Three months slipped by in Konoha without a single big disturbance interrupting Akira's daily routine.
A few Main House Hyūga elders had cornered him in the streets, issuing stern warnings about associating with Uchiha Izumi and treading onto Uchiha soil. Similarly, a couple of Police Force members had cast suspicious glares his way near the Academy. Akira simply nodded politely, let their words go in one ear and out the other, and carried on enjoying his life.
Deep in his training room eight meters below his house, the cold air felt sharp and intense.
Akira stood in the middle of the stone ring, his pale-white Ice Release chakra swirling around him. Standing across from him were his two sparring partners: a solid Shadow Clone and Snowy, who had grown to a full meter in length with gleaming white fur and ruby eyes.
Akira's hands moved fast, weaving signs. "Ice Style: Sword-Scale Dragon!"
A huge dragon made of clear, blue-white ice burst out of the floor, its scales flaring like blades as it charged across the room.
The Shadow Clone moved quickly. "Water Style: Water Dragon Technique!"
A heavy stream of water shot out to meet the icy beast, while Snowy slammed her front paws onto the ground with a sharp bark, raising three thick walls of solid ice. The combined defense barely managed to shatter Akira's dragon in an explosion of cold mist and ice chunks.
Before the mist could clear, the real Akira vanished, appearing right in front of the clone with a long ice sword in hand. He swung it sideways, but the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke—a quick Substitution Jutsu.
At the same moment, Snowy jumped through the mist, her right paw covered in a heavy, sharp glove of thick ice. She brought a huge claw swipe down at his shoulder. Akira raised his ice blade to block, but the raw force shattered his weapon, leaving a bloody scratch along his right forearm.
He kicked out to push her back, but the moment his feet touched the floor, the real Shadow Clone popped out from the shadows.
"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
The clone's hands moved in a fast blur, landing a full set of strikes right against Akira's chest and stomach. But instead of coughing up blood, Akira's body cracked like cold glass and dissolved into mist—an Ice Clone.
Up on the ceiling beams, the real Akira dropped down, his hands forming signs at top speed. "Ice Style: Needle Shower!"
Sharp ice needles rained down like a storm. The clone crossed its arms—"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"—while Snowy let out a roar, her pale chakra forming a suit of Ice Armor as she ran across the floor. The clone's Rotation held out for a few seconds before the endless rain broke through, making it vanish in a cloud of smoke.
Stopping his jutsu, Akira landed lightly on his feet. As the clone's memories flooded back into his mind, he made a quick hand sign for Snowy to hold her attack.
He sat down cross-legged on the cold floor, taking a deep breath. "Good teamwork, you two. You almost got me that time."
Snowy dropped her ice armor and ran over, gently licking the bleeding scratch on his right arm.
"Ah, thanks, Snowy. Good girl," Akira said with a soft laugh, patting her head before wrapping his arm in clean white bandages.
Leaning back against a stone pillar, Akira wiped the sweat from his forehead. Since successfully creating Ice Release, his overall chakra control had reached an impressive level, and his total chakra amount had grown steadily to the level of a seasoned Special Jonin. He had also learned the basic Chakra Sensing Technique, giving him a 300-meter range of full environmental awareness during battle without putting strain on his Byakugan.
Leaving the training room, Akira went upstairs, took a hot shower, and put on a clean Academy shirt.
He walked out into his backyard garden, heading straight for the bamboo and sugarcane patch he had developed for Po.
In the middle of the sugarcane, surrounded by a small pond, sat the large panda. Po was sitting comfortably on the ground, holding a stalk of sweet sugarcane in his right paw and an open book in his left, with a pair of small reading glasses sitting right on his black-and-white nose.
Hearing Akira's footsteps, the panda lowered his book slightly and looked over his glasses.
"Boss? Why are you here early?" Po asked in a clear, deep voice.
Akira crossed his arms, putting on a serious face. "Did you finish the reading homework I gave you yesterday?"
Po's face immediately twisted into a dramatic, pained look as he scratched behind his ears. "Well, you see, Boss... the human books were really hard to read today, and the sugarcane was super sweet this morning, so..."
Akira's face went dark. "Po... if that homework isn't finished by the time I get home from school tonight, I'm going to have Snowy freeze your whole sugarcane garden into solid ice."
"No! Not the sugarcane!" Po gasped, dropping his serious scholar look right away. He slid forward, putting his big paws together and giving Akira a cute, big-eyed begging look. "Boss! Please! I'm just a helpless, innocent panda!"
Akira couldn't stay serious any longer. He shook his head with a small laugh and waved his hand. "Fine, fine. Just make sure you get it done today."
Both Snowy and Po had fully evolved into Summoning Beasts under his chakra refinement, though their traits differed completely. Po possessed high intelligence, learning human speech quickly and reading books with ease. Snowy excelled in battle instincts, agility, and elemental control. Akira had already signed official summoning contracts with both of them.
Leaving the sugarcane garden, Akira walked into the kitchen where Sister Ren was finishing up breakfast.
She set down a bowl of rice, cooked fish, and soup on the table. Akira sat down, took a bite, and nodded happily. "Your cooking is getting really good, Sister Ren."
"Thank you, Young Master. I just follow the recipes you wrote down for me," Ren replied warmly with a slight bow.
"Keep it up," Akira smiled, finishing his food. "Remember to water the backyard garden today, and keep the normal food portions ready for Snowy and Po."
"Understood," Ren replied smoothly. "And don't worry about the yard—I already called a team of helpers to trim the bushes and clean the front garden while you're at school."
"Sounds good."
Satisfied, Akira grabbed his ninja pouch, strapped it to his leg, and walked out the front gate into the morning sun, heading off to the Ninja Academy.