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Within the Senju compound, Akio wore a slightly disappointed expression—he hadn't received the news he was hoping for.
It had been nearly a year since Nawaki and Mikoto were married, yet there were still no signs of pregnancy. The "monster" Akio had been anticipating remained a distant hope.
"Mikoto gave birth to both Itachi and Sasuke in the original timeline, so she should be fine. Could it be that... Nawaki's the problem?" Akio speculated, not without a trace of malicious amusement.
"Great-Grandfather, have some tea," Mikoto said politely. Ever since marrying Nawaki, she had begun addressing Akio that way.
Akio nodded and glanced at Nawaki, who was currently playing around with Nagato and Konan. The scene felt oddly familiar.
"Back then, Hashirama and I were just like this," Mito's voice came from beside him, snapping Akio out of his thoughts.
"Nawaki really does resemble Hashirama, both in looks and in personality…" Akio remarked wistfully, and Mito nodded with a smile.
A few peaceful days passed, and Akio welcomed yet another New Year in Konoha. The calendar now read Year 39 of the Hidden Leaf.
Once the festivities ended, Akio took the three children to meet with Hiruzen, though the outcome was less than satisfactory.
"No A-rank missions?" Akio gave him a look that practically screamed, Are you kidding me?
Hiruzen gave a wry smile. "Elder Akio, it's just after New Year's. There haven't been many missions submitted, and there's not a single A-rank one available."
"Don't you have any backlog from last year?"
Hiruzen shook his head. "Right now, we've got more ninja than missions."
Akio was momentarily stunned, then nodded thoughtfully. Konoha was far stronger now than in the original timeline.
"Why don't you wait another two months and see?" Hiruzen offered.
Akio hesitated but shook his head. In just over two months, Kakashi would be enrolling in the Academy—he didn't want to miss that. Although he could use a Shadow Clone, he always felt the clones were even more prone to causing trouble than his original self, so he preferred not to rely on them.
"If there are no missions here, then surely the Anbu must have something? Recon on other villages, for example?"
Hiruzen blinked. "There are a few, but those types of missions aren't really suitable for—"
"No problem. I'll lead the team. Don't you trust me?"
Hiruzen gave another wry smile, barely holding back the words: That's exactly why I don't trust it.
In the end, Akio accepted a reconnaissance mission for the three children: investigate reports of frequent contact between the Hidden Grass and the Hidden Sand.
"I don't think I've ever taught you kids how to conduct recon or counter-recon, have I?" Akio suddenly realized this as they were en route to the Grass Village.
"I don't think so, Sensei," Nagato replied.
"It's still not too late—" Akio began, then froze. He didn't actually know how to conduct recon or counter it himself.
"I mean... I've never needed that kind of thing anyway…"
He looked at the three kids, who were clearly waiting for instruction, and sighed in resignation. No way he could just admit he didn't know.
"Just find one of their patrol squads, ambush them, then use the Transformation Jutsu to infiltrate disguised as them. That should work." Akio gave the most half-baked instruction possible. Still, he figured it wouldn't matter much—he'd be close by for backup.
Nagato and Konan nodded quickly, but Kushina, now fifteen, was harder to fool. She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Guess we'll have to handle this ourselves."
Akio heard her but pretended not to. The awkwardness was too much.
With Akio's vague instructions, the group made their way to a spot roughly five kilometers from the Grass Village.
Akio scanned the area, then told the three, "From here on out, it's all up to you. I'm heading out," and disappeared into the ground.
The kids exchanged glances. Kushina immediately took the lead. "Stay sharp. Follow me."
Stealthily, they advanced for another three kilometers before Kushina signaled them to halt. They'd spotted a Grass Village patrol unit.
"Kushina-nee, should we strike now?" Nagato asked innocently.
Konan tugged on his sleeve. "Wait... I don't think Sensei's plan was very sound."
Underground, Akio's mouth twitched involuntarily.
Kushina gave Konan an approving look, like a senpai recognizing potential, and focused intently on the patrol unit.
"Looks like they're carrying something...?"
At her words, the other two took a closer look. Nagato spoke hesitantly, "Aren't those the same crates we shipped out during our sea mission?"
Kushina was momentarily stunned, then grinned.
"So that's it—the frequent contact between Grass and Sand means Sand is reselling our Explosive Tags. Mission complete! We can go home!"
Nagato and Konan exchanged uncertain glances, then nodded. They were just about to leave when—
Underground, Akio sighed. What are the odds? This isn't an A-rank mission—barely even D-rank, really.
"This won't do at all. The kids didn't get any real training from this. What a waste… Gotta spice things up a little."
With a focused thought, Akio levitated a pebble and shot it directly at one Grass ninja's forehead.
"Who's there?!"
The shout rang out. Startled, the three kids revealed themselves.
"Kushina-nee, how did they spot us?!"
"Forget that! Run!"
Akio chuckled silently. Good deeds, no need for recognition. He looked at the pursuing Grass ninja: one jonin, three chunin, six genin.
"Hmm… that lineup… Pretty balanced. I'll just watch from the sidelines."
The kids were soon caught up to—they were still young. While strong in jutsu, they lacked the stamina of adult ninja.
A fierce battle broke out. As Akio expected, both sides were evenly matched.
The Grass ninja weren't in a rush to fight. With their village nearby, reinforcements would arrive quickly. They even tried to stall with conversation.
"You brats from Uzushio, huh? Sneaking around—what were you planning?"
To Akio's satisfaction, the kids didn't fall for it. They immediately recognized the stalling tactic and went straight to action.
"Fire Style: Great Flame Annihilation!"
Nagato unleashed a large-scale fire jutsu, now quite practiced in its use.
Kushina lived up to her reputation, holding off the jonin alone like a true team leader.
Nagato, while still green in real combat, clearly outclassed the enemy's chunin and genin, especially with Konan assisting him. Before long, they had the upper hand.
The battle raged for ten minutes. All the Grass genin were eliminated, and though the three kids had sustained injuries, Akio still held back from stepping in.
Reinforcements were now heading toward the battlefield.
Akio frowned beneath the surface. Alright, that's enough.
With a thought, the remaining four Grass ninja all twisted their ankles at the same moment, allowing the kids to finish them off with ease.
The kids froze in confusion for a beat, then quickly regained focus and retreated in the direction of Konoha.
Akio stayed behind, throwing up a few more "roadblocks" to slow the pursuers.
Thus ended a mission whose difficulty Akio had "enhanced" himself—but ultimately, it was successfully completed.
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