaru murmured. "As expected of an Uchiha."
He placed several scrolls on the table.
"You may use this laboratory for your experiments. And here," he added, "are three basic jutsu. One for wind and lightning, and another is the body flickered jutsu ".
"Have you brought the theories?"
Orochimaru asked.
"Yes, Sensei." Akira replied, brought the two scrolls.
"Good. I will study them, refine them, and then submit it to the village for review. The Village might give you additional rewards."
He turned toward the exit.
"I'm leaving on a mission. We'll meet again after your Academy tests. They should be held this week."
With a flick of his wrist, the scrolls vanished into a storage seal. A snake took the container and disappeared.
So did Orochimaru.
Akira remained standing in the laboratory, alone among preserved corpses and unfinished experiments.
He reviewed the jutsu scrolls once more.
Fire. Wind. Lightning.
Once he mastered these…
He smiled faintly.
I'll be able to defeat Minato.
Not today.
Not tomorrow.
But inevitably.