Akaba had never been particularly interested in the Land of River before.
It was too chaotic here. The entire country overflowed with rogue ninja and wandering shinobi, and now even more wandering samurai had appeared.
One could say that official national laws held no real power in this place; instead, underground rules carried far greater authority.
However, when he once again set foot here and saw all the changes brought by the Pirate King to Chaochuan Town, a sudden crazy idea struck him.
He wanted to take possession of the Land of River, develop it into a manga-centric nation, cooperate with Kakuzu, and expand his forces—all based on this grand vision.
After all, the royal family of the Land of River practically held no real power anyway.
Kakuzu acted quickly. By noon the next day, his Multiple Shadow Clones had secretly approached him.
The matter was settled.
The person in charge was a Tokubetsu Jonin from Sunagakure, but unfortunately for him, he met Kakuzu.
He lost both his money and his life.
Now Kakuzu had obtained the list of mercenaries he'd recruited. Tracking them through this roster was much easier than wandering around the streets blindly.
The information he brought was extremely important.
Indeed, it was the Sand ninja who secretly orchestrated the recruitment of these mercenaries. This meant Sunagakure's true objective wasn't the Land of River—but somewhere else entirely.
The most likely target lay northward—the area around the Bird Country.
Because this region was extremely remote, filled everywhere with hills and ravines, it possessed no significant ninja force internally. Simply put, any ninja village could take it over without much trouble.
It was sandwiched between Amegakure, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth, keeping the balance of power among them. Plus, this nation itself was extremely poor, its mountainous terrain lacking valuable mineral resources—neither Amegakure nor the Land of Earth showed much interest in occupying it.
But for the Land of Wind, it was different.
Their land was already barren. Even such leftover territory would seem deliciously appealing. The reason other nations still kept an eye on this place was mainly to prevent the Land of Wind from gaining advantage.
There was also another benefit regarding the northern regions—the war involving the Land of Whirlpools, where both Amegakure and Iwagakure had already gotten involved.
Yet logically speaking, fighting one enemy would always be better than battling two at once. It seemed Sunagakure believed that even with only half its usual strength, Konoha was still stronger than Iwa and Ame combined.
This remained quite puzzling.
Akaba pondered deeply for a long time without understanding why Sunagakure abandoned their strategic plans here.
Nevertheless, this definitely came as great news.
Since Sunagakure wouldn't launch a large-scale invasion against the Land of River anymore, there was no need for Akaba to remain stationed here.
His return home was drawing near.
Of course—
To end this business trip early, first he needed to convince his superiors above.
Thus, Akaba specially wrote a report detailing all the intelligence and information he'd gathered, asking his colleagues hidden within the caravans to help deliver it.
If he could return earlier, naturally it would feel far more comfortable being back home.
Lying lazily on the bed, Akaba found himself somewhat bored. Eventually he created a Shadow Clone, sending it out secretly to find a place to draw and update his manga.
The Pirate King's influence continued growing in the Land of River; he must keep striving to update regularly too.
It wasn't just the Pirate King acting alone.
Shinku Yuhi's manga chapters should be released by now. It had been over a month since returning from Sunagakure Village, yet he still hadn't produced anything. Could he possibly be more of a couch potato than me?
Akaba lay on his bed.
Though physically still, the updates remained under my control.
Ninjutsu was indeed convenient.
By the third day, The Third finally replied. Regarding Akaba's development of a force within the Land of River, The Third wasn't interested in his intentions—he only cared about results.
After reading the reply, Akaba felt somewhat down.
He'd worked hard compiling an Intelligence Report and even submitted a detailed analysis of his well-founded speculations, hoping to end this business trip early and return to relax properly like a couch potato, but all The Third did was offer some praise before ordering him back to manage the Preparatory Division!
Aren't there temporary replacements available?
He kind of regretted it—maybe he should've held off on sending that report for a few more days so he could've stayed longer in Chaochuan Town.
Though there wasn't much entertainment here, numerous houses were undergoing renovations, gradually transforming into styles commonly seen in One Piece. Watching the entire town transform in line with One Piece's style brought him immense satisfaction.
Still, staying any longer wouldn't seem appropriate.
Work always required someone to handle it. If he didn't return now, by the time things fell into chaos within the Preparatory Division, cleaning up afterward would become even more troublesome.
No choice—he'd have to go back.
Akaba packed his belongings, but before leaving, there were several matters needing explanation.
"Nakagawa, you've done quite well recently. Keep it up. Also, try expanding our territory instead of limiting yourself to Chaochuan Town alone. I've trained you guys for long enough—not just to let you sit around doing nothing. And most importantly, never provoke Kakuzu."
Nakagawa's personality wasn't particularly assertive; in a way, he wasn't suited to leadership. However, he excelled at obedience—following orders meticulously upon receiving them.
Just like this command: Nakagawa didn't really understand it internally because his ambitions and vision were small, and Chaochuan Town already seemed massive to him.
Yet, once given an order, he immediately began planning how to fulfill it.
Soon after, Nakagawa spoke up: "Lord, there's a shipyard in Hichuan Town nearby. Should we develop toward that direction next?"
Shipyard?
Akaba looked at him and gave a slight nod.
If you want wealth, build the infrastructure first.
By controlling Hichuan Town, they'd control the ships as well. Building a fleet later on would not only boost territorial expansion but also improve transportation logistics—and better yet, taking over the shipyard would secure future production entirely.
Hmm, Kakuzu must have understood this perfectly—he had an uncanny sense for profitable ventures.
Thinking it through, Akaba realized Nakagawa wasn't completely useless—just unsuited for leading roles.
"You take charge. If manpower becomes insufficient, use the old method to contact me."
"Yes sir."
Of course, Nakagawa didn't have any direct way to contact him—but Orochimaru did.
Nakagawa always communicated with Orochimaru using snakes. Once Orochimaru received news, Akaba would know too.
After handling these affairs, Akaba set off toward Konoha.
Conveniently, he currently held ten chapters of One Piece drafts and five chapters of Naruto manga—all completed recently by his Multiple Shadow Clones. He could submit these together for publication at Izumi Yamano's printing office.
Seven or eight days had passed without an update, and even the points weren't climbing like they used to.
The journey back to the Land of River was quick. That evening, Akaba returned to Konoha and sent a Shadow Clone to find Izumi Yamano, asking him to help publish the manga in his possession.
Izumi Yamano hadn't published anything in a while either. Now that the war had started, all kinds of ninja tools had to be made in a rush, so everyone was swamped. So even though Akaba had submitted his manga, the updates would be nowhere near as fast as before.
Upon returning to Konoha, instead of heading home, Akaba immediately went to look for Orochimaru.
Though building the base had been their joint idea, Orochimaru had taken care of everything alone. Since Akaba had temporarily taken over Orochimaru's identity, it was important they communicate to prevent any information gaps that could lead to mistakes later.
Especially concerning Kakuzu.
That guy wasn't someone to mess with—Orochimaru simply wasn't his match right now. If something went wrong on that front, it would be a disaster.
When Akaba arrived at Anbu headquarters, perhaps because it had been so long since his last visit, a rare Anbu peeked out to check the situation. Seeing it was Akaba, he didn't stop him but said, "You're here to see Orochimaru? Good timing—you have two letters that require your personal attention."
"From Teacher?" Akaba couldn't help but feel slightly startled.
Getting two letters from the Uzumaki Village frontline must've cost a lot. For Danzo to go through such trouble to send this letter, yet not urgently ask the Third to inform him, seemed very strange.
He followed the Anbu inside to retrieve the two letters.
Judging from the symbols and decorations on the cover, it was clearly styled after Uzumaki Village. Akaba flipped the envelope over, reading the words clearly written on the front: "To My Daughter."
A letter from Uzumaki Shuhai meant for Uzumaki Kyoyuki.
The other letter was addressed to him.
Akaba fell silent. Obviously, these letters hadn't traveled so far just to offer reassurance; as clan leader, others could escape into the Land of Fire, but he absolutely couldn't return.
These were farewell letters.
Just a single sheet of paper, yet it felt heavier than a thousand bricks.
He exhaled softly, set aside the letter meant for little Kyoyuki, then picked up his own and opened it.
"Akaba, Danzo has told me everything about Kyoyuki. I'm glad you gave my daughter the chance to decide for herself. I'm happy my daughter is safe in Konoha."
"Even if she becomes a Jinchuriki, I won't object—it is our clan's destiny."
"From now on, please continue taking good care of her. If possible, I hope you'll let her take the Sakuma name. The surname 'Uzumaki' will soon disappear from the Ninja World forever."
"Uzumaki Shuhai – Final Letter."
Akaba sighed deeply.
The war seemed to be over, and its cost had been tremendous. Clearly, the Uzumaki Clan understood their fate—they knew they couldn't keep the Uzumaki name forever.
But at least everything was over now, and their family hadn't been completely wiped out. That mattered more than anything.
After thinking for a moment, he didn't open Kyoyuki's letter but carefully put it away, intending to deliver it personally to Uzumaki Kyoyuki.
Then, he went to chat briefly with Orochimaru.
Actually, there wasn't much to discuss. Orochimaru was purely immersed in researching Ninjutsu, now completely absorbed in technical experimentation. He'd already completed the earlier sound detection device, which had proven quite effective on the battlefield.
His current research topic was quite complex—souls and gender.
At the moment, his reasons for studying this topic were unclear. Souls, after all, were profoundly intricate. For him right now, the subject was clearly still too obscure. It was likely that after some time, he would temporarily abandon it.
"By the way, are you the one orchestrating things at Chaochuan Town?"
As Akaba finished speaking, he couldn't help but bring up Chaochuan Town.
When Orochimaru heard mention of Chaochuan Town, pride filled his face. "That's my finest work yet. In the future, the Land of River will be completely restructured based on the laws and order from One Piece."
"Not bad. Carry on then."
Akaba gave a thumbs-up.
He himself only wanted to control the Underworld Force within the Land of River, but Orochimaru had far greater ambitions—aiming directly to transplant the entire structure of One Piece into the Land of River.
Yet when you think about it, it actually didn't seem completely impossible.
After all, the Land of River didn't have its own ninja village. Nothing could possibly be worse than the current situation. Even if the king had any objections, as long as the lower ranks were handled properly, the royal family would ultimately have no choice but to grin and bear it.
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