The room was massive, its luxurious decoration looking nothing like a temporary residence.
Kakashi Windseer walked around the place and smirked coldly. "Sunagakure sure loves playing sneaky tricks."
"Seems they've gone out of their way to give us the best house," Sakuma Shanyuan scoffed.
Clearly, Sakuma Shanyuan had some understanding of Suna ninja customs.
"But still, what a great place. I'm hitting the bath first!" Jiraiya declared excitedly.
From childhood to adulthood, he'd never stayed in a room this big or high-quality.
"I'm taking one too. And if anyone tries something stupid—just say goodbye to your ninja career," Tsunade said, clenching her fist with a murderous glint in her eyes.
Jiraiya involuntarily shivered and wisely kept quiet.
"Well then, everyone rest up for now."
Kakashi Windseer said.
Akaba didn't rush to share his suspicions; after all, there were still two or three days before the Chunin Exams began.
He went upstairs and picked a random room.
Then he created a Multiple Shadow Clone.
"You keep drawing the Naruto manga. I know it's troubling you, but please bear with it."
Akaba yawned, stretched, gathered his clothes, and prepared to go take a bath.
His clone looked at the tools before him and stayed silent for a moment.
Episode 34, wasn't it—
A Suna ninja appears.
Thinking it through, he started drawing.
As for the original,
He naturally took his clothes and headed off to bathe.
Sunagakure was known for being dry and harsh—not exactly where you'd expect to find a decent bathhouse. Yet here they were, lucky enough to have one all to themselves. When Akaba arrived, Jiraiya and Orochimaru were already soaking in the water.
"Hey! You two got here early!"
Akaba lay back comfortably. The warm water relaxed him, easing the discomfort brought by the dry desert climate.
Orochimaru leaned against the edge of the pool, eyes slightly closed, yet his face remained unusually serious.
In contrast, Jiraiya was fully enjoying himself without a care in the world.
After a while,
Orochimaru finally spoke, "Akaba... that guide..."
"Yeah. Definitely not an ordinary one."
Akaba gave a slight nod, expression unreadable, but his voice carried an edge of weighty seriousness.
The future Third Kazekage—the greatest practitioner of Magnet Release techniques.
Not at full strength yet, but still leagues ahead of any other genin.
"Huh? I didn't sense anything!" Jiraiya replied doubtfully.
"Heh."
Orochimaru didn't say more, but that single mocking chuckle was answer enough.
Jiraiya flared up inside.
What was *he* so proud about?
"He may be strong, but you're no weakling either. As for me—I'm fine staying a genin. The chance to become chunin is yours to fight over."
Lying in the water, sleepiness crept over him.
Akaba rubbed down his body as others gradually arrived. He turned sideways and nodded at them: "I'll head out first. Done washing."
"You should rest well—tomorrow we've got stalls and activities lined up, and we'll need you there."
Sakuma Shanyuan reminded him kindly.
"Yeah, I get it."
Akaba waved and took back his changed clothes, then sent another Multiple Shadow Clone to wash them.
As for himself, he returned to their lodging.
Inside the residence,
"Good job—you've drawn quite a bit already."
Akaba picked up a few pages and flipped through them.
Halfway through Episode 34.
"No problem?" the Shadow Clone whispered.
"What?"
"You know what I mean," the clone continued drawing. Thanks to the constant growth in Physical Strength from the original body, the clone's drawing speed kept increasing.
"No problem. I have my own plans," Akaba smiled slightly.
Then he threw off his clothes and lay directly on the bed.
After spending the entire day on the cart, he was genuinely tired. He had only intended to rest for a bit, but soon enough, he fell asleep on his own.
Early the next morning.
Bang bang bang!
Someone pounded loudly on the door. Akaba hadn't fully woken up yet, but outside stood not only Sakuma Shanyuan, but also Tsunade.
"If you don't get up now, I'm breaking the lock!" Tsunade's voice came through the door.
Akaba's drowsy mind instantly cleared somewhat, followed by a slight chill down his spine.
"Wait! I'm awake!" Immediately, he jumped off the bed and quickly put on his clothes.
This woman never used the front door to enter his place—she would definitely break the lock using some unconventional method.
The Chunin Exams were going to be ongoing for quite a while, and he certainly didn't want his lock forcibly damaged on the very first day of moving in.
"What's going on so early in the morning?"
Quickly opening the door, Akaba saw Sakuma Shanyuan and Tsunade standing at the entrance.
"The Sunagakure Village has agreed to let us set up a stall there, so it's time for us to depart now," Sakuma Shanyuan said.
"They agreed? Great, I'll come right away."
Akaba gathered the scattered Drawings from the floor and quickly organized them.
He had gone to sleep early last night and hadn't noticed when his Shadow Clone dispersed.
After tidying everything up, he came downstairs to find that Sankai had already been waiting there for quite some time.
Not only that—along with him, there was also The Second Kazekage and Shamon.
Such a grand reception?
Akaba was astonished. They were only applying for a small stall space—could it be that even the village leader himself had come?
No, wait—was this about collecting rent?
He thought to himself, beginning to believe it was actually possible.
"So you've finally arrived, Sakuma Akaba of Konoha," Shamon said indifferently. "So it's you who wants to use the Training Field?"
"Not for renting—I only wish to borrow a small corner of the Training Field," Akaba replied, smiling calmly.
"A corner?" Shamon turned to look at Sankai, noticing the young man looked somewhat bewildered as well.
"That's right. Our Caravan carries recreational books. As compensation for borrowing a small corner of the Training Field, all our books can be freely read by friends from Sunagakure."
Akaba continued smiling.
"In that case, if it's books, then you may set up your stall there for free," Shamon responded without hesitation.
As the Kazekage, he really valued books—they carried knowledge, after all. Only through knowledge could their barren village grow stronger.
However,
he still had no clue what manga even was.
"Great. If that's settled, we'll start moving our things right away," Akaba said, bowing slightly. "I promise we won't take up too much space."
"To prevent misunderstandings, Sankai, skip training this morning and help them handle these matters," Shamon ordered.
"Yes, Teacher," Sankai bowed in agreement.
"Then everyone, let's go."
As soon as Sankai arrived, Sakuma Shanyuan had already asked everyone to pack up. Now with permission granted, they might as well move everything to the training field.
Akaba took a few steps forward when something suddenly came to mind.
He turned toward Shinku Yuhi with a slight smile. "Would you do me the favor of lending a hand?"
"Of course."
Shinku Yuhi had no idea what Akaba was planning—but that didn't matter. He trusted him completely.
"You think I'd miss out on something this fun?!"
Jiraiya leaped down from the upper floor, landing with flair before quickly catching up to Akaba and the rest.
Kakashi Windseer glanced at the remaining ninja and said coldly, "The rest of you—special training."
"Huh?"
"Yes, sir!"
Reactions varied, but excitement clearly won out.
Elite Jonin weren't something you encountered every day, especially top-tier experts like Kakashi Windseer. Normally, getting even a chance for guidance wasn't guaranteed.
"I hope they don't end up causing trouble."
Tsunade sighed deeply; even she had noticed Shamon's misunderstanding, and so had Akaba.
That guy knew perfectly well—but decided not to clarify anyway.
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