Time passed quickly, and by the end of November in Konoha Year 53, Akio had made an unexpected discovery, Ice Release reacted to the weather.
He didn't feel much difference himself, but as the temperature dropped, Haku's control over Ice Release improved dramatically. The colder it got, the easier it became for him, and his growth had skyrocketed over the past two weeks.
Like now: Akio stood surrounded by a dozen ice mirrors, each reflecting a different Haku.
Haku in front of him, behind him, left, right eyes open or shut, all he could see was Haku. Akio felt dizzy.
"Great. Guess I'll have to beat up Naruto again today."
Ever since Naruto used that technique, Sexy Jutsu modeled after a female Haku, Akio had made sure the boy never forgot Haku was a boy. Naruto had been living in "character-building hardship" ever since. Kushina hadn't gone easy on him either when she found out.
Thankfully, Minato was the soft-hearted type; otherwise Naruto would've been punished a third time that same day.
And that wasn't even the end of it.
Akio trained Haku and the other two kids daily, meaning he was always close to Haku. One feminine gesture, one soft-spoken line, and Akio would instantly be reminded of that cursed transformation technique… and Naruto would get punished again.
Today was the worst yet—Haku had just begun to master Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals. Akio asked him to cast it on him, and the result was…
Nothing but Haku. Everywhere.
"Alright, drop the technique. You've got a good grip on it, I can't even tell which one's the real you anymore…"
This was fast becoming Akio's personal weakness.
Haku dismissed the jutsu.
"Since you can use it, keep training regularly. For sparring, try Karin or… actually, try Karin. If Zabuza's around, he can check it out too."
"Okay." Haku smiled gently.
The smile hit Akio like a flashbang, and he quickly waved him off to practice alone. Akio then turned toward Karin and Kimimaro.
Karin had become a full-blown "Kunai-Throwing Speed Demon." Ten crates a day, a crate per minute.
Akio planned to teach her basic Water and Earth Release techniques in a few days, she had both affinities.
And ever since he used a special method to check Karin's chakra nature a few days ago, his expectations for her surpassed even Kimimaro and Haku. Most Uzumaki had a strong yang-chakra constitution like Nagato; a few had yin attributes like Kushina.
But Karin? She had both yin and yang. A rare combination.
As for Kimimaro
"Kimimaro, how many kicks is that now?"
Thud! Thud!
"Four hundred fifty-six! Thud! Elder!"
Akio sighed. "Can you not count in your head? For this kind of training, shouting the number is half the point!"
"Yes! Four seventy-five! Thud! Four seventy-six! Thud! Thud! Thud—!"
Akio: "…"
He only counted out loud twice. Akio had to admit, Kimimaro was the only person who could train under intense self-restraint without it affecting his personality at all.
"No… maybe everyone from Guy's line is a little off?" Akio muttered, oddly comforted. "Might Guy, single for life… suddenly my teacher makes a lot of sense."
Just after blaming Guy for everything, Akio finally relaxed—only for a Whirlpool shinobi to suddenly appear beside him.
"Elder, the White Fang of the Leaf is here!"
"Sakumo?" Akio frowned. "Alright, I'll be right there."
"Sakumo came personally… is this about asking Minato to return to take the Hokage seat again?"
Inside the Uzumaki clan's main hall, Akio met Sakumo.
"You're here for Minato?" he asked bluntly.
"Elder Akio, I'm here for you, not the Fourth."
"For me?"
Akio glanced at Minato, who nodded to confirm.
"Hold on—don't say anything yet. Let me guess." Akio tapped his chin dramatically.
"First, you definitely aren't here asking for military support. Konoha's only opponent right now is Iwagakure. Amegakure has withdrawn from the war, and Konoha holds the advantage."
"Second—"
"Elder Akio, I am here to request support," Sakumo interrupted.
"Oh. So wrong on the first try."
Akio rubbed his forehead. Was Sakumo sent here to mess with him?
He shot a glare at Nagato, who'd been enjoying the show. Nagato hurried to stand up and offer his seat.
"No sense of timing at all," Akio muttered as he sat, then gave Sakumo the side-eye. "Alright, explain."
Sakumo sighed. "It starts back when you gave leadership of Amegakure to Yahiko."
Akio nodded. Konoha had guessed he was the one impersonating Hanzō—fair enough. Not many could pull off that level of disguise. If Akio knew how Shikaku had deduced it, he might've cried.
"You may not know this, Yahiko is one of Jiraiya's students."
"How would I not know? You think I'd hand over an entire country to some random kid?"
Sakumo blinked. "I thought it was because he saved your two students…"
"That too. Continue. Even if he's Jiraiya's student, that doesn't change Konoha's strategy. A war is still a war."
"It's not just him, Obito and Rin are involved as well…"
Akio scratched his head. He'd been thinking only about Jiraiya, forgetting his own entanglements.
Sakumo continued, "There are three possible routes between Konoha and Iwagakure. Amegakure is closed. Takigakure has Kakuzu, a nightmare to deal with. That leaves only Kusagakure."
"But Kusagakure borders Sunagakure. The Third Hokage doesn't want to go easy on Iwa, but if Suna senses opportunity and jumps back into the conflict, the war could drag out far longer than he wants."
Akio nodded, now following the logic.
Sakumo added, "The Hokage is asking for support—but not military support."
He looked toward Nagato.
"What he needs is for one of your disciples, Nagato or Konan to travel through Kusagakure. Their presence alone is enough to make Sunagakure think twice. Konoha will hire them at an ultra–S-rank mission rate."
Akio chuckled. "You really thought this through."
He exchanged a look with Nagato, sharing a quiet smile.
"Nagato and Konan have things of their own to handle. But we recently established the Seven Swordsmen group, you've heard about that. Let them go instead. As for the payment… we're short two more swords. I plan to forge them myself, but I'm missing some materials."
Sakumo was stunned. The materials for swords on par with the Seven Ninja Swords were absurdly expensive.
"That would require the Hokage's approval."
Akio nodded, handed him the materials list, and after sending Sakumo off, turned to Nagato.
"Round up those five idiots. Their first team assignment, let them show the world that Whirlpool's Swordsmen aren't just you four big names."
Akio was certain Hiruzen would agree; the benefits of winning the war far outweighed the cost of rare forging materials.
"With that settled… it's time to decide which two swords to forge next…"
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