Uchiha Itachi's Visit

"Eh?" Akimichi Denji was puzzled.

He hadn't absorbed any chakra.

"That shouldn't be right, should it?"

He rubbed his chin, unsure of where the problem lay.

"Don't you dare hit me back; you were the one who told me to hit you."

Akimichi Choji looked as if he were afraid Akimichi Denji would take the opportunity to retaliate.

"Try again. Release your chakra externally this time."

"What exactly do you want?" Akimichi Choji grumbled, though his body was honest enough, condensing a mass of chakra.

Akimichi Denji reached out to touch the chakra and activated the Taotie Technique.

"What's going on?" Akimichi Choji's eyes widened, his naturally tiny eyes finally opening into a slit.

It worked, Akimichi Denji thought to himself.

It was possible to absorb chakra after all.

The energy bar on his system panel was increasing at a faster rate, and the absorbed chakra didn't convert into his own.

There was a limit to how much chakra a person could contain.

This limit was heavily tied to individual talent.

The previous failure to devour and absorb was because Akimichi Choji's chakra was still inside his body, where it technically had an owner.

But once released externally, it became ownerless.

However, the Taotie Technique shouldn't be able to absorb chakra from within a ninjutsu; the chakra inside a technique was far too volatile.

Otherwise, destroying the Lightning Release Chakra Mode without any cost would be far too broken.

Akimichi Choji felt his chakra rapidly depleting. Not knowing what was happening, he panicked and shouted, "My chakra is fading! I can't hold on much longer. Denji, what have you done?"

"Quiet, I'll make you snacks later," Akimichi Denji waved him off.

Chakra could be recovered, so he didn't stand on ceremony with Akimichi Choji; he wanted to drain him dry to see what would happen.

"I can still hold on a little longer," Akimichi Choji's expression shifted as quickly as flipping a page, his face turning serious.

The delicacies Akimichi Denji made came from the Eastern lands and tasted different from those in the world of the Hokage; they had a unique flavor he had been craving for a long time.

After a while, Akimichi Choji lay on the ground, utterly exhausted, with the look of someone who had been completely drained.

Akimichi Denji looked at his panel and nodded with satisfaction; the energy on the panel had increased by 10.

That was roughly the amount he could gain in half a day.

Yet, this didn't occupy the energy he usually digested.

Moreover, this was just the chakra of one person, Akimichi Choji.

It wasn't like his digestive system, which could only process a fixed amount of energy every day.

Theoretically, he could absorb infinite energy in a day.

So, who possessed an infinite amount of chakra?

Akimichi Denji licked his lips, revealing sharp teeth, like a beast that had found its prey.

He still had the heart to try absorbing natural energy, but finding he couldn't perceive it, he didn't dare to act rashly and decided to ask Tsunade about it later.

Uchiha Sasuke walked in, followed by Uchiha Itachi. Uchiha Itachi had already shed his Anbu attire, wearing standard Uchiha robes with the fan crest embroidered on the back.

His medium-length hair hung naturally, framing his temples, and a pair of black pupils were set deep within his eye sockets. At this moment, there was still a trace of gentleness in Itachi's eyes, which, combined with his signature tear troughs, made him look like a big brother from next door.

Akimichi Denji was not deceived by this kind appearance and went to greet them.

In the original story, Uchiha Itachi had been brainwashed by the Will of Fire and, on the eve of the Uchiha coup, triggered the Blood Skull Gu, becoming the number one on the list of those born to be villains.

However, Denji didn't need to worry about him attacking. After all, he was now the red-blooded successor to the Will of Fire.

"Why is Choji lying on the floor?" Uchiha Sasuke asked curiously.

"Don't worry about him; he's just tired from training with me," Akimichi Denji replied.

A flicker of thought passed through Uchiha Itachi's eyes, as if he were pondering something.

Sasuke shook the gift he was holding and said, "We came to congratulate you today!"

Seeing the bags of gifts, Akimichi Denji beamed, "Look at you, you shouldn't have brought gifts just for coming over."

Yet, his hands naturally reached out to accept them.

Uchiha Sasuke introduced, "This is my brother, Uchiha Itachi. You should have met him before."

"Itachi-kun! I have kept the memory of you saving me that day in my heart."

"Think nothing of it," Uchiha Itachi smiled gently. "I just happened to see it. I only wonder why Danzo-sama would make a move; what he displayed at the time was likely just a probe..."

After a moment of silence, neither of them picked up the thread of the conversation, choosing to steer clear of the topic.

"Come in and take a seat." Akimichi Denji kicked Choji, who was lying on the floor, to make him get up and serve tea.

The three of them sat around the table, sipping hot tea and chatting.

"I heard you were taken in as a disciple by Lady Tsunade; I sincerely congratulate you," Uchiha Itachi began.

"Here is some chakra metal and a gift of money; please accept them."

It was a generous gesture; chakra metal was the ultimate conductor for chakra, reducing transmission loss to near zero and greatly amplifying the power of ninja tools and the effects of ninjutsu.

Such resources were considered strategic and scarce, and even large ninja clans had limited access to them.

"You are very thoughtful. I will inform Lady Tsunade of the Uchiha's goodwill," Akimichi Denji said as he accepted the gifts.

He understood that this was Uchiha Itachi showing the importance he placed on Tsunade's disciple.

What else was there to say? From this day forward, Uchiha Sasuke was his best brother.

A minister of the dragon, he would crown him the King of Fire Martial Spirits when he ascended to power in the future.

Uchiha Itachi smiled upon hearing this; it was exactly what he wanted.

He wanted to seize every opportunity to bridge the gap between his clan and the village.

Looking at it this way, Akimichi Denji really didn't seem like the rest of the Akimichi clan; with a simple sentence, he had grasped his core needs.

He raised Akimichi Denji's importance in his mind by another level and added:

"Additionally, we are all very grateful for your help in awakening Sasuke's Sharingan."

"I heard you have a pursuit for taijutsu, though our Uchiha clan is not particularly known for it. This is our clan's Uchiha Style Taijutsu Manual; I hope it proves helpful to you," Uchiha Itachi said with great courtesy.

"I didn't really help much with that matter, I only sparred with Sasuke," Akimichi Denji replied modestly, "It must be that Sasuke himself has great talent."

Upon hearing this, the corners of Uchiha Sasuke's mouth curled up as he said indifferently, "Your help played a part as well."

Seeing Sasuke's expression, Uchiha Itachi smiled helplessly and affectionately ruffled Sasuke's hair.

He spoke with a hint of melancholy:

"The awakening of the Sharingan is not as simple as you make it sound, Denji-kun. If talent and sparring were all it took, the Uchiha wouldn't be in this state."

Realizing he had lost his composure, Uchiha Itachi straightened his expression: "It must have been the bond and strength of Denji-kun that resonated with Sasuke."

In front of Akimichi Denji, Uchiha Sasuke felt a bit resistant to being patted on the head; he dodged slightly and retorted unconvinced:

"But now that I have the Sharingan, I've already started learning our family's Fire Style ninjutsu. I'll defeat you soon enough."

Akimichi Denji gave a silent thumbs-up; people from our village cannot be patted on the head!