"Child, you..."
Sakuma Chiaki and Sakuma Saiki were both shocked.
Akaba seemed too mature—so mature he no longer resembled a child, especially over the past half-month, when this maturity had become increasingly evident.
"Well then, children grow up. It's only natural they pursue their own path."
Though Sakuma Chiaki possessed the abilities of a Tokubetsu Jonin, he wasn't considered high-ranking within the Sakuma clan, nor was he a Kekkei Genkai Awakener. His understanding of the clan's Kekkei Genkai was quite limited.
Therefore, in their minds, they attributed Akaba's behavior to the changes brought by his awakened Kekkei Genkai and its powerful mental influence.
"Father, so does that mean you'll help me speak to the Clan Leader?"
Akaba recognized from the tone that he'd already succeeded halfway.
Sakuma Chiaki nodded, his expression complex as he reached out to ruffle Akaba's hair while saying, "I'll bring it up with the clan. Even if they refuse, I have a little money saved up."
"Don't worry, the clan will definitely agree."
Akaba said confidently. In ninja clans, what they certainly wouldn't lack was ordinary money.
Tenten—an obscure member of her clan—but she used shuriken, kunai, and explosive tags as casually as scattering rice.
The Sakuma clan might currently be going through a rough patch between generations, but they hadn't fallen into decline yet.
The family of three slowly returned home from school. As soon as they arrived, Akaba went straight to his room to draw manga.
[Shadow Clone Jutsu!]
Back in his room, he immediately performed the hand seal for the Shadow Clone Jutsu, summoning a new clone.
The Multiple Shadow Clone appeared and looked around with a blank expression before picking up a paintbrush.
"Don't give me that look. I'll work today too."
Akaba chuckled, beginning to mix the colors for his paints.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" the clone replied sarcastically, glancing at the original.
As someone who majored in art—even though he'd mostly slacked off during college—he still had solid basics, especially when it came to thoroughly mixing pigments. It didn't take long before he had all the needed paints ready.
After finishing, Akaba stood up and took a long stretch. Just as he was about to say something—
"No need. I know exactly what you're going to say. Now it's my turn to work."
Expressionless, the clone dipped the brush into the pigment and began thinking about where to start drawing, clearly not expecting much real help from Akaba.
No one knew himself better than he did, and from the beginning, he hadn't believed Akaba's bullshit about "working together." If that were really the case, then why learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu in the first place?
"Don't talk like that. I'm actually restoring chakra, not resting for real."
Originally, Akaba truly intended to relax for a bit, but facing the clone's sarcasm made it hard to lie down on the bed shamelessly, so he changed his mind and sat cross-legged to begin refining chakra.
At the same time, he glanced at the system panel. A day or two had passed, and after purchasing the Shadow Clone technique, his points had risen back to more than fifty.
However, since today, the points essentially stopped increasing altogether.
Thinking it through, Akaba decided to use all fifty points to enhance his physical strength.
Currently, his spiritual power was already sufficient compared to his body; he needed to improve his physique first.
Of course, another main reason was because enhancing spiritual power cost far too much.
50 points of Mental Power is the dividing line – anything below makes you a Genin, while anything above qualifies you as a Chunin. Each point increase costs 50 points.
If he exchanged for Mental Power, he could only get one point. But what difference would that really make?
Five points in physical strength would make an entirely different impact.
It wasn't just his body; even his chakra recovery speed and total capacity seemed to increase slightly. For Akaba, this was practically a blessing at the current moment.
Afterward, Akaba sat cross-legged and began refining and recovering his chakra.
The Shadow Clone hadn't expected that Akaba wouldn't actually turn into a slacker. Even though he was merely sitting there recovering chakra, he still felt fortunate – so far, he was the most privileged among all Akaba's Shadow Clones.
This sense of human happiness...
He sighed slightly with emotion, then continued working. The whole point of being a workhorse was to take the original's place in drawing.
Though he was a clone and wanted to go full couch potato too, if he worked hard now, he could earn more clones to help draw later – at least covering the workload his original self hadn't drawn.
At least today, he planned to complete content for both the fourth and fifth chapters. That way, there'd be extra chapters ready once the manga shop opened.
Regarding the manga shop, he was equally dedicated as a clone – same reason: To sooner obtain even more unfortunate Shadow Clone companions.
Of course,
Akaba himself was also making effort. With improved physical strength and strong mental power, his chakra recovered much faster than most Genin.
Soon, he'd restored nearly half the chakra consumed from creating one Multiple Shadow Clone. After fully recovering, he stood up and created a second clone.
"I found you a companion. Now I really need rest."
Akaba lay on the bed replenishing energy. Two clones were putting a serious strain on him right now. He feared that if he didn't fully rest, he might collapse instantly when releasing the Multiple Shadow Clones technique.
As he lay down, the two clones exchanged glances, then looked toward their original resting on the bed.
What luck!
The clone who was drawing happily thought to himself, working even harder.
Meanwhile, at the Hokage building, Sarutobi Nennosuke arrived to report today's exam situation.
Hiruzen Sarutobi listened attentively, although this biggest peeping tom in Konoha had already seen the entire battle through his crystal ball. Not only that – he saw everything much clearer than the on-site proctor Sarutobi Nennosuke, who was actually present at the scene.
After all, many details were unclear to the on-site proctor Sarutobi Nennosuke, while through the Telescope Technique, every detail could be clearly observed.
"As you said, Uchiha Ryo shall be dealt with accordingly. As for the other members of the Uchiha clan, they can graduate normally."
Said Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Yes!"
Receiving the order, Sarutobi Nennosuke left the office.
The Third lit his pipe, puffing thoughtfully.
On his table lay the grouping chart – Sakuma Akaba, Sakumo Hatake, and Shishio Mitashigo were listed in one row, while the preceding teacher's name remained blank.
Finally, he filled in a name: Danzo Shimura.
"Send for Danzo."
Soon, a figure knocked and entered. It was indeed Danzo Shimura!
He picked up the list, glanced at it, and said, "So these three are the ones *you* chose personally, Hiruzen?"
At this time, Danzo was head of Anbu, and his organization "Root" remained a division within Anbu, not yet fully autonomous.
"Exactly. For the next year, you'll be their instructor—but remember, you mustn't use Root's techniques."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was uncompromising on this point—there was no room for error.
"You seem to have confidence in them."
Danzo picked up the list, gave a quiet chuckle, then turned and walked away.
"They're all geniuses. One year will definitely be enough."
Hiruzen said, "As for next year, I've made other arrangements. Go back and run your Root as you like."
"You also have one year to work with."
Danzo implied something with those words, then turned around and slowly walked away.
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~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** on the weekend!