Brilliant light burst forward, washing over Akio's face and reflecting sharply in his eyes.
Shoren's father didn't waste time with words. With a flick of his wrist, their strangely-shaped craft unleashed a volley of golden energy bolts, bright enough to sting Akio's vision.
"Huh. A flying weaponized ship—now that's a fancy toy. Feels like it was just waiting for me to take it home."
Akio extended his hand. Dark red chakra flickered along each finger before blooming outward—miniature Tailed Beast Bombs firing like a rapid barrage. The beams were swallowed up one by one.
"That technique… Yin–Yang Release? Wait—You're Uzumaki Akio. A descendant of the Sage of Six Paths."
Shoren's father stiffened, voice tightening.
Akio sighed.
"That Sage-of-Six-Paths-descendant title follows me everywhere. I never asked for it. But if you've been watching this world from the moon, no wonder you know me."
"You shine bright enough to catch unwanted attention," the man muttered.
He turned to Shoren, jaw tensing. After a hesitation, he thrust his hand forward, forming a green sphere of concentrated chakra.
Akio blinked.
"That almost looks like a Rasengan."
He flipped his hand over and shaped his own—an obsidian-black Rasengan humming with compressed power.
"Alright then. Let's see whose sphere hits harder."
He pushed forward. But the instant the two spheres touched, his Rasengan collapsed like wet paper. The green orb swallowed it whole and dug straight into his palm, siphoning chakra with frightening speed.
"Chakra absorption? What is that—?"
BOOM.
His question vanished in the explosion roaring out from within his own chakra coils.
On the ship, Shoren's father staggered, coughing hard. Color drained from his face.
"Father! Are you alright?"
"Shoren… we have to retreat."
He forced the ship upward.
"That blast was too loud, and that man… he's trouble. Don't count on him dying that easily."
"But Father—"
"Back to the moon!"
The craft shot upward, breaking through the sky barrier and escaping into space.
By the time they touched down on the lunar surface, the older man finally exhaled in relief.
"Now… what was it you wanted to tell me?"
Shoren hesitated.
Then pointed upward.
"Father… I think someone's touching my head."
"…"
Akio ruffled the kid's hair casually, glancing around the ship.
"That explosion of yours really packed a punch. Blew me straight onto your ride. Before I knew it—boom—we're on the moon together."
He eyed Shoren's father.
"What was that jutsu? Never seen anything quite like it. If I wasn't good with sealing techniques, that would've ended badly."
The man remained silent. Explaining one's secret techniques to an enemy meant either absolute confidence—or a screw loose.
Akio prodded again.
"Come on, humor me."
He ruffled Shoren's hair once more.
Unexpectedly, the boy threw himself backward—trying to smack Akio with a surprise headbutt right to the groin.
Akio twisted aside just in time.
Shoren crashed into his father instead, knocking the man flat.
"Father! Are you okay?!"
Akio rubbed the spot on his thigh where the kid's skull grazed him.
"Kids these days will use any part of their body as a weapon. Also—hey—don't blame me if you knock out your own dad. I'm broke. Donated everything to an orphanage. And seriously, why are adults dropping like flies around here?"
Shoren tried shaking his father awake, but the man was fully unconscious—maybe faking, maybe not.
Shoren clenched his teeth and hurried to the ship controls, steering it unsteadily westward.
Akio watched him.
"No license, too young, and blind to boot—oh, perfect."
"Wait—blind?!"
Shoren turned, revealing pale, empty eyes.
"It's Father's jutsu," he murmured.
Great. A blind kid piloting a moon-ship.
A disaster waiting to happen.
Akio remained ready to save his ship at any moment. But somehow, the boy managed to steer it safely toward a distant cluster of massive palaces.
Up close, they were crumbling—ancient, cracked, abandoned.
Akio sensed the surroundings. His eyes narrowed.
"Not a single living chakra signature… Looks like this branch of Hamura's descendants really is down to just you two."
Then the sky filled with puppet soldiers rushing in from all directions.
Akio noticed Shoren's father—now very much awake—peeking with one eye, clearly faking unconsciousness to stage an ambush.
Akio groaned.
"Oh come on. Really? You pretend to pass out just to try round two? Give it up already."
He spread his arms. A shrill buzz echoed outward as twin Rasen-Shuriken spun into existence—one in each hand.
A sweep, a blur—two radiant arcs cut through the battlefield, shredding every puppet in their path.
Shoren propped his father up.
"Are you okay—?"
"Damn it… if only my body—"
Akio waved him off.
"Let's be honest. Even healthy you wouldn't beat me. And you lived peacefully on the moon. Why stir up trouble? The world below isn't exactly a theme park."
Shoren's father bristled.
"The Sage of Six Paths created a flawed world! We, the heirs of Hamura, must correct his failure and destroy it! That is our duty!"
Akio stared at him.
"…Your brain's the one that's sick."
"E-excuse me—?!"
"I don't mean your body. I mean your head. Talking about 'failed worlds' and 'annihilating humanity'—that's not normal."
Shoren's father hissed back:
"The husk of the Ten-Tails sealed within the moon has been stolen! Someone seeks to revive Kaguya! If that doesn't prove this world is broken—"
Akio's eyes narrowed.
So the one who stole Madara's Rinnegan had made their move.
"Then we reseal her," Akio said. "And for the record—I'm not decoration. No one's taking the Two-Tails from me."
Shoren's father shot him one last disdainful look—then collapsed violently, coughing blood.
"Father!" Shoren screamed.
Akio blinked.
"…Did he just die? I didn't even touch him."
Honestly, the timing felt suspiciously convenient.
"Well, whatever. Guess that means I can adopt another talented kid." He glanced at Shoren thoughtfully.
Then surveyed the lunar palace grounds.
"Before that… might as well claim myself a place here. A private mansion on the moon? Now that's style."
He mused aloud:
"If I'm living on the moon… what does that make me? The Moon Sage? The Lunar Hermit…? Ugh, no. All of that sounds terrible."
Akio fell into deep thought, trying to find a title that didn't make him sound ridiculous.
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