"That Jiraiya again—gone to the bathhouse, huh. Tch."
After waking up, Akaba found it was already noon.
Within his sensory range, he noticed that Jiraiya had hidden himself underground beneath the bathhouse. Most of his body was buried beneath the ground, with just his head sticking out above, making for an extremely well-concealed spot.
For Jiraiya, who cherished life so much, this past month or so must have really been stifling.
Akaba sighed slightly, reluctant to spoil his fun further.
Since he'd just gotten back from the sea, wouldn't messing with him again and ruining his last bit of enjoyment make him a bad guy?
He stopped paying attention to Jiraiya and shifted his focus to another side.
That was where the Senju Clan lived, and The Third had already arrived at the Senju clan territory.
Once Mito Uzumaki consumed the Vampire Fruit, she would gain its power—and along with it, near-immortal unaging vitality—but only if she herself was willing to drink blood.
Mito was a principled person.
However...
Facing Madara, she might end up abandoning some of those principles.
Akaba mused silently.
He hadn't personally delivered the fruit—partly because it was troublesome, but mostly because he didn't want to get involved in persuading others.
Too much hassle.
The Third could handle it, so why waste his own breath?
He closed his eyes and focused inward, beginning to channel his chakra energy.
Of course,
there was no need to adopt such a posture deliberately when drawing out chakra—it was merely one of Akaba's personal habits, since he felt it looked cooler, while also slowly restoring his spiritual energy.
After a while, he gathered enough chakra within his body.
Then, using [Flying Thunder God], he teleported to the manga shop, leaving behind four Shadow Clones before heading out himself to grab lunch and replenish the energy his body had spent.
But this was just an excuse.
In truth, the clones knew that the original only wanted to be lazy.
Sitting outside at a sushi shop, Akaba ate sushi while watching the crowd entering and exiting the nearby store.
Even though quite some time had passed since the new chapters went online, there were still plenty of people queuing outside the manga shop.
Still—
Only five new chapters dropped today, so the plot, conflicts, and highlights weren't particularly complete. It mainly showed Sasuke chasing Danzo all over the place while getting repeatedly beaten up by various Kages, which made him look pretty pathetic.
Not because Sasuke was weak.
Quite the contrary—Sasuke was already incredibly powerful right now. However, he completely underestimated the strength of the Five Kage, arrogantly believing himself to be overwhelmingly superior. Thus, all sorts of mishaps happened.
Being one of the "Uchiha Four Crazy Laughers"—known for their madness and laughter—wasn't an empty title.
Inside the little teahouse, many people were complaining. Thanks to his sharp hearing, Akaba could clearly catch every word even from this spot. Most complaints centered around the scenes where Sasuke got beaten up, however—there wasn't much else worth critiquing.
After all, both Raikage A and Mizukage Terumi Mei were practically unknown characters to everyone at this point.
To readers, they were simply randomly invented characters; what was there worth discussing?
As for Sasuke Uchiha himself…
Although his appearances had increased recently, the rest of the Uchiha Clan had rarely shown any members going through trauma-induced awakenings or advancements.
Everyone had basically been numbed by all the shocking twists in the manga.
The remaining members either lack the potential to awaken their abilities or have excessively high emotional thresholds, making them resistant to being moved by typical manga plots.
Such people require real-life trauma,
For example,
Losing parents, siblings, relatives, or close companions.
Nowadays, no one in the Uchiha clan would willingly do such a thing for just a single tomoe, since having one has already become quite common among the Uchiha.
Most of the time, these individuals can only remain as "ordinary ninja," but once awakened, they might prove exceptionally powerful.
After all, the higher the emotional threshold, the stronger the response triggered by stimulation.
Motonami Uchiha understands this well too, so he didn't come looking for Akaba worriedly. From a clan perspective, the current rapid development has already exceeded his expectations.
What more could he possibly demand?
Akaba also enjoys dealing with people who know contentment, which is partly why he prefers the Uchiha and avoids getting too involved with the Hyūga clan.
The Uchiha may be crazy, but at least they know how to offer substantial benefits!
As for the Hyūga clan?
So far, aside from money, they mainly provide impractical book collections. Did he really love those things that much?
Akaba couldn't help feeling speechless.
Their rewards were offered without sincerity at all, yet the Hyūga still believed they were generous.
Resting his head on his hand for a while, he finally got up and returned to the manga shop.
The Yin Seal's chakra was running low and needed refilling ASAP—helping with drawing was off the table for now. He believed his Multiple Shadow Clones would understand.
Upon entering the store, he sat down again to extract chakra.
The clones looked at him with deep resentment.
But there was nothing they could do about it.
They knew it too—amassing enough chakra was crucial during these chaotic times. So, reluctantly, they accepted the situation where the original lounged around while they worked hard.
By nearly lunchtime, the clones gradually vanished one after another.
A wave of dizziness hit Akaba, but his Spirit Points were strong enough to handle it. Besides, he could now tolerate fatigue from about five clones' worth of strain—within limits, handling this level of exhaustion wasn't an issue.
This kind of sudden mental fatigue was exhausting, but compared to long-term physical exhaustion, he preferred the current pattern.
The manga updates were completed.
Today, Naruto was updated with only five chapters because one Multiple Shadow Clone was busy with woodcarving and coloring work and couldn't help with the illustrations.
However, for One Piece, there hadn't been any changes—it remained ten chapters daily. The storyline was still on Judicial Island, a rather lengthy arc.
Judicial Island had another ability Akaba desperately wanted:
[Life Return]
It was a highly practical and powerful ability.
At present though, even maintaining this update pace, acquiring it would still take him two or three more days.
Meanwhile, someone came looking from the Senju side—not anyone else, but Tsunade herself.
Tsunade had obviously already heard about the Vampire Fruit.
She felt delighted, for it meant Mito Uzumaki could regain her youthfulness, her body restored to its peak condition, and she could protect beloved Konoha forever.
However,
That's what they thought. Whether Mito Uzumaki herself agreed with this view was uncertain.
Tsunade sought out Akaba, hoping he'd go persuade and counsel her.
"Didn't the Third manage to convince her?"
Akaba felt somewhat surprised.
"Grandma said she would drink Madara's blood and wait for him to die," Tsunade explained, not finishing her sentence, but the implication was clear. The old woman didn't desire this power or the longevity it brought.
Akaba opened his mouth, then asked in confusion, "Why?"
"She says the Uzumaki clan has always had unusually long lives, but that kind of longevity always came with bloodshed, like this time," Tsunade relayed Mito Uzumaki's explanation.
The gist was simple—in short, she considered Devil Fruits cursed. Obtaining such power would inevitably mean losing something else, perhaps an object, or something far more precious.
And there were those three words: Devil, Fruit, Disaster. They said it all.
Akaba opened his mouth again, momentarily unsure what to say.
He seriously regretted writing those words—he wanted to face-palm so hard.
Of all things to write, why those three words? At the time, he'd simply combined geographical logic to make the Devil Fruit's origin sound plausible, never imagining Mito Uzumaki would hold such views.
"I'll try, though don't get your hopes up."
After hesitating briefly, Akaba still decided to give it a shot. Using Flying Thunder God, he took Tsunade to the Senju clan territory.
Before long, he saw Mito Uzumaki.
She appeared aged as ever, seemingly unchanged whether or not she'd eaten the fruit.
That was because she hadn't utilized its abilities.
A lot of Devil Fruits look weak at first, but with some creativity, they can be really powerful.
Akaba didn't believe the Vampire Fruit offered only immortality.
Its full name was [Vampire Form] of the Vampire Fruit.
A vampire couldn't possibly possess just immortality—he planned to use this point to persuade her.
Mito Uzumaki cast a glance, recognizing Akaba, then calmly sat upright saying, "If you've come to convince me, don't bother speaking. This fruit is powerful, yet its ability violates natural laws—it's forbidden."
"..."
Her stance was extremely firm!
Akaba winced painfully.
Thinking carefully, Akaba signaled Tsunade with a glance, urging her to temporarily leave.
Tsunade obligingly departed the courtyard moments later, closing the gate behind her to prevent interruptions.
Once alone, Akaba proceeded according to plan. "Granny, Obito won't be easy to deal with. Not every Jinchuriki is as strong as you, and we currently have no idea where he is. Next time we meet, he might have grown even stronger. Extracting his blood..."
It would be incredibly difficult fighting someone with Rinnegan-level strength.
Moreover, without testing, who knew exactly how effective this fruit's abilities were or how much life force it could steal?
What if it couldn't kill someone by draining their lifespan?
All these questions required experimentation to determine.
Mito Uzumaki remained silent.
She understood perfectly well, but deep down, she instinctively resisted doing such things.
"We've captured many Cultists. These cult followers worship an Evil God, delighting in slaughter. As long as they live, they must create carnage to please their god; otherwise, their powers will be taken away."
Akaba continued slowly.
The message was clear—it was her call in the end.
Mito Uzumaki fell silent for a moment before waving her hand. "You go do your own thing," she said. "I need more time to think about this. It's not a choice I can make lightly."
Indeed, becoming a vampire was no easy decision.
Akaba stood up, bowed slightly, and left the courtyard.
Tsunade stood not far from the door. Although there was some distance between them, with her abilities, it wasn't hard to catch everything that had been said. There was no need for Tsunade to repeat any of it.
Her expression sank into quiet disappointment.
Clearly, Mito Uzumaki still felt deeply resistant. Even if she agreed reluctantly now, after defeating Madara, she might still choose to embrace death naturally.
As Mito Uzumaki herself put it,
She'd had enough of living too long.
She wouldn't have taken the Vampire Fruit in the first place if it hadn't been necessary to defeat Madara. And that taste? Bitterly sour—definitely not something you'd want to experience again.
All they could do now was wait and give her the time she needed to decide on her own.
As for how Mito Uzumaki would ultimately choose to proceed, that was something they couldn't force. Neither Akaba nor Tsunade had the right to make that decision for her.
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