Chapter 12 – The Sealed Weapon Awakens
"Do you want power?"
Six simple words struck Sasuke like lightning.
His face flushed crimson, eyes burning with desperate hunger.
"You… you can give me power?"
"Of course."
Aike snapped his fingers.
Kyōka Suigetsu swallowed Sasuke whole.
The illusion replayed last night's fight in vivid detail: Izumi utterly dominating Itachi, black Amaterasu flames, overwhelming strength.
Sasuke's mind reeled.
That gentle Izumi-nee… had become this terrifying?
Aike released the genjutsu and smiled.
"What you just saw happened last night. The power Izumi used? I gave her that.
If that masked bastard hadn't saved him, Itachi would already be dead."
For a boy whose only desire was revenge, nothing could be more seductive.
"I want it! Give me power!!
Power strong enough to kill that man!!"
Sasuke roared, single-tomoe Sharingan spinning wildly in his eyes.
"Then let's talk… price."
Just like with Naruto, Aike wanted the chakra of Indra sealed inside the boy—pure Yin Release at near-Six Paths level.
Unlike Naruto, the moment the terms were stated, Sasuke agreed without hesitation.
Decisive. Ruthless. Aike actually felt a flicker of appreciation.
No wasted words. He erased Indra's lingering will and pocketed the dark orb of Yin chakra.
Behind him, Izumi stared at the sphere with naked hunger.
Her Mangekyō screamed for it.
If she absorbed that… Eternal Mangekyō would be within reach.
Aike ignored her for now and turned back to Sasuke.
"Your payment has been received. Here is your power."
He produced an orange-red fruit patterned with flame swirls.
"Eat this, and you will become fire itself—the master of flames."
The Mera Mera no Mi (Flame-Flame Fruit).
Sasuke felt something important ripped from his soul, but the promise of strength drowned the unease.
He swallowed the Devil Fruit in three bites, face contorting at the legendary awful taste.
Seconds later, flames erupted from his body.
The grass around him turned to ash as the temperature skyrocketed.
"Almost all physical attacks are now meaningless against you."
To demonstrate, Aike casually slashed Sasuke across the chest with his sealed blade—no reiatsu, just a normal cut.
"What the hell—?!"
Sasuke panicked, expecting blood.
Instead, the "wound" became pure flame, then reformed perfectly.
Aike also uploaded a starter pack: Ace's techniques + his own creative ideas + Uchiha natural affinity for fire.
With Sasuke's talent, the Mera Mera no Mi was about to evolve into something terrifying.
"Deal's done. We're leaving."
Before Sasuke could respond, Aike and Izumi faded into thin air.
Only Izumi's cold parting words remained:
"If you want to live long enough to get your revenge, never reveal this power to Konoha."
Their preliminary objectives in the village were complete.
A few minutes later, Izumi finally asked the question burning in her mind.
"What was that fruit?"
One bite and you gain the power of fire? That was straight-up fantasy.
And there had been zero chakra involved—meaning the flames didn't need chakra to sustain.
Absolutely broken.
She was also a little jealous. After everything last night, she belonged to Aike completely… yet he gave that insane power to Sasuke instead.
Aike caught the sour note in her voice and smirked.
Success. The "disciplinary session" had worked wonders.
"That was a Devil Fruit. One bite grants a unique ability.
Downside: you become a hammer—sea water and Seastone will sink you like a rock.
I'm not giving my ship doctor a swimming disability."
Izumi instantly understood. The faint jealousy evaporated.
For the next two days, Aike treated the rest of their stay like a vacation—sightseeing, street food, the works.
He also made brief contact with the rest of the future Rookie Nine.
Special attention went to:
Hyūga Neji (high-purity Byakugan + built-in grudge issues = budget Sasuke)
Yamanaka Ino (future intel/psychic support)
On the last night, he casually strolled into the Hokage Tower while Hiruzen was asleep two rooms away and copied the entire Forbidden Scroll for takeaway.
Every sheep had been thoroughly fleeced.
…
End of the five-day timer.
Aike and Izumi left Konoha, enjoying the Fire Country scenery while hunting for "Nameless."
After some detours, they located the spot on the final day.
Only… the terrain didn't quite match the scroll.
"Pretty close to the Valley of the End. Probably got reshaped when Hashirama and Madara turned the place into a crater."
Made sense—full Susanoo vs Wood Buddha would wreck any landscape.
With no exact marker, they searched manually.
Fortunately the area was small, and Kidō made chakra detection trivial.
Soon Aike locked onto an unremarkable cliff face.
"This is it."
Izumi eyed the ordinary stone wall. "You sure?"
"Multiple layered sealing formulas. Old, but perfectly intact. Could've lasted decades more."
Aike placed a palm on the rock.
Pure reiatsu flooded outward.
The shockwave alone shattered surrounding stone; the central seal didn't stand a chance.
In seconds the barrier collapsed, revealing a shallow cave and an ancient altar within.
Deep beneath the altar, Aike sensed a familiar Yin-heavy Uchiha chakra signature—almost as strong as Izumi's enhanced one.
Jackpot.
"Your turn."
Izumi stepped forward, slammed her hands to the ground.
"Earth Style: Core Flow!"
The altar flipped upward, revealing a sealed coffin underneath.
Aike shattered the coffin seals.
Inside lay a girl—Uchiha robes, long black hair, roughly Izumi's age—peacefully asleep.
…A girl?
"This is the final weapon?"
Aike blinked, completely thrown.
He'd been expecting at least a battle-hardened warrior, maybe a cool one-eyed edgelord. Not a teenage girl.
Before either of them could process it, the girl's eyes snapped open.
Confusion → bone-deep murderous hatred.
"U… CHI… HA…!!"
The Uchiha crest on Izumi's clothes triggered everything.
Memories of being used as a living weapon, discarded by her clan, drowned in enemy blood—everything came flooding back.
"DIE!!"
A completely unfamiliar Mangekyō pattern bloomed in her eyes, blood tears streaming down.
"Amaterasu!"
A sea of black flame erupted, roaring toward Aike and Izumi.
"Fiery temper. I like it."
Aike stopped Izumi from counterattacking and unleashed his reiatsu.
"Bakudō #81: Dankū!"
A massive transparent wall m
aterialized, blocking every wisp of Amaterasu.
Then he raised a hand again.
"First, let's calm you down."
"Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō!"
Six rods of light slammed into the girl's midsection, binding her completely.
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