Naruto: Call Me Akuma

In the heart of the jungle, Akuma and Rock Lee sat on the ground, catching their breath after an intense sparring session. The humid air was thick with the scent of earth and sweat, their bodies aching from the countless strikes exchanged. For the past two weeks, they had been training together like this, pushing each other to the limits. 

Akuma wiped his brow, his expression shadowed with disappointment. "Brother Lee, you've won again… but just you wait. Someday, I'll surpass you." Determination burned in his eyes. 

Lee, however, shook his head, his expression troubled. "No, Akuma. The only reason I won is because I use chakra to enhance my body. In a pure Taijutsu battle, without chakra, you'd win every time." His voice carried frustration. "Sometimes, I wonder… with your monstrous talent, if you just had chakra, you might even surpass Guy-sensei in a few years. But look at me—I have to rely on chakra just to keep up with you. It feels like I'm cheating." 

Noticing the dejection on Lee's face, Akuma offered a reassuring smile. He placed a hand on Lee's shoulder and said, "Brother Lee, you didn't cheat. You used what you had, just like I do. You can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, and I can't use chakra, but what we lack, we make up for with hard work. Instead of dwelling on what we don't have, let's focus on improving every day—just like our sensei taught us." 

A moment of silence passed between them before Lee's frown softened into a grin. 

"You're right, Akuma! We'll keep training and growing stronger together. And let's show all those so-called geniuses that with hard work alone, we can surpass them!" Lee declared, his eyes blazing with determination. 

Akuma grinned and responded cheerfully, "Yes! We can beat them!" But inside, his thoughts were far less optimistic. 

"Unfortunately, that's bullshit," he scoffed internally. "No matter how much you train, you'll never reach the same level as those born with overwhelming talent and power, like Naruto, Sasuke, Hashirama, Madara… Even if you trained for a thousand years, you'd never match them. Some people are just destined to stand at the top. That's how life is." 

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows through the trees, Akuma and Rock Lee continued their training until darkness crept over the jungle. Their bodies ached, drenched in sweat. Finally, Akuma stood up, dusting himself off. 

"Brother Lee, I'll see you tomorrow," he said, offering a brief nod. 

Seeing that Akuma was leaving, Rock Lee called out enthusiastically, still throwing punches at the air. 

"See you tomorrow, Akuma! Have a safe journey!" 

With a small smile, Akuma turned and headed toward the orphanage. He had to make it before the gate closed, or he'd be in serious trouble. He quickened his pace, running. 

Alone, the sounds of Lee's determined strikes faded into the night. Beneath the moonlit sky, Rock Lee remained, training alone. 

Akuma was meditating in his bed at the orphanage. It had become his routine to meditate before sleeping. After meditating for at least three hours, Akuma would go to sleep. When he woke up, he followed his usual routine of making his bed, cleaning, and brushing his teeth. Afterward, he headed toward the forest to train. 

Even though it was his off day, Might Guy had told him that, since he trained almost every day for nearly the whole day, he should take one day off to socialize with other people. Because of that, today was supposed to be that day. He was forbidden to train and instead was meant to spend time with the other kids. However, Akuma didn't listen. He chose to be alone rather than join the others. Instead of going to his usual training spot, he headed to his secret spot near the village border—a hidden cave where he could unleash his full power without holding back. 

Since Akuma had no chakra, no ninja could notice him when he left the village, and it also helped him remain undetected when approaching others. With the help of his Absolute Dimension Lock, he could always sense when someone was approaching or if someone was nearby, allowing him to hide or run before they could see him. 

After running for more than two hours, he eventually reached the cave where he usually trained alone, a place where he could push his body and his limits without fear of being interrupted. The cave was located near a waterfall, which was perfect for Akuma because any noise he made would be dampened by the roar of the water. This was one of the reasons he had chosen this cave for his training—if he made a loud noise, no one would hear it. 

The cave itself was massive, nearly 100 feet long and 50 feet tall, making it the perfect spot for Akuma to train. He had discovered this cave while searching for a place to practice his Satsui no Hado without exposing it to others, and it allowed him to unleash his full power without holding back. 

Akuma instantly unleashed the Satsui no Hado. As soon as he did, his red hair became even brighter, and his eyes, which were usually mostly black, turned fiercely red, glowing in the dark cave. His skin darkened slightly as the power coursed through his veins. Feeling the surge of strength, Akuma said, "Let's see how much stronger I've become over the week." 

With those words, Akuma jumped, instantly reaching the top of the cave, which was almost 50 feet tall. He punched the roof of the cave, creating a massive crack. The roof shattered, breaking apart and leaving a nearly 3-foot-wide hole. As he fell, Akuma smacked all the falling rocks into small bits midair with almost inhuman speed. 

Seeing that he had destroyed all the falling rocks, Akuma grinned and said, "Well, I've become much faster and stronger. Now, let's test my Hadouken." The Hadouken, a sphere of energy infused with Ki/life force, was a powerful blast capable of causing massive damage, much like Goku's Kamehameha wave. 

Akuma concentrated, slowly gathering the Ki in his hand. After more than five minutes of intense focus, he finally managed to form a fist-sized Hadouken. Realizing this was his limit, Akuma sighed in disappointment. He then threw the Hadouken into the cave wall. As soon as it hit, a massive boom echoed through the cave. After the dirt and debris settled, a hole about 9 feet wide appeared in the wall. 

Seeing the destruction, Akuma smiled to himself, saying, "At least this time I managed to do it in under six minutes, but still, this isn't enough. I need to focus more on my control of Ki." 

Through long meditation, Akuma managed to find out that, like everyone in the Street Fighter universe, he also had a Ki inside his body that he could harness as an energy to unleash massive destruction. Ki is the energy every living being has; the stronger a person is, the greater their Ki will be. He didn't have a master who could teach him how to properly harness the Ki like that of Ryu, so he had to figure all of this out by himself, which was very difficult for him. 

However, he could only manage to make a Hadouken after concentrating for so long, which wasn't practical in a real fight. Nobody would give him five minutes to focus during battle. 

He pushed himself to do it faster, but compared to Akuma from Street Fighter, who could fire six or seven Gohadoken (a more powerful version of Hadouken, made by infusing Satsui no Hado and Ki) the size of a yoga ball in less than a second, his achievement felt insignificant. Whenever he tried to gather his energy in one spot, it was still very slow. However, as he focused more on strengthening his body, his Ki became more powerful, and the more he generated, the faster his control improved. 

It didn't take long for Akuma to realize that KI and Satsui no Hado were deeply connected, almost as if neither could truly exist in their full potential without the other. Testing this theory, Akuma practiced controlling his Ki by meditating and focusing on strengthening his body. He discovered that the more he controlled and harnessed his Ki, the easier it became to withstand the power of Satsui no Hado. 

Noticing this, Akuma decided to focus solely on Ki. For an entire month, he dedicated himself to strengthening his body and deepening his understanding of Ki. As he improved his Ki control, he began to grasp more about the true nature of Satsui no Hado. 

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