Inside Akio's room.
Little Kimimaro was shirtless, lying face-down on Akio's bed.
Akio's right hand was covered in a soft, transparent glow as he pressed it against the boy's back.
"What are you blushing for?" Akio scolded with a laugh.
Moments like this were exactly why he wasn't comfortable letting Kimimaro and Haku form a two-man squad on their own.
Haku, on the other hand, was completely calm, standing quietly to the side, expression unchanging.
"Too thin. Undernourished…" Akio muttered as he focused on the examination.
After a long while, he frowned. "Nothing wrong."
"Kimimaro, use your Shikotsumyaku so I can take a look."
"Mm."
A bone spike protruded from Kimimaro's spine. Akio grabbed it with his hand.
He gradually increased the pressure. Only when he reached about eighty percent strength did the bone finally crack with a sharp snap.
"Does it hurt?"
Kimimaro shook his head. No feeling at all.
"Very tough. No one but me could break this with pure strength. Once the bone leaves the body, it's no longer connected to the nerves, so you don't feel pain."
Akio knew the Ash-Killing Bone technique, but that was already different from true Shikotsumyaku.
He applied more pressure, fully snapping the bone, then sealed the fragment into a scroll. Since he couldn't find any abnormalities in Kimimaro's body, he wanted to study the bone itself to understand the nature of Kaguya's bloodline disease.
"Before that… let's remove the 'curse.'"
Akio pressed down again, black markings surged out, flashed over Kimimaro's body, then vanished.
"As expected, not a curse." Akio shook his head.
In the original, Kabuto could temporarily suppress the disease with medical ninjutsu, so it was unlikely to be a curse to begin with.
"Alright, get up."
"Mm."
"Ah!!"
Just as Kimimaro stood, face still slightly red a girl's startled scream rang out.
At the doorway, Karin covered her eyes with both hands… but the gap between her fingers was large enough for a pigeon egg, and she kept peeking at Kimimaro nonstop.
Kimimaro's flushed face gradually cooled back to normal. He expressionlessly put his clothes back on.
Akio gave a helpless smile.
This kid could blush in front of him, yet being seen by a girl didn't make him react at all…
Truly concerning.
He had known Karin and Kushina arrived long ago, he just didn't mention it because it amused him.
"Great-Grandpa, what are you doing?"
"Nothing. This child is from the Kaguya clan. I'm checking the status of his bloodline illness… for now there's nothing concrete. I'll reassess after training."
Kushina nodded. "I've handled everything with Karin's family and school. I brought her over as requested. Karin, come here."
"Grand Elder."
Once Kimimaro finished dressing, the regret on Karin's face flickered away, replaced by a nervous expression as she faced Akio.
Akio shook his head. This child was far too tense around him. He changed his expression into a friendly smile.
"You came at the perfect time. I've already finished examining Kimimaro and Haku. Now it's your turn.
Take off your clothes!"
"C-c-clothes?!"
Karin's face went instantly red. She glanced at Kimimaro and Haku, gritted her teeth,
Kushina hurriedly grabbed her.
Akio rolled his eyes. This child…
"No need to take everything off. Just roll up your sleeves."
"Oh."
Karin sounded almost disappointed.
Akio looked over her arm. "Not a single bite mark. Haven't discovered your ability yet?"
"Wh-what ability…" Karin grew nervous.
Akio paused. "So you do know. At least one of your parents has this ability, and they told you not to expose it?"
Kushina suddenly understood. "Great-Grandpa, you mean"
"Yes. The same ability I used to treat Minato," Akio replied.
Seeing how tense Karin still was, Akio sighed.
"Uzumaki Country, under my wise and flawless leadership...cough....anyway, this is a stable, safe, lawful nation. Even if your ability is exposed, nothing will happen. Your parents were overthinking."
Karin stole a glance at him. "Grand Elder… do you have this ability too? Doesn't it hurt… to be bitten?"
Akio laughed. "No one is going to force you to be bitten. But pain or not, think about it.
If Kimimaro got injured…"
Karin froze.
Whatever image came into her mind made two hearts practically pop out of her eyes.
Akio gave Kushina a look:
And you wanted to pair this girl with Naruto?
Kushina shot him a look right back:
Naruto is handsome too.
Akio had nothing to say to that.
The joking ended, and Akio's tone became serious.
"Karin. Starting today, you will join the two of them. The three of you will form a special squad and receive about a month and a half of my personal training.
Work hard. Aim to become genin by then. After New Year, Kushina will take over as your team leader, assigning missions and guiding you further."
Karin had been waiting for this. She happily moved between Kimimaro and Haku, separating them;
even giving Haku a subtle glare, leaving him baffled.
Akio cleared his throat.
"You three must get along."
"Got it!" Karin replied loudly, giving Kimimaro another glance.
"Yes," the other two answered softly.
Akio looked at the time, just noon.
"Let's go. First day of team formation, lunch is on me. We begin real training this afternoon!"
"Yes!"
…
Three days passed in a flash.
Akio had just finished teaching the trio standard ninja fundamentals and was preparing to train them individually according to their strengths, when he had to abruptly stop.
Uzumaki Country Hospital.
Haku sat gloomily by Zabuza's bedside, tending to him. Zabuza was gravely injured. At the head of the bed stood the Decapitating Blade.
"Did you need to fight so hard? So you lost this round. Train harder and take it back later. You nearly died."
"Tch."
Zabuza was still stubborn.
Akio sighed helplessly. Seeing that Haku refused to leave Zabuza's side until he recovered, Akio personally stepped in to treat him.
He turned to Karin and Kimimaro.
"Training is suspended for today. Go back and review the basics. We continue tomorrow."
Karin's eyes sparkled with scheming. She leaned toward Kimimaro and whispered:
"Kimimaro-kun… a new dango shop opened on the west side of the village…"
"Not interested."
Akio sighed. "Karin. Training."
"Yes!"
After carefully healing Zabuza's injuries, Akio had barely stepped out of the hospital when an Uzumaki patrol shinobi appeared before him.
"Grand Elder, intelligence from the Land of Rain."
"Land of Rain?" Akio frowned. "Speak."
"Three days ago, a fierce battle occurred in central Rain Country. One side was Hanzō of the Salamander. The other is unknown. After the battle, Hanzō's poison salamander died, and Hanzō himself has gone missing. He hasn't appeared for three days."
"Hanzō is missing."
Akio paused. "If the opponent is unknown, it can only be Akatsuki."
Information flow was as bad as ever…
"I understand. Looks like I'll have to go personally."
---
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