Chapter 142: Chapter 142: The Wind Has Stilled, the Rain Has Cleared, and Sasuke Thinks He's Ready Again
Chapter 142: Chapter 142: The Wind Has Stilled, the Rain Has Cleared, and Sasuke Thinks He's Ready Again
Chapter 142: Chapter 142: The Wind Has Stilled, the Rain Has Cleared, and Sasuke Thinks He's Ready Again
Standing atop a rooftop, Akira Uchiha gazed over the entirety of Konoha Village.
Though it was nighttime, with his enhanced vision, the difference between day and night was negligible. The village had certainly changed quite a bit.
Beyond the usual architecture that matched the traditional style of Konoha, Akira noticed a large area on the Hokage Rock that now housed numerous buildings.
These new structures had a distinctly modern look, with tall buildings rising up in a style that resembled something straight out of the 21st century.
In fact, Akira could even see a vehicle moving across the Hokage Rock-something that looked suspiciously like a train or maybe even a light rail system.
"Is that... a train? Or light rail?" Akira rubbed his eyes, almost unable to believe what he was seeing.
He knew that the world of Naruto had some degree of technology. The original series featured televisions, air conditioning, refrigerators, radios, and even laptops.
But overall, the world focused on personal power and supernatural abilities, making these bits of technology seem oddly placed.
Despite having such advanced tech, they lacked firearms, missiles, and satellites-all the weapons you'd expect from a modern society.
But now? After seven years of being on autopilot, Konoha Village even had a train running through it?
This kind of change was something that hadn't existed in the original Shippuden series at all! "So... does that mean Konoha has grown even stronger over the past seven years? The village has expanded so much that they've had to build a whole new district on the Hokage Rock?" Akira thought to himself as he surveyed the familiar yet somewhat alien landscape.
It seemed like this level of development was something that wouldn't have happened until the Boruto timeline, which was supposed to be a decade or so in the future.
Boruto?
As a fan of the original series, Akira didn't really consider Boruto to be a true continuation of Naruto.
But let's not dwell on that.
As Akira was lost in his thoughts, marveling at the changes in the village, a few figures swiftly appeared and surrounded him on the rooftop.
These were Konoha shinobi, all dressed in the standard green flak jackets, and they quickly formed a tight circle around him.
"Who are you? You don't look familiar," said the lead shinobi, a man with his face painted in war colors, who seemed to carry himself with a bit of arrogance.
Before Akira could answer, the shinobi's eyes glanced at the pair of antler-like horns on Akira's forehead. "Or should I ask, what are you? Never mind, that's not important. What's important is why you're sneaking into Konoha Village."
"You're from the Inuzuka clan, aren't you?" Akira asked, noticing that the man seemed to be about his age.
The man snorted, "So you've got some knowledge, huh? But right now, I'm the one asking the questions, not you!" His tone was still arrogant, and the other shinobi around him remained on high alert.
A person with horns on their head was certainly not your average individual, and caution was definitely warranted.
"I didn't expect this," Akira thought with a wry smile. "After seven years away from Konoha, no one even recognizes me anymore."
"I'm Akira Uchiha," he said, deciding to state his identity directly.
"Akira Uchiha!?" The group of Konoha shinobi exchanged shocked glances.
Although seven years had passed, and Akira's fame had somewhat faded in the wider shinobi world, the people of Konoha still knew his name.
"Don't be ridiculous. I met Akira Uchiha years ago, and he didn't have a pair of branches growing out of his head like you do!" the lead shinobi sneered, clearly not buying Akira's claim.
"Branches?" Akira blinked, momentarily taken aback. He wasn't surprised that the man had met him before, but to describe his dragon horns as branches? That was just plain insulting.
move.
"Step back, Kiba. This guy dared to impersonate Akira. I'll take him down myself!" Sasuke declared, stepping forward and stopping his comrade.
As he spoke, Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and his Sharingan activated, the three tomoe spinning
in his blood-red eyes.
Tomoe against tomoe-only this time, one Sharingan was gold, the other crimson.
"So, Sasuke thinks he's strong enough to take me on now, huh?" Akira thought, a smile
creeping onto his face as he realized what was happening.
He remembered how, even as a child, Sasuke had always tried to catch up to him after Akira's
early successes.
Now, seven years later, Sasuke had unlocked his own three-tomoe Sharingan and actually
dared to challenge him. Did Sasuke really think that Akira's seven years on autopilot meant
they were equals now?
Back in his previous life, Akira had seen fans joking about Sasuke's tendency to overestimate his own strength, getting into fights he couldn't win.
"Talking big, only to get beaten down hard," they'd say. Akira had always thought of Sasuke
as someone who didn't just have the "Pretend" technique-he mastered the "Getting Slapped
in the Face" technique too. And now? This was that same old Sasuke, up to his usual tricks.
The wind had stilled, the rain had cleared, and Sasuke thought he was ready again, huh?
But before Akira could dwell on it too much, Sasuke had already made his move. His body blurred as he closed the distance between them, launching a barrage of strikes with his fists. Sasuke was fast, his movements fluid and precise, but to Akira, it all seemed almost slow-
motion.
Even in his base form, Akira's combat prowess was far beyond what it had been seven years ago, putting him comfortably at the mid-to-upper range of Kage-level shinobi. With a calm and steady stance, Akira didn't even need to shift his feet as he effortlessly
blocked or parried every single one of Sasuke's attacks.
After several dozen exchanges, Sasuke realized he was completely outmatched in taijutsu. Akira's physical prowess was simply too overwhelming.
Seeing that hand-to-hand combat wasn't working, Sasuke quickly leaped back, forming a series of hand seals with impressive speed.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he called out, unleashing a massive fireball that roared towards
Akira.
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Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 188 at patreon.com/Emiko1.
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