Five days later, in the Mist Village guesthouse.
Akio sat cross-legged on a chair with a helpless look on his face.
On the nearby bed, the little shota Kimimaro was sleeping soundly.
"This kid is easy to take in, but he really lacks a sense of security. Once we return to the Uzumaki Kingdom, I need to pick two companions for him so he can integrate. I can't look after him forever."
Maybe he'd been confined too long and was too lonely, now that he'd met Akio, a "god," he refused to leave his side for even a moment. Akio had no idea how Orochimaru handled the original timeline.
Either way, for the past five days, Akio could only sleep in a chair.
"I can't just hug a little shota to sleep. If it were a little loli then… cough, that wouldn't be okay either."
Akio scratched his head, got up, and opened the door.
Another new day. After staying in the Mist Village for five days, the Water Shadow succession ceremony had finally arrived.
"Mei becoming the Fifth Mizukage hasn't changed. But the timing is off, it's earlier. This should produce a lot of Witness Points."
"But before that, there's one more thing." Akio knocked on the door opposite his own.
Two seconds later, the door opened, revealing Kisame's dead-fish eyes.
"Shark-face little bro, have you thought it through? I'm giving you a special offer here."
Akio had never changed the nickname.
"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist are pretty much finished. And with your past behavior, the higher-ups won't trust you. Why not become the founding member of the Uzumaki Kingdom's first generation Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"
Kisame rolled his dead-fish eyes. He actually wanted to agree, but that nickname was unbearable. Just thinking about facing Akio every day in the Uzumaki Kingdom made his future feel uncertain.
"Senior… can you at least change the name you call me?"
Akio blinked. "If you join the Uzumaki Kingdom, I could call you Shark-Skin Shark-Face? Or Samehada Bro?"
Kisame's face darkened even more. This was exactly why he'd been hesitating for days.
"God…" The half-awake Kimimaro walked out rubbing his eyes. "It's morning already."
Akio ruffled the boy's messy hair. "Yep. Get ready, we're going to attend the Fifth Mizukage succession ceremony. I'm their honored guest. After it's over, I still have to send the Fourth Mizukage to the heavens…"
Rumor had it that the last guy he sent up still hadn't woken from the coma.
…
Meanwhile, on the Rain Country battlefield
Yahiko, Ringo Ameyuri, Obito, and Rin slipped into the central region of the Rain Country, Hanzo's residence.
They avoided what patrols they could. For those they couldn't avoid, Obito silently assassinated them with the Mangekyō's space-time ability.
Obito had woken up ten days earlier. Since then, aside from recovering, he'd been learning how to use his Mangekyō.
Learning that Rin had been saved by Yahiko left him overflowing with gratitude, he now called him "Brother Yahiko" every chance he got. And when he learned of Yahiko's dream of ending war, his admiration deepened further.
After the previous war nearly cost Rin her life, Obito now resented conflict. Following Yahiko to bring peace to the Rain Country, their first target was the aging demigod, Hanzo the Salamander.
Their infiltration went smoothly. Very smoothly. They were smoothly discovered. Then smoothly surrounded.
Hanzo stepped forward, eyeing Yahiko and Ameyuri. "So it's you two. You escaped last time, and now you return to die?"
Ameyuri pointed her Thunder Sword at him. "Told you infiltration wouldn't work. This Uchiha kid can't be trusted. We should've just cut our way in. Damn Hanzo, my body still aches where you struck me last time!"
To Obito's surprise… he didn't argue with her.
Growing up around Akio had given him similar thoughts: If only Hanzo had hit her a little harder and knocked all her teeth out.
"An Uchiha brat?" Hanzo focused on Obito. "Has Konoha joined this too? Troublesome…"
Yahiko raised his voice. "Hanzo of the Salamander! You're called a demigod, yet you brought no peace to the Rain Country, only grief. You are unfit to lead this wounded land!"
"Naive child." Hanzo's tone deepened. A country trapped between great nations would inevitably bleed.
"Summoning Technique!"
…
Back in the Water Country, in front of the Mizukage Building
Akio sat drowsily in his chair. His sleep these days had been terrible. Even listening to the beautiful Mei Terumi's speech was nearly putting him under.
Surrounded by Mist shinobi, most of whom kept casting murderous looks, Akio was the only one seated. Even Yagura and Gengetsu's son remained standing.
A notification flashed before his eyes:
"Witnessed and significantly altered a Naruto branch event: The Fifth Mizukage. Gained 10 × 5 Witness Points."
"Only fifty?" Akio instantly perked up and stood. "Fifty's not bad."
He ruffled the small shota's hair to his left but suddenly felt a tug on his right sleeve.
"Kimimaro? Why are you on this side?" Akio froze and slowly turned his head.
"Please don't let it be Kisame… he'll chop my hand off."
He turned and exhaled in relief.
"Senior, I'm an adult now. Please stop patting my head."
Akio chuckled. "Yagura, stand next to Kimimaro and say that again. Besides, in my eyes, there are no adults or children, everyone's a child."
Yagura: "…"
During the past few days, Akio and Yagura had grown familiar. Unfortunately, this "older shota" was hard to recruit, his loyalty to the Mist was absolute.
A few days earlier, several smaller kekkei genkai clans had sent their elites to recruit (or obstruct) Yagura. He killed them all.
A perfect Three-Tails jinchūriki with overwhelming strength, he'd fought Kushina evenly during the war. If not for his unreliable personality and the need to appease other clans, he might have been the one to become Mizukage.
As the crowd dispersed, Akio looked toward Gengetsu's son. "Time to send you up."
…
Back in central Rain Country, battle neared its end.
Hanzo propped himself up on his scythe, cornered.
He glanced at his salamander, half its body torn away by some spatial force and at Obito, seated on the ground, clutching the eye bleeding tears.
"A Mangekyō Sharingan… spatial ability?"
He had suffered for lack of intel. Had his salamander lived, he would've been confident even in a four-on-one.
"Uchiha brat… well done," Ameyuri finally acknowledged him, approaching Hanzo with her Thunder Sword.
At Hanzo's back, Yahiko waited to cut off his escape.
Hanzo straightened his posture and raised his scythe.
"Do you think the Salamander Hanzo is helpless just because he lost his summon?"
In his final moments, he abandoned ninjutsu and chose to die as a warrior.
And thus… he fell in battle.
---
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