Hiruko ultimately chose to accept the mission.
He had no desire to experience Root's "punishments" again.
The memory alone made his face twitch—
Being tortured nonstop while they kept shouting:
"Speak! Speak!"
Without even asking a single question.
No humanity at all.
Hiruko put on a mask and donned ANBU combat gear.
The two of them left Konoha through the underground sewer route—
Root's so-called exclusive VIP passage.
Even ANBU might not know about it.
At the very least—
Root could claim a psychological victory.
"Seriously shady."
Akira shook his head as they stepped out into the forest.
Their destination—
An interception point for an Uchiha squad.
The situation was simple.
A Mist ninja team had infiltrated the Land of Fire.
Konoha had sent the Uchiha squad to eliminate them.
But Akira and Hiruko's mission—
Was to eliminate the Uchiha.
They didn't even need to touch the Mist ninjas.
Akira muttered:
"Danzō wouldn't happen to be working with the Mist, would he…?"
It did sound like something Danzō might do.
But probably not… yet.
The two dashed through the forest at high speed.
Meanwhile—
Akira casually pulled out a scroll and started reading.
"…What are you doing?" Hiruko asked.
"Learning jutsu."
Akira waved the scroll.
Hiruko's face darkened.
Who learns jutsu while running on a mission?!
Even D-rank techniques weren't that easy.
"Done."
Akira tossed the scroll into his inventory.
Hiruko: "…???"
"Sensei, look here."
Akira raised a hand.
Flames suddenly engulfed his body—
And he vanished.
Burned to nothing.
Hiruko immediately stopped.
Scanning the surroundings.
No trace.
"…No. Genjutsu!"
He formed hand seals instantly.
"Release!"
Akira reappeared—
Calmly reading another scroll.
"Too slow, sensei."
Akira looked up.
Second scroll—already mastered.
Hiruko's expression darkened.
"…What medium did you use?"
He hadn't even realized when he was caught.
Akira didn't look up.
"Isn't it obvious?"
The flames.
Genjutsu was fundamentally spiritual energy.
Chakra only enhanced it.
Yin Release = mental power.
Yang Release = physical power.
All genjutsu belonged to Yin.
Hiruko fell silent.
And continued forward.
By the time they reached their destination—
Akira had learned all the techniques.
His chakra control was perfect.
His mental strength—
Abnormally high.
Learning genjutsu wasn't difficult at all.
Now—
Ten genjutsu secured.
Next step—
Max them out.
Synthesize Yin Release.
"…Strange."
Akira rubbed his chin.
"My body's strong. My mind's strong."
"So why is my chakra still so low?"
The system panel was limiting him.
In games—
NPCs always had more energy than players.
But in reality—
This amount wasn't enough.
There were ways to increase chakra:
ConsumablesEquipment
Sand Village dropped a lot of chakra gear.
But consumables…
Only dropped from Konoha shinobi.
And he couldn't farm those.
…Yet.
"Remember this."
Hiruko said seriously:
"Do NOT make eye contact with Uchiha."
"If you do, you've already lost."
There was a saying in the shinobi world:
Facing a three-tomoe Uchiha 1v1—
Run.
Akira glanced at him.
This guy clearly didn't understand his fighting style.
Still…
Akira rubbed his chin.
Long-range attacks weren't ideal against Uchiha.
Cloud ninjas → fastUchiha → insane dynamic vision
Even Akira—
As a Sharingan user—
Knew how hard it was to hit them.
(Though he barely used it.)
Just in case—
He upgraded one technique.
Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change
\text{Genjutsu Reflection Technique: } \text{Mirror Heaven and Earth Change}
Level 1 → Level 8.
That was enough.
No need to max it yet.
He still needed EXP for the rest.
His plan—
Send out a clone.
Use genjutsu from a distance.
Keep suspicion off himself.
Peace?
That was the world's peace.
Not his.
Akira activated his Byakugan.
Byakugan (Lv. 9)
Vision range—
18 kilometers.
No Hyūga could match him now.
Even in the future—
Hinata wouldn't reach this level.
At max—
20 km.
"Thanks for the eyes."
Akira grinned faintly.
Courtesy of two generous main family donors.
Then—
He stopped.
"They're here."
Hiruko froze.
"…Where?"
"About ten kilometers out."
Hiruko: "…???"
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