"Konoha's… what?" Sakura muttered.
"A technician?" Naruto blinked. Then his eyes widened. "Hold on—Old Man… our jonin instructor isn't secretly you, is it?"
Sasuke folded his arms, cool as ever. "Don't be stupid, Naruto. Great-Grandpa, is the real Kakashi-sensei hiding nearby?"
Akio raised a brow. "Naruto, after all these years and you don't even know what a 'technician' is? I clearly failed you somewhere."
The air in front of them warped like heat over desert pavement.
The real Kakashi stepped out, rubbing his forehead. After watching that entire spectacle from inside the dimensional space, he looked like a man who'd just binge-watched a disaster documentary starring himself.
"Let's pretend that introduction never happened," he said flatly. "We'll start over."
Naruto pointed dramatically. "See? That's the real Kakashi!"
"As Senpai said," Kakashi replied lazily, "from now on, you'll be calling me Kakashi-sensei, Naruto."
Sakura glanced between them, utterly lost. On the outside she looked confused; internally she was in full meltdown mode:
Why do Sasuke-kun and that idiot Naruto both understand what's happening?! Why am I the only one in the dark?! Naruto, explain! And wait, Naruto's great-grandfather isn't he supposed to be… that legendary figure?
Introductions restarted properly.
Akio, having secured his Witness Points, withdrew to the sidelines. He didn't drop the transformation yet. Sakura still hadn't pieced everything together, Sasuke was too busy being cool, and Naruto… well, Naruto.
Letting the "clueless girl" stew for a few more minutes had its own entertainment value.
More importantly
Akio let his crimson Mangekyō Sharingan linger on Sakura for the first time at close range.
"So this is the heroine," he murmured thoughtfully.
His right eye sharpened. The tomoe shifted.
The Six-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan opened.
It was Sakura's turn to speak.
"My favorite thing… or rather, the person I like most is…"
Her cheeks flushed pink as she started to glance toward Sasuke
and suddenly her entire body went rigid.
A primal chill crawled up her spine. Every hair stood on end.
"Ahhh! A monster!"
Two seconds of rooftop silence.
Naruto blinked. "Sakura… likes monsters? Uh… is that a problem?"
Sasuke subtly scooted a few inches away from her. Closer to Naruto.
Sakura shook her head frantically. "No! It was that thing just now, wait… it's gone?"
Kakashi glanced toward the spot Akio had vacated.
"Senpai's being strange today," he sighed. Then after a pause: "Actually, no. This is pretty normal for him."
Akio had already reverted to his usual appearance and was strolling through Konoha's streets.
Keeping one eye open and the other half-closed was irritating, so he shut them both again and began reviewing what he'd seen.
"Earth. Water. Yin. Yang."
He clicked his tongue softly.
"For a lead heroine, that's impressive."
Innate dual Yin–Yang affinity was rare. Before Sakura, he'd only seen a handful.
Hashirama. Itachi. Sasuke. Karin. Tsukika…
He paused.
"Well. In the original timeline, probably just two."
Sakura came from the modest Haruno family, barely more than a household at this point. He'd met her father, Kizashi Haruno. Perfectly average chunin. Nothing extraordinary.
Producing a daughter with this level of natural balance?
You could chalk it up to authorial destiny…
Or something more interesting.
If Akio personally trained her for a few years, she might even awaken a Wood-style derivative, something like a hybrid nature release born from Yin–Yang synthesis.
But there was no real need.
"Primary path: Yin. Genjutsu specialist."
"Secondary: Yang. Taijutsu powerhouse."
"Tertiary: Water release. Ninjutsu specialist."
That was what the Six-Tomoe eye had revealed, before he scared the poor girl half to death.
Still, the bigger takeaway mattered more.
If artificially creating deviations continued to generate Witness Points, then the next phase of his "creative rewriting" plan could proceed.
It would strengthen Naruto and Sasuke in the process.
Sakura, though…
The gap between her and the other two was significant. Not fatal, but enough to crush morale if handled poorly.
"And an old man bullying a teenage girl? That's a bad look."
His thoughts carried him straight toward Ichiraku Ramen.
As he walked, his appearance gradually shifted, facial lines deepening, posture changing, mustache forming.
Teuchi.
He'd taken over Ichiraku Ramen again.
In Akio's mind, whether Teuchi was a clone, a projection, or simply another version of himself, the ramen shop was family business.
And family businesses do not go under.
With evenings free, he often ran the shop personally, chatting with customers, half his consciousness drifting through mental space for entertainment.
Plus, since Tsukika no longer needed Kushina to sleep beside her at night, Akio couldn't exactly crash at Kushina's place anymore.
His hearing was… too good.
He slid open the shop doors.
The weapons store owner next door waved cheerfully. Akio smiled back.
His former apprentice had long since been dismissed. As for Sara, she was still running a ramen shop in the Land of Whirlpools. Thirty-five and not a ring in sight.
Though, to be fair, she didn't look a day over twenty-five.
Someone had clearly been sneaking stat boosts onto her.
Akio still hadn't figured out how to apply those to others directly.
Evening hours and an inconsistent schedule meant Ichiraku wasn't as packed as it used to be which suited him perfectly.
He prepared a few bowls idly while mentally refining tomorrow's bell test adjustments.
Then
"Old man! Four bowls! Kakashi-sensei's paying today!"
Naruto's voice.
"Oh, you don't have to" Sakura began politely.
"Just this once," Kakashi said. "When you start earning mission money, you can treat me."
Akio scratched his head behind the counter.
Did Team Seven eat ramen together right after forming in the original timeline?
Pretty sure Kakashi wouldn't have done that.
The bowls were ready quickly.
Naruto cheered and immediately slurped up noodles
Broth splashed.
Onto Sasuke.
"Idiot! Are you trying to die?!" Sasuke snapped.
"What'd you say, jerk?!" Naruto fired back.
Kakashi calmly planted a hand on each of their heads, eerily similar to how Minato once handled him and Obito.
"Save it. You've got one more test tomorrow morning. Fail, and you're repeating the Academy."
"Re—repeat?!" Naruto went pale. Even the ramen lost flavor. "Sasuke, don't drag me down with you!"
"Hn. Nice try. No take-backs."
Akio almost laughed.
Sasuke had picked up the perfect argument-deflection technique.
But when the phrase "dragging the team down" came up, Sakura's expression dimmed immediately.
Akio noticed.
He stepped into the back room and began jotting ideas.
"Genjutsu fundamentals."
"Medical ninjutsu basics."
"Water release foundations."
He paused.
"And one more…"
He smirked.
"Grandmaster's Fist."
He tapped the brush against the paper.
"Four choices. Let's see which path she takes."
Genjutsu prodigy?
Super-strength specialist?
Water-style tactician?
Or something far more… unconventional?"