His body was still too weak. For him, the Mangekyo Sharingan was a monstrous chakra drain.
Inside the Hokage's office, once everyone else had been dismissed, Akira finally laid out everything he had learned about Orochimaru for Tsunade.
By the time he finished, Tsunade's brows had nearly tied themselves into a knot.
"You're saying Orochimaru's hideout has been identified, and that Kabuto Yakushi was a piece Sasori planted by his side?"
Akira nodded.
"That's what the intel says. But with how slippery Orochimaru is, Kabuto has probably already switched sides. Sasori lost contact with him a long time ago."
Tsunade rested her chin on one hand and thought it over for a while.
"This is too dangerous. For now, don't tell Naruto and Sakura."
The words had barely left her mouth when Akira dropped into a chair and gave a shrug.
"I think you might be a little late on that."
Sure enough, the moment Akira finished saying it, two familiar heads popped up outside the Hokage office window.
Tsunade froze, then whipped around. Sure enough, Naruto and Sakura were clinging to the windowsill and peeking inside.
"And what exactly are you two doing here?" Tsunade muttered, already feeling a headache coming on.
Naruto was the first to scramble through the window. The second his feet hit the floor, he shouted, "Granny Tsunade, tell me where Sasuke is!"
Sakura climbed in after him. She had thought eavesdropping was a bad idea from the start, but there was no stopping Naruto once he got like this, so in the end she had no choice but to follow him into the act.
Of course, those two pitiful stealth skills were basically invisible in Akira's eyes.
He glanced at them both and said coolly, "What's the plan, then? You two going to charge in there yourselves? With the strength you have right now, do you seriously think you can drag Sasuke back?"
"Let me make this clear in advance. I'm not going along just to play house."
Sakura had originally wanted to argue that with Akira there, things would surely be different, but the words died before they ever reached her mouth.
Akira had absolutely no interest in this matter.
He wasn't Naruto, and his bond with Sasuke was nowhere near that deep.
To be honest, he really didn't care whether Sasuke came back to Konoha or not. If he had wanted Sasuke brought back, he could have tied him up and done it himself two years ago.
But Naruto refused to back down. His fists clenched until they creaked.
"Even if I can't beat him, I still have to go! I need to see for myself how far apart we are! I have to bring Sasuke back!"
Akira leaned into his chair and asked with a faint, almost amused smile, "You want to bring him back. Did you ask whether he even wants to come back? For all you know, maybe he's perfectly comfortable living with Orochimaru."
Naruto choked on the words. His face flushed red, and for a moment he had no answer.
Sakura turned toward Akira, her expression complicated.
"Akira, do you really think Sasuke would want to stay in a place like Orochimaru's? A place that dark?"
She wanted his opinion desperately, as though whatever judgment he gave would be the final truth.
Tsunade looked over too. So did Naruto, listening intently.
Akira answered slowly.
"Sasuke can get power from Orochimaru. That's something Konoha can't give him. Don't forget, the Uchiha Clan was wiped out by his own brother, Itachi Uchiha, right in front of him. After seeing something like that with your own eyes, what else is there to do except chase strength for revenge?"
"Which one of you has ever tasted that kind of pain?"
The moment those words landed, the room went dead silent.
Naruto lowered his head. Sakura bit her lip and said nothing.
Akira continued mercilessly.
"I believe Sasuke does care about the two of you. If he didn't, then when Orochimaru first gave him the Curse Mark, he wouldn't have struggled with it for so long before finally using it."
"But this is the cruel part. When forced to choose between friendship and revenge, he chose revenge."
"That kind of pain isn't something outsiders can truly understand. This is Sasuke's trial to walk through. Still, Naruto wasn't wrong just now. The two of you can go find him first, even if all you do is confirm the gap between you."
"But I'd bet anything that with the talent gap between you, Sasuke right now could wipe the floor with the two of you working together."
"Only once you understand the difference in strength do you even have the right to talk about persuading him to turn back. If your fists aren't strong enough, why would he listen to a word you say?"
After hearing that, something in Naruto seemed to snap into place. He nodded hard.
"Yeah. I get it now."
Sakura nodded too, her eyes firmer than before.
Truthfully, Akira wasn't exaggerating.
Right now Sasuke was absurdly strong. Even someone like Yamato, an elite Konoha jonin, had been handled badly in front of him. That alone said enough about just how dangerous he had become.
He hadn't truly stepped over the line into Kage level yet, but among elite jonin, he was unquestionably near the top.
Compared to that, Naruto and Sakura in their normal states were still lacking. They only exploded past their limits when cornered, and that kind of unstable strength didn't really count.
At this point, even adding Yamato into the mix, the three of them together would probably still lose to one Sasuke.
Unfortunately, Sasuke also had a bad habit of getting carried away. He constantly misjudged his own level. He clearly hadn't reached Kage level yet, but he still kept running off to challenge monsters who already stood there, and every time he paid for it.
Back when Akira had still been a genin, he had liked challenging stronger opponents too.
The difference was that even then, he already had true Kage-level strength.
Which meant he could win however he pleased.
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