The Uchiha clan's greatest prodigy, who had been hailed as the number one genius of the ninja world seven years ago!
In the small grove nearby, Sasuke looked at Uchiha Akira with eager anticipation, wondering what kind of special training he had in store for him.
How much stronger would he become under Akira's guidance?
"Hey, Second Pillar, you remember that idea I mentioned to you a few days ago, right?" Uchiha Akira asked, noticing the excitement on Sasuke's face.
Normally, Sasuke didn't like that nickname, but today, it didn't really bother him.
"Of course, I remember. I've been working on the Chidori Current for a few days now. I've got some ideas, but it'll still take a bit of time to fully figure out," Sasuke nodded.
"No need to keep figuring it out. I'll just teach you the Chidori Current right now," Uchiha Akira said casually.
With that, Akira instantly activated the Chidori Current.
Suddenly, his entire body seemed to become the very core of a lightning storm, with fierce bolts of electricity bursting from him as his body crackled with Chidori.
This technique wasn't just defensive—it could be used offensively, too.
Thanks to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Sasuke could copy most jutsu with ease.
Sasuke had already awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and was watching closely, taking in every detail of how Akira's chakra flowed as he performed the Chidori Current.
"Well? Did you get it?" Akira asked as he stopped the technique and looked at Sasuke.
"Yeah, I got it," Sasuke replied, immediately mimicking the Chidori Current himself.
Electric blue lightning crackled around Sasuke's body.
Though it didn't have the same intensity as Akira's—due to the gap in their chakra reserves, with Akira being at a Kage-level and Sasuke still a Jonin—the fact that Sasuke learned the technique after seeing it only once spoke volumes.
That was the power of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and it certainly made Akira's job easier.
If not for the Sharingan, even with Akira's natural talent, learning so many jutsu would've taken ages, even with the Life Simulator's help.
"Good, you've got the Chidori Current down. Now let's move on to Chidori Sharp Spear," Akira said, nodding approvingly as he saw Sasuke successfully mastering the first technique.
"Wait a second, Akira…"
Just as Akira was about to demonstrate the next move, Sasuke interrupted.
Akira stopped, looking at him curiously.
"If you knew the Chidori Current already, why didn't you teach it to me sooner? Why let me waste all those days trying to figure it out by myself?" Sasuke asked, clearly confused.
"You're mistaken. When I explained the theory to you, I didn't know it either," Akira shrugged, shaking his head.
"Wait… what?" Sasuke froze, his expression blank.
"So… you developed all these Chidori variations in just the past few days?"
"Is this… what a real genius looks like?"
"This… this level of talent is ridiculous!" Sasuke stared at Akira, completely floored.
At first, Sasuke had been confused—if Akira knew the technique, why hadn't he shown him earlier? Now it all made sense, and the realization hit Sasuke like a ton of bricks.
While Sasuke had been spending days working on the Chidori Current and barely making progress, Akira had already figured it all out.
So, was he really just a mediocre Uchiha after all?
"Great… now he's spiraling again," Akira thought, a bit amused by Sasuke's reaction.
But really, what could Akira say? Sasuke's misunderstanding was perfectly reasonable.
Was he supposed to tell Sasuke that he'd learned it from him using the Life Simulator?
On second thought, letting Sasuke take a few hits to his ego might not be such a bad thing.
After all, in the original story, Sasuke was infamous for his arrogance. He'd get cocky, then someone would beat him down, and the cycle would repeat.
Letting him experience a few setbacks might do him some good.
"Alright, next up is Chidori Sharp Spear…" Akira continued, moving on without bothering to explain further.
Sasuke quickly gathered his thoughts and focused on the next demonstration.
With his Sharingan active, Sasuke easily copied the Chidori Sharp Spear.
Next was Chidori Senbon. The ability to copy techniques using the Sharingan was undeniably convenient.
In this way, Akira demonstrated the three Chidori variants, and Sasuke successfully copied all of them.
Since these were originally Sasuke's own developments, they felt perfectly natural for him to learn.
After copying the techniques, Sasuke looked at Akira again.
Akira had also mentioned another powerful lightning jutsu when they'd first talked—an idea for a technique even more incredible than the Chidori variations. Had Akira managed to develop that one, too?
Watching Akira for a moment, Sasuke saw no indication he was about to perform anything new, feeling a mix of slight disappointment and relief.
To be fair, expecting Akira to develop something like that in just a few days was unrealistic. He'd already done so much, Sasuke thought. No point in asking for too much.
The theory behind Kirin, after all, involved harnessing natural lightning from the sky, an S-rank technique, no less.
Of course, Akira would need more time to develop it, Sasuke reasoned.
"Hey, Akira, when you figure out Kirin, show me how it works, alright?" Sasuke said.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Akira blinked, looking at Sasuke like he'd just said something weird.
Sasuke gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"Kirin? I've already finished developing that. It's just, well, the technique relies on drawing from natural lightning, and with the weather so clear and sunny today, there's no lightning around to use," Akira explained.
"W-Wait, what? You already finished it?!" Sasuke was stunned. "That's an S-rank jutsu! How do you just… develop something like that so quickly? When did S-rank techniques become so easy to make?!"
Hearing Akira's explanation, Sasuke was completely dumbfounded, unable to believe what he was hearing.
He had thought Akira hadn't developed the technique yet, but in reality, Akira had already finished it. The only reason he hadn't demonstrated it was because there wasn't a thunderstorm to draw from.
This was Akira's talent?
For years, Sasuke's reputation in the Leaf Village had only grown, and he had been proud of his abilities. But now, comparing himself to Akira, Sasuke couldn't help but feel insignificant.
"Was my fame these past years… mostly because my father is the Hokage?" Sasuke began to question everything.
Was his recognition truly earned, or was it because of his family name?
Akira noticed Sasuke's inner turmoil but added, "Though, to be fair, you don't need a thunderstorm to use the Kirin technique, but it does help sell it."
Akira recalled how in the original timeline, Sasuke used Kirin with a bit of theatrical flair. Smiling to himself, Akira continued, "The core of the technique is using natural lightning as a weapon."
"But isn't that impossible without storm clouds?" Sasuke asked, clearly confused.
"Well," Akira grinned, "if there's no lightning, why not make it yourself?"
Sasuke looked at him, perplexed. "Make lightning? How would I even do that?"
Akira didn't answer directly. Instead, he clasped his hands together and began forming hand seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
One after another, powerful fire techniques shot from Akira's mouth, all aimed high into the sky.
With Akira's Kage-level chakra reserves fueling them, the flames were enough to turn half the sky into a blazing inferno.
People in the Leaf Village couldn't help but notice the sky lighting up in flames.
Watching Akira's actions, Sasuke was utterly confused. "I thought you were trying to create thunderclouds. Why are you using fire?"
"Wait… could it be…?"
Suddenly, it clicked for Sasuke. His eyes widened as he realized what Akira was doing.
Sure enough, the intense heat from the fire caused the air to rise rapidly, forcing moisture in the air to condense at higher altitudes, forming clouds.
Within moments, the clouds grew darker, thicker, and began to rumble with the sound of distant thunder.
"He actually used fire to create thunderclouds! This will make using Kirin so much easier!" Sasuke marveled.
"Genius… of course, if there's no thunderstorm, you can make one!" he thought, admiring Akira's resourcefulness.
However, Akira wasn't wrong about one thing—using fire jutsu to summon thunderclouds required a bit of performance. If your opponent saw you randomly shooting fire into the sky, they might realize something was up.
As the thunderclouds gathered overhead, Akira finally began preparing the Kirin technique.
Thunder rumbled louder as Akira called down the lightning from the clouds above...
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Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 218 at patreon.com/Emik01.