Tengetsu Akio crouched at the edge of the pond behind the clan's inner compound, watching the water ripple. It was early morning—the kind of soft, quiet hour before the village truly woke up.
The Uchūgan shimmered faintly in his eyes now. Just one star in each iris, orbiting slowly in place. No one outside the clan would've noticed unless they looked closely. Even then, they wouldn't have known what it meant.
And that was exactly what Akio preferred.
Because as much as the Tengetsu elders praised the awakening of his dōjutsu, as much as his grandfather Hiroshi nodded with quiet approval, Akio didn't feel powerful.
He felt… like he had cracked open a door to something far too large.
His reflection in the water blinked back at him—same soft purple hair, same pale skin, same quiet eyes now lined with a faint glow.
What exactly am I supposed to do with this?
▫️"Again."
Akio's body hit the ground with a dull thud.
His cousin, Riku, towered over him, stance wide, a wooden staff in hand.
"You hesitated," Riku said. "When you see the pressure shift in my chakra, you move. Don't wait for your legs to decide."
Akio groaned and rolled to his feet, brushing dust off his shoulders. His grandfather stood nearby, arms folded, eyes watching—but not interfering.
Training had started early this morning. Riku, three years older and already enrolled in the academy, had been tasked with sparring him under Hiroshi's supervision.
At first, Akio thought it would be just a formality—an elder pushing the younger generation to build endurance and reflex.
But it was more than that.
This was calibration.
"You saw my intent," Riku pressed. "I know you did."
Akio nodded, winded. "Yeah. You flared chakra around your wrist. A buildup—right before you moved to fake a sweep and go high instead."
"Exactly."
"But my body didn't respond in time."
"Then your eyes are ahead of your instinct. Bring them in sync."
That was the problem.
The 1-Star Uchūgan could perceive chakra motion. It could sense emotion colors, chakra flow, intent. But Akio's reflexes? Still five years old.
Riku didn't seem frustrated. Just focused. The clan took its traditions seriously, but not harshly. If anything, Akio got the feeling they were waiting.
Not for brilliance.
For balance.
The Tengetsu didn't raise monsters. They raised seers. Visionaries. Shinobi who thought three moves ahead and didn't waste motion on brute force.
Even so, Akio wasn't content with that.
Not after what he remembered.
▫️Later that evening, Akio sat with his grandfather under the old cedar tree near the edge of the compound.
Hiroshi sat cross-legged, calmly slicing an apple with a small blade. His posture was relaxed, but his gaze was sharp.
"You're improving," the old man said.
"Not fast enough."
Hiroshi smiled faintly. "Ah. Now the truth comes out."
Akio frowned. "I can see things before they happen… kind of. But I still can't move fast enough to keep up. I get the sense of danger, but by the time my body reacts…"
"Your feet are still on the ground."
Akio looked at him.
Hiroshi tossed a thin apple slice into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "Your eyes are already walking the stars, but your body is stuck in the earth. That's normal. Chakra flows from mind, to heart, to muscle. You're trying to skip the middle step."
"…What's the middle step?"
"Belief."
Akio frowned again. "That's not a very ninja answer."
"It's the only one that matters." The old man's tone didn't change. "You don't need to be fast. You need to believe your next step already happened. The Uchūgan will do the rest."
Akio glanced away.
It sounded good. Poetic, even. But Akio knew how the world really worked. Talent wasn't enough.
You had to train harder than everyone else.
That night, he snuck out again.
Not far—just to the small plateau near the rear gardens where the starlight hit hardest. From here, you could see the rooftops of Konoha peeking over the tree line. He could even hear faint shouting from the Academy district.
He knew Naruto was probably there. Maybe failing a new jutsu. Maybe getting scolded by Iruka.
Akio sighed and sat on the stone ledge.
He had avoided other kids in the village. Not out of fear—but because he still wasn't sure how to blend in.
He had memories of things he wasn't supposed to know. Names, faces, stories that hadn't happened yet—or maybe never would.
He wasn't sure if Sasuke had already unlocked his Sharingan, or if Kakashi had taken Naruto as his student yet. The timeline was fuzzy.
That's fine. I've got time. I just have to be ready.
He closed his eyes and tried to reach for the stars within his mind.
The Uchūgan was quiet tonight. It didn't throb or pulse. Just… hovered in his vision when he called on it. The single star in each eye spun slowly, feeding him impressions.
His chakra felt like liquid silver—slow, dense, potent.
Still, his control wasn't perfect. He couldn't Blink on command yet. The best he could do was shift a meter or two when under pressure.
Not enough.
He let out a breath, steady and low.
Then he opened his eyes—
And froze.
Someone was watching him.
From the tree line, a faint glint of metal caught the moonlight.
Akio stood slowly, eyes narrowing.
He activated the Uchūgan—not flaring it, just drawing it in.
He felt it then: a faint ripple of chakra. Barely a spark. Suppressed. Trained.
Not Tengetsu.
And not a Genin either.
Akio stepped back, letting his small frame move naturally, pretending to just be a kid wandering off.
He let his foot skim the dirt, and just as he reached the corner of the garden path—
There.
A figure. Flicker movement. Not charging, not attacking.
Observing.
Akio locked eyes with the treeline.
A second passed.
Then the presence vanished.
Gone.
He returned to the compound in silence.
The next morning, Hiroshi said nothing.
But Akio noticed the way two ANBU masks showed up near the southern wall. The way the clan guards whispered tighter. The way his grandfather's eyes didn't soften when he saw him return from breakfast.
"You noticed it," Hiroshi said simply.
Akio nodded. "It wasn't one of us."
"No. It wasn't."
"Root?"
Hiroshi's gaze lingered. "Likely."
"But I'm not that important."
"Yet."
That word sat in Akio's stomach for the rest of the day.
Yet.
Not because of what he was now. But because of what he might become.
▫️He spent the afternoon in the clan archives.
Not reading scrolls this time, but sketching. Drawing the pattern he saw in his mind whenever the Uchūgan was active. The ripple rings. The chakra threads. The flare of danger when someone's bloodlust built.
He drew stars, orbiting the pupil. One now. More, eventually.
The elders had told him the Uchūgan evolved in stages. They called them Stars—1 through 5.
Akio was still at 1.
It was enough—for now.
But only just.
As the sun set and training wound down, Akio sat again under the cedar tree, eyes open to the pinkish sky.
His fingers curled around the edge of a practice kunai.
He couldn't Blink properly. Couldn't phase. Couldn't see through walls or predict jutsu perfectly.
But he could read people.
He could tell when someone was nervous—by the shade of their chakra glow. When someone was lying—by the stutter in their field. When someone was about to strike—by the twitch of tension just before their chakra flared.
It wasn't flashy.
But it was real.
It was his.
"You've got good eyes, Akio."
He turned. Riku sat down beside him, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Still think you're slow?" Riku asked.
Akio shrugged. "I'm getting there."
"You're reading my strikes before I move."
"Doesn't help if I can't dodge them."
Riku grinned. "Then you're learning the hard part first. That's how the best start."
Akio gave a small smile.
Maybe he wasn't a prodigy.
But he was watching.
And in time—
He'd be ready to act.
[End of Chapter 2]