After parting ways with Hiruzen and Danzō, Akio thought for a moment, then decided to head toward the battlefield in the Land of Rain.
He had four disciples stationed there, two too old, two too young and he just couldn't feel at ease.
"Good chance to practice my spatial abilities while I'm at it."
As for Kirigakure, since Akatsuki's control over the Third Mizukage had been exposed, and their goal of igniting the Third Shinobi World War had already been achieved, Akio figured they wouldn't linger there waiting for him to show up.
Even if they did stay and he actually found them, it'd be awkward. One Dust Release attack and he might accidentally erase that fat cat... As dumb as the thing was, Akio had grown somewhat attached to it.
"I'll wait until the Fourth Mizukage takes over. Maybe they'll act again by then. Once my mastery of space-time ninjutsu improves, I'll deal with them. For now, I should check on my disciples first."
Before that, though, Akio stopped by the Senju compound and found Kushina.
"How's your control over the Nine-Tails coming along?"
"Great-grandpa, you finally came!" Kushina greeted him, then nodded. "I've got it mostly under control now. I just don't know if the fox will resist after it regenerates."
"It's fine. If it gives you trouble, come to me. I'll give it a stern warning. I've been generous enough to let it share the Uzumaki name, it better know how to be grateful."
"Great-grandpa, you're saying that again."
Akio chuckled. "I actually have a mission for you this time. With Minato on the battlefield, you must be bored stuck in Konoha, right?"
Kushina blinked. "A mission? What kind?"
Akio bit his finger and summoned a small slug.
"Take this slug and return to Uzushiogakure. If anyone dares target the Land of Whirlpools, inform me immediately."
The Land of Whirlpools was now weaker than ever, with only Izuko as a top-level fighter. If Kumogakure or Kirigakure or even Akatsuki suddenly decided to stir up trouble, it would be a huge problem for Akio.
But now that Kushina had fully become a jinchūriki, she had stepped firmly into the ranks of S-rank shinobi. With her guarding the land, Akio could rest easier.
"I understand, but… what about the Hokage?" Kushina hesitated.
"No need to worry about him," Akio said flatly. "Konoha doesn't need the Nine-Tails' power on the front lines right now. Come back once Nanako and Jitou return to the clan."
Kushina nodded firmly this time and began packing her things.
"Well, I should get going too," Akio muttered as he disappeared from the Senju compound, slipping back into his spatial dimension.
The fat cat was still asleep. Akio ignored it, frowning slightly.
"Which node was near the Land of Rain again?"
After counting for quite a while, Akio confirmed there were exactly 256 nodes in total. It was a strangely specific number but maybe it meant nothing. He wasn't one for superstition… or gossip.
He had to admit, though he couldn't actually remember which one it was, only a rough direction.
"Probably this one…"
In the next instant, the world around him was an endless ocean. His old face flushed red.
"Damn it. Wrong place. Let's try there instead."
In his space dimension, one of the giant trees pointed toward a mountain forest northwest of the Land of Fire. It wasn't the closest node to the Land of Rain, but it wasn't far either.
With another flicker, Akio appeared there. To practice his spatial ninjutsu, he decided against simply flying and instead used his new "Blink" technique each jump covered about fifty meters, like instant transmission. It had a mystical, almost sage-like feel to it…
Unfortunately, there were no villages nearby, and no one around to marvel at his divine presence.
"Space-time gave me Blink and boosted my medical ninjutsu. Put those together and I'm basically an ADC with utility…" Akio muttered to himself as he traveled.
The speed was about the same as flying fifty kilometers in ten minutes but the chakra cost was enormous. Nearly a thousand blinks drained a full quarter of his chakra reserves.
"This definitely isn't meant for long-distance travel," he sighed, extending his senses to detect chakra ahead.
He was now at the border between the Lands of Rain and Fire. The Konoha encampment wasn't far.
There were plenty of scouting ninja nearby, but since Akio was moving within his own space dimension, no one could detect him.
The camp wasn't heavily populated, likely only medical and logistics teams remained. Of the chakra signatures he recognized, Tsunade's stood out the most… and two or three others felt vaguely familiar, though he couldn't place them.
Akio didn't reveal himself yet. Instead, he kept "crawling" slowly forward through the space dimension.
Moving this way wasn't smooth, he wasn't literally wriggling, but it wasn't much faster either.
It took him over ten minutes to cover less than two kilometers before he reached the largest tent in camp.
Inside, Tsunade was busy among a crowd of med-nin. To his surprise, the biggest tent wasn't the command tent, it was the medical one.
There were nearly a hundred injured shinobi inside. A few had piercing wounds, but most had been poisoned by Sunagakure's toxins. Their faces twisted in pain as medics struggled to keep them alive, while Tsunade worked over a few "beakers," probably mixing antidotes.
"Quite a few casualties…" Akio frowned. Judging by the number of wounded, Konoha's losses must've been heavy.
He hesitated. He hadn't planned to show himself, but he could at least help with some medical ninjutsu.
Then he suddenly sensed Sakumo's chakra not far away and held back.
Leaving the medical tent, Akio "slid" into another, smaller one.
Inside were Sakumo and another familiar chakra signature, Nara Shikaku.
Unexpected, yet fitting.
Konoha had no shortage of S-rank shinobi here: from the strongest like Kagami and Sakumo to the Sannin and even Nawaki. Yet the overall battlefield commander was Shikaku, barely in his twenties and only recently promoted to jōnin.
Sakumo had just returned from a successful assassination mission, reporting to Shikaku for the next assignment.
Akio floated behind Shikaku, glancing at the documents on his desk.
Battlefield missions were classified in detail; reconnaissance, assassination, elimination, encirclement, rescue divided by urgency and strategic importance. Once two sides reached equal strength, strategy became the true deciding factor in war.
After observing for a while, Akio couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The times were indeed advancing. Back in the Warring States era, "strategy" basically meant scouting, assassinating, and "fight, fight, fight." Schemes existed, sure, but nothing with this level of structured precision.
"If I weren't this strong, this old man really would be obsolete."
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