Uchiha Akira's words left everyone present momentarily stunned.
Hiashi Hyuga glanced at Akira, then at Hinata, and his eyes flickered as if a thought had just crossed his mind.
Hinata had known about her father and Hanabi inviting Akira for dinner today. She also had a rough idea of why they had extended the invitation. However, she hadn't expected Akira to suddenly invite her to join them, which took her completely by surprise.
"Um, actually, I wasn't in the same class as you, Akira," Hinata softly murmured, her head slightly bowed.
"When I enrolled at the Ninja Academy, I was placed in Iruka-sensei's class. So, technically, we were classmates, even though I graduated early," Akira explained.
While his reasoning might have been a bit of a stretch, it wasn't entirely incorrect. Although he graduated on his first day, he was indeed assigned to Iruka's class before submitting his graduation application. So, calling them classmates wasn't wrong.
For a moment, Hinata simply kept her head down, unsure of how to respond.
"Alright, Hinata, go along," Hiashi spoke up, encouraging his daughter.
"Yes, Father!" Hinata obeyed her father's orders, nodded, and then left to change her clothes. Having just finished training and covered in sweat, it wouldn't be appropriate to go straight to dinner.
After a short while, Hinata returned, having changed into fresh clothes. The dinner spread was rather impressive, and once everyone was seated, Hiashi naturally inquired about Akira's experiences over the past few years.
There wasn't much Akira couldn't share, so he simply mentioned that he had been deeply immersed in training, almost as if he had fallen asleep, and suddenly, seven years had passed.
After catching up on Akira's past seven years, Hiashi then began recounting the events of the past few years. In truth, the Shinobi World had been relatively peaceful, with no major incidents occurring. The biggest news might have been from the Hidden Mist Village—there had been a change in the Mizukage. Additionally, in the Hidden Sand Village, the Fourth Kazekage had been assassinated.
As for the Land of Earth, Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage, was still holding strong despite his age, but he had lost a leg, which weakened his influence. Moreover, his advancing age was becoming more of a factor.
Akira quietly listened as Hiashi provided an overview of the Shinobi World over the past seven years, gaining a clearer picture of the current situation.
What was the root cause of conflict in the Shinobi World? It all came down to one thing: weakness.
When you become weak, others see an opportunity and are quick to strike. This was the reason why the three major Shinobi villages once eyed Konoha with malicious intent.
Even the First Shinobi World War started because of this very reason. When Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were alive, they commanded such power that no one dared to harbor any thoughts of rebellion. But after the rumors of Madara's death at the hands of the First Hokage at the Valley of the End, and after the First Hokage himself passed away, the other four major Shinobi villages immediately saw an opportunity and launched attacks on Konoha.
Fortunately, Konoha's foundation was strong. Under the leadership of the Second Hokage, they managed to fight off several other villages simultaneously and still come out on top. This victory intimidated the other villages, preventing them from making any rash moves for years.
But what about these past few years?
The Hidden Mist Village, being isolated overseas, posed little benefit even if attacked. With its internal issues, especially the Blood Mist incident, the village was barely managing to hold itself together, leaving other villages disinterested.
As for Konoha, since the day Akira severed the Tsuchikage's leg, Konoha had asserted its strength. Coupled with Jiraiya and Tsunade's return, and with Naruto and Kakashi gaining increasing fame in the Shinobi World, it was clear that Konoha had quickly bounced back after its coup, recovering its strength.
"I understand why Naruto is so strong, but Kakashi..." Akira's curiosity was piqued as Hiashi mentioned Naruto and Kakashi. He looked at Hiashi with some confusion.
Naruto's chakra reserves were immense, almost bottomless, and with the Nine-Tails' power, his strength was undeniable. Though Akira had thoroughly outclassed him in their recent sparring match, there was no denying that Naruto had Kage-level strength, comparable to the Three Legendary Ninjas.
But Kakashi? Hadn't he already made a name for himself as the Copy Ninja? For Hiashi to specifically mention him now implied that Kakashi's reputation and strength must have seen a significant leap over the past seven years.
"Kakashi's Sharingan has evolved into the Mangekyō Sharingan, and this development has caused quite a stir, not just in Konoha but throughout the Shinobi World," Hiashi replied after a brief pause, eyeing Akira carefully.
"This must have created quite a buzz," Akira speculated, noticing Hiashi's hesitation.
"Indeed, it did cause a significant reaction. In fact, there's been a prevailing rumor circulating in the Shinobi World," Hiashi continued, nodding. "It suggests that an outsider, even if not a Uchiha, can still evolve the Sharingan, and that it might even be easier for them to do so than it is for an Uchiha."
"Because Kakashi didn't seem to experience any major trauma, his Mangekyō Sharingan almost seemed to awaken naturally. Now, a pair of Sharingan on the black market is fetching a price of 20 million ryō!"
Hiashi's words caused Akira's brow to furrow deeply.
Akira knew the truth—Kakashi's Mangekyō wasn't something he awakened on his own. It had been awakened by Obito Uchiha, and because of their shared eye, Kakashi's eye had also evolved. However, Kakashi didn't have the chakra reserves to maintain the Mangekyō, which is why, in the original storyline, when his two-tomoe Sharingan suddenly evolved to the Mangekyō, he collapsed from chakra exhaustion.
Now, however, Kakashi's chakra reserves had grown enough over the years to sustain the Mangekyō Sharingan. But just because Akira understood this didn't mean the rest of the Shinobi World did.
From their perspective, Kakashi's case proved that even a non-Uchiha could evolve the Sharingan—potentially even to the Mangekyō. And, they thought, it might be easier for outsiders to achieve this evolution than it was for the Uchiha themselves.
With the Sharingan already regarded as one of the most powerful dōjutsu in the Shinobi World, it was no wonder that many people had become obsessed with obtaining its power.
In particular, Jonin and Kage-level ninjas were the most intrigued.
"20 million ryō, huh? That's quite a price," Akira mused to himself as he considered the black market value of a pair of Sharingan.
After all, the bounty on the head of Asuma Sarutobi, the son of the Third Hokage, was also 20 million ryō. So, a pair of Uchiha eyes were now worth as much as the head of the Hokage's son?
"Are the Uchiha under pressure because of this?" Akira asked after a moment's thought, turning to Hiashi.
"Yes. After Kakashi's Sharingan evolved to the Mangekyō five years ago, there was indeed a surge in attacks on Uchiha clan members," Hiashi confirmed. "In total, over a dozen pairs of Sharingan were stolen. Fortunately, the Sharingan's inherent power, along with Fugaku's position as Hokage, allowed for a strong response. This deterred further attempts, and we managed to recover seven or eight pairs of eyes."
"Moreover, none of the shinobi who stole and implanted the eyes were able to evolve them further—not even from two-tomoe to three-tomoe. Because of this, the wave of attacks on the Uchiha has subsided over the past few years."
"Over a dozen pairs of Sharingan were stolen, but seven or eight were recovered. So, there are still some out there," Akira noted silently, committing the information to memory.
In the original story, Kakashi also awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, but by then, the Uchiha clan had been nearly wiped out, leaving only Itachi Uchiha, the man who had slaughtered his own clan, and Sasuke, who was with Orochimaru at the time. This meant there was no one left to covet the power of the Sharingan and kill for it.
But now, with the Uchiha clan still intact, Kakashi's evolution had brought a lot of suffering to the clan, which wasn't something Akira could be happy about.
Soon after, Hiashi changed the topic to the development of Konoha Village.
With the help of Orochimaru's scientific prowess, Konoha had flourished and grown stronger, attracting more and more people to settle there. It was to the point that the area around the Hokage Rock was starting to feel like a whole new Konoha.
"It seems bringing Orochimaru to Konoha was the right decision. No wonder Konoha is getting its own high-speed railway now," Akira thought to himself, nodding as he listened to the updates on the village's progress.
No wonder Orochimaru had been so casual about paying off Akira's gambling debt of 1 million ryō. With the revenue from Konoha's booming development, that sum was nothing to him.
"By the way, Akira, since you just returned to Konoha, you probably haven't had a chance to see how much the village has changed," Hiashi said casually. "Hanabi happens to be free tomorrow. Why not let her show you around the village?"
Akira glanced at Hanabi, a twelve- or thirteen-year-old kid who didn't really catch his interest. Then he looked at Hinata, and that was a different story altogether.
"Hinata, are you free tomorrow? I don't recognize many of my old classmates anymore. How about you show me around and catch me up on what everyone's been up to?" Akira asked, turning to her with a smile.
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Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 201 at patreon.com/Emik01.
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