"Come here."
Akaba waved.
"Why can you control my dream?"
The little beast flew over, clearly in a bad mood.
"Guess."
Akaba smiled slightly.
This might've been a dream in form, but at its core, it was still a type of genjutsu—just a bit unusual.
To counter such techniques wasn't difficult for him who possessed Kekkei Genkai.
"Hmph! If it weren't for your technique controlling the five senses, I wouldn't be afraid at all!"
The Yumekuma's front nose twitched; there were still signs of burns from being hit by that fireball earlier.
"Are you Yumekuma?"
Akaba felt puzzled.
In the anime, Danzo's Yumekuma had been enormous. Could this be the youthful version?
"Of course! Damn it, why do you look so disdainful?"
The Yumekuma jumped up and down angrily.
"You're too tiny."
"I specialize in controlling and devouring dreams! I'm completely different from those stupid gluttons who only know how to eat!"
The Yumekuma declared smugly.
"I see. So there's more than just one Yumekuma," Akaba thought, a flood of ideas beginning to form.
Firstly, this Yumekuma seemed capable of creating dreams—nothing else needed to be said; perhaps a budget VR server had just appeared.
As for combat aspects, he'd need to ask more later.
After thinking briefly, Akaba asked, "What exactly do you mean by 'eating' dreams?"
"Dreams, illusions—I eat them all!"
The Yumekuma shot back smugly.
"What kind of effects does it have? Spill it!"
"Effects?"
The Yumekuma hesitated. Eating dreams and illusions was just his hobby, like people eating meals as part of daily life. How would he know about any effects?
Seeing its expression, Akaba knew it probably didn't understand either.
Never mind. I'll test it out myself later.
"End this dream now."
He sighed. Although things hadn't gone exactly as expected, overall they exceeded expectations.
At least it could now be confirmed that there were Yumekumas besides Danzo's.
"So soon? I wanted to play a bit longer!"
The small Yumekuma flew before Akaba, looking very reluctant but still ended the dream accordingly.
Actually, forcibly breaking through the dream wouldn't be difficult for Akaba, but doing so would inevitably cause some damage to its spirit.
"Oh right, I'm Zhi Meng! You've got to summon me again next time!"
Wagging its trunk-like nose, the young Yumekuma spoke.
It was smart enough. Previously it had no choice but to hang out with other Yumekumas.
Now having made a contract, how could it endure loneliness easily?
Akaba pondered inwardly.
From what it said, apparently he might summon other Yumekumas if needed.
But generally speaking, obviously smarter Summoning Beasts were better.
"Of course." He patted it gently on the head, playing along.
As soon as he finished speaking, the scenery before his eyes rapidly changed.
The dream disappeared.
Akaba scanned around once, confirming he hadn't missed anything, then sat down to flip through the materials on the table.
"The Anbu are such a pain."
He casually picked up a scroll from the table and unrolled it. Sure enough, it contained information transmitted from the Land of Whirlpools by Anbu.
After reading a few pages, he learned much about the Land of Whirlpools.
Recently, both Mist and Cloud had already made their moves.
Not only that, but both Iwagakure and Sunagakure were also stirring at the border, clearly showing signs of reigniting a major war.
Sunagakure's side, however, had been completely silent—no news at all.
"A complete lack of movement is even more concerning. It might mean nothing is happening, or it could mean Suna's Anbu within the Land of Wind have all been eliminated."
Akaba sat here, quietly contemplating.
No wonder Danzo wanted to go in person; something strange definitely happened in Sunagakure.
He pondered for a moment before pressing a mechanism according to some instructions on the table.
Soon after, an Anbu member walked in.
"Sir, please give your orders."
"Do we have personnel stationed for contact at the border of the Land of Wind? Have medical personnel been deployed?"
Akaba asked.
"We've arranged three squads for support at the border and two squads have infiltrated into the Land of Wind already. As for medical staff…"
The Anbu hesitated slightly when mentioning medical personnel.
"Considering Suna specializes in poison and shuriken, send several physicians ahead of time just in case."
There weren't any medical ninja available now, but having physicians was better than nothing.
"Yes, sir!"
The Anbu ninja nodded respectfully.
As for the Land of Whirlpools, Akaba thought briefly before saying, "For now, observe and wait."
Seeing Akaba wave his hand dismissively, the ninja immediately performed hand seals and vanished.
Akaba looked through several scrolls next, discovering information about other regions as well—Amegakure, the Land of River, and so forth.
Land of River—
A thought struck him, prompting him to pick up the scroll detailing intelligence about the Land of River.
"The Sakuma clan allied with a caravan has begun distributing manga free of charge to restaurants across the Land of River."
"The Land of Wind has dispatched Anbu to secretly enter the Land of River disguised as civilians."
"A series of detailed records chronicled events occurring in the Land of River, including the assassination of Suna's Anbu agent King Sand by so-called Kirigakure ninja."
Apparently unaware, these Anbu still didn't know this operation had been staged by others.
After reviewing all the documents, Akaba tidied up and opened the door preparing to leave.
As soon as he opened the door—
"Sir, are you going out?"
An Anbu appeared suddenly—it was the same guy as before.
"Let's go."
Akaba could bet this guy hadn't left since the moment they met, deliberately making sure Akaba couldn't move freely.
Though temporarily placed under his command, this control was indeed temporary.
Leaving the Anbu base, he glanced around. Judging from the location, they seemed not far from Orochimaru's laboratory.
"Sir, if there's an urgent matter, how can we reach you?"
Today at the Sakuma compound, he had sensed clear hostility—an experience intense enough to make him flee hastily.
"Don't come to my house. Just let Sakuma Yunlang know at the manga shop."
Akaba gave the man a sidelong glance.
He hated most when people infiltrated his lodgings. During their training sessions, he'd become thoroughly familiar with each member's chakra signature.
If he caught anyone spying, he'd definitely add them to his list.
"Understood!"
The Aburame clan ninja lowered his head respectfully.
Either way, this guy might end up leading Anbu sooner or later.
If he got on Akaba's bad side now, once this new leader takes charge, life would get tough later.
"Let's go."
Akaba waved his hand and headed toward the village.
Just coming out from Anbu, going to Orochimaru's place probably isn't appropriate.
Walking through Anbu didn't really leave him with any particular thoughts.
He just felt it was unpleasant there—dark, stuffy, nowhere near as comfortable as being an ordinary person.
Originally, after leaving Anbu, Akaba planned to go home and catch his breath, but as he passed by the manga shop, a stick figure of Sakuma Yunlang popped into his head unbidden.
Tomorrow morning, Yamano Izumi would bring over the updated manga chapters.
According to plan, today should be dedicated to preparing advertisements.
With Sakuma Yunlang's drawing skills...
"Never mind. I'll work overtime."
Akaba sighed and changed direction, walking into the manga shop. As soon as he entered, he saw Sakuma Yunlang writing a banner.
"Tomorrow morning, both 'Naruto' and 'One Piece' will be updated. Stay tuned."
He shook his head slightly—still the same familiar style.
"Master Akaba"
Sakuma Yunlang tugged at the banner slightly, then realized the other likely saw everything already, so there wasn't much point in trying to hide.
Akaba thought for a moment, pulled out a sheet of paper, and began writing.
After finishing two sentences, he tossed the paper to Sakuma Yunlang.
"You copy this exactly, and once done, I'll draw a character portrait for you. Then hang both up along the street at intervals."
Then he returned to his bedroom, planning how to design the posters.
Sakuma Yunlang looked at those two lines, trying to figure out what made them special.
After staring for quite a while, he couldn't find anything special about them, yet somehow they felt oddly unique.
After thinking for a while without getting anywhere, he obediently copied both lines down. After Akaba added one or two character illustrations, he took them outside and hung them up on the street.
"Hanging banners again?"
Loe's group had just returned from training when they saw the first banner Sakuma Yunlang had just put up.
The three of them raised their heads for a look.
[Shocking!] What Naruto Uzumaki Did During the Chunin Exams Left Everyone Speechless!
Yizhong Akimichi's hand froze halfway into his snack bag.
He stared intently for a long time, even checking the small illustration above, but there was no follow-up content.
"What is this? It doesn't even finish what it started saying!"
After staring at it for a while, Take Yamano couldn't help but feel annoyed.
"That's the whole idea."
Loe half-closed his eyes lazily, gave it another glance before turning away.
"There's another one over there—we should check it out!"
Seeing the second banner far ahead, Take immediately ran over, hoping it might continue where the previous one left off.
But all it said was:
[A Shameful Incident in the Marines!] A Colonel Was Brutally Beaten While His Men Cheered!
Below that, again, nothing else followed.
"Not again!"
Take grabbed his hair in frustration, casting a furious glare at Sakuma Yunlang who was climbing down from hanging the banner.
Both banners only showing half the story—what utter nonsense!
"Brother Yunlang, what do these two lines actually mean?"
Unable to hold back any longer, Yizhong Akimichi finally asked.
Noticing the looks in their eyes, Sakuma Yunlang took a hesitant step back, muttering meekly: "I don't know either. They're all ideas from the young master."
"Just as I thought."
Loe sighed.
Sakuma was straightforward by nature; these promotional slogans clearly weren't something he could come up with himself.
"I'll go ask him myself."
"Don't bother. Even if you did, it wouldn't help."
Loe stopped him.
"This clickbait's whole point? To drag people in for the new volume. Otherwise, what's the point even doing it?"
"I really want to punch him next time we meet."
Yizhong Akimichi muttered gloomily.
"You think you can even beat him?"
Take Yamano didn't believe he could. Even though they were both cultivators of mental energy, he had sensed how terrifyingly strong Akaba's mind power was. He wouldn't risk using secret techniques against Akaba—not when he knew how dangerous Akaba's mind energy was.
"Let's go. If you're interested, just wake up early tomorrow."
Loe didn't care. Intelligent and self-controlled, these kinds of cheap tricks couldn't fool him.
But the other two weren't the same.
The same thing happened to many passersby.
Most people who walked past this street ended up stepping into the shop, only to leave disappointed.
After Akaba put up those posters, quite a few people had already visited the store, even "warmly greeting" Sakuma Yunlang with some choice words.
"Master, what exactly are these banners about?!"
Sakuma Yunlang was both amused and baffled—somehow he'd ended up unfairly blamed for all this.
"Cough cough, it's just a promotional style."
That classic Shock Department trick—the kind of exaggerated headline that once ruled UC News—it clearly proved its terrifying effectiveness.
Still, clickbait only works if you don't overdo it. People stop caring after a while.
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