Shearing the Flock

"Akashi, are you coming home for lunch today?"

"Probably not. I'll just grab something to eat while I'm out. See you, Mom."

Under the clear weekend sky, two crisp voices rang out.

Akashi got up early, washed and dressed, then headed for the Hokage Building.

Several days had passed since the clan meeting, and it was time to report back to the Konoha High Command. The more things were like this, the more proactive he needed to be. He had to maintain his image and make sure it didn't crumble.

He followed the main road, crossed the Konoha River, and headed north. Before long, he reached his destination.

Inside the office.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was looking through some documents, his pipe set aside. Every now and then, he took a puff.

In times of worry, a cigarette became a crutch for the soul.

He felt exhausted. Ever since becoming Hokage, he seemed to have aged considerably, in both body and mind.

They said the Hokage was the most powerful person in the whole village, even among the Five Great Nations.

In reality, it was exhausting!

There was trouble everywhere, one problem after another. How many years had it been since the war?

Now the village was on the verge of falling into chaos again.

He studied the important documents in his hands, weighing the options, but he couldn't decide. Danzo really could be a good helper sometimes—more decisive and bold than he was.

Knock, knock, knock... Just then, someone knocked on the door.

"Lord Hokage," Akashi called, requesting permission to enter.

"Come in."

Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his brow and smiled.

Akashi glanced around. Only the Third was there. It was rare for Danzo to miss an opportunity to stick his nose into things.

As usual, Akashi dropped to one knee and gave his report.

After hearing him out, Sarutobi Hiruzen searched through the papers on his desk, found a stack, and pushed it toward the edge with a smile. "Take a look at these."

Akashi rose and stepped closer. He saw Uchiha Fugaku's name on the documents.

It turned out Fugaku had already finalized the relocation and reached a written agreement with Konoha.

The site, compensation, construction schedule...

Every detail had been meticulously calculated. Who would believe Danzo hadn't planned this in advance?

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe. "You've done very well. I've seen the Uchiha's decision. They responded even faster than I expected."

"Actually, the clan head had already been considering it. I didn't have to do much."

"You're too modest."

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled. "I trust your abilities. If you run into trouble in the future, just tell me. I'll do what I can to help."

The same old spiel, delivered with an affable smile.

He made being a double agent sound like a glorious thing.

Akashi stood up straight and shamelessly said, "Lord Hokage, as it happens, I do have a bit of a problem."

"Oh? Tell me about it."

"To be honest, I made a lot of enemies at the clan meeting. I'm afraid I'm not strong enough and will get pushed around. You know how short-tempered a lot of people in the clan are..."

He left it at that, his voice trailing off.

But how could Sarutobi Hiruzen not understand what he meant? Akashi had worked diligently as a spy for quite some time, and he hadn't been given a single benefit.

It did seem a little unfair to keep things going this way.

Winning people over took some investment.

He thought it over, then stood and walked over to Akashi, patting him on the shoulder with a broad hand. "You've had a hard time. I happen to have some ninjutsu that should suit you. Take these and give them a try. Practice diligently, and they should help."

As he spoke, he pulled two scrolls from somewhere.

How generous!

He usually never mentioned compensation, but when the moment came, he was pretty lavish.

Akashi's impression of the Konoha High Command's stinginess changed completely. He took the scrolls and thanked him over and over.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage."

"You've earned them."

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled. "With you on our side, I can rest easy."

They chatted a little longer, the mood quite pleasant.

Having achieved his goal, Akashi took his leave.

Once outside the Hokage Building, he didn't rush to open the scrolls. Instead, he headed straight for the Police Force. Having gotten something out of the Third, it was Fugaku's turn. Two jobs meant two paychecks.

Though it was the weekend, Fugaku was already sitting in the Police Force office.

With the clan's relocation proposal settled, he was in a good mood.

It was a vibrant spring, full of life and renewal. The village was peaceful, and the Police Force's work mostly consisted of strolling around to maintain basic law and order. It wasn't busy.

Fugaku had become much more tolerant of the people who spent their time drinking tea and reading the paper.

Now, he was just waiting for someone.

Uchiha Akashi.

That kid was a real oddball in the Uchiha Clan. He acted in unexpected ways, yet always seemed to hit the mark. Fugaku could never figure him out.

"Clan head, may I come in?"

A familiar voice came from outside the door.

Fugaku sat up straight and cleared his throat. "Come in."

The door opened, and Akashi walked in with a smile, stopping across from him. "Clan head, I came to learn ninjutsu as we agreed."

"You're skipping even the greetings?"

"Things have been pretty tense between the Third and me lately, and Danzo seems to be making moves behind the scenes. I'm worried they'll quietly dispose of me, so I'm in a hurry to get stronger."

Akashi put it another way, his face full of worry. "You have to help me."

Fugaku laughed helplessly. "All right, all right. I've got them ready. Take these two scrolls."

It turned out Fugaku had given him scrolls, too.

There was no denying that they were a convenient and efficient medium.

Akashi took the ninjutsu and could hardly wait to find a small grove and open the scrolls. He immediately said his goodbyes.

"Clan head, I'll be heading off, then."

"Hey, wait. What's the rush?" Fugaku held out a hand. "I have something to ask you. After the Police Force moves, how about you come work here?"

"At the Police Force?"

"That's right. You could work alongside your father."

Akashi shuddered and quickly waved his hands. "I think I'll pass."

Fugaku blinked. "Why?"

High authority, little power, endless trouble. Low pay, loads of work, and everyone hated you.

A department like that was only precious to people like you.

But he couldn't say that out loud. Akashi sighed. "My father wants me to become a jonin within two years. You know what he's like—pretty old-fashioned. Usually he just... I need to focus on training for a while, and I have some regular missions to take care of, too..."

He went on and on, like he was chanting a sutra.

Fugaku quickly cut him off. "All right, all right. Do whatever you want. Stop rambling."

"Thank you, clan head."

As if pardoned, Akashi hurried out of the office and headed straight south.

The area around Konoha was mostly forest, with few people passing by.

He found a spot near a stream and eagerly opened Fugaku's scroll. A few large characters caught his eye: Great Dragon Fire Technique!

Oh, not bad at all.

Fire Release Ninjutsu wasn't especially difficult; it was B-rank at most. But ninjutsu involving Chakra Nature Transformation wasn't taught at the Ninja Academy.

Before officially becoming a Genin, students usually focused on the basics.

Things like the Body Replacement Technique, the Clone Technique, and the Transformation Technique; throwing ninja tools, hand-to-hand combat, disguises, traps, survival, and gathering intelligence.

Elemental techniques, on the other hand, were taught by a guiding jonin.

Children from ordinary families could only learn them after graduation, while clan heirs could learn elemental techniques and even secret techniques early from their elders.

The Nara and Akimichi Clans, for example.

They had abundant resources by birth, so it was only natural that they'd surpass ninja from ordinary families.

The Uchiha were the same. Almost all of them learned a Fire Release technique before graduating. Combined with the Sharingan and shuriken, they were practically unbeatable at the lower ranks.

Akashi had already mastered three or four Fire Release techniques.

The Great Fireball Technique was the most basic among them. Mastering it meant he had enough chakra and was qualified to study more advanced techniques.

Like the Great Dragon Fire Technique.

As the name suggested, it was a technique that let the user breathe a dragon-shaped blast of fire from their mouth to attack an enemy.

It consumed far more chakra than a C-rank technique like Phoenix Sage Fire. Clearly, after watching the fight that day, Fugaku had considered his options and chosen the most suitable technique.

With anticipation, Akashi opened the other scroll. It contained another B-rank technique.

Shadow Clone Technique.

Now that was useful. With this, he could make his two reports at the same time next time. Wouldn't being a double agent get even easier?

The Second Hokage Tobirama Senju had created the Shadow Clone Technique to gather intelligence. Later, people developed ways to use it in combat, but because of the chakra it consumed, it wasn't used very often.

As for using it to train, aside from freaks like Naruto, most people would need to lie down for a day after practicing.

As luck would have it, he had the God Tree inside him.

Akashi was quite satisfied with the two techniques.

Now it was time to see what the Third had given him. He eagerly opened the scroll, then froze.

Great Dragon Fire Technique.

Shadow Clone Technique.

Not exactly identical—completely identical.

"Hey, did you two plan this together?" Akashi stood there in the wind, utterly dumbfounded.