Shishio flat-out refused to believe that the snake-wielding kunoichi in the manga could be his own daughter — it was nothing like what he had imagined. It shattered every hope he'd had for the future.
"Calm down. The future doesn't have to match the manga exactly."
Akaba tried to soothe him.
Kids are always cute when they're newborns, right? Anko was adorable and lovely as a child too, but well... things can change as they grow older.
Besides, Mitashigo hasn't even appeared yet. Bro, don't give up already?
Shishio started reading from the top, and his mood only grew darker with each line.
No matter how he looked at it, this character simply didn't fit the image he had in mind for his daughter. Plus, why did he himself disappear from the story before even making an appearance?
So much for having a spotlight.
He read straight through from the Chunin Exams onward. When he reached the section where The Third died, he paused for quite some time, rereading those pages multiple times before continuing.
The plot was extremely compelling, occasionally moving him deeply. Especially the part about The Third's death — he felt almost immersed in it, as if he had become one of the several Anbu observing and narrating the scene from outside the barrier.
This naturally made Shishio think of Sunagakure's Jinchuriki — that terrifying human weapon. Though it hadn't directly attacked enemies, even one display of its power had been terrifyingly overwhelming.
That one strike turned an entire mountain into a sea of sand.
Such helplessness and despair matched perfectly with what he saw on these pages, just like the emotions Uchiha Sasuke experienced confronting the Jinchuriki earlier — emotions Shishio could easily understand.
No matter how hard you try, it's almost impossible to defeat those with unique chakra abilities unless you're willing to risk your life.
These thoughts left Shishio feeling heavy and contemplative.
It wasn't until Akaba finally appeared in the manga that his mood started to lift.
"You actually drew yourself dying? Now that takes guts. But don't you worry Lady Tsunade will come after you for this?"
"Shishio, you're out of touch. Akaba and Tsunade..."
In the shop, Sakuma Yunlang was gesturing with his hands, but mid-way through his motion, he got so scared he quickly withdrew, nearly diving behind the counter.
Everyone else turned their heads sideways.
They'd originally planned to make some jokes, but seeing the person who had arrived immediately silenced them.
"What account?"
Tsunade slowly walked over to their table and sat beside Akaba. "Well, isn't this Shishio? You look significantly stronger than before."
"That's right. I'm about to be promoted to chunin soon too."
Shishio proudly declared.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, then smiled warmly. "Is that so? Funny thing — I just returned from Teacher Sarutobi today, and apparently starting today, I've also become chunin."
"What?"
Shishio opened his mouth wide in shock, instantly wishing he could slap himself a few times.
What are you showing off for?!
She's The Third's student — how could she be ordinary?
Wait, isn't there also Jiraiya?
After thinking briefly, he carefully asked, "And what about Jiraiya..."
"That idiot? How could he possibly get promoted? He'll have to wait for the Chunin Exams."
Tsunade scoffed.
There were various ways to achieve chunin rank. She, Sakumo, and Shishio had all been promoted based on combat achievements.
Jiraiya lacked any notable accomplishments, so he naturally had to go through the Chunin Exams to gain recognition from Konoha's allied ninja villages before qualifying for chunin status.
Shishio finally relaxed slightly.
Good thing not everyone became chunin. If everyone else rose to chunin ranks while he kept bragging around everywhere, he truly would've ended up looking like a total fool.
Keep a low profile.
Years of undercover work had kept him restrained for so long that upon returning to the village, he acted completely different—perhaps even swollen with pride.
But once he gets used to it, things will settle down.
"Since I've just finished up work, how about we all get together tonight and I'll treat everyone!"
Tsunade had received a large payment from hospital work and was incredibly generous with it.
Akaba didn't object.
Since Tsunade would never keep the money anyway, treating everyone to dinner made more sense than letting it disappear at the gaming tables.
By evening, everyone had showed up—it wasn't every day this whole group got together.
Though Jiraiya was training at Mount Myoboku, word still reached him through toads stationed at Konoha's insect cuisine restaurant.
Everyone hurriedly assembled when they heard Shishio had returned.
Of course, there were also some companions missing—Shinnosuke and Nightdance, who had left on a secret mission and weren't in the village.
With seven people gathered, it felt like a little get-together of old friends.
As for the food, naturally Akaba himself prepared the hotpot ingredients. Midway through though, the two moochers—the Third and Danzo—unexpectedly arrived.
Although Mito Uzumaki wasn't present, the Third and Danzo silently agreed not to bring up anything related to official matters. Everyone simply ate and drank casually. Before leaving though, Danzo asked Akaba to come see him the next day.
Ever since Orochimaru and Tsunade moved the Laboratory, he had rarely come here on his own.
The Anbu headquarters remained as strange and darkly situated as always, making it hard for Akaba to feel comfortable. But judging from its scale, there'd been recent expansion, with more newcomers wearing new masks visible inside.
Walking all the way into the office.
Akaba knocked on the door handle mechanism, then walked directly into Danzo's office.
Danzo sat doing paperwork.
His eyes remained blind—with little improvement—but seemed somehow capable of "seeing" objects on his right side.
Not sure how it worked.
Curiosity stirred within Akaba. He could tell this wasn't a Sensor Ability like the Mind's Eye of the Kagura—it was another kind of sensory ability, though its range was limited.
"Sit down."
Danzo took a sip of juice.
Akaba sat, carefully observing Danzo's every movement.
Ever since that hotpot dinner, Teacher appeared to have developed a liking for this drink. Though he still occasionally drank tea, his intake had noticeably decreased.
Then he turned to look at other items on the table.
As expected, stacks of Message Scrolls from various locations crowded the surface. As Anbu leader, Danzo's duty involved sorting through information likely beneficial or dangerous to Konoha and following up appropriately—investigating and filtering accordingly.
What a tough job!
Being Hokage or leading the Anbu—those were definitely jobs he'd never want for himself in the future.
Akaba murmured inwardly.
"The purpose of Shishio's last mission was primarily to investigate Land of Earth and Land of Wind situations. Only after you speculated Sunagakure might wage war against the Land of Bird did I temporarily redirect Shishio to observe and hide in the Land of Bird."
While speaking, Danzo pulled out a Scroll and handed it to Akaba.
This Scroll bore an extremely advanced Sealing Technique.
Akaba glanced at it, hesitated slightly before forming seals and unfurling the Scroll, proceeding to read the contained message.
It was only one report among many, yet carried the most weight—
"Sunagakure deployed Shukaku, whose single strike turned mountains into sand dunes, effortlessly subduing the Land of Bird."
He blinked in surprise before glancing up at Danzo.
"Shukaku may only be a One-Tail, but its power ranks quite high among the Bijū. Its personality is also extremely violent. Generally speaking, even someone who becomes its Jinchūriki wouldn't be able to display this level of strength."
Danzo spoke to Akaba while handling his paperwork.
Bunpuku the monk.
Akaba recalled information about this Jinchūriki in his mind.
He had been a great monk who believed in the equality between humans and Bijū. Though his personal strength was weak, he possessed a heart full of compassion, which somehow earned Shukaku's approval.
That attack definitely didn't originate from Bunpuku—it was purely Shukaku acting on its own.
"Tell me what you think."
After finishing his documents, Danzo sat upright and looked at Akaba.
Akaba thought for a moment, then spoke. "In my opinion, there are many restrictions placed on the Jinchūriki of Sunagakure. They're not as powerful as they seem on the surface. If Wind Country could truly control Shukaku perfectly, they wouldn't only wage war on Bird Country."
Danzo fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "I agree with you. But he really did unleash enough force to shatter a mountain. That's what I don't understand."
"I noticed earlier," Akaba continued, "that Shishio mentioned the Jinchūriki was a monk. Teacher, do you understand anything about monks?"
"A monk?"
Danzo really hesitated for several seconds.
His mind had always focused on ninjas and Jinchūriki—never considering the issue of monks. Now that Akaba mentioned it, memories surfaced about some analyses given by The Second regarding crucial professions in history.
When it came to monks, their way of thinking truly did differ from that of ordinary people.
He quickly picked up the message scroll again and reread it.
Stone Mountain!
Intentionally choosing a mountain scarce in lifeforms was truly a monk's style. Thinking this way explained why the Shukaku Jinchūriki hadn't actually participated in battle, and how his intervention reduced casualties on Bird Country's side.
The actual deaths and injuries in this war had been caused during battles between Sunagakure, Rock ninja, and Rain ninja.
This truly bore a monk's mark.
Still, Danzo found it hard to believe, "Would Shukaku obey a monk? Was he a ninja monk?"
"You probably have to ask your old friend about that."
Akaba rubbed his temples.
"You damn kid! How dare you talk like that!"
It really hit home!
Undoubtedly, these actions were unmistakably Shamon's doing. That old man hadn't died after all. Danzo's one-for-one plan didn't bring massive gains—but it did bring minor ones.
Still, it was just a minor advantage, nothing more.
If Shamon had possessed strong combat abilities, this war wouldn't have fallen to Sankai's responsibility.
Although Sankai was powerful, being young inevitably meant his strength fell short compared to veterans like Onoki or Hanzo. However, those two feared Sandaime Kazekage might use trickery, wary of Shamon hiding in shadows—they'd dared not personally step onto the battlefield.
Just like how a clever man's reputation could even scare enemies after his death—that was exactly what this situation implied.
However, Akaba couldn't help but think that maybe Sunagakure's strategy was partly because of him. After all, Bunpuku had never taken action while he was alive—let alone gotten involved in Bird Country's war.
Even during conflicts against the Land of River.
Though Sankai's original movements were secretive, obviously preparing an offensive against the Land of River, later plans changed completely.
Could it be that Shamon read my manga?
"What are you thinking about?"
Danzo asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Hmm, why did Shamon cancel the attack on the Land of River back then? At that time, most of our forces from Konoha were deployed to the Land of Whirlpools. If Sunagakure had launched an offensive against the Land of River, we could only engage with partial scouting units and couldn't send large forces into the Land of River."
Akaba remained silent for a moment before speaking, "They've always been pretty rigid in their thinking regarding Shukaku. This operation was particularly strange. So I'm wondering whether he might have thought of these things after reading my manga—and at the same time, maybe he was intimidated by those jutsu depicted in my comic?"
Not that he was being conceited or anything, but the possibility was actually quite high. The Naruto: Shippuden manga wasn't officially banned in the Land of Fire, so obtaining private copies was easy. It was very likely that Shamon had gotten hold of those Naruto comics.
So, it actually did make perfect sense.
"Intimidated?"
Danzo hesitated for a moment, not quite understanding Akaba's line of thinking.
"If I remember right, I had just finished drawing the chapter on the Konoha Destruction Plan shortly before that time," Akaba explained his hypothesis.
Initially, Danzo didn't believe it.
How could someone like Shamon be foolish enough to change strategies because of a comic? Irritated, he ordered Akaba away.
But after Akaba left, Danzo began to reconsider everything more carefully.
If he himself had been the leader of Sunagakure Village, and under conditions where intelligence was lacking, suddenly encountered such a comic claiming Konoha possessed certain jutsu, would he believe it or not?
The cautious approach would be to assume it's true first—just in case they actually had those abilities!
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