Chapter 11: Hokage's Radar 

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The wind howled as a fist sliced through the air… it never hit anyone but stopped and repeated the same motion again. Another person opposite to the punches just waved his hand, parrying every single of them with ease.

"Good but you need to be faster. Add less power but more sharpness," Hagiro explained.

Akio nodded and listened to his instructions, throwing a punch with less telegraph toward his father. Of course, it was parried away but this was expected so he dashed forward and threw a kick.

Hagiro was a jonin so Akio couldn't hold back even if he chose to, so he tried getting a hit without stopping.

This went on for half an hour; just Akio trying his hardest to hit but not landing a single one yet he kept trying… until his father stopped him.

"Okay that's enough for today son, you need to start going to the academy soon," Hagiro said.

"You've got the technique and mind but your speed and strength just need to be higher. But this will come in time – don't be impatient."

Akio nodded; he wasn't disappointed nor angry at not landing a punch. It was expected – there was too much gap between them in strength.

He didn't care about it too much as he just made his way to the academy. After a couple of weeks – today was the day when they would test your progress. Not running around a track this time, albeit through the leaf-sticking exercise – they were going to be tested on this.

'My most advanced skill; my strength here is being tested – I can't be complacent.'

He prided himself on his chakra control progress – in just a month he already could stick the leaf onto his head for more than just minutes. Whereas other people would take half a year or more to get to where he is now.

Akio boosted his progress even more by neglecting his body training. It just wasn't giving him any gains – in other words – he had reached a bottleneck so he just focused all his time on chakra control and meditation.

Now, he had arrived at the academy to where he walked through the building and arrived at his class.

As usual, most of the students were in their places, whilst the teacher had yet to come.

When the teacher first arrived, he explained what was going to happen.

"So you guys know what day it is today and I hope all of you are ready. This test will only consist of sticking a leaf to your head; I will test each one of you on your chakra control ability."

After this, the lesson started as usual.

"You – Akio – at the back," Arima's voice sounded as he pointed straight at Akio.

"How many brothers did the first Hokage have?"

Akio glanced straight at him. "He had three siblings – two of which were deceased and the remaining Tobirama – the second Hokage. "

He worded it perfectly and gave a correct answer…

"As usual." Aroma smiled and nodded.

This was Akio – a smart individual who studied diligently – is what he thought. He wasn't wrong; Akio did spend most of his time training and reading books.

There was not one question he didn't know, and every time he answered; he didn't need to think. In his eyes, Akio was the most intelligent in the class.. on the first day, he sensed Akio was somehow different from the others – and then he figured it out.

Akio had a naturally gifted intellect…

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Everyone was currently lined up with Arima in front of them. There were a bunch of leaves on the ground beside him.

"You know how this goes… everyone picks one leaf and sits down on the grass field. The more you can hold on; the better."

After he said this, all of them followed the instructions; taking a leaf and sitting on the grass. They have spread apart from each other with now closed eyes, immersed into a concentrative state.

"On one, put the leaf to your forehead. On two, start moulding your chakra and get ready. At three, the test starts."

"One."

Everyone put the leaf to their head and started getting their chakra ready, pouring it through their canals and tenketsu.

"Two."

The chakra was just slightly breaking through the last tenketsu as they controlled it without it pushing forward.

"Three."

Simultaneously, their hands were put down while the lead alone stuck to their heads. All of them were in an immersed state, trying their best to be as calm and precise as they could.

Arima just looked at each one of them, analysing them all as they tightly shut their eyes with vigour.

Just like this, a few minutes passed… and soon people began to hold on – well not for too long; the leaf falling from their heads.

One of them begrudgingly grunted, seeing his leaf on the floor yet there was nothing he could do.

"The people who are out – walk over my side and sit down."

Another minute passed and two people fell again… this carried on until there were only seven or so people left… one of them included Akio – the others – were Tsume and Arise.

A total of twenty minutes had gone by and all of them had a leaf tightly stuck to their heads; none of them with a struggling sort of expression. However, this didn't last for too long.

"Uh.." one of them groaned as he opened his eyes.

The sweat on his forehead poured in sync with the leaf. He just stood up with a content expression and walked over to the others.

It was only down to six people now…

Not even a few seconds later, Akio had met his limit.

He opened his eyes and looked around – surprised that he was top six… this was enough for him now – it widened his perspective on his progress. Being top six was more than what he hoped for.

This time, another few minutes passed and all three people came out, leaving Tsume and Arise left.

A large amount of time – around ten minutes passed and Tsume gave up. But a few seconds later – so did Arise.

Now all of them were standing beside Arima.

Some of them were excited in their position.. others begrudged with sulking and scrunched faces.

"All of you have fared well; all your results will be jotted down and written in your file. This will matter for the time being, although this depends on your progress. The next time you do this, fare better and be better."

He encouraged all the children and it worked – they all thought – wasn't this only the first time? Next time, I'll definitely be better.

Later that day…

In a small office, an old man with some scarring on his face sat down, smoking on a pipe.

Moments later, a person with black pupilless eyes walked in – seemingly delighted with some papers in his hand.

He respectfully bowed. "Hokage... I have brought you the files and test results of every student."

Hiruzen just stared curiously at the papers. "I see. Do see any talents that will contribute heavily to Konoha."

Arima sheepishly scratched his head. "Yeah there are a few but two stand out to me – another well… he kind of does but just in a different way."

Arima put the sheets on the table and ruffled through them, finding a picture of a wild girl with red marks – and another with black hair and pupilless eyes.

"Hmm... Arise Uchiha and Tsume Inuzuka. One of them is the heir; the other – just with a good bloodline," the Hokage spoke.

"Where's the other one you said that caught your eye."

Arima moved his hand to a sheet and pointed at a black-spiky-haired kid with light brown eyes.

"Akio Hanshiro. The clan which was near extinct during the forming of the village. Interesting… but he came sixth during the leaf exercise. What do you see in him?" the Hokage questioned with a strange look.

To his question, Arima just seemed expectant on this and thought for a second before saying, "Well, first – the kid is the most intelligent in the class; I know that for a fact."

He carried on, "The kid has a certain demeanour around him; you would notice this more than me but

His way of speaking also doesn't befit that of a child."

The Hokage listened to all of this and smiled. "A kid with intelligence and wisdom. Interesting but it's disappointing that he ranked sixth."

Arima sighed, seemingly expecting this. "Yeah, it's a shame you know."

Whether you were extremely smart beyond your years or just normally smart… all that didn't matter if you weren't talented. This was why Minato and Itachi were such prodigies – they had gifted minds and God-given talent.

But the Hokage smiled, "I know you care for your students Arima. Don't worry, we'll see how he does in the future."

Arima was quite moved by these words which made him think a bit. "Yes, maybe he will surprise us in the future – I still don't know what that kid is fully capable of."

Whilst his teacher had spoken about Akio to the Hokage, Akio was currently reading a book and sneezed…

"Is someone talking about me?"

Little did he know that he was already put on the Hokage's radar – something he never expected.

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