In Volume 152 of the Hokage manga: "My Decision—Establish a Laboratory!" Akaba, Akaba! The Third has agreed! He's given me permission to publish and sell my manga!"
Jiraiya was extremely excited.
As the most authoritative figure in Konoha, gaining the Third's approval meant certain success for the manga—at least, that was Jiraiya's belief.
However, Akaba's Multiple Shadow Clone showed no surprise at all about this result—perhaps even thinking it came a little late. Probably because the Third had great self-restraint.
Outwardly calm as a sleeping hound, but deep down, he must be bursting with excitement.
"Hey, you should at least react somehow. Aren't you supposed to praise me a bit?" Jiraiya said proudly.
"Jiraiya, he's just a—"
"Never mind. Let him talk. It won't interrupt my drawing," the clone said indifferently.
Jiraiya paused, realization dawning. He studied the young man closely, then glanced at the sketchpad.
"You're a clone?"
The real one would never be this diligent. Looking at the kid's unwilling expression, he immediately knew it was a Shadow Clone. Yet he hadn't noticed until now—something he really shouldn't have missed.
"The original went to the Hokage Tower. You probably would've met him there. Seems like you two missed each other."
Shadow Clones possess their creator's memories up until their creation, but experiences afterward aren't instantly shared between them. Therefore, he could only speculate on what had happened at the time based on analysis.
Recently, Jiraiya had indeed improved greatly. After racking his brain, he finally recalled that suspicious potted plant.
"Damn it!"
Clenching his fist, Jiraiya stormed off toward the Hokage Tower once again.
"See? Now he's gone. Otherwise explaining everything would've been troublesome," the clone shrugged.
Sakuma Yunlang pursed his lips, clearly at a loss for words.
Anyway…
Well then, just enjoy yourselves.
He quietly turned around and went back to do his calculations.
Midway, the two encountered each other again.
Akaba looked up at Jiraiya, and recalling where the latter might've headed after leaving the Hokage Tower, he quickly understood almost everything.
So you've gone and caused trouble again!
One could only say—it truly is my own self. The ability to shift blame is exactly the same.
"Hey, good morning, Jiraiya. It's been a while. How've you been lately?" Akaba greeted awkwardly.
"Not good at all! We even met downstairs in the Hokage Tower. Why did you pretend to be a potted plant?" Jiraiya angrily retorted.
"You know how it is. I usually stay at home, so bumping into acquaintances on the street makes me embarrassed. I generally just pretend not to see them." Akaba replied without sincerity.
Jiraiya was speechless for a moment, then reached into his jacket to pull out some manga books.
"No need. I already know from the Third Hokage." Akaba quickly stopped him.
Pulling out those kinds of mangas in broad daylight—in front of everyone on the street?! So shameful!
"You know already?" Jiraiya scratched his head in frustration, feeling oddly like he'd punched into thin air—so frustrating!
"Hmm, I'll need someone to deliver the manuscript to the factory later. You can use that as an excuse to meet the factory manager, Izumi Yamano. But convincing him to agree to publish your work will be up to you."
Akaba walked forward and whispered to Jiraiya.
"Sure thing!"
Jiraiya kept nodding after hearing this. Such an opportunity was more than enough for him.
Who could possibly refuse such an outstanding work?
He thought to himself.
"Alright then. If there's nothing else, you can go back and draw more. Releasing a large amount of content at once will bring you many benefits."
Akaba offered his "well-meaning" advice.
"Got it."
This was truly useful advice—he nodded repeatedly, taking mental notes.
"By the way, you might also want to discuss profits regarding the manga with them."
"Profits too?"
His eyes lit up. He hadn't given a single thought to profits while drawing before.
"Of course. Since you don't have much money, you shouldn't just create out of passion alone."
Akaba shrugged.
There was nothing wrong with making money from manga, especially for someone like Jiraiya who lived quite frugally.
"Great! Thinking about it now, maybe I can even afford to visit the bathhouse more often!"
Jiraiya's eyes sparkled with excitement. However, he quickly looked around cautiously to make sure Tsunade wasn't nearby before relaxing again.
Akaba shook his head slightly.
At this time, Jiraiya had not yet experienced war; his thoughts and actions were still straightforward and immature.
Indeed, war and hardship forced one to grow.
"I still need to draw. I'll get going first."
Excited, Jiraiya left in a rush, already calculating what price would be best.
"Now where should we place the manga for sale once it's published?"
Akaba felt a headache coming on.
In his mind, the best place for such a manga was overseas, where foreigners could become hopelessly addicted to self-pleasure.
But since the Third didn't forbid it...
Now the issue landed squarely on his shoulders.
Putting it directly on display seemed inappropriate, but burying it would be doing Jiraiya's work a disservice.
Without realizing it, he returned to the manga shop.
"Master, did you run into Jiraiya earlier?"
"Yeah, I got it."
Akaba nodded and looked at Sakuma Yunlang, suddenly brightening.
Why was he worrying about all this?
Just leave it to Yunlang to handle!
After all, it was Sakuma Yunlang who ran the shop—he had to bear the worst of it anyway.
Thinking this, his mood became relaxed.
With the ninja techniques paper resolved, Akaba temporarily found himself free from pressure. Updating two books simultaneously had indeed been quite stressful.
So after dinner, he helped draw the next chapter of One Piece at home.
It wasn't until evening that the update for One Piece was completed.
But as he arrived at the manga shop to hand in the update, he ran into an unexpected guest at the door.
A shinobi from Anbu.
"Lord—"
"I know. Wait a moment."
Akaba's expression turned serious. It had nearly been a week since Danzo left Konoha. By calculation, this timing made sense.
He handed over the manga to Sakuma Yunlang before following the Anbu shinobi.
Once they had left the village and hadn't reached the Anbu Base yet, Akaba asked first, "What's the situation?"
"The Hidden Shinobi reported back—the Lord Danzo has returned."
"Any injuries?"
Akaba's expression darkened.
Though Sunagakure ranked last among the Five Great Villages, its actual strength was nothing to scoff at.
For Danzō to sneak in alone carried an extremely high risk.
"One eye had been severely injured and poisoned. Fortunately, we had medical staff ready, so his life isn't in danger, though he might lose that eye."
An Anbu quickly delivered the intelligence to Akaba.
This intel had just arrived, but even at the fastest travel speed from the border, it would take half a day to reach here—meaning these were already morning reports.
"Did Sunagakure pursue him?"
Akaba asked with a grave face.
"We arranged decoys, and furthermore, Lord Danzō immediately activated our base after entering the Land of Rivers, so Sunagakure didn't continue pursuit," the hidden ninja explained.
Akaba hurriedly quickened his pace, following the ninja into the Anbu headquarters.
Right now, the Anbu was in total chaos; even with his arrival, no one noticed as everyone bustled about handling reports.
Upon reaching the office, Akaba immediately began reviewing the documents one by one.
The information presented matched what had been previously stated, yet within the reports coming from the Land of Wind, he noticed an important detail—the Second Kazekage hadn't participated in the pursuit.
Could it be that Danzō killed The Second?
A chill ran down Akaba's spine. Killing The Second would certainly provoke Sunagakure into retaliating behind their backs—who then could go against the Land of Whirlpools?!
"Bring me every piece of intelligence from the Land of Wind, including the most recently delivered ones!"
"Akaba! What's going on!"
The Third arrived as well, his expression equally serious.
He'd heard something from Anbu, but the details were still fuzzy.
"Danzō is safe for now, but the problem is—he fell into a coma upon returning, leaving us completely clueless about what happened in Sunagakure."
Akaba rubbed his temples in frustration—this was a real headache.
Even with the whole Anbu working on intel, most agents had already been sent to the borders, leaving far too few hands at HQ.
As the latest intelligence from the Land of Wind arrived, The Third immediately issued orders: "You check the processed reports, I'll look through the unanalyzed ones."
"Yes sir!"
The two quickly divided up and began sorting through the materials.
After a while, Akaba compiled all the processed information together.
"Danzō stormed into the Kazekage's Building and forcefully took The Second Kazekage's research diary."
"The Second Kazekage might be injured."
The Third's face darkened.
Successfully obtaining intelligence from The Second Kazekage himself—and seriously wounding him—Konoha undoubtedly became the prime suspect.
"If the injuries are serious enough, Sunagakure will lose its offensive capabilities."
Akaba contemplated briefly.
The Second Kazekage survived The First Great Ninja War, but not long after it ended, The Third took over.
Looking at how things went down, The Second must've been badly hurt.
"If this really happened, with me holding the line, Sunagakure won't dare make a move."
The Third exhaled deeply.
During The First Great Ninja War, Sunagakure had already suffered heavy losses among its elite forces.
Now, with The Second Kazekage severely wounded—if his condition doesn't improve—Sunagakure would inevitably lose its combat capability.
Sitting back in his chair, he carefully went through the intelligence Akaba had handled.
Eventually, The Third relaxed entirely. "Thank goodness we had medical staff ready. Otherwise, with such injuries, if treatment gets delayed any longer, Danzō will definitely lose his fighting edge."
"If it comes down to a sacrifice — one life for one mission — then Konoha won't be able to extend support to the Land of Whirlpools."
"By that logic, I suppose I can head back and rest now."
"Wait. There's something about Orochimaru I need to discuss with you."
The Third gestured for him to sit back down.
Akaba hesitated for a moment — could the Third already suspect his ties with Orochimaru?
After thinking it through, he could only sit back down.
"During the time you oversaw Anbu, did you notice anything regarding Orochimaru?"
"I'm not entirely sure what you mean. Frankly, I wasn't free to move around within Anbu either."
Akaba replied honestly.
These were all facts The Third likely already knew, so there was no point in holding anything back.
The Third nodded and continued, "Orochimaru is working secretly with Anbu to set up a small laboratory."
"If he's researching ninjutsu on his own time, I don't see much of an issue with that."
Akaba intentionally paused before offering his opinion.
"As long as the research falls within the village's regulations, I've decided to officially approve Orochimaru's laboratory."
The Third said calmly, "I want to hear your thoughts on this."
"As for the lab, you don't necessarily have to limit it just to Orochimaru. It could be open to any ninja wishing to develop new jutsu, with a reward system established for successful creations."
As Akaba spoke, another idea came to mind — he added quickly, "If a ninja has solid ideas but lacks resources, the village should allow them to submit project proposals — and provide financial support accordingly."
After hearing Akaba out, The Third sat there momentarily stunned.
The thoroughness of those suggestions left little room for further input.
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