After asking around carefully, Akio couldn't help but show a "never thought I'd live to see the day" expression.
He rarely paid attention to Kirigakure's affairs, so he hadn't realized that every Mizukage in history had been chosen purely based on strength.
"So this current battle is basically a contest for the title of Fourth Mizukage?"
The young man across from him smirked. "Yeah. The top-ranking shinobi don't see eye to eye, so they agreed to fight it out. Whoever wins becomes the Fourth Mizukage."
Akio nodded. As the innkeeper brought over a plate of sashimi, he set the fat cat on the table and let it eat freely.
Akio himself preferred meat. He had plenty stored in a scroll, he'd eat later.
The young man across the table, however, looked uneasy. Most people wouldn't want to share a table with a fat cat. "Uh… old man, that cat of yours…"
"It's fine," Akio said. "It only eats fish. It won't steal your food."
Really? the young man thought, screaming internally.
"Relax," Akio smiled. "You eat your meal, it eats its fish no problem. Now, tell me more about this Mizukage battle. I'm interested. Who's participating?"
The young man's face stiffened. An uneasy pressure welled in his chest, sweat beading on his forehead. He lowered his voice. "Old man… you're not from another village, are you?"
"Sure am," Akio answered plainly. "Why, planning to report me?"
The young man slumped, forcing a bitter laugh. "What good would that do? Just saying what I already did is enough to get me arrested by the village shinobi."
After a long pause, he sighed. "Old man, do ninjas from your village really take cats along on missions?"
"Only me," Akio replied. "Bad luck for you."
The young man exhaled helplessly. "The Mizukage selection"
Before he could finish the sentence, he suddenly shoved the table toward Akio and bolted for the door. "Help! There's an enemy spy here!"
He ran a few steps, then glanced back Akio was still sitting there, smiling at him. The table hadn't even moved.
In the next instant, the young man was once again seated across from Akio, exactly where he'd been, as if nothing had happened.
Akio's gentle smile didn't change. "Now, as I said tell me about the Mizukage battle. Who's in it?"
The young man's face went pale. Everything around him looked normal the other patrons eating as though nothing had happened. Resistance was clearly pointless.
Meanwhile, the fat cat had started eating his food too, but he didn't even have the will to stop it anymore.
Taking a deep breath, he began slowly, "I'm just a civilian, I don't know much. But I heard a few of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen are taking part. The duel is set for three days from now."
Akio nodded. "What about others? The Kaguya clan? The Hōzuki clan?"
The young man looked startled. "Those damned bloodline clans? No way they'd be allowed to compete for the Fourth Mizukage!"
"'Damned bloodline clans,' huh…" Akio frowned slightly, recalling that Kirigakure had earned its title 'Village of the Bloody Mist' because of its brutal graduation exams and persecution of kekkei genkai users.
"Yeah," the young man said bitterly. "Those cursed families led the charge against Uzushiogakure back then. The casualties were enormous. The over hundred captives they ransomed back from Uzushiogakure forced the Third Mizukage to begin a brutal purge. Our village's strength has been declining ever since."
Akio couldn't help but laugh wryly. So even the fall of Uzushiogakure caused this mess, huh? Those sold prisoners really did stir up trouble for Kirigakure later on.
Then a familiar system prompt flashed before his eyes:
*"Witness and significantly alter a major branch event in the Naruto world: 'The Bloody Mist Era.' Witness Points +10 (8 multiplier)."
Akio froze, nearly laughing aloud. Well, that's a pleasant surprise.
"So right now, all the bloodline clans are ostracized in Kirigakure?"
The young man shook his head. "Not the Hōzuki clan. They opposed that war from the start."
Akio thought back it was true. None of the Hōzuki had taken part in the assault on Uzushiogakure.
Looking down at the cat, now fully satisfied, he picked it up and stood. "Boss, get me a room."
"Right away! Upstairs, please."
After Akio left, the young man sat there dazed. "Wait… wasn't someone just sitting across from me?"
He looked down his food was gone. "Did I… finish eating? Why am I still hungry?"
Upstairs, Akio followed the innkeeper into his room, smiling and shaking his head. "Fat cat, your appetite's gotten bigger again."
"Meow~"
Over the next three days, Akio didn't rush into action. Instead, he truly became an ordinary traveler posting a mission request chatting with merchants and civilians at the inn all day long.
That earlier system notification reminded him: the selection of the Fourth Mizukage was likely to earn him a significant number of witness points.
"It shouldn't be Yagura," he mused.
In the original timeline, Yagura became the Three-Tails' jinchūriki after Rin's death, then rose to the position of Fourth Mizukage. But right now, the Three-Tails was still 'wild,' and Yagura was far too young. There was no way he had the strength yet.
"If this event changes completely… shouldn't that be worth at least a hundred witness points?" Akio muttered to himself.
"Uncle Asura, are you really going to watch the ninja lords' duel?"
The speaker was a boy; one Akio had befriended over the past two days.
"That's right," Akio said with a smile. "I want to see it for myself."
"I want to go too, but my father won't let me…"
It made sense. The duel was public, but no spectators would be protected that was the Kirigakure way.
You could watch, sure. But if you died there, no one would take responsibility.
"You'll have plenty of chances in the future," Akio said lightly. "When you're grown, you can go watch the Fifth Mizukage battle. This old man won't get another opportunity."
"Okay!" the boy nodded.
Akio didn't say, I'll take you with me. Low profile, low risk that was his way.
The battlefield looked like an enormous iron dome sunk into the ground. Only a single entrance led inside; the rest was sealed tight. It was said the Kirigakure Academy graduation exams took place there: all graduates were locked in for a day, and only those with the highest kill counts would pass.
Carrying the fat cat, Akio walked in under the suspicious gazes of the gate guards. Though the duel hadn't started yet, the arena was already full of shinobi silent, cold-eyed killers.
The moment Akio stepped inside, nearly every gaze turned toward him… or rather, toward the cat in his arms.
He patted the cat reassuringly and walked to the spectators' area.
"Huh? A familiar face?" Akio blinked, smiling as he moved closer.
Among the gathered shinobi stood a hefty man he recognized, one of the last remaining members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist: Fuguki Suikazan.
"Well, if it isn't Shark Face Jr.," Akio grinned inwardly. "Long time no see I've missed you."
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