Chapter 9

Shira had very little chance of becoming a great ninjutsu genius because he lacked even the slightest bit of talent for ninjutsu… But he was undoubtedly a genius in taijutsu, which required much more effort.

There appeared to be genuine, hardworking geniuses in this world, who could achieve great success as long as they fully dedicated themselves to training and worked diligently while giving themselves all the means to achieve success. This world was much fairer in that aspect, unlike the official interpretation of the Naruto World.

According to Akira's understanding, anything seemed possible with effort in this version of the Naruto world. Age wasn't much of a barrier to starting the journey to becoming strong, either, although good health was. However, certain individuals had to work harder than others, and some lacked the mental strength to do so. Consequently, disparities in achievement were ineluctable.

Shira was mentally incredibly strong and determined, just like Lee or Guy. In regard to mental strength, he was a member of an extremely exclusive club, which was nearly impossible to come across. This club consisted of individuals who were fully, wholly, and crazily fearless of pain. They were rarely encountered in either this Naruto world or the official Naruto world.

These individuals, who had little hope in major fields like ninjutsu or sealing jutsu, were able to develop their own styles of taijutsu and kenjutsu, among other such disciplines… Styles that were often more physical rather than technical or elemental.

However, those fields of expertise were not exclusively reserved for them; they simply had few other avenues to apply their skills when considering a logical path toward personal growth. There were regular geniuses who carved out their paths in major fields like ninjutsu without resorting to more accessible and physical styles like taijutsu.

Everyone had their own paths, chances, luck, opportunities, special circumstances of birth, and hidden talents, even if it appeared that they did not. It was important to stress that anything, barring alien invasion, was feasible in this universe.

However... There was also a need to clarify... Chakra was the process of tapping into, accumulating, culminating, and releasing both physical and spiritual achievements, with one half dedicated to each aspect within the body. Effort was not limited to the physical, especially since ninjutsu required a significant amount of chakra, which was related to the extent of a half to developing a stronger mental side, mental side which was connected to the spiritual.

Individuals who were deemed untalented, yet lacked obstructed or blocked meridians that hindered their ability to effectively utilize ninjutsu, such as Shira or Lee, were not solely reliant on more physical qualities in order to achieve greatness.

Shira began speaking, and he continued to talk and talk and talk…

The training sparring session between him and Akira was suddenly put on a long hold out of nowhere. Shira's aura and eyes went back to normal, and eventually, Akira didn't feel like fighting anymore.

When Shira had finally finished listing all the flaws in his faulty and incomplete style, the Seven Heavens Breathing Method, it started to feel like the fight held little meaning anymore, especially with the discovery of the extent of Akira's newfound speed. It was soon noticed that he was faster and more responsive than Yashamaru had ever imagined.

Shira, who had been talking up until that point, had been ranting at the same time.

He basically ranted about how he hadn't fully mastered the second stage of his new skill yet, and how the next few stages were very dangerous, so he could only imagine what they involved and didn't dare to try them yet. He clearly stated that trying them would be a definite death wish on his part.

The second stage, which wasn't quite perfect yet, made him feel so weak whenever it had to stop that he could only use it for training at the moment, instead of real combat situations where opponents were really trying to kill him.

The second stage wasn't cost-effective for him either, it was causing him more pointless injuries that lasted for a long time, days, than anything else, and tonight he wanted to train all night.

Yashamaru and Akira were both disappointed with his rational assessment of the situation, although for different reasons…

"You're actually at the level of an average jonin in terms of speed, forget about the lower tiers..."

Yashamaru, who had finished evaluating Akira's improved speed, said with a smile, albeit slightly disappointed that the competitive rivalry between his student and his nephew had diminished after they became genuine friends.

"How scary can you become in just one year? Does Karura know about this?"

He said again, asking then,

"What about your dad?"

Since Akira wasn't exactly revealing information about his exceptional cards and Pokémon skills, he replied,

"They both know, of course. Why do you think they let me go to the land of water so easily otherwise?"

Yashamaru and Shira both nodded simultaneously, as if they had just realized something. Yashamaru then made a remark, as if pondering over something, saying,

"It all makes sense now…"

"But doesn't that also mean that during the mission, you've been taking it easy on those outlaws you had to defeat in order to gather intelligence in the maritime village they were holding hostage for their activities?"

Akira responded by saying,

"Who knows?"

His uncle already knew the truth, so there was no need to explicitly say "no" or "yes" in response to his questions.

Akira was also a little annoyed that he had been tailed.

If his uncle had been able to follow him after the mission and noticed what he was doing with Pakura and what they talked about on the way back to regroup with Temari, things would have gone bad.

Speaking about that mission, Akira has defeated some bandits.

The mission, from the perspective, side, and interests of the Sand Village, was not necessarily to defeat the bandits... However, he still accomplished it for the villagers residing in that village on that part of the western shore.

It was a village in the far west of the water country. Not far from the roadside inn where Temari stayed.

The Land of Water was peculiar, so requests for missions from civilians in that country reached other nations, not just Kiri. Actually, some requests were intentionally not sent to Kiri because they didn't care about anything except Kiri.

Yagura was currently in a position of power in the village of Kiri, so it wasn't surprising. He was supposed to be under Obito's control to be this crazy normally. However, for some reason, he still remained a crazy and selfish tyrant in this world.

Speaking about Obito... Well, there was no need to discuss him at the moment... Akira didn't like thinking about Konoha people when he didn't need to. It was the birthplace of formidable geniuses in this world, not the burial ground of them.

"You're not going to say, huh?"

Yashamaru asked his nephew, not too surprised, with an annoyed frown of his own. He then ordered, with an unusual air of authority,

"Well, since you said not to treat you like a part of my family on this assignment, I will do just that."

"I will give you your first few orders as a genin working under my supervision, since you're still officially one. First, stand up and stop being lazy.""

Akira, who was thoughtful, felt attacked and asked,

"What now?"

Yashamaru chuckled and said, amazing the nearby Shira, who wasn't used to seeing him act like that with Akira,

"What now, who? I am not Yashamaru for you right now... Remember? I am a jonin you are working under. Use the appropriate honorifics when asking me a question, you sundry fool."

Observing his uncle, Akira sighed and stood up; it seemed that he had brought trouble upon himself.

He had spelled his own trouble, by talking too much and being independent for too long, forgetting some things.

Yashamaru was kind, but he wasn't someone you could throw around for too long. He also had war scars… Akira hadn't seen him in almost a year, so he had stopped thinking about it, being mindful of that.

Remembering his upbringing with a strong focus on warfare, particularly under the guidance of his occasionally tyrannical and eccentric mother, the gentle Karura, Akira, who was standing, playfully saluted and asked her younger brother,

"Ready and waiting for your orders, sir. What is the task?

Yashamaru nodded in satisfaction and then said, also smiling,

"My arms have been restless and need some exercise, so your second order is to face me in a fight. At your full capacity."

"Don't conceal any cards from me, or you might face severe consequences."

Akira deadpanned upon hearing his uncle. He wasn't expecting this.

He didn't want this.

Despite his desires and dislikes, he soon found himself standing exactly where he had previously left the hole, attempting to catch Shira off guard and bury him with an Earth technique.

Akira stood there, facing his uncle, who appeared serious and showed no intention of going easy during this sparring session.

Yashamaru wasn't just an average or high jonin. With an additional decade of experience, and having survived, he became a true elite-jonin and a valuable asset to the Sand Village. Akira couldn't take it easy on him and didn't have the strength to do so even if he wanted to, so he also became serious after a resigned sigh.

Yashamaru paid attention to intelligence and could consider Akira's cautious thoughts as an elite jonin naturally, so he likely had his own reasons for doing so…

There was no way he would reveal any relevant, strategically important village information, or even take the chance to do so accidentally.

The fight immediately began when Shira was instructed, commanded to give the go signal by his mysteriously smirking sensei. Something was definitely strange and unusual.