Chapter 22: Found Out?

"So, Akio, you're good at chakra control and jutsu. Arise is also good with his fire-style jutsu and has good accuracy. Whilst, Tsume is good in taijutsu and close-quarter combat." 

Orochimaru said. His arms folded, standing in front of the trio. They all said what they were good at and their weaknesses.

"A long-range, mid-range and close range. With you three, all areas are covered but I'm going to give you things to work on. Each one of you."

All of their eyes gleamed with vigour. If it was Orochimaru then surely they would improve by leaps and bounds with his help. 

Each and every one of them got their own advice from him and went to diligently learn it. 

"Akio, you have an earth jutsu. Correct?" Orochimaru asked. 

Akio nodded. "Yeah, a d-rank one. Earth Thorns Jutsu."

"Hmm… that's not good enough. Unlike Arise and Tsume who have techniques and C-rank jutsu, yours is not good enough," he shook his head. "I'm sure your father gave it mostly for practice. Although it could be used in creative ways."

After saying this, he pulled out a scroll from his back pocket. Akio saw him unravel it and immediately wanted to read the contents… it was a new jutsu, how could he not? This was the second opportunity he got to learn one.

Orochimaru saw his student thirsting with curiosity and grinned. He didn't say anything and let him look at the scroll — Akio's eyes scanned heavily — up and down. This wasn't hidden from Orochimaru. 

"It's called the mu-" 

Akio interrupted and spoke in a trance. "The mudball dragon jutsu. It's capable of creating a dragon from dirt which can shoot destructive balls out of its mouth. Perfect for long or mid-range." 

"Seems you're familiar with this," Orochimaru said. 

Akio nodded. This was the first ever jutsu he saw when coming to this world. The memory was still ingrained in his head as he replayed it again and again. Now finally came the time to learn it. 

He was more than just excited at learning a C-rank jutsu. 

Since his skill with jutsu had increased again, he reckoned it wouldn't take as long this time. Even his natural proficiency has been improving. This time trying to turn multiple objects into dirt. 

All this combined with his improved chakra control — now training to water walk — meant he would learn it before going to war. 

"Now go learn this C rank jutsu as quickly as you can. I know you can guess why. It's been looming on your mind hasn't it?" Orochimaru smirked, glancing at his expression. 

Akio froze at this and stammered. "W-what do you mean?" 

Orochimaru's snake-like eyes squinted. "Well, I'm talking about that fear of yours, child. The war which other kids would love to go and fight for the village," he paused. 

"You on the other hand don't want to go to it. Actually, you fear it heavily which is interesting." 

Orochimaru wasn't a top-tier shinobi for nothing. He had observed this kid's expression when he talked about war and felt a slight jolt to it. 

Whilst other kids felt the need to fight for the village, he felt as though Akio had no such thoughts. He knew this kid knew too much for his own good. Just like him when he was his age… Being ignorant of things as kids is sometimes a good thing. 

Akio's eyes went through a dozen emotions before he calmed down. Now, his face was as calm as a lake, glancing straight at Orochimaru. 

"I simply… do not want to die," he bluntly stated. 

Orochimaru chuckled and looked into this kid's eyes.

"From being at the bottom of your class at the beginning to shooting up when the war started… is this the reason for your motivation?" 

Of course, this was a misunderstanding. Akio just needed time to improve but if he thought this, he could use it to his advantage. It wasn't a lie either. 

"If gaining strength prevents me from dying. Why not keep seeking more?" He calmly said. 

Since he already found out, he might as well reveal a few of his true intentions. Although not too much, judging by his character, this guy was unpredictable. 

Orochimaru's pitch turned high as he laughed. " Good, good. I for one have underestimated your intelligence just like the file on you." 

This kid's wisdom far surpassed his peers. He had years of experience and had seen a lot of supposed genius kids with gifted minds… but this one surpassed them all. He felt as though he was speaking to an adult. 

The eyes of his hid a thirst for power which he immediately took note of. He liked that… 

This was Orochimaru. 

Akio realised that this was much toned down from the later stages. Jiraiya did say Nawaki and Tsunade's boyfriend — Kato added to his already twisted personality. 

So he didn't mind him for now and wanted to form a good relationship with him. This impression helped him moreso. 

Orochimaru spoke, "You're not as naive or big-headed as them two. You better not let me down, child." 

—---

In just two weeks, Akio had already learnt the jutsu.

Although not fully yet, he could form a dragon which could shoot mudballs. Its chakra consumption was just too much at the moment and needed more efficiency. 

Just like his father, he did a few hand seals and the dirt under him gathered, turning into mud. In the next moment, it formed a dragon which shot out a few mud balls. 

His face had gone pale after trying it three times. He really needed to be more efficient. 

Another week passed… 

He was now standing in a lab. 

"Medical jutsu? You want to delve into this field?" Orochimaru asked. 

Akio nodded. "Yeah I think it'll be helpful; I just want to learn it." 

He smiled at this kid's reply. This kid really was afraid of dying. 

"I've already delved into a bit and know the basic knowledge." 

Orochimaru raised a brow. He had delved into medical jutsu whilst training in other aspects… This was impressive. But he wanted to know how much he knew. 

"Wait, I want to see how much you really know." 

He pulled out a blank piece of paper from a book and wrote some things down. Then, he gave it to Akio. 

"Answer these questions," he said, handing the paper to him.

When he looked at them, Akio frowned at the difficulty. 

'Hm... it's much easier than I expected. I don't even need to use my ability, but for the best answers I will.'

He might as well use his ability to its full extent. So, without Orochimaru noticing, he went to the memory and looked down at the book for each answer. 

With the pen his mentor passed, he quickly jotted down his answers. All were directly copied from the textbook, but they were slightly changed. He didn't want him to think he had some godly memory or something. 

It was various medical knowledge which was basic and other things which were slightly advanced. Also, there were first-aid questions and procedures which he already learned. 

In just a few minutes, Orochimaru saw his student handing the paper back. He had to say that he was quite surprised. Even more so when he looked at the answers.

"You finished quickly, I suppose you found it easy." 

Akio nodded, he never stopped to think of any of the answers so of course, it looked easy to him. 

Putting the paper to his face, Orochimaru started reading. "Let's see if your answers are correct though."

The more his eyes went down the paper; the more he smiled — later his lips curled into a grin… beaming at this guy's answers. 

He was shocked and well… surprised. Not at getting it correct but at the answers. They all were all textbook, not his own.

He was sure Akio could pass the medical exam with flying colours. 

He wondered what kind of memorisation skills this guy had to directly copy these answers. He had a good memory himself so he knew the extent of this answer. 

This guy was a genius… 

If this guy becomes a good medical shinobi then it would be immensely helpful for him. He obviously had medical skills but not to a high extent — only subpar for his research — maybe Akio could help. 

After making his mind up, he put the paper down after looking through all of it. He never spoke as he made his way to a section of his lab. There were a lot of books and he picked a couple of them out. 

Orochimaru walked up to Akio with a pile of books and placed them on a table. 

"This is all you need to become an established medical-nin." 

Akio looked at all of them and saw a bunch of advanced medical books — and other things that shone a gleam in his eyes. He was always looking for more knowledge and now he got some. 

He bowed. "Thank you." 

They exchanged some words — whilst Orochi gave some advice before Akio left to train again. 

Just like that, his daily routine was consisted of: 

reading, mediation, chakra control training, nature proficiency training, body training, jutsu and Katas.

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No chap tommorow guys, sorry. Works really been catching up with me...