As Akira gradually deepened his mastery over the heat property of Fire Release and the voltage characteristic of Lightning Release, a transformation began to unfold within him. No longer was he merely a user of elemental chakra—he was becoming a sculptor of it. With sharpened focus and two brains working in concert—his own and the auxiliary intellect of his clone, Yakushi Kabuto—Akira began the delicate process of separating the heat and voltage traits from their parent nature transformations.
The result was nothing short of revolutionary. As the integration of his Bloodline Limit became more seamless, Akira began to push the boundaries further. He attempted a new fusion—one that combined the intensity of heat with the explosive force of Lightning Release.
But it was a failure.
The fused attribute was unwieldy and volatile, the control required immense, the returns meager. The technique produced a flashy but ultimately ineffective display. There was no sharp precision, no destructive power, only a chaotic amalgam of light and smoke. Akira sighed but didn't despair. He had anticipated this. Not every combination would bear fruit.
As with a skilled alchemist, failure was part of the process. The capacity to form something powerful implied the risk of forming something useless. With careful iteration, he began removing extraneous traits from the new attribute—and that's when something unexpected happened.
The mental burden of using the Bloodline Limit began to decrease.
Perhaps the nature transformation was stabilizing, etching itself into his subconscious like muscle memory. Or perhaps his brain, through repetition, was adapting. Whatever the case, the clone's assistance became less necessary. He was drawing closer to the elusive state where he could wield this Bloodline Limit completely on his own.
To confirm, he fully disengaged Kabuto's mental aid and tried using Swift Release solo.
And it worked.
The release surged through him without hesitation. It responded not to two minds in unison, but to one—his. A quiet pride stirred within Akira. If he could wield it alone, then he no longer needed to fear scenarios where his clone might be unavailable in battle.
But that was not enough.
Akira knew that simply using a new nature transformation wasn't the end goal—it was a beginning. The true art lay in the creation of techniques. And to that end, he turned to a lesson from history.
Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto had wielded Six Paths chakra and Bloodline Limits alike, yet knew no wide variety of ninjutsu. His answer? Infuse it all into the Rasengan.
It was a stroke of genius—use a technique already pushed to the limits of form manipulation and layer nature transformations atop it. Akira saw his path clearly now. If he could master the Rasengan, it could become a universal canvas for every Bloodline Limit he created.
He remembered Naruto's training method vividly: a water balloon for rotation, a rubber ball for power, a balloon for control.
For Akira, it wouldn't take long. His chakra control far surpassed Naruto's in his early years. Moreover, the original Rasengan was conceived by Minato Namikaze after witnessing the Tailed Beast Ball—something Akira had also seen, and more clearly thanks to his Sharingan.
He began collecting supplies: rubber balls, balloons, and water balloons—tools of creation for a new chapter.
But even as Akira forged ahead in his journey, a sinister shadow drew closer to Konoha.
A grotesque figure cloaked in cloth and metal scuttled low through the trees, his true form hidden within the armored puppet Hiruko. His movements were strange, unnatural—limbs crawling, head hunched.
Sasori of the Red Sand had arrived.
Recently, Sasori had been haunting the mists of the Water Country, harvesting Bloodline Limit users for his collection. The Mist, rich with Kekkei Genkai, had become his personal hunting ground. With each victim, he grew stronger, adding to his macabre gallery of human puppets.
But none had captivated him like the Sharingan.
Sasori had long been intrigued by the Uchiha clan's dojutsu. Yet making a living Uchiha into a puppet? Nearly impossible. Corpses lose their chakra; only living specimens can be preserved with true efficacy. And the Uchiha were fiercely protected.
But then he heard about Uchiha Kawa—a rogue, a defector, a wandering power.
To Sasori, this was a sign.
He knew of the Mangekyō Sharingan only as a whispered legend, but he paid no heed to fear. His view of strength was rooted in strategy and cunning, not overwhelming force. No matter the opponent, proper planning always led to victory. Hadn't he captured the Kazekage, the very leader of his former village?
He assumed Kawa was the same. A lucky man who stumbled into power. No match for a genius like him.
With mechanical precision, Sasori began gathering intelligence. He activated sleeper agents—children he had trained in secret, their minds sealed by his Mind Control Sand. These children, scattered across villages, grew into unnoticed informants. One of them had even helped him overthrow the Third Kazekage.
And then fate gave him a gift.
A child he had once trained—Kabuto—had been captured by Konoha and taken in. Sasori learned this through his agents in Sunagakure, and a cruel smile twisted behind Hiruko's mask.
He had just acquired a spy in the heart of Konoha.
It was an accident, but a fortunate one. With Kabuto inside the village, Sasori could gather the secrets he needed: the patterns of the Uchiha, the habits of Kawa, and the full potential of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
What Sasori didn't know was that Kabuto was no longer the boy he had trained.
He had become Akira's clone, and the hunter's puppet had already slipped its strings.
Now, Akira's path toward true mastery and Sasori's twisted ambitions were set on a collision course—one forged in fire, lightning, and the puppeteer's thread.
Of course, Yakushi Kabuto had only recently been adopted, so Sasori didn't expect to extract valuable intelligence from him immediately.
Despite his impatience, Sasori was not naive. He understood that manipulating a person's identity and loyalties wasn't a task accomplished overnight. He had taken years preparing to capture the Third Kazekage alive; this was no different.
Today, Sasori arrived to give Yakushi Kabuto his first set of instructions. The Mind Puppet Switch Technique was a sinister art—one that involved inserting an impossibly thin needle into the memory center of the target's brain, sealing their memories with chilling precision.
Even more terrifying, Sasori could control the subconscious of the individual with their memories locked away. The victim, unaware of their manipulation, would follow Sasori's intentions as if they were their own. A false autonomy.
He could also selectively release memories tied to specific missions. With no recollection of being given those orders, the individual would believe these thoughts to be their own and execute the tasks with utmost dedication.
This time, Sasori intended to implant the idea that Kabuto had always wanted to become a loyal Konoha shinobi. Then, as Kabuto matured, he would quietly and diligently gather intelligence on Uchiha Shin and all of Konoha, unknowingly doing Sasori's bidding.
Using the Mind Puppet Switch Technique, Sasori summoned Kabuto. But he had no way of knowing: Yakushi Kabuto was no longer the same person.
—
Elsewhere, Akira had been out buying the materials he needed to practice the Rasengan. But his trip was interrupted when he spotted Danzo walking along the street, flanked by two Root operatives.
Danzo's eyes swept over the crowd, locking momentarily on Akira. Instinctively, Akira turned away.
Though they'd had a falling-out, Danzo hadn't relented. He'd sent several groups to hound Akira ever since—each one more bothersome than the last.
As Danzo walked briskly toward the Hokage's office for an urgent meeting about the upcoming peace talks with the Sand village, he caught a glimpse of a familiar silhouette. His own eyes narrowed in recognition.
"That brat!"
Danzo gave chase, barking orders to his Root guards. But Akira's figure darted ahead, swift and ghostlike, vanishing down a side street.
In the shadows, Akira clicked his tongue in irritation.
"Does this crusty old man have nothing better to do? Doesn't he run a secret organization or something? Why does he have the time to haunt me all day?"
Akira's expression darkened.
"Fine. You want something to do, Danzo? I'll give you something. I've been meaning to test this new technique anyway. You can be the lucky guinea pig."
He created a shadow clone and sent it sprinting away. As expected, Danzo and his men followed the decoy. Meanwhile, Akira silently circled behind them.
Interlocking his index fingers and thumbs to form a triangle, Akira targeted Danzo through the tiny gap.
Danzo came to a halt, puzzled. Suddenly, he spasmed. A jolt of paralyzing chakra surged through him. Then—
FWOOSH!
Flames erupted from his clothes. The veteran ninja panicked, smacking at the inferno with both hands.
The Root guards sprang into action, using Water Release techniques to douse the fire. When it was over, Danzo was a mess: his robes incinerated, skin scorched in patches, hair and eyebrows gone, and his face covered in soot.
From the treetops, Akira snickered into his sleeve.
"Maybe now you'll stay inside for a few days."
—
At that moment, the Third Hokage had been preparing to meet Danzo. As he often did when idle, he used his Telescope Technique to check on others through his crystal ball.
What he saw had him in stitches.
Danzo, the ever-serious shadow of the village, running around ablaze like a madman, tricked by Akira.
"Finally! Someone gave that old schemer what he deserves," Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled to himself. But then he narrowed his eyes.
"What was that jutsu Akira used? I've never seen it before. Did he invent it himself?"
Not long after, a Root operative arrived.
"Third Hokage, my apologies. Danzo-sama is… unwell. He won't be attending the peace talks."
Suppressing a smirk, Hiruzen nodded solemnly.
"Danzo-sama is a pillar of the village. He mustn't overwork himself. Please tell him to rest and recover."
In truth, Hiruzen had wanted Danzo out of the talks. Danzo's tendency to make unreasonable demands only complicated things. Akira's prank had cleared that obstacle nicely.
"I really ought to thank the boy," the Hokage thought.
—
After purchasing a water balloon, Akira resumed his Rasengan training. Soon, he sensed someone approaching.
The Third Hokage.
Akira wasn't surprised. When he'd pulled the stunt on Danzo, he had felt a flicker of sensory ninjutsu—likely the Hokage's watchful gaze.
Hiruzen arrived and was immediately stunned. Akira wasn't just goofing off—he was developing a high-level technique. The chakra control needed to manipulate the water balloon like that was immense.
Composing himself, the Third Hokage feigned sternness.
"You were in the area when Danzo suddenly caught fire, weren't you? I'm guessing you had something to do with that?"
Akira scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly.
"So… Grandpa Hokage, you saw that, huh? Yeah, I did it. But can you blame me? That old man has been harassing me non-stop. I've been trying to train, to work hard on new jutsu, and he sends people after me like clockwork. Today, I snapped. Just gave him a little scare. You're not mad… are you?"
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. "You know what you did wrong?"
Akira blinked. "Uh… no?"
Hiruzen leaned in.
"You weren't stealthy enough. You let me catch you."
Then he burst out laughing.
"Danzo is a pain in the neck. You did well. But next time, be more discreet."
Akira laughed with him. The tension vanished. Then Hiruzen, more curious than ever, asked:
"Tell me… what was that technique? It almost resembled a Kekkei Genkai."
Akira gave his prepared story.
"I got the idea from watching the Tailed Beast Ball. Just made some modifications."
Hiruzen nodded, deeply impressed.
After he left, Akira resumed training.
—
He didn't need Kabuto's body to learn the Rasengan, but it was useful to have another vessel to train chakra control. However, Kabuto's chakra network was still undeveloped—too weak for elemental manipulation.
Still, Akira could feel potential in the body. And with his own immense spiritual strength driving it, even this shell had begun to show Genin-level progress in just a few days.
As he practiced, a peculiar thought intruded.
"Go to the back mountain of the village."
Akira frowned. Why? There was nothing back there.
He tried to shake it off and focus on training, but the thought kept surfacing, like a whisper that wouldn't be silenced.
Normally, people had odd impulses. But for Akira, this was different.
He had two brains—his original and the one inside Kabuto's reconstructed body. They were always in sync. Thoughts appeared in both.
But this strange compulsion? It only came from Kabuto's mind.
Akira's eyes narrowed.
"Genjutsu? No… let's test. Might Guy!"
He thrust his finger forward, using a basic disruption technique akin to the famous Might Guy's explosive chakra bursts to snap his senses back into focus.
Nothing changed. The idea to go to the back mountain remained.
"Not genjutsu. So what the hell is it?"
Unable to shake the feeling, he decided to investigate.
Carefully and silently, Akira left the orphanage. He kept to the shadows, moving through quiet streets and forest paths until he reached the woods behind Konoha.
The moment he stepped into the trees, the thought vanished.
That only deepened his suspicions.
Before he could make sense of it, a voice, low and cold, echoed behind him:
"Long time no see, Zero."
Akira spun around, Sharingan flaring.
A masked figure stood before him.
His heart clenched.
"Hiruko… No—Sasori of the Red Sand? What the hell is he doing here?!"
This wasn't just another rogue ninja. Sasori was a legend. A puppet master who had defeated a Kazekage.
Akira's eyes locked onto him with fierce caution. His main body readied the Mangekyo Sharingan and the Flying Thunder God Technique. One wrong move, and Susanoo would crash down.
But Sasori didn't strike. He made a hand seal and whispered:
"Brain Control Sand—Release."
Akira felt a jolt. Then pain.
Blinding, searing pain stabbed through Kabuto's skull—the same pain he'd felt when first waking up in this world, accepting Uchiha Nan's memories.
And just like before, fragments of memory surged to the surface.
Bit by bit, it all became clear.
For the longest time, Akira had wondered why Kabuto's memories never returned, even after he reconstructed his brain using Infinite Rebirth.
Now he knew.
They had been sealed—buried deep—by Sasori's twisted jutsu.
And now… they were free.