"In this department, Orochimaru still has the edge. I wonder how he trained himself like that."
Akaba mused inwardly.
Thinking about Orochimaru casually dropping mind-control verbal traps while walking versus his own current situation—where he'd practically exhausted all his resources trying to do the same thing...
The gap was just too big.
Inside the shop, Sakuma Yunlang sat deep in thought about what had just occurred.
Something felt off, but he genuinely believed he did possess this talent.
"I'll think it through carefully. First, I need to go pick someone up. Have someone bring over the latest updated chapters of One Piece tomorrow morning. I won't come myself."
After saying this, Akaba returned to his room to organize the drafts he had drawn.
There were two chapters ready.
Once back, he could summon an all-night shadow clone, which might just let him finish two full volumes by morning.
"I'll come take them tomorrow morning. Starting now, it's time to begin learning management."
Sakuma Yunlang said.
"Very good. Reasonable utilization of resources is indeed part of management."
Akaba offered encouragement.
Seems like it worked out okay.
Honestly, he never wanted to visit the Senju clan compound unless it was absolutely necessary.
This trip gave him a strange sense of picking up a child from school.
Tsunade had spent the entire day telling stories and used up most of her energy, not even bothering to scold him for leaving without notice.
Looking after energetic kids was truly exhausting, especially since the Senju household included not only children from the Senju clan but also nine mischievous Uzumaki kids.
Akaba silently sympathized with her predicament but had absolutely no intention of taking on that burden himself.
Kids are the absolute worst!
Little loli types are much better—they don't cling and stay well-behaved, never causing trouble.
Back home.
Chiaki and Saiki weren't around, though he checked upstairs and saw his shadow clone had already finished drawing the second volume of One Piece.
The little girl wasn't making any noise. Instead, she held the neatly organized original draft and looked at it intently, despite having never seen the first volume of One Piece before.
After flipping through it briefly, she suddenly asked, "Brother, why can Zoro talk with a sword in his mouth?"
"That's possible with professional training. Like me, for example."
Akaba took out a kunai, held it between his teeth, and continued speaking normally.
"That's amazing."
The little girl watched Akaba, then tried doing the same herself.
Still too young—she struggled just holding chopsticks in her mouth while speaking, let alone a kunai.
After looking through it once, she gradually developed a fondness for this artistic style and manga. Then she went into Akaba's room and pulled out the original manuscript for the first volume of One Piece.
These comics would keep her entertained for quite a while.
Akaba reassigned new tasks to his shadow clones, then cooked some food, ate together with the little girl, took a bath, and went to sleep.
Not until the next day did he see Chiaki again.
"You're awake. This morning, Yunlang came by and took those two comic volumes you left downstairs."
Upon seeing Akaba, Chiaki immediately spoke up.
Akaba nodded and walked downstairs slowly.
He sensed that Chiaki seemed preoccupied.
"Eat something first. There's something I want to discuss with you."
Chiaki pushed over an unfinished rice ball, urging Akaba to eat slowly.
It tasted good, but being watched so intently made every bite lose its flavor.
He took a bite, wiped his mouth, and said, "Father, if you've got something to say, just spit it out."
"I've been appointed as an Elder."
Sakuma Chiaki spoke with a heavy tone, as if this wasn't good news but instead a massive burden.
An Elder?
Akaba thought for a moment, puzzled by his low spirits, and couldn't help asking, "Isn't this a good thing?"
Compared to the previous fourteen elders, now including Sakuma Chiaki, there were only five in total for the entire clan—its value had increased immensely.
"I don't have much talent, my combat abilities aren't strong either. Even my Tokubetsu Jonin rank was basically luck from the battlefield."
Sakuma Chiaki grumbled, "There are plenty of people in the clan stronger than me, more competent and experienced in management. Why did I become an Elder?"
Akaba didn't reply.
In terms of capability, Sakuma Chiaki indeed fell short.
Probably because of that…
"Later, I figured it out—I raised a great son."
Sakuma Chiaki sighed.
He hadn't planned on becoming an Elder, yet suddenly he became the youngest one in the clan.
This feeling felt incredibly surreal.
"So what happened last night between you and Mother?"
"All night long, just socializing."
Sakuma Chiaki replied unhappily. "With ten Elders expelled from the clan, their descendants caused some unrest. So Elder Chingen exiled them all."
"In the middle of the night?"
Akaba asked in surprise.
"Yeah. Elder Chingen said our clan is small, we don't need so many voices."
Sakuma Chiaki explained.
Even after saying that, they still included Sakuma Chiaki—clearly because of Akaba's influence.
"Why tell me this?"
"There's no other meaning really. I think the Elders hope to communicate with you through me."
Sakuma Chiaki smiled.
"Eh, I can't be bothered with such a hassle."
After eating a bit more, Akaba waved his hand and indicated he wanted to check out the manga shop.
Yesterday he had fallen asleep while his Multiple Shadow Clones kept drawing—he wasn't quite sure how many pages were completed.
"I should go check in with things."
As he walked out the front door, he slightly frowned.
One… two… three… As soon as they saw Akaba, all of them immediately hid themselves and refused to come out again.
A trace of killing intent flickered in his eyes. He formed a hand seal, and in a flash, a brush and sketchpad popped out from the sealing scroll.
"Akaba-sama, please don't attack!"
Seeing his movements, those people quickly returned, jumping out from their hiding places in the shadows.
Though dressed in Anbu attire, only members of Root would address him as "sama."
Akaba frowned slightly.
"Talk outside."
He packed up his stuff and left through the main entrance.
When they reached the edge of the woods nearby, three Root agents appeared and knelt before Akaba.
"What business do you have looking for me?"
Akaba asked.
"Lord Danzo has sent word—if he hasn't returned within three days, please temporarily take over command of the Anbu."
One kneeling Root agent replied.
From his voice, he seemed to be from the Aburame clan.
"What?"
Akaba felt momentarily stunned. What did Danzo mean by that?
"We're not informed of the specific situation. Please come with us to the Anbu headquarters for details."
The Root agent continued.
"Fine then."
At first, he didn't understand what exactly was going on, but given the seriousness of the situation, refusing to go wouldn't make sense either.
Root members gave a slight bow, then retrieved a set of clothing from the sealing Scroll.
ANBU attire.
Akaba changed into the outfit and followed them toward ANBU.
The ANBU base was quite far away, but for a ninja, the journey didn't take long at all.
Inside the base, it was dimly lit and twisted around like a maze.
After walking for a while, he arrived at Danzo's office.
"You're not planning to trick me here just to lock me up, are you?"
Akaba felt somewhat wary.
Mito Uzumaki's "Black Room" had only been a threat. But the room before him now was the real deal—a sealed chamber from which one might never return.
"You flatter me."
An Aburame Root member awkwardly chuckled. Unless Danzo himself decided to imprison someone, who would dare to lock him up?
He personally opened the door for Akaba.
Inside was a small chamber filled with various items clearly belonging to Danzo's personal possessions.
Moreover, in a corner lay a sealing Scroll.
The Root leader entered first, picking up that Scroll.
"Lord Danzo said you'd understand after seeing what's inside."
Having said this, he gave a slight bow and left first.
Akaba picked it up, glancing at it briefly. The sealing formula on it was simple—just releasing some chakra was enough to remove it effortlessly.
So he unrolled the Scroll.
"The Second Kage of Sunagakure remains alive among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, while the Land of Whirlpools faces an imminent crisis. With Sunagakure Village's stance and strength unclear, we must gather intelligence as precaution."
"No matter how willing or unwilling we are, certain things still need doing."
The sentences were brief but carried a clear implication.
Even Danzo himself had no absolute confidence up against the Second Kazekage and Sunagakure Village.
Still, intelligence gathering was crucial, just as Jiraiya died in Amegakure while trying to gather information on Pain in *Naruto*.
Of course, the final sentence also subtly hinted that Akaba should temporarily assume command over ANBU.
With assistance from the Root team, taking control of ANBU was easy.
After all, Root wasn't yet an independent division—it was merely an elite squad within ANBU back then.
On the table was another Scroll already unfurled.
This Scroll listed several names, with the most recent being "Danzo Shimura."
Seemed like a Summoning Scroll.
Beside the Summoning Scroll was another paper explaining the key points for signing a Contract Summoning Scroll.
Danzo's summoning beast was none other than the legendary dream-eating Yumekuma!
"This hint couldn't be more obvious."
To be honest, Akaba was truly taken aback.
Perhaps influenced by his past-life bias, he always viewed Danzo somewhat suspiciously. But now, with power, the Summoning Scroll, and everything else laid bare here...
Was Danzo truly going out with a mindset of certain death?
Is this really the same Danzo?
Amazed, he couldn't help hesitating slightly.
Should he sign the Yumekuma contract?
In the manga, Yumekuma appeared very rarely, making it hard to judge its actual overall strength or specific abilities.
Besides, Yumekuma's appearance looked unnervingly grotesque.
"Still, if Yumekuma eats dreams, could that work together somehow with genjutsu?"
Thinking further, Akaba became even more indecisive.
To be honest, Yumekuma was not Akaba's ideal summoning beast. But after thinking carefully, there didn't seem to be any other particularly worthy summoning beasts available. In fact, Yumekuma had potential to complement his abilities.
After thinking it over for a long time, he signed the Summoning Scroll.
The next instant,
Akaba felt dizzy and drifted into sleep.
He opened his eyes to a familiar room.
Was this a dream?
Akaba sat up, glancing around thoughtfully.
The dream looked pretty rough around the edges. And when he looked out the window, the distant trees seemed to vanish before his eyes.
"Hey, stop messing around. Come out and meet me."
But no one responded.
Guess it's time to teach him a lesson.
Akaba formed hand seals with both hands, channeling chakra and spiritual energy within his body. Then, using [Genjutsu] countermeasure, he quickly broke through the dream.
Unfortunately, it failed.
"It's useless. This is my dream. Unless you can find me, you won't escape."
A voice came from space.
However, the very next moment,
Akaba took out his sketchpad and began drawing.
Not long afterward, a rain of fire fell inside this dream world.
"Waaah! What are you doing?!"
A small beast emerged from above the distant forest. It frantically darted away from the fire raining from the sky, screaming, "Stop already! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
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