14 14. First Weapon
"Time to reap the reward of my work!"
Akio opens the shop menu with trembling fingers.
[-_-]
System speechlessly listens to Akio's shameless blabbering.
The shiny 710 system points appear in Akio's vision. He opens the D-eagle panel and presses the purchase option.
Ding…
[The weapon D-eagle has been unlocked in the inventory slot.]
Fwoosh…
A bright light shines in front of Akio. The light condenses into a gun.
"This is a genuine D-eagle!"
Akio picks up the gun and gently caresses it. There are some unknown carvings and runes on the barrel of the gun, probably some Fuinjutsu seals. The grip shines with a metallic hue as Akio feels the cold metal soothing his soul.
'Nah! That's just an illusion created by my extreme happiness.'
Click…
With a click, Akio opens the magazine of the gun. There are 9 bullets in the magazine.
"System, how can I get the bullets?"
Akio asks the system.
Swoosh…
An ammunition section appears on his reticle. Akio glances at the cost of the bullets and clicks his tongue.
"This system is so stingy! 1 system point for a magazine with 9 bullets. Fine! Give me 50 cartridges."
[Host these aren't normal bullets!]
"What do you mean?"
Akio raises an eyebrow.
[The host has to figure it out himself.]
System responds with a dull remark.
"Tch… Fine!"
Akio directly purchases 50 rounds of cartridges. The cartridges appear in his inventory and occupy a single slot.
"Time to test this baby!"
Akio twirls the gun and walks to the backyard. He grips the gun in his right hand and stares at the sky.
A flock of birds flies through the sky. Akio aims the gun at the birds.
Bang… bang… bang…
He fires three bullets at the birds. The fuinjutsu at the muzzle light up and completely silences the sound. Not even a vibration leaks out!
BAM… BAM… BAM…
Three birds fall in the backyard. There is a bullet hole in their head.
"Good!" Akio nods in satisfaction. He picks up the bird and enters the house.
'One should never waste food!'
After a while,
Akio returns to the counter with a smile.
"Now I have enough confidence to deal with a genin, some chunnins, and even some feeder jounins with an element of surprise. If caught off-guard; I can even kill a skilled jounin, if I use the special ability of the gun."
[Deducting 50 system points! Generating credit score…]
The monotonous sound of the system rings in his ears.
Tch…
"What a busybody system?" Akio remarks.
The system ignores his remarks and generates his score.
[Credit Score: 5/500
Credit limit: 200 for a day after which the system will take back the assets of the host]
"What?! Such a low score!"
Akio's eyes widen in surprise.
"System! Are you shitting me? I was always a civil and law-abiding citizen in my previous life. So, how come I have such a low score?" He complains.
[The host's current score depends on his performance in the weapon shop.]
"I… I see!" Akio nods in understanding.
"Looks like I have to work hard in the future."
Akio cracks his knuckles and relaxes on the counter.
'Now I have means to protect myself, no matter how small it is!'
Akio stares out of the shop as it snows. He notices a group of kids around 5-6 years of age happily playing in the snow.
"I hope you are doing well, Yamato!"
Akio closes his eyes and enjoys the first snowfall of the winter.
-------------------
In a hidden underground facility in Konoha,
Argh…
Yamato slowly opens his eyes and clutches his forehead.
"Where am I?"
He looks around with caution. A group of masked shinobis surrounds him.
Yamato warily stares at them as the memories of the previous incident freshen up in his mind.
"Where is Akio Nii-san? What did you people do to him?" Yamato glares at them.
"Calm down, kid! Your Akio Nii-san is doing well!"
Hiruzen slowly walks out of the group of anbus as they make a way for him.
"You are?! Who are you?"
Yamato cautiously stares at Hiruzen as he seems to be an important person.
Hiruzen has a gentle smile on his face as he introduces himself.
"I am the current Hokage of the Leaf village!"
"Ho… Hokage?! The head of the village!" Yamato asks in trepidation.
"Yes!"
Hiruzen nods his head.
"You are in safe hands. No one here will harm you!"
"Really?!"
"Of course!" Hiruzen gently nods his head.
He gestures to the nearby Anbus to leave.
Swoosh… swoosh…
The Anbu flickers away, leaving Hiruzen and Yamato alone.
"Can… can I meet Akio Nii-san?"
Yamato fidgets as he asks Hiruzen.
"Of course! But before that, let me take you to your new home."
Hiruzen and Yamato walk out of the Anbu headquarter. Hiruzen quickly leads the boy towards the village orphanage.
"This will be your new home from now onwards!"
Hiruzen gestures Yamato to enter the orphanage as he discusses the matter with the warden of the orphanage.
"This boy is very precious to the village. Ensure that nothing happens to him!"
Hiruzen sternly warns the Warden.
"Also, starting from tomorrow; he will join the academy! So, make the necessary arrangements."
"Ye… yes, Hokage-sama!"
The warden wipes the cold sweat from his head and memorizes the appearance of Yamato, who is curiously looking around.
Yamato turns to Hiruzen and asks him.
"Will I be able to meet Akio Nii-san?"
"Yes!" Hiruzen nods at him.
"You can meet him every day!"
A smile blooms on Yamato's face.
-----------------
Huff… Huff…
Akio is breathing heavily as he performs push-ups in the backyard of his house. Beads of sweat trickle down his forehead as cold air blows against him.
A week has passed since the previous incident.
Kaori walks out of the house with a towel in her hands.
"You shouldn't push yourself or else you will catch a cold!"
She wipes his sweat and gestures him to enter the house.
"Ok!"
"Go and wash, while I prepare the breakfast. I have something important to inform you!"
After fifteen minutes,
Akio is gobbling his breakfast as Kaori informs him.
"Your uncle Kazuha will return to the village with the fresh batch of supplies."
She takes out a letter and hands it over to him.
Mmm…
Akio nods his head and reads the letter written by his uncle Kazuha.
Kazuha is the younger brother of his father, Kazuya. His uncle is only nineteen years old. So, he is quite young.
When Akio asked Kaori about the huge age difference, he got the answer.
The average life expectancy of a shinobi is around 30 years. So, to continue their bloodline and pass their heritage; the shinobis will marry at the age of 19 and produce offspring by the age of 21.
This offspring will become their successor. However, if they can live past thirty, then the couple attempt for a second offspring.
This reasoning dumbfounded Akio.
"Then why don't they attempt for a second offspring while below thirty? Even if they lose one child, the second can replace the first as the successor."
"It's not that simple! During the period of war, a normal shinobi can't bear the expenditure of a second offspring, since most of his resources will be directed towards the battle.
As for the members of the clans, it will create a conflict of succession among the two offspring. This might create a rift in the clan. Unless a clan has a strict hierarchy like the Hyuga clan; things won't end well.
Also, if the second offspring is born after the age of thirty; then by the time the second offspring reaches the age of academy; the first offspring would have grown enough to live independently."
"That makes sense!" Akio could only shake his head helplessly since there are examples of this formula.
'Tsunade and her brother! Ajuka and Asuma! His dad and his uncle!'
Akio finishes his breakfast and dispels his thoughts. He walks in front of the shop and lifts the shutter.
"Time to start another day of business!"
He slowly cleans the shop and takes out a large lump of coal and places it at the entrance of the shop.
Sizzle… sizzle…
He burns the coal to warm his surroundings. Akio returns to the counter and lazily lies down on a seat.
"Business is normal these days! Besides the haul I made a week ago, everything is as usual."
Akio stretches his legs and places them on the counter while he opens the system menu.
A blazing 347 system points shine at the topmost corner.
"The sales aren't bad! I managed to save 110 points after the previous expenditure. Adding the recently earned 237 points, thanks to the custom order from the academy; I will hit 500 points in another week."
Akio's lips widen in a smile.
"I hope I won't encounter another problem during these peaceful days."
Ding…
[Emergency Quest Initiated]
"FUCK!!"
