In Hatake's household, the manga was updated once again—this time with twenty new chapters released as a single volume of *One Piece*.
During this period, Sakumo had certainly been the happiest. Each day brought exciting new updates—new surprises and discoveries almost every time.
Although the performance during Shaku Rock's battle left him somewhat disappointed, overall this antagonist was quite successful—at least in his opinion.
However, the next storyline suddenly introduced a plot about the "Golden Country."
He didn't yet know what would come next, but judging from appearances, it seemed like an entirely fresh setting was about to open up.
"Funny—I heard even Devil Fruits showed up," Sakumo murmured to himself.
With Kiba and White Fang, his [Three-Blade Style] had basically formed a complete system. Recently, he had been refining a more mature version of the technique. After several days of training, it was now slightly perfected.
"Hmm..."
Windseer glanced at his son in the distance. That kid must be reading the manga again.
Well, guess there's no harm in letting him read it.
Lately, Windseer had been feeling increasingly drained himself. He had mastered speed and timing so thoroughly that, when combined with his Shinobi Sword techniques, his combat strength became truly terrifying. Yet as Sakumo continued growing stronger, Windseer found himself struggling more and more.
What's worse, half a year ago he could still dominate that boy; now, he probably only had a single chance to strike.
One blow—if it missed, retreat immediately.
Additionally, Nightdance had also improved greatly in swordsmanship and assassination techniques.
Talk about a headache!
Windseer's mood mirrored how Kakashi felt when beaten up by Naruto and Sakura in the manga—except while Team 7 had taken three years to surpass him, these kids had done it within just over a year.
Absolutely astonishing talent.
Sakumo inherited his sword skills, while Nightdance not only inherited part of his swordplay but also mastered refined assassination techniques.
As a teacher, watching students like them grow so fast really filled him with pride.
Then he looked down at the manga in hand. Lately, there'd always been that storm-on-the-horizon feeling—a deep, unavoidable sense that war might be coming again.
Actually, the Third had the biggest headache right now.
Merely tracking down the Yashin Cult had already proven troublesome enough. Never did he expect Black Zetsu and Madara to resurface too.
This Hokage gig...
The Third took off the Hokage cloak, looked into the mirror, and let out a deep sigh.
His hairline had receded again recently!
At this rate, he might soon go completely bald at the front.
"Hokage-sama."
"Cough cough, come in."
The Third quickly put the cloak back on, covering his precious hairline, then took a puff of smoke to mask his earlier reaction.
Akaba stepped inside, suspiciously glancing around for a moment.
Everything seemed fine.
He looked at the Hokage and asked, "Lord Hokage, you summoned me?"
"Sit down."
The Third inhaled deeply.
After a brief silence, he pulled out a sealing scroll from beneath his desk. "Neither Zetsu nor Madara are easy opponents. If I had known earlier, I'd have stopped you—but now…"
Akaba accepted the scroll, raising his eyebrows slightly in confusion.
"This scroll contains my Shadow Clone and some of my blood. If you find yourself in danger, break the seal and release the clone inside—it will summon my personal summoning beasts to assist you."
The Hokage spoke solemnly.
For Akaba, who possessed the Flying Thunder God technique, all he needed was a brief moment.
A Multiple Shadow Clone and Enma would be sufficient to block for one or two seconds.
"Thank you, Lord."
Akaba accepted it.
This was a good item; discarding one at a critical moment could save his life.
"Also, try not to challenge Sunagakure lately. Their Kazekage is new and lacks Shamon's composure. If he gets angry, things might get out of hand."
Sometimes the Third felt anxious on Akaba's behalf.
Tenten kept challenging Sunagakure Village—wasn't she worried they'd send assassins?
Even if Akaba himself wasn't afraid, an attempt on his loved ones' lives was something he probably couldn't stop alone.
It seemed he just had nerves of steel and didn't fear trouble.
"Akaba cleared his throat awkwardly, 'The One Piece arc's already done. And it's not like their manga-driven growth gives you a tenfold boost in training power, does it?'"
Previously, by coincidence, both manga were either set in the Desert or involved Sunagakure Village. If taken personally, there certainly seemed to be some connections with Sunagakure.
"Two separate issues. Alright, nothing else? Then scram."
As the Third spoke, he vaguely noticed one or two strands of hair floating past his eyes. Instantly annoyed, he hurriedly waved Akaba off.
Akaba had sharp eyes and noticed a few subtle clues.
This was every guy's nightmare. He silently mourned inwardly, sending his blessings—wishing the old man liberation from the suffering of hair loss sooner rather than later.
After leaving the office, he decided to return home and keep working hard, striving once more to obtain the Observation Haki and Goro Goro no Mi as soon as possible.
During this time, he didn't spend a single point.
Devil Fruits weren't just run-of-the-mill stuff—especially high-tier ones; they always came with ridiculous price tags.
Besides the Goro Goro no Mi and Observation Haki, he was also looking for a Devil Fruit that could extend Grandma Mito's lifespan.
For Grandma Mito, he currently had a few ideas—either the Vampire Fruit or the Reverse Fruit.
The Vampire Fruit's bloodsucking vampire form belonged to game character abilities, while the Reverse Fruit was a movie-exclusive Devil Fruit.
Both abilities were pretty extreme, especially the Reverse Fruit. Akaba wasn't even sure if adding it to the list meant it could actually be exchanged.
But judging from what they could offer, these abilities would undoubtedly cost astronomical points.
Who knew how many points these abilities would require?
Until completing these goals, he refused to spend any points prematurely—he needed every last one for the big exchanges ahead.
Yet besides the world of One Piece, he also considered adding more content from Naruto.
The battle between Grandma Chiyo, Sakura, and Sasori was spectacular. Since the storyline flowed seamlessly, he considered adapting this entire episode into a volume.
In Konoha, everyone was astonished by his recent update pace, especially after finishing the previous episodes—when Sasori and Deidara stayed behind to fight against the pursuing squad, everyone anticipated this arc intensely.
And then… the next day came.
Ten. Whole. Updates!
Sure, most of those ten chapters were battle-heavy, but they packed some serious depth—Sasori's past, his parents, and Grandma Chiyo's story. It hit hard emotionally.
But most importantly, there were plenty of breathtaking techniques and creative concepts inside.
[Chikamatsu Collection], [Hundred Puppet Army].
Everyone was amazed to discover for the first time that puppets could be used in so many creative ways. Even though all this was just a manga plot, thinking carefully about it, the Puppet Technique of the Chikamatsu Collection should actually make it possible.
Granted, such techniques would require extraordinary chakra control and multitasking abilities, but they weren't impossible by any means.
Except for the Hundred Puppet Army technique—
For this jutsu, one had to first modify their own body, transforming into something half-puppet. Only then could they control one hundred puppets simultaneously through various parts of their body.
Someone who could be that ruthless toward themselves—Sasori was truly a merciless person through and through.
But that's not all.
The battle between Sasori and Chiyo was arguably the pinnacle of puppet warfare.
Compared to those two, Kankuro's few junky techniques didn't even come close—completely out of their league.
Because of this storyline's appearance, a bunch of students at the Konoha Ninja Academy began asking about Chakra Thread techniques.
This put quite a bit of pressure on the Teachers.
Although Chakra Threads weren't particularly difficult in theory, for ninja without specialized training, mastering the skill well enough to manipulate others within a short period was no easy feat.
Of course,
Some ninja were considerate enough to realize their instructors didn't know either, so they decided to research it themselves.
Thanks to this, one or two new faces started showing up at the Research Institute's spare labs. Many gave up quickly, except for one determined individual.
This person's name was very familiar to Akaba: Dan Kato.
Yes, that very Dan.
He wasn't someone who failed to graduate from the academy—he'd actually graduated a year before Akaba and had already mastered the Spirit Transformation Technique. He was an exceptional talent Konoha couldn't afford to lose.
Yet now he had become obsessed with the Puppet Technique.
And when we say Puppet Technique, it wasn't just about controlling puppets—it was about creating them. Ever since Akaba published these ten chapters today, Dan practically lived in the Research Institute, obsessively studying how to manufacture puppets.
While visiting Orochimaru's current research projects, Akaba happened to take a quick look. The kid had surprisingly good craftsmanship skills—given only two or three days, he'd already grasped the basic joint-making methods.
His work was still pretty rough, but the assembled puppets should technically be functional.
Meanwhile, Black Zetsu had finally arrived in the Land of Water after departing Sunagakure two days prior.
At this moment, Madara was still fusing chakra—but he was getting the hang of it. His body had begun producing Natural Energy. However, the amount wasn't yet sufficient to stimulate his eyes' evolution.
"Based on your current progress," Black Zetsu sighed in relief, "you should fully assimilate Natural Energy in a few more days, triggering the legendary eyes."
Looks like Madara hadn't done anything reckless during this time.
Madara glanced at him briefly before saying coolly, "Then perhaps you can explain where you've been lately?"
"I paid a visit to the Land of Fire. I brought you some manga."
Black Zetsu pulled out the manga.
One volume featured Akatsuki's "Shadow" making his debut—the issue revealing the Rinnegan, Zetsu, and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. The other was yesterday's latest update.
He hadn't obtained today's new release yet.
"Oh really? Now *that*'s surprising."
Madara sneered coldly.
Just buying manga?
Right. Who in their right mind would believe that?
He didn't press further but waited silently for Black Zetsu to continue speaking voluntarily.
Black Zetsu knew there was no way to fool him, so he told the story from beginning to end: "That kid Sakuma Akaba might have seen my face, so I wanted to kill him. Two days ago, I went to Sunagakure Village to see if I could get someone else to do the dirty work."
"What happened then?"
Madara gave no response.
To Black Zetsu, it made perfect sense—once his identity was exposed, he'd want to eliminate the witness. There wasn't a single flaw in this logic.
"The new Kazekage of Sunagakure Village can be controlled in multiple ways. With your cooperation, we could even manipulate that boy into gradually expanding our influence within the Land of Wind. When the timing is right, we can directly strike against Konoha."
Black Zetsu had already planned how to persuade Madara while on the road.
With Madara's ocular power, manipulating just another pawn would be effortless. As long as he could convince Madara, the plan could move forward.
"Sunagakure Village..."
After a long pause, Madara continued, "...Let me awaken the Rinnegan first."
"All right."
Black Zetsu didn't push further.
He understood why Madara insisted on waiting for the Rinnegan awakening—because once awakened, Madara could see new 'contents' through the stone tablet.
Let him go ahead. After all, that stone tablet had already been modified by himself.
[Infinite Tsukuyomi — The Only Path Toward Peace!] 7
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