Tsunade's father fell ill and was hospitalized repeatedly. Others thought it was merely due to his poor health, but in Mito's opinion, it further confirmed that what Akira had said was true.
After ensuring that Uchiha released everyone they had previously detained, Mito also took full responsibility for the "accident."
No one dared to pursue the matter further. In the end, they only demanded compensation-money, which was far from a problem for the wealthiest woman in Konoha.
As the matter was put to rest, Mito considered visiting Tsunade's father again while he remained hospitalized.
Especially since Akira had already laid out the traps-there was no reason not to draw the prey in willingly.
With the possibility of upcoming conflict in mind, Mito gave most of the workers time off, leaving only one gatekeeper at the premises. The rest helped carry the numerous gift boxes she had purchased for her visit.
Black Zetsu, hiding in the shadows, felt near tears watching Mito leave with over ten workers lugging heavy parcels behind her. The endless wait was driving him mad.
As soon as he confirmed Mito had left the premises, Black Zetsu immediately released one of his clones into the mansion.
Despite his eagerness, he remained cautious. The clone moved carefully-darting in and out of the house several times before Black Zetsu allowed it to begin searching in earnest.
Akira's house was large, but it posed no challenge to White Zetsu's numerous clones. He scoured every room quickly-he even checked the manure pit-but there was one place he couldn't ignore: the backyard laboratory.
It looked entirely average save for three characters above its entrance: "Laboratory."
Yet one glance revealed it was anything but ordinary.
Sealed off from perception. Insulated. No windows. A chakra network built right into the walls. It radiated oddity in every direction.
Black Zetsu had seen many things-but this was one of the first setups that made him hesitate outright.
Given Akira's reputation for trickery, Black Zetsu knew this had to be one of his traps. And it was flawless-even textbook perfect in execution. Despite that, he couldn't abandon his mission without confirming the presence of their target firsthand.
He sent in one clone-silently, creeping along hidden paths-its progress slow and meticulous.
And then-
Nothing happened afterward.
He lost contact with it before the clone even saw anything inside.
"What's happening?"
Before he could make sense of it, there was only white light ahead.
Boom!
An explosion erupted from the laboratory's location-massive and violent enough to level everything in its path. Smoke and fire consumed what had once been the entire inner courtyard. Soot and acrid fumes filled the air immediately after the blast settled.
Where there had once been structure-now only fragments. Smashed walls. Ruined frames. Shattered glass and splintered wood filled what remained of Mito's mansion grounds.
At the epicenter of it-nothing but a massive crater over ten meters wide. No sign remained of what had once been built there.
Even clones hiding underground weren't spared-those too close to the detonation were simply erased by force alone.
Black Zetsu, having barely survived by sheer luck and distance, stared at the destruction wide-eyed before mumbling again-
"What's happening?"
There had been doubt last time-but now he was fully stunned by what he'd seen.
After several moments buried beneath rubble and smoke, Black Zetsu gathered himself-but unlike usual, he couldn't hold back from cursing aloud this time-
"Who the fuck sets up traps like that?!"
Even if he raged about it-he could no longer deny one truth: Akira knew enemies were lurking in the shadows now. Whether he'd survived or perished in that blast wasn't for Black Zetsu to determine anymore.
"Forget this-I'll report to Black Zetsu and leave him to decide."
…
Far away at the hospital-shockwaves from the blast reached even those walls. Mito had just begun to feel suspicious when she realized she'd been moved into some cramped space just twenty square meters wide, surrounded by boxes of varying size.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Chakra coiled instantly around her. Dozens of golden chains shot outward from her body-slamming through every space around them searching for threats. One chain wrapped around the humanoid figure she sensed nearby-with particular force and urgency.
When her chakra locked onto her target-it turned out to be Akira himself, bound like some fat dumpling wrapped tightly for transport.
Looking at him so conveniently contained-and finally remembering just how long he'd holed up in that lab before finally appearing again-Mito's irritation began to bubble over with heat.
Slowly she walked toward him-licked her lips-and pressed her finger against his chest with slow circles.
"Now-tell me how I should deal with you?"
Akira could see her pulse quicken-her cheeks flushed pink while her lips relaxed against her teeth-and though she played up her dominance… her eyes betrayed it. Nervous excitement and thinly veiled hope lingered behind them too-something uncertain and unconfessed.
Had she not been resurrected through Edo Tensei already-maybe she'd have followed through on her tease and turned this into some private game between them instead of letting it fizzle out as tension alone.
Akira sighed hard through his nose and smiled bitterly toward her.
"Mito-just listen to me for once."
"I caught our enemy."
"That enemy?"
She'd suspected it-but confirmation pulled slight disbelief into her expression nonetheless.
She stepped back as Akira approached one of the taller boxes nearby-roughly two meters in height-and swung its lid open without hesitation.
Floodlights gleamed off carved symbols and spells etched into cloths tightly wrapped around whatever lay inside. It looked barely human-but unmistakably alive underneath its seals.
No gendered organs at its torso. Skin pale and bloodless. Features obscured purposely through layers of binding tags and barriers. It didn't resemble anything normal-even for shinobi standards.
Mito narrowed her eyes unsure how to react-but Akira moved ahead anyway and grabbed a scalpel without hesitation.
He sliced clean through one of its fingers down to sever it entirely-watching carefully as no blood or fluid leaked from within… not even bone or muscle revealed itself beneath that outer form.
Just pale flesh that held human shape-but nothing human inside it at first glance at least…
Mito gagged slightly at the sight-but forced herself to channel chakra directly into that severed piece for analysis anyway-
"Huh…?"
Her expression jerked halfway between revulsion and surprise-
"This thing's… it's actually alive?!"
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