Can I Do Anything?

"Hmph!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi snorted coldly and looked his disappointing youngest son up and down. "I think it's excellent. Weren't you swaggering around every day before? After getting beaten by an Uchiha seven years younger than you, I'd say you've become much more obedient!"

The more he looked, the more satisfied he became.

You had to admit, after getting beaten up once—heh!

He suddenly seemed much more steady!

"I'm still young! Give me a few more years, and I might not be worse than Uchiha Akira!"

Asuma Sarutobi refused to accept it. "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Don't bully a poor... young man!"

Who said a young man couldn't turn his life around?

"Hehe, give it a rest. Uchiha Akira hasn't even awakened his eyes yet. Once he does, you won't even be able to see his backside."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave his youngest son a sidelong glance.

He knew his youngest son's talent like the back of his hand.

Elite Jonin was barely possible. Reaching Kage rank in this lifetime was a pipe dream.

Asuma Sarutobi lowered his head dejectedly. "...Fine, I'll go."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was very satisfied.

He took two puffs from his pipe. Thinking back, his youngest son had caused trouble for him every day and even refused to respect him as Hokage. Yet after being taught a lesson, he had improved instead. He could not help but sigh. "It takes a villain to tame a villain."

"Asuma's biggest problem is that he's too arrogant. If I'd known, I should've had Shisui beat him up a couple of times earlier."

Wouldn't that have straightened him out long ago?

Just look at him now.

Steady, dignified, and growing a beard. At a glance, he looked like a good son!

To be honest, Akira really did not like being disturbed while sunbathing.

Especially when he was chatting with his childhood sweetheart and got caught in the act.

Just like now.

Kurenai Yuhi clung to Akira's arm, her White Rabbit Milk Candy sweet enough to make one sick, squeezed crookedly by the sponge rings. "Akira, Akira, I really can't learn the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique! Teach me, please!"

And Akira happened to be lying in a hammock.

So Kurenai Yuhi was lying in the hammock too, acting cute.

The moment Asuma Sarutobi entered, this was the sight that greeted him. At that exact moment, Uchiha Akira's unconcerned voice rang out, sounding as practiced as if he had been through this countless times. "Oh? Then is it the same as last time? Can I do anything?"

Can he do anything?!

Asuma was struck as if by lightning!

His whole world went dark. Had Kurenai and Akira already progressed this far? Then what... was he? He should not be here. He should be under a carriage!

"Oh? Asuma's here. Come in, come in."

As Asuma was about to leave, he suddenly heard someone call out to him. His eyes widened, and his breathing quickened!

You scoundrel, how dare you!

Not only did he have no sense of shame at all.

He did not even bother avoiding others anymore!

"Uchiha Akira, why did you call me?" Asuma Sarutobi strode over furiously. He had seen shameless people before, but never anyone this shameless!

But as soon as he approached, his expression froze.

Uchiha Akira and Kurenai Yuhi each had their own hammock, and they were far apart. The scene from before had merely been an illusion caused by his distance.

"Oh? Asuma, why is your face as red as a monkey's butt?"

Uchiha Akira raised an eyebrow. This kid had always had a dark face, but now it was red too. All red and black, it really did look no different from a monkey's butt.

"I got frostbite while on a mission!"

Asuma Sarutobi still felt uncomfortable inside. He said coldly, "Unlike you, sunbathing in the Senju clan territory every day. Uchiha Akira, the old man told you to hurry to the Hokage's office!"

Even if he had seen it wrong, what Uchiha Akira had just said to Kurenai—"Can I do anything?"—had been real, right?

This evil little Uchiha brat was outrageously lecherous!

"Fine."

Akira leisurely rose to his feet, then turned to Kurenai Yuhi. "Kurenai, don't forget the condition you just agreed to. Once I teach you the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, you'll have to make good on it."

"Of course, no problem!"

Kurenai Yuhi agreed without hesitation.

Crack!

Asuma heard the sound of his heart shattering. He raised his head toward the sky, desperately trying not to let his tears fall!

"Asuma, what's wrong?"

Noticing something strange about her companion, Kurenai Yuhi blinked her crystal-like Red Eyes. "You can tell me anything. We're the best of friends!"

Crack!

Friends?!

Right, they were only friends!

Asuma's heart hurt even more, as though ten thousand arrows had pierced through it!

"Oh, right, Asuma, how do you think I should fulfill Akira's condition?" Kurenai Yuhi asked with a troubled expression.

Asuma's breathing grew rapid. "???"

His voice was incredibly strained. "Kurenai, there's no need to tell me about that kind of thing, is there?"

He was only a "friend," after all.

Just imagining that kind of thing made his heart feel as though it were being cut by knives!

When he got back, he absolutely had to badmouth him to the old man. Damn Uchiha Akira, you deserve to die!

"How is there no need? The condition for Akira teaching me the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique before was that I introduce him to suitable 'students.' It's the same this time, but where am I supposed to find more?"

Kurenai Yuhi said with a deeply troubled expression,

"Seriously, Akira may be an Uchiha, but he worries about Konoha's affairs even more than the Senju do."

Huh?

Asuma Sarutobi froze on the spot. His mind instantly cleared, and he said excitedly, "Y-you mean Akira's condition is for you to find him students he can teach? It's not... not some other condition?!"

"Of course. What else did you think it was?" Kurenai Yuhi asked, confusion written across her small face.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Asuma threw back his head and laughed, as if he had been reborn. "So that's it! So that's it!"

In that instant, he felt as though heaven and earth had transformed within his heart. He felt refreshed, and the entire world seemed so beautiful.

Wonderful.

Wonderful!

Once he got back, he would definitely put in a good word for Uchiha Akira!

Meanwhile.

Uchiha Akira stood vigilantly at the door. Damn it, why does that old man Hiruzen Sarutobi call me over every other day?

He can't really be trying to screw me, can he?

His hands remained pressed together.

"Uchiha Akira, get your ass in here!"

Inside, Hiruzen Sarutobi stared darkly at the crystal ball, where Uchiha Akira was once again waiting outside the door. Looking at Uchiha Akira as he entered, he said irritably, "What, are you waiting outside every time? Are you waiting for me to personally invite you or something?"

And what was with holding his hands together?

Was he praying to Buddha or reciting sutras?

He found it utterly baffling.

"Not at all. It's just that without a summons from the Third Lord, how could I casually barge into the Hokage's office?"

Uchiha Akira spoke righteously, but his clasped hands showed no sign of lowering.

"Hah!"

The moment he heard that, Hiruzen Sarutobi's mood greatly improved. Although he had issued a notice allowing all Konoha villagers to come to the Hokage's office whenever they had business with him, seeing such a sensible Uchiha Akira made him nod in satisfaction.

It was true that they could come if they needed to.

But casually coming whenever they wanted was not so good, especially without knocking!

Just look at young Uchiha Akira. Now that was political awareness!

Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice became much gentler, carrying deliberate kindness. "By the way, Akira, I heard you've been getting close to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki lately?"