Chapter 186: Fugaku's Request, the Grindstone
Hokage Building, the top floor office.
The air was still, thick with the scent of old parchment and the faint, clean smell of ozone that always lingered around the new Hokage.
Uchiha Fugaku sat upright, his back a rigid plank. He faced the Godaime Hokage (Fifth Hokage), Uchiha Akira.
His hands rested on his knees, his expression severe and unreadable, as was befitting the former head of the Uchiha.
In fact, ever since Akira had taken the Hokage's hat—an act that had simultaneously elevated and subjugated the clan—Fugaku rarely took the initiative to meet him.
It was a matter of pride and propriety.
As the former clan head, after stepping down, Uchiha Fugaku held the title of an elder.
Of course, this "elder" status was merely a mascot-like existence. A title of respect with no real power.
Fugaku himself was well aware of this. He had accepted it. He did not cause any trouble. He managed the clan's internal affairs and stayed out of Akira's way.
Today was different.
Today, if it weren't for his son, for Sasuke, he would never have requested this meeting.
"Speak, Fugaku."
Akira didn't look up from the report he was reading, his pen making small, sharp annotations in the margins.
"You didn't specifically come to see me for tea, did you?"
Fugaku took a deep, steadying breath. "Hokage-sama."
His voice was a deep, formal rumble. "I've come for Sasuke."
"Oh?"
Akira finally placed his report down, steepling his fingers. He looked at Fugaku, his dark eyes impassive.
"Sasuke? Is there a problem with him?"
"His strength isn't enough."
Fugaku's answer was simple, direct, and laced with a frustration he couldn't entirely conceal.
"Compared to your disciple, Uzumaki Naruto... the gap is too large."
The words tasted like ash in his mouth. To admit that his son, the prodigy of the Uchiha, was so thoroughly eclipsed by the village's former 'dead-last' was a deep, personal humiliation.
[He really couldn't sit still,] Akira thought, his expression unchanging.
[Fugaku still has a lot of pent-up pride. His own son, the 'prodigy', losing so completely to my disciple, the 'Jinchūriki'... it must be harder for him to accept than anyone.]
[However, this is good. This is exactly what I wanted.]
[Sasuke's value lies precisely in this. He is the rival.]
"Gaps are made up through effort and talent," Akira said aloud, his voice flat.
"I heard that your personal training for him recently has been very strict."
"Yes," Fugaku said, his jaw tightening. "I have taught him everything I can. Our clan's Katon (Fire Release) techniques, our taijutsu, our shurikenjutsu."
"But I know very well that with just my guidance, it will be difficult for Sasuke to catch up to Uzumaki Naruto."
Fugaku's voice became strained. "That child… he is the Nine-Tailed Jinchūriki. And he is your direct disciple."
"The resources he possesses, the growth you have personally granted him... they are far beyond what Sasuke can compare to."
Fugaku looked at Akira, his dark eyes burning with a rare, desperate intensity. For the first time, he spoke not as an elder to his Hokage, but as a father.
"Therefore, I hope... Hokage-sama... that you can give Sasuke some help. A chance. He is an Uchiha. He should not be so weak."
The entire office fell into a brief, heavy silence.
Akira leaned back in his chair, his gaze distant as he stared at the Hokage Rock through the window.
His feelings for the character Sasuke were... complex.
He had no good feelings for the 'Second Pillar' in the original story. The boy who would stop at nothing for power, who defected from the Village, and who even wanted to destroy Konoha.
But now, the situation was different.
In this timeline, Itachi was dead, but the Uchiha Clan was not annihilated. Sasuke's entire upbringing, his entire psychological foundation, was vastly different.
He was not a creature of pure, isolated revenge. He was a proud son of the ruling clan, desperate to live up to the impossible standards set by his family and his Hokage.
[A qualified opponent can unleash a person's greatest potential,] Akira mused.
[Naruto, with his Uzumaki vitality and the Nine-Tails, will grow exponentially. He needs a rival. A goal. A grindstone that is hard enough to sharpen him. Someone to chase him, and someone for him to chase.]
[And Sasuke... he is the best candidate. An Uchiha genius.]
[I can't let him be left too far behind by Naruto. Otherwise, this grindstone will become useless. It will lose its meaning.]
Thinking of this, Akira had already made his decision.
"What resources do you want?" Akira asked, his voice returning to business.
Fugaku's spirits lifted. Hope, sharp and sudden. "Stronger Ninjutsu. Or... training methods. Anything that can make him stronger. Quickly."
"Ninjutsu…" Akira pondered for a moment, and Sasuke's iconic Jutsu from the original story flashed through his mind.
"Besides Katon (Fire Release), Sasuke's chakra nature should also include Raiton (Lightning Release), right?"
Fugaku was stunned for a moment by the non-sequitur. "Yes. We tested it. His Lightning Release talent is also very good. Almost as strong as his Fire."
"Then let him learn Lightning Release," Akira stated.
"Lightning Release's penetrative power and speed, combined with the Sharingan, can fully unleash its greatest power."
[Chidori, and the subsequent Kirin… this is Sasuke's true, natural path.]
[I don't want to see another Uchiha who can only breathe fire. It's... predictable. Boring.]
A hint of doubt flashed in Fugaku's eyes.
Lightning Release?
This was indeed a path, but there weren't many strong Lightning Release specialists within Konoha Village.
Who would teach him?
As if seeing through Fugaku's doubts, Akira spoke to the empty air: "Kenji."
"Here, Hokage-sama."
From the shadows, Uchiha Kenji's figure quietly appeared, kneeling.
"Go call Kakashi Hatake. Bring him here."
"Yes."
Kenji's figure disappeared again in a swirl of leaves.
Kakashi Hatake?
Fugaku's brow furrowed deeper.
He, of course, knew Kakashi. The former "Copy Ninja," a man who had gained fame only for possessing an Uchiha's Sharingan—an eye that did not belong to him.
But now, hadn't Lord Akira already... taken back that eye?
What right did a Kakashi without the Sharingan have to teach a genius of his Uchiha Clan?
He had heard that Kakashi was now focusing on the Hatake Sword Style, determined to inherit his father's legacy and promote his own family's techniques.
Was Akira going to have Kakashi teach Sasuke... kenjutsu?
A hint of profound displeasure rose in Fugaku's heart. He felt that Akira was being perfunctory with him. This felt like an insult.
But he dared not question the Hokage.
He could only suppress this doubt in his heart and wait quietly, his face a stony, impatient mask.
Not long after, there was a perfunctory knock on the office door.
"Hokage-sama, you called for me?"
Kakashi Hatake walked in, his mask in place, his single visible eye drooping with his trademark laziness.
Ever since losing the Sharingan, Kakashi felt... lighter. The constant, debilitating chakra drain that had plagued him for decades was gone. He was more relaxed, his own chakra reserves felt deeper, and he was rediscovering his own original jutsus.
"Kakashi," Akira looked at him, "I have a mission for you."
"Please command," Kakashi replied, his voice lazy.
Akira pointed to Fugaku nearby. "From today onwards, you will be responsible for guiding Uchiha Sasuke's training."
Kakashi's gaze turned to Fugaku. His one visible eye narrowed slightly.
Guiding Uchiha Sasuke? The clan's precious genius?
What a joke. This is... troublesome.
"Hokage-sama, I…"
"I know what you want to say," Akira interrupted him, his voice flat. "You think that without the Sharingan, you can't teach an Uchiha genius?"
Kakashi fell silent. That was, in fact, exactly what he wanted to say.
"What I want you to teach Sasuke is not how to use the Sharingan. That is his bloodline, not yours."
"I want you to teach him... this Jutsu."
As his voice fell, Uchiha Akira's right hand suddenly lifted.
Zzzzt—CRACKLE!
Blinding blue-white electric light instantly gathered in his palm, emitting a sharp, piercing sound, like a thousand birds chirping in unison!
The light and sound were overwhelming.
Kakashi's entire body trembled. His lazy eye shot wide open.
Fugaku, too, stared in shock at the raw, contained power in the Hokage's hand.
"This Jutsu is…" Kakashi breathed, his voice filled with disbelief.
Chidori! (One Thousand Birds!)
Akira let the jutsu dissipate, the sound vanishing as quickly as it came.
"Kakashi, you developed this Jutsu, didn't you?" Akira asked, his hand smoking slightly.
Kakashi, still in shock that Akira had also copied his one original, S-rank jutsu, nodded. "Yes, Hokage-sama."
"The advantage of this Jutsu is its extreme penetrative power and destructive force," Akira stated, as if reading from a textbook. "But its drawbacks are also obvious."
He looked at Kakashi.
"The attack method is primarily based on a linear thrust. This causes the user's vision to be restricted, creating a 'tunnel vision' effect. It makes them extremely vulnerable to enemy counterattacks during the high-speed charge."
"It's an incomplete, flawed jutsu," Akira said coldly.
Kakashi winced but said nothing. It was the truth. It was why he'd stopped using it until he gained the Sharingan.
"Sasuke," Akira continued, "has now activated his 2-tomoe Sharingan."
"His insight is sufficient for him to master this jutsu and, more importantly, to compensate for its fatal flaw."
"So, Kakashi, your mission is to teach Sasuke the training method for Chidori. Exactly as it is."
"But, Hokage-sama…" Kakashi hesitated, "I... I no longer have the Sharingan. So when teaching him, I'm afraid I can't demonstrate its proper application..."
"It doesn't matter!" Akira's voice was sharp.
"What I want you to teach is the process. The nature transformation of Lightning Release chakra. The form transformation. And your experience and insights from when you developed this jutsu."
"Although you have lost the Sharingan, your experience in creating the Chidori is unique."
"In this regard," Akira concluded, "no one in this Village is more suitable than you. Do you understand?"
Kakashi, faced with this cold, perfect logic, could only bow. "Yes, Hokage-sama."
Fugaku, silent in his chair, finally understood. His displeasure vanished, replaced by a cold, calculating respect.
This wasn't a perfunctory gesture. It was a perfect, tailor-made plan.
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