Hokage's Office.
Obito stood there holding a portrait of Akio, completely baffled.
"Sunagakure… sent over a portrait of my master? What's that supposed to mean? Are they asking the Land of Whirlpools to join the Chunin Exams? Or do they want my master himself to participate?"
He mulled it over for a long time but couldn't make sense of it. The space in front of him warped, and Obito vanished from the Hokage's office. Moments later, he reappeared at Hiruzen's doorstep.
"Lord Third! Are you in?"
"Obito? Come in! Another problem you can't decide on?" Hiruzen's voice called from inside.
Obito had already served as Hokage for four years. While he'd improved a lot, he still occasionally sought Hiruzen's advice and Hiruzen was more than happy to oblige.
"Sorry to interrupt your lunch, Lord Third," Obito said as he stepped in, presenting the portrait.
"A portrait of Elder Akio?"
Obito scratched his head. "I was discussing the details of the joint Chunin Exams with the Fourth Kazekage, and he suddenly sent this over…"
Hiruzen paused, studying the painting carefully. "This came from Sunagakure?"
Obito nodded. "What do you think they mean? Do they want my master to participate?"
Hiruzen pondered for a moment, recalling Akio's usual behavior. "No. This is an ink painting black and white. Most likely… Sunagakure doesn't want Elder Akio involved."
Obito blinked, then quickly realized. "I see! As expected of Lord Third!"
With that, he turned and headed for the door.
Hiruzen paused. "Obito, what are you planning to do…?"
"Whether my master participates isn't up to them; it depends on his mood! I'm going to have someone paint a color portrait of him and send it back!"
Hiruzen: "…"
That solution was very… Obito.
Konoha – Akimichi BBQ Restaurant.
"Hoshino, sit down properly! Stop doing a horse stance while eating!"
Across from Akio, Uchiha Hoshino had her cheeks stuffed full, chewing rapidly. Hearing him, she froze, then slowly relaxed.
The moment she lowered herself onto the chair, she flinched and instinctively lifted herself back up again.
A moment later, she cautiously tried sitting again, her face twisting awkwardly as she shifted around in her seat…
Akio sighed helplessly. He knew perfectly well the girl didn't have hemorrhoids; she just wasn't used to sitting after spending too long standing.
"That's better. Now eat properly!"
"Mm…"
Beside them, Sai picked up a piece of meat, hesitated, then set it down again and turned to Akio. "Senior… was it really okay for you to tie my painting to a messenger hawk earlier?"
Akio waved it off with a grin. "Just eat. Didn't you see Toneri doesn't care? I know what I'm doing."
Ordinary people simply couldn't appreciate the depth of his brilliance. The Chunin Exams were a major storyline introduce a few twists, and wouldn't that easily earn him a ton of witness points?
He didn't care whether Obito was troubled or not. The fact that he hadn't outright canceled the exams and completely rewritten everything already showed remarkable restraint…
"I'm a genius," Akio muttered, raising an eyebrow. Then his expression shifted as he sighed. "Hoshino, if you can stay seated through this entire meal, I'll teach you a jutsu, a powerful one."
Hoshino paused mid-chew, then leaned back, her body bouncing on the chair three times before she clenched her teeth and forced herself to stay down.
Akio chuckled. "If you stand up again, I'll have Toneri sit on your lap."
Hoshino blushed and shook her head lightly, signaling she could definitely control herself.
Two seconds later…
Akio's lips twitched. Did he just say the wrong punishment?
"If you stand up again, I'll sit on your lap."
Hoshino immediately planted herself firmly in the chair.
The meal didn't leave Akio in the best mood, but he still kept his promise and prepared to teach Hoshino a powerful jutsu, Chidori.
This was a technique he had personally created, along with several advanced variations. Since they were already stored in Konoha's jutsu archives, it wasn't exactly anything rare.
Originally, Akio intended to teach it to Sasuke, but Sasuke was currently training high-level Fire Release techniques under Itachi and couldn't afford distractions. So Akio decided to pass it on to this girl he found rather likable.
This year's Chunin Exams were stacked with talent. Some of the participants were already borderline jonin-level. Gaara, Toneri, Naruto, Sasuke, Tenten, Neji, and Lee formed the strongest top tier. With Chidori, Hoshino could probably break into that group making it a perfect top eight.
"Watch closely!"
Akio formed hand seals Ox, Rabbit, Monkey then brought his hands together horizontally, gathering chakra in his palms. Blue arcs of lightning crackled as the sharp chirping sound of birds filled the air.
Once the Chidori fully formed, Akio's figure blurred and vanished. In the nearby grove, a row of small trees suddenly collapsed.
"Did you see that?"
Hoshino had already activated her single tomoe Sharingan and nodded excitedly.
Akio sighed. "This technique requires high-speed movement and sharp vision, you barely meet the minimum requirements for both. But can you please put your heels down?! I'm teaching you a new jutsu here!"
"Oh…" Hoshino replied reluctantly.
Akio pursed his lips. Standing on tiptoe… what's so fun about that?
…Wait, actually, it is kind of fun.
"Don't look at me, focus on your training!"
"Oh…"
Time passed, and the sun began to set.
Hoshino managed to produce "one bird" of Chidori. Akio reached out and touched it, barely more painful than static electricity…
"Put your heels down and try again!"
This time, it was about as strong as a decent static shock.
"Not bad. From here on, your task is to master Chidori. You can put your other training on hold. As for standing on tiptoe… do as you like." Akio said with a smile while standing on tiptoe himself.
At that height, looking down on others felt pretty great.
"Caw!"
Suddenly, the cry of a hawk echoed overhead. Akio looked up as it flew past.
With a casual wave, a wind blade sliced through the air—feathers scattered.
"You again? I let you go at lunch, and now you show up again at dinnertime?" Akio chuckled as he pulled the hawk over. "Another message? Split in half… rough luck. Hm?!"
He froze for a moment.
"Why is this… my portrait? And in color?!"
He couldn't begin to imagine what kind of thought process led Obito to send his portrait to Sunagakure.
"Using my reputation to threaten the Fourth Kazekage isn't exactly appropriate… Obito, that kid, how could he abuse his master's prestige like this?"
Looking at the hawk, which now radiated regret and despair, Akio pondered for a moment.
"Maybe… I should write something?"
"No need to let Sunagakure admire my portrait. A piece of calligraphy will do just fine."
"Sai, come here! Bring me paper and ink!"
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