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After returning to the hospital, Aki spent nearly two more months recovering before he was finally discharged. On the day he left, his mother had already gone home ahead of him. Aki slowly walked out of the hospital. During his stay, the First Great Ninja War had reached its most intense and brutal stage.
Konoha was fighting on two fronts—against the Sand from the Land of Wind and the Mist from the Land of Water. The battles were fierce, and both Danzo and Uchiha Kagami had already gone to the front lines, so neither had time to visit Aki during his recovery.
Aki strolled through the streets and, without realizing it, ended up at the ninja training grounds. There, he saw Tsunade sitting alone on a wooden post, doing who knows what. Curious, Aki walked over to her.
He approached slowly and noticed Tsunade was staring blankly at the ground. He asked, "Hey, Tsunade, what are you doing here all alone? And where's your little shadow Jiraiya? No way he's not following you around!"
Tsunade turned her head slowly, eyes shimmering with tears. She choked out, "Big Brother Aki… Grandpa passed away. There's no one to play with me anymore. I ditched class today."
Aki was stunned and thought, She's only four and already knows how to skip school? She's got potential… Feeling pretty good today, he patted the fat stack of cash he'd just received—his pay for the last six months plus some mission bonuses—and said with a smile, "What do you wanna play? I'll play with you. I'll play with you every day from now on."
He had no idea how steep the price for those words would be.
Hearing him say that, Tsunade's eyes lit up with stars. She leapt off the wooden post and grabbed Aki's hand, dragging him out of the training field and leading him somewhere in the village.
Standing at the entrance to a casino, Aki's brain short-circuited.
This is where she wanted to go?! What kind of four-year-old even knows what this place is?! Are kids these days all this wild? She's only four! What happens when she grows up?! Ugh... whatever, I'll just treat it like paying for a laugh. It's not like she can lose that much, right? There's no way she blows all the money I saved over six months… right?
With that thought, he followed Tsunade into the casino.
In both his past and present lives, this was Aki's first time ever stepping into a place like this. He watched in shock as Tsunade expertly exchanged chips with the staff and started wandering between the different tables like she was a regular. Some of the games didn't even make sense to him—just weird shapes and flashing lights.
"Big! Big! Biiiig! …Ugh, lost again!"
"It's okay, I brought a lot of chips. Go ahead, Tsunade—have fun!"
"Heehee, thanks, Big Brother Aki! You're the best! That boring old Grandpa Tobirama would never bring me to a place like this. He's so lame!"
"Ahh! Lost again!"
"No worries, keep going!"
Hours passed.
"Hey Tsunade… aren't you hungry yet? We've been here for hours, how about we grab some food?"
Aki looked at the overly excited Tsunade still glued to the betting table, sweat pouring down his back.
Is this Senju princess secretly a demon or something?! She just blew nearly two million ryo in less than three hours. Not a single win since we walked through those doors! Has the universe gone mad?! Or did I just go crazy agreeing to bring her here?!
Tsunade finally rubbed her stomach and said, "Yeah, I guess I'm kinda hungry. Okay, let's go eat!"
Aki let out a huge sigh of relief and took her little hand, leading her out of the casino. But then she asked cheerfully, "Can you bring me again tomorrow, Big Brother Aki?"
Aki faceplanted.
Aki then spent nearly another hour treating Tsunade to a lavish meal, spending the rest of the money he had left. Afterward, he escorted the little demon princess to the ninja academy.
Since she'd played all morning and got treated to lunch, Tsunade was in a really good mood and decided to postpone their next casino trip to the weekend. Humming happily, she skipped her way into the academy.
Watching her go, Aki finally let out another breath of relief and started walking home—only to have an Anbu ninja suddenly appear in front of him.
"Chūnin Uchiha Aki. The Hokage is requesting your presence."
"Lord Second Hokage, Chūnin Uchiha Aki requesting an audience."
Aki knocked and waited for permission to enter. Once granted, he stepped into the Hokage's office.
Inside, he saw a woman standing beside Tobirama, smiling at him. He didn't recognize her but didn't think much of it.
Aki bowed and said, "Chūnin Uchiha Aki reporting as ordered. Please give your instructions."
Tobirama pointed at the woman. "Two reasons I called you here. First, this is your master's wife, Uzumaki Mito—your shishou's wife. She wanted to meet you. Second, starting tomorrow, you'll begin special training with me for one year. Right now the war outside Konoha hasn't reached full intensity, so I'll be teaching you taijutsu and genjutsu."
Mito smiled at Aki and said to Tobirama, "You're rushing things. He just got out of the hospital. I only came to see the student Hashirama chose. Don't mind if I take him for a walk, do you?"
Tobirama sighed. "It's not that I'm rushing—it's that war won't wait. This is the only time I can train him myself. Danzo and Hiruzen both say his taijutsu and genjutsu are a disaster, and I'm not comfortable handing him off to anyone else. After all, he's the only disciple my brother ever took. If you want to talk to him alone, why not just do it here?"
Mito laughed. "Let's go outside—I don't want to interrupt your work. You're still such a chatterbox, huh?" With that, she led Aki out of the office.
They walked for a long time, eventually leaving the village and stopping near a lake. Mito looked at him and said, "Follow me carefully—take a wrong step and things will get complicated." Then, she vanished into the stone wall in the middle of the lake.
Aki cautiously followed her and stepped into the wall as well.
They arrived at a hidden chamber deep inside the mountain. Mito stood in the center of a glowing sealing circle and turned to Aki.
"Your grandfather, Uchiha Madara, had a unique pair of Sharingan—the only one in the clan who ever evolved his into something greater. That form is called the Mangekyō Sharingan. He was also the only person able to summon a tailed beast in full form for battle. During the founding of the village, he and your teacher trained together for a long time. That's when your teacher came up with an idea—what if each Hokage had a tailed beast as their personal summon? With that power, Konoha would be safer, stronger, and more stable. It could influence the world toward peace."
"But your grandfather refused. He left the village and later came back to attack your teacher. Their battle became known as the 'Battle at the Valley of the End.' In that fight, Madara used the strongest tailed beast—the Nine-Tails. Your teacher only defeated your grandfather after sealing the beast. Since then, he gave up on that plan… until you showed up."
"You've passed my test, so now I'm going to let you meet the strongest tailed beast who's lived inside me for years. Save your questions for later. Get ready!"
With those words, the sealing circle beneath Mito burst into a brilliant light and shot toward Aki. He didn't dodge, and the light engulfed him. He shut his eyes.
Water? Where am I…?
Aki found himself in what looked like an underground sewer. He felt a strange pull in his chest, like something was calling to him. He followed it, step by step, until he stood before a massive, closed gate with a sealing tag stuck in the middle.
Suddenly, two glowing red eyes lit up behind the gate. Aki stepped back and raised his guard.
A deep, rumbling voice boomed, "You reek of that filthy Uchiha blood. Why are you here?"
Then he saw it—the Nine-Tails. Just like in the legends, it was a monstrous fox with nine massive tails, all shackled by thick chains. Its eyes bore into him.
"So… you are an Uchiha," it growled.
Aki nodded slowly.
The Nine-Tails let out a thunderous laugh. "Mito, you damn woman, what're you trying now? This brat's eyes aren't gonna save your life. Let's see how long you can keep me chained up! If there's one thing I hate more than anything, it's you damn Uchiha!"
With a roar, all nine tails lashed out between the bars, striking at Aki.
Paralyzed by fear and killing intent, Aki couldn't move. But then Mito appeared beside him and said calmly, "As long as I live, you're not going anywhere."
The gate flashed with light and sliced through the attacking tails. A massive gatepost pierced into the Nine-Tails, pinning it in place. The beast roared and slammed against the gate, but it didn't budge an inch.
A moment later, Aki found himself back in the cavern, kneeling and gasping for breath. He'd never felt such overwhelming bloodlust before. The Nine-Tails was beyond powerful—just one look from it was enough to completely freeze him in place. No wonder it's the strongest tailed beast…
Mito handed him a pill. As he swallowed it, a cool sensation spread through his body, calming his nerves and heart.
She smiled. "Now you've felt a glimpse of the Nine-Tails' true power."
Aki nodded. "It's terrifying. I couldn't move at all. Just imagining my teacher beating both my grandfather and that monster… he must've been unbelievably strong."
Mito shook her head. "Hashirama didn't defeat the Nine-Tails—he only beat your grandfather after sealing it."
Aki didn't argue. Instead, he asked, "Why'd you bring me here? You said I passed a trial? And the Nine-Tails said you can't hold it for much longer—what did that mean?"
Mito explained, "I was born with a massive chakra reserve—so large that not even your teacher can compare. That's one reason I've been able to keep the Nine-Tails sealed for so long. As for the trial, I have a special ability: I can sense malice. During our journey here, I kept scanning your heart—and I never once sensed any ill intent from you."
"You might not realize this, but everyone has at least a bit of negative feeling in their heart, even toward people they love. But you didn't. That's why I said you passed."
"As for the Nine-Tails—I can seal it permanently, but Hashirama doesn't want that. He believes you're the key to making his dream come true: turning tailed beasts into proper summons. He wants to create a hidden land of legendary summons—one that belongs to Konoha alone, a secret sanctuary that will always protect the village in times of crisis. The Nine-Tails is supposed to be the first of those guardians."
"Now do you understand? You've got three years to reach the level we need. If you don't, I'll have no choice but to seal the Nine-Tails for good."
Aki stood up, eyes full of determination. "For Sensei's dream, I'll give it everything I've got."
"....."