Midday.
It was already late August, yet the air still clung with restless heat.
Standing before Akio, the three boys finished explaining their proposal. Sweat beaded on their foreheads, not just from the weather, but from nerves.
Akio, meanwhile, looked perfectly cool.
Cool body. Cooler mind.
"…So after all that," he said flatly,
"This is the plan you came up with?"
The three exchanged looks.
Itachi hesitated before asking softly, "Great-Grandfather… is there something wrong with it?"
Akio almost laughed.
Something wrong?
He'd spent decades unable to untangle this mess himself, did they really think a few well-meaning ideas would solve it?
Naive. Far too naive.
"If you actually went through with this," Akio said, shaking his head, "I'd end up having to step in personally and suppress things by force. And frankly, I'm not in the mood to clean up a political disaster in this heat."
He waved a hand dismissively.
"Go home. Take a cold shower. Cool off, literally and mentally. Then think it over again."
Shisui frowned, unwilling to let it go.
"Senior… where exactly does it fall apart?"
Akio thought for a moment, then raised an eyebrow.
"Don't ask me. Go ask Kagami."
The three still looked hesitant.
Akio lifted his hands, beginning to form seals.
"Still not convinced? Fine. Let me help you cool down."
Before they could respond
Flash.
All three vanished.
Akio looked up at the empty sky and sighed.
"Three prodigies… Shisui's movement speed is already almost on Minato's level."
He chuckled to himself.
"Still, I'm faster. I'll even give you a head start."
He disappeared.
A moment later, Akio reappeared behind the three sprinting youths, hands already a blur.
"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"
There was no water source nearby, yet the instant the jutsu completed, a towering wall of water manifested from nothing, hundreds of meters high, crashing forward like a tidal wave.
"Wood Style: Great Forest Technique!"
Itachi reacted instantly. He couldn't use the full Deep Forest Emergence yet, only a reduced version but massive trees still burst upward, trying to slow the flood.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
"Susanoo!"
Akio flashed again and casually slammed a Truth-Seeking Orb, shaped like a spinning sphere into Shisui's Susanoo, then retreated.
Moments later, three thoroughly soaked teenagers stood dripping in silence.
ANBU chakra signatures were already racing toward them from Konoha.
Itachi muttered quietly, "…Was our idea really that bad?"
Shisui and Unsho exchanged looks.
"…Maybe," Shisui said carefully,
"we should still try?"
Meanwhile, Akio had already slipped back into Konoha, heading straight for the Senju district.
He hadn't visited in quite some time. Avoiding involvement in the Senju–Uchiha conflict meant he'd even missed the news of three Senju jōnin dying earlier that year.
Granted, part of that was because he himself had been injured and recovering for over half a month.
Nearly a year had passed, yet the Senju clan members still greeted him warmly as he made his way to the clan head hall.
"Great-Grandfather! What brings you here?" Nawaki stepped out to meet him.
Akio blinked.
"…You've aged, Nawaki. Even picked up a couple wrinkles."
Nawaki scratched his head with a wry smile.
"Well, I am thirty-six now. Not all of us can stay ageless."
Akio laughed lightly. His own status sheet listed the same age but somehow, he still looked younger.
Stepping inside, his expression turned serious.
"The battle earlier this year. Three Senju died. Why wasn't I told?"
Nawaki froze. The smile faded.
"We meant to inform you, but word came back that you'd also been injured in the Land of Whirlpools. After the burials… we didn't want to trouble you further."
Akio frowned sharply.
"That's not how this works. Next time, never mind. There won't be a next time."
He exhaled slowly.
"Who were they?"
Nawaki sighed and explained.
The Senju were meticulous about lineage. The three casualties represented three generations.
The eldest was Senju Sanchin, nearly sixty one of the few remaining elders of Nawaki's parents' generation. Akio barely knew him.
The second was Senju Tsuruichi, thirty-nine. Akio remembered him well, mainly because he'd forced him to drink an ungodly amount of medicinal concoctions during the clan's fertility treatments.
Nawaki added quietly,
"After that treatment… the following year, he had a son. The boy's talented. Not even ten yet, and already near the top of the Academy."
Akio nodded.
"Good. Make sure he's trained properly. And the third?"
Nawaki hesitated, then sighed deeply.
"The last was Senju Windtsuri. Twenty-two."
Akio paused, then nodded heavily.
"I know who that is."
Back when Akio noticed the clan's age gap, Windtsuri then twelve had been the second youngest member after a toddler Itachi.
He'd been lively, mischievous. Too young to drink the medicine, and more than happy to watch the older men suffer through it.
"Elite jōnin at twenty-two," Akio said quietly.
"Exceptional talent. A loss."
He looked up.
"Did he leave children behind?"
Nawaki forced a smile.
"His wife was a civilian. They have a daughter, two and a half years old."
Akio nodded.
"That's something. Losing a father that young… take care of them properly."
He paused, noticing Nawaki's expression.
"…What?"
Nawaki hesitated.
"Uncle Dōzan's grown attached to the girl. He visits often. I think he wants to adopt her."
Akio blinked then laughed.
So that was it.
Dōzan was four years younger than Tsunade, but his generation placed him higher. If he adopted her, that toddler would technically become Nawaki's and Tsunade's little sister.
Akio extended his senses briefly.
Dōsan wasn't home.
"I'll go see for myself," he said, standing.
Nawaki hurried after him.
"Great-Grandfather… should we suggest he adopt her as a granddaughter instead?"
Akio smiled faintly.
"Let's see how it plays out."
At the southeastern edge of the Senju district, Akio found Dōzan, with a little girl perched proudly on his shoulders.
She wore her blond hair tied up in two little tufts.
"…Blond?" Akio blinked, then nodded.
"Must take after her mother."
Dōzan turned, startled, and immediately shot Nawaki a glare.
"Great-Grandfather? Why are you here?"
The girl leaned forward, staring curiously at Akio.
Akio examined her carefully.
"Cute. But… she feels familiar. Takes after her father?"
Dōzan coughed lightly and tapped her legs.
"Moe-gi, say hello. This is Akio, your great-great-grandfather."
Akio laughed softly.
Smooth.
"Hello, Great-Great-Grandfather!"
The little girl smiled brightly, cheeks flushing pink.
"My name is Senju Moegi. I'm three!"
Akio glanced sideways at Nawaki's helpless expression.
"Moegi…" he murmured.
"A lovely name."
Then he frowned slightly.
"…Wait. Haven't I heard that name somewhere before?"
---
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