Naruto: I Draw Power Into Reality

"Chapter Eight's grind finally done." 

"Damn it, you lazy bastard—next time just summon both clones at once. No need to drag it out like this." 

In the evening, two shadow clones spoke to Akaba simultaneously before vanishing. 

"Wait, I—" 

Akaba had barely begun telling them not to disappear so quickly when— 

Puff! 

With a sound, both clones vanished. 

"What the hell!" 

Akaba nearly shouted. Those two bastards were clearly getting back at him for being too relaxed earlier that afternoon. 

Now he was going to pass out… 

As his mind registered this thought, his head suddenly felt like it had been hit by a hammer—splitting with pain. 

After a while, he sat on his bed gasping for breath. 

"F*cking two bastards…" 

Still panting, he realized in shock—he hadn't thought the clones could be right. The 70 mental energy points were exactly what it took to reach the limit of maintaining two shadow clones at once. 

"Kid, who are you talking to?" 

Chiaki's voice came from outside the door. 

"Just talking to myself." 

He replied, rubbing his temples casually. 

"Given Danzō's personality, tomorrow you'll probably get assigned a mission. Get some sleep early." 

Sakuma Chiaki said through the closed door. 

"Mm." 

By morning, Akaba's headache had already gone away. 

"High mental energy really helps. Looks like besides exchanging for ninjutsu, I should focus more on boosting my mental energy in the future." 

Akaba thought to himself. 

Leaving the Sakuma clan compound, Akaba spotted Nara Loe already heading out. 

"Strange! Loe, you're actually up this early?" 

Akaba was quite surprised. 

"Heh, during all those years of school, I've never been late. You don't have the right to talk about me sleeping in." 

Nara Loe scoffed coldly. 

"No, you did miss class once." 

Akaba said indifferently as he walked toward the Hokage Tower. 

"What do you mean, 'once'? That was totally your fault! F*ck!" 

That one and only time he'd been late was graduation day itself. Thinking back on it still annoyed Loe. 

"A delay is a delay. Once or a hundred times—it's the same. Come on, let's go. Hurry up. We've got a mission." 

Akaba instantly accelerated, rushing toward the Hokage Tower. 

Nara Loe hesitated for a moment, beginning to doubt what time it was now. 

So urgent to rush over there—could they possibly be running late?! 

The second he thought this, he also quickened his pace and ran toward the Hokage Tower. 

"Wait, why am I going to the Hokage Tower? My schedule today was training!" 

After running a few steps, Loe gradually realized. 

I'm just a genin, still in the training phase. What mission could I possibly take? 

"Huh, then Akaba—" 

His expression turned blank, and he couldn't help but feel sympathy as he looked in the direction Akaba had left. 

"Following Danzō must really suck. Even someone like Akaba has become diligent." 

If Akaba knew this, he would fully agree with Loe's sentiment. 

Working under someone obsessed with missions like Danzō was truly unfortunate. 

Hardly catching his breath upon reaching the Hokage Tower, Akaba found Danzō already stepping out holding mission scrolls, followed closely by Hatake Sakumo and Mitashigo Shishio. 

"The task is to assist with border patrols." 

Danzō stated simply. 

"What? Aren't genin usually stuck doing odd jobs for villagers?" 

Akaba was shocked—this guy had admin privileges! 

"It's only a C-rank mission. Your team placed first this year—you're more than capable."

Danzo paid no attention to Akaba's words. Ever since reading the manga, he'd come to understand the boy's personality pretty well.

Smart, precocious in thinking; if there was one real flaw, it was laziness.

Young people always needed some pushing.

Danzo strolled slowly toward the village outskirts.

As one of Konoha's top experts, Danzo naturally drew much attention wherever he went, with many turning their heads as he passed.

At the gates, Danzo produced his travel permit and mission scroll.

"Lord Danzo is participating in border patrol?"

"Hmm."

Danzo nodded coldly and glanced at the three youngsters behind him.

The Chunin glanced at Akaba and the others, then wrote down each name on the departure list before casting a jutsu on the travel permit.

"Please, Lord Danzo."

Returning the permit meant they could now leave Konoha Village.

Danzo gave a slight nod and led the trio out.

"This is the first time I've ever left the village since I grew up," Shiso said emotionally.

His talent wasn't particularly outstanding. He'd relied entirely on relentless effort to reach his current level—ever since he was a kid, Shiso had barely rested at all.

"They're still kids, except for this brat!"

Observing secretly, Danzo noted that everyone except Akaba showed curiosity about the outside world. Even Sakumo kept looking around restlessly. Only Akaba looked half-asleep.

Not showing the slightest bit of interest, overly mature.

"Teacher, where exactly are we going? Is it far?"

After walking for ages, Akaba nearly reached the point of quitting—if such a concept even existed among ninjas.

"Look for yourself."

Without answering directly, Danzo tossed over a map.

Akaba caught it but didn't ask where specifically—the map's origin wouldn't be answered anyway, knowing how Danzo was.

The message was clear: learn how to read it yourself. If you can't figure it out, just follow along.

Examining the map carefully, Akaba noted that maps of this era were very crude—at best matching ancient Chinese standards—but generally accurate enough. After close inspection, he identified their destination.

"Why the Land of Whirlpools?!"

Understanding the map, Akaba's face paled.

From here to the Land of Whirlpools, who knew how long it would take! Danzo was conning them—what newbie gets assigned such a distant mission only days after becoming a Genin?!

"What's wrong?"

Curiously leaning over, Shiso caught sight of the map and blurted out joyfully, "The Land of Whirlpools!"

"What are you so excited about?!"

Akaba grimaced. Traveling that far sounded exhausting—definitely not ideal.

"The Land of Whirlpools is mysterious," Sakumo simply stated.

"Mysterious my ass."

Resistance was futile. Since Danzo remained silent throughout, Akaba had no way of turning back.

He was merely a Genin, while Danzo headed the Anbu.

Even for ninja, the journey from Konoha to the Land of Whirlpools would take quite some time.

Though Danzo seemed to walk slowly, his steps were actually swift and brisk. Initially, Akaba could keep up, but soon Danzo gradually quickened his pace.

"Is Danzo testing my Taijutsu speed?"

Thinking silently, Akaba maintained his current speed for a long while before finally increasing his pace slightly.

By then, Danzo, Sakumo, and Shiso were already far ahead, waiting for him in the forest up ahead.

"Faster! Push yourself!"

Danzo's eyes were cold, as if piercing through Akaba's thoughts.

This was a psychological battle.

His taijutsu had never been seen before—not even Danzo knew how far he'd come in that art. To be precise, Akaba himself wasn't even sure what level 24 points of physical strength represented.

After another grueling round, Danzo realized Akaba really couldn't keep up and finally called it quits.

Managing to conserve just a little energy, Akaba quietly wondered why Danzo had brought them here.

"Did Danzo bring us near the Land of Whirlpools just for a mission?"

"It definitely won't be that simple."

He mused inwardly, thinking about what awaited Danzo in the future.

"Could it be... he's taking us to see blood (take our first lives)?"

Akaba felt surprised—alarmed inside.

Danzo hadn't created Root yet, but the Root team already existed. According to his training methods, once they reached a certain level, killing became inevitable.

Only a ninja who'd taken a life was considered a real ninja.

If he had his way, Akaba would've just played it safe and avoided killing altogether.

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