The combination of the Lion's Roar Taunt and the infamous "Come at Me" Finger Beckon was devastating. Even worse, using it on the same person repeatedly only made the psychological damage stack.
Guren's anger meter instantly maxed out.
Without another thought, she charged straight at Akio, her hands flashing through seals.
"Crystal Release: Crystal Pentagonal Prison!"
Before she could finish, Akio casually raised a hand.
A massive translucent crystal prison materialized around Guren instead, trapping her mid-charge in the exact pose she'd been using.
Akio grinned.
"Giving someone a taste of their own medicine."
He tapped the crystal.
"Don't struggle. If that prison shatters, so do you. You didn't have time to coat yourself in chakra first, did you?"
"Guren!"
Tayuya leapt between them, the Cursed Seal on her neck beginning to glow crimson.
"Hold it!"
Akio quickly stopped her as his hair returned to its natural red.
"Don't activate the Cursed Seal. That thing is ugly."
He sighed dramatically.
"I'm here to find Orochimaru, not bully two teenage girls."
Tayuya blinked.
"So it really is..."
Akio smiled and nodded before walking past her to tap the crystal again.
"Come on now. Why don't you come out here instead?" he teased with a chuckle.
"Don't stay mad forever. If you're willing to talk like civilized people, blink once and I'll let you out."
Inside the crystal, Guren didn't move.
Standing beside Akio, however, Tayuya started blinking furiously.
Akio glanced sideways.
"Not you. Stop batting your eyelashes at me. That won't work."
With a flick of his fingers, the crystal dissolved.
Freed at last, Guren took several deep breaths before glaring at Akio as though he'd committed some unforgivable crime against her.
"Have you been in contact with Orochimaru lately?" Akio asked. "I need to find him."
"...No."
The answer took several seconds to force its way through clenched teeth.
Akio scratched his head.
"You know, conversations work a lot better if both people cooperate."
Guren continued glaring.
"If you keep giving me attitude, I'll drag Tayuya back to Konoha's prison."
He paused.
"And you can come along too."
"You old"
"Guren!"
Taking a slow breath, Guren forced a stiff smile.
"We've had no contact with Lord Orochimaru since the attack on Konoha. I've been stationed here waiting for instructions."
Akio raised an eyebrow.
"What about Hidan?"
"I don't know."
"You could at least try to be helpful."
"I really don't know."
Akio sighed.
"Then you're not much use."
The two girls stiffened, but Akio simply ignored them and walked across the ocean toward the oddly named island nearby.
The two exchanged uneasy looks.
Guren frowned.
"Tayuya... why did you bring him here?"
Tayuya could only sigh helplessly.
How was she supposed to know the legendary elder had literally become a teenager? She hadn't mistaken him because he was disguising himself; he actually looked that young now.
The moment Guren appeared, Akio had sensed her chakra emerging from beneath the sea.
"So the northern base is underwater?"
"That's impressively well hidden. There should be something worth finding down there."
With one step onto the ocean's surface, the water split apart before him as if obeying an unseen command, creating a descending pathway into the depths.
"Oh no!"
Guren's expression changed.
"Lord Orochimaru's laboratory has been exposed!"
She immediately moved to stop him, only for Tayuya to grab her arm.
"Guren... Lord Orochimaru and Elder Akio have always been close. Elder Akio was even there when Lord Orochimaru gave us our Cursed Seals."
She shook her head.
"Besides... even if we wanted to stop him..."
"...we couldn't."
Guren frowned.
"That may be true... but Lord Orochimaru isn't here. And if that arrogant man down there gets provoked..."
She sighed.
"Come on."
Deep beneath the ocean, visibility was poor.
Even with Akio's eyesight, little could be seen beyond the darkness.
Fortunately, two distinct chakra signatures stood out clearly in his senses.
He walked toward them.
As he drew closer, two pairs of eerie emerald-green eyes slowly emerged from the darkness.
"...What are those? Summons?"
Lightning Release chakra gathered in his palm.
A brilliant flash illuminated the surrounding waters like a searchlight.
The glowing eyes instantly squeezed shut against the sudden brightness.
Akio finally saw what they belonged to...
...and immediately wished he hadn't.
"They're not summons..."
He stared blankly.
"They're... mermen?"
Unfortunately...
they were male.
And astonishingly ugly.
Akio nearly groaned aloud.
"Orochimaru... you've got to be kidding me."
"Are you trying to sabotage my Rinnegan evolution with psychological damage?"
At last he understood the purpose of this underwater facility.
Orochimaru had been experimenting with combining human and aquatic life, creating artificial fish-men.
"He really is a genius scientist..."
Akio sighed.
"...but his aesthetic sense leaves a lot to be desired."
"I was hoping for mermaids."
The pair's eyes, still recovering from the flash, finally reopened.
Mistaking Akio for an intruder, they immediately opened their mouths and fired compressed jets of water.
Both attacks slammed harmlessly into the invisible repulsive barrier surrounding him.
Akio watched with genuine curiosity.
He also wanted to know why Orochimaru had invested so much effort into creating aquatic hybrids, so he made no move to attack.
The fish-men circled him instead.
Rather than charging directly into the dry sphere surrounding him, they split apart and began swimming rapidly around him in opposite directions.
The whirlpool they generated grew larger and larger, eventually dragging the surrounding sea into an enormous vortex centered on Akio.
His eyebrows rose.
"If they used this against ships..."
"...it would look exactly like a natural disaster."
His expression darkened.
The Land of Whirlpools had lost several merchant vessels over the years to mysterious whirlpools.
"Don't tell me these two were responsible..."
After watching them spin in circles for another minute with no new tricks, Akio lost interest.
A tremendous burst of repulsive force erupted from his body.
Instantly
the sea was blasted away.
An enormous cylinder nearly one hundred meters across appeared in the middle of the ocean, completely devoid of water.
Towering walls of seawater surrounded the empty space, straining endlessly to rush back in but held at bay by invisible force.
The two unfortunate fish-men had long since been launched somewhere into the distance.
Guren and Tayuya, however, quickly caught up.
Akio smiled.
"Orochimaru's research is fascinating."
He looked at Guren.
"So..."
"How many of these fish-people has he created?"
He paused thoughtfully.
"Any women?"
Guren simply stared at him.
Apparently that wasn't the question she'd expected.
At that moment, a massive chakra signature erupted nearby.
The ocean churned violently as an enormous creature made entirely of seawater rose from the sea.
Akio's eyes lit up.
"Now that's interesting."
"So the laboratory has surprises everywhere."
He tilted his head.
"What is it? Another summon?"
He rubbed his chin.
"Guess I'm showing my age or maybe not enough of it."
Guren looked speechless.
Akio smiled.
"What? Still refusing to answer?"
"Tsk."
"So stubborn."
Tayuya quietly tugged on Guren's sleeve.
With another weary sigh, Guren finally answered.
"It's a special aquatic summon modified by Lord Orochimaru..."
"Umibōzu."
"Umibōzu?"
Akio froze.
Then a broad smile spread across his face.
For reasons that nobody else present could possibly understand...
he suddenly felt strangely nostalgic.
---
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