9. Flame God of Konoha

Akio's status appears on his reticle. He ignores everything else and focuses on his attributes.

Strength: 15 (7+3+5) Vitality: 15 (10+5) Agility: 15(8+2+5) Dexterity: 30(10+15+5) Endurance: 15(6+4+5) Resilience: 15(10+5) Stamina: 15(6+4+5) Chakra: nil (10)

Hidden Attributes: Intelligence: 15(10+5) Spirit: 13(8+5)

Special skill: Weapon Master (Adds +15 dexterity)

He stares at his new stats with excitement.

"Huh?!"

Akio is slightly confused because the increase in stats is more than his expectation.

"Oye, system! What's going on? Why is there such an enormous increase in my stats when I was supposed to get only five stats in each attribute?" He demands an explanation.

'Well, it's not like I am not happy. I will readily take more stats, but I also have to figure out how this works?'

Such thoughts run across his mind.

[The Growth Serum enhances the physical and mental aspects of an average person. The first dose will raise the stats of a person to the peak of humanity regardless of your attributes. However, since the stats of the host were even lower than the average, all of your stats were increased to peak human stats.]

The monotonous voice of the system rings in his ears.

"I… I see! That makes sense."

Akio clenches his fist and punches the air.

Swoosh…

A faint whistling sound is produced as the air in front of his fist is slightly compressed.

"Peak humanity stats are dogshit in front of shinobis whose bodies are enhanced by chakra. But at least, my everyday life will become much easy with all these stats."

He lies down on the bed and stares at his right leg.

"The slight pain in my foot is gone, which means I have recovered from the sprain. I will act a bit for now and will remove it once I am discharged from here!"

Akio closes his eyes and inspects his stats again. He notices the small window of hidden stats below his normal stats.

"System, what's the deal with these hidden stats?"

Akio asks in confusion.

[The hidden stats are the attributes that are specific to a shinobi or skill. The intelligence stat governs the capabilities in Fuinjutsu, hand seals, and barrier Ninjutsu.

The Spirit stat governs the ability to resist or cast genjutsu, mental and spiritual attacks.]

"Oh! Then why did the previous genjutsu didn't affect me? Am I immune to Genjutsu?"

[Note! Any mental attack aiming to disrupt your chakra would not affect you because of the lack of a chakra system. However, the attacks which directly affect your brain or spirituality will still work against you.]

"That makes sense!"

Akio nods in understanding.

"Now I have to work hard and aim for that shiny D-eagle in the system shop." He rubs his hand in excitement.

Knock… Knock…

"Akio! Akio!"

Kaori's gentle voice falls in Akio's ears. He hurriedly lies down on the bed and answers.

"Come in!"

Kaori worriedly enters the room. Her heart lurches in pain at the sight of Akio's plastered right leg.

"Are you alright?! Does it still hurt?"

Kaori hugs Akio and gently caresses his head.

"I am fine, Mom! Also, the pain is in my foot, not in my head!"

Akio has an awkward expression as Kaori embraces him.

'If I combine my previous age and this life's age; then I am almost as old as the mother. My chronic mental age is the same as hers. Damn, it's too exhausting to act like an eight-year-old!'

Sob… sob…

Kaori sobs into his embrace. Tears continue to flow through her eyes.

"Mother was scared! Even if I could keep my calm to prevent you from panicking, I couldn't help myself at the mere thought of losing you. I already lost your father, now I don't want you to lose you too."

"Mom! It's alright. I will protect you." Akio hugs her.

Mm…

Kaori embraces him for a while.

Hmm…

After a few minutes, she wipes her tears and looks at her son.

"I feel like you have changed slightly. I can feel a sense of security in your embrace."

"Of course! I have grown stronger after this incident." Akio flexes his muscles.

Haha…

"I know… I know… I always watch your training in the backyard. It reminds me of your father!" Kaori chuckles and shakes her head.

"Really?!"

Akio curiously stares at her mother since she never revealed anything about his father despite his inquiries.

"I think it's about time for you to learn about the identity of your father."

Kaori resolutely nods her head.

"Ah!"

Akio perks up his ears to listen to the tale.

"Your father's full name is Nakamura Kazuya. He was one of the elite shinobi of Konoha who made a name for himself after the First Shinobi War.

His fame was so widespread that he was bestowed with the title 'the Flame God of Konoha'. "

Kaori removes the pendant around her neck and opens it to reveal a picture of a man with crimson hair.

The man has an orange-red iris. Two-tear-like red marking flows down from the bottom of his eyes over his cheeks. The man has the appearance of a lean young man in his early twenties with a build height of 190 cm. He has a confident smile on his face as his crimson hair flows in the wind.

Akio curiously stares at the picture of his father as he recalls his appearance from his memories as a baby.

'I rarely met him as a baby. The last memory I had of him was from his funeral ceremony.'

He scrutinizes the picture of his father.

'Red hairs! Does father have any connection with the Uzumaki clan?'

Akio looks at the blue hairs of his mother.

'I inherited most of the traits from my mother. It's the part of the reason, I am so handsome.'

Kaori closes the pendant and ties it around her neck.

"Your grandmother was a part Uzumaki. So, your father inherited the chakra and the hair color from his mother."

'No wonder!'

Akio nods in understanding.

"His fame was so widespread that enemies would tremble and flee at the mere mention of his name. Alas! He fell in battle during the Second Shinobi War."

Kaori takes a deep breath to calm her emotions.

"If father was so powerful, then why didn't I hear anything about him? Father was a war hero who fought for the sake of Konoha and yet there isn't even a memorial in his name."

Akio has a livid expression.

"Silly boy!" Kaori shakes her head.

"Your father had too many enemies when he was alive. So, to protect us; Lord Third suppressed any news about his family, including the existence of his son and wife.

Since I am not a native of Konoha; it was quite easy to forge a new identity for us. The name Kazuya: the flame god of Konoha, shined so brilliantly that everyone forgot about his last name.

So, when I moved to Konoha to seek Hokage's protection; it was quite easy to use the name Nakamura."

Kaori ruffles his hair.

"Also, the Sannin rose to fame after the end of the Second Shinobi War. Their name easily overshadowed the reputation of Flame God and he became a forgotten legend. Only a selected few know about your father's true identity.

Your Ajuka Nii-san is one of them. Your father was the genin instructor of his team."

"Oh! No wonder he always comes to visit us in his free time. I was surprised when I saw him in an anbu outfit yesterday."

'He probably joined the Anbu after Father's demise. Also, I wonder who was the genin instructor of father and who were his teammates in his childhood?'

Akio slowly stands up from the bed.

Fwish…

He removes the plaster from his foot and rotates his ankle.

"Akio, you…"

"Mom! The medic-nin used a green light to heal my sprain. My foot has recovered completely."

Akio jumps around to convince Kaori.

"Al… alright!" She nods in worry.

"Let's return to our shop. We have a business to conduct!"