Chapter 155 - New Pleasures

Drop Some power stones! If you like the chapter! It helps to keep me motivated to upload more!💎💎💎 

------

"Grandpa Akio, can you come here for a moment?"

Yuna's voice called out, prompting a sigh from Akio as he walked over.

It had been over a month since Akio had finished reclaiming the land from the sea, and the Uzumaki Clan was now deep into a fervent wave of construction.

Most of the buildings followed the design of the previous Uzushiogakure "villas." Now that space was no longer an issue, even the commoners of the Land of Whirlpools could live in two-story Western-style homes—with plenty of land left to spare.

Akio wasn't involved in the construction of these standard residences. However, unable to help himself, he insisted that Yuna build a laboratory so he could do some research and put the Land of Whirlpools' absurdly abundant resources to good use.

As a result, there went his peaceful retirement. Akio had officially become Yuna's part-time sculptor.

Yuna's husband was a decent carpenter, and whatever he crafted was sent to Akio, who would then enhance it using his level-eight carving skills. Beyond that, Akio would soon have to use his level-eight forging skills to coat the wood with iron and a layer of chakra-conductive metal.

On Akio's suggestion, the two were also planning to attempt building an automatic cutting machine capable of producing kunai. Of course, it would be an old-fashioned manual machine with hand and foot controls—fully automatic was still out of reach. But if successful, it would mean many items could be mass-produced by ordinary people.

"Yuna, where's little Nagato?" Akio asked as he adjusted his custom-made carving knife.

"I sent him to my mother," Yuna replied, busy with her own work. Akio could only provide a rough concept—his knowledge from his past life was pretty much all gone. So the actual design and execution had to be figured out by Yuna step by step.

Nagato was only four years old—still too young for formal training. Akio was patiently waiting, ready to take on his fourth disciple when the time came.

After a moment's hesitation, Akio asked, "Yuna, why did you marry a civilian?" From what he'd observed, Yuna's husband truly was just a regular person. His carpentry was decent, but only just that. He lagged far behind Yuna in creativity and innovation, which Akio found quite puzzling.

Yuna hesitated briefly, then smiled. "That's a long story. It was a dark and windy night..."

"Cut it out!" Akio couldn't help but laugh. Yuna, who had grown up under his guidance, hadn't picked up the good habits—but definitely picked up some weird ones.

"Fine, if you don't want to tell me, I won't press. But you have to answer my next question. Why haven't you come back even though you've had a child? This isn't about talent—Nagato would be nurtured far better here in the Land of Whirlpools."

"Well, that's another story..."

Akio sighed and shook his head helplessly.

"I didn't want Nagato to become a shinobi."

Akio froze. He had only been asking on a hunch, not expecting a genuine answer.

"Why not?" he asked.

Yuna's expression turned uncharacteristically somber as she shook her head. "Being a shinobi is dangerous. It could even mean... death."

Akio looked deeply at Yuna and smiled bitterly. Back when Ashina died in battle while Yuna was still a child, she had seemed to bounce back after only a month. But looking at her now, he realized: how could a six-year-old girl losing her father not have a lasting impact? No wonder she had shown so little interest in combat over the years, instead throwing herself into research.

He shook his head. "Yuna, danger comes whether we want it or not—especially in this world of shinobi. Just look at how you were hiding in a slum in the Land of Rain, and someone still came after Nagato."

Yuna nodded. "I was too naive back then..."

"Be honest. If that hadn't happened, would you really have spent the rest of your life in the Land of Rain?" Akio asked again.

Yuna shook her head. "Of course not. You and Mom are here in the Land of Whirlpools. I probably would've come back in seven or eight years."

Akio glared at her. "And by then, you'd have perfectly missed Nagato's most crucial training years, right?"

Yuna gave a sheepish smile and returned to her design work without replying. Akio didn't push further.

The two quietly focused on their respective tasks until Izuko pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Izuko's expression was unusually serious, causing Akio to pause.

"Sensei, Konoha is asking for aid."

"Again?" Akio said, half-laughing. "Has the war restarted?"

Izuko nodded. "Because of the previous attack on both Konoha and the Uzumaki, Sunagakure has started mobilizing again."

"Just the Sand Village? What about Iwagakure and Amegakure?"

"Amegakure's movements are unclear, but Iwagakure seems to be heading toward the Land of Lightning..."

Akio furrowed his brow. Iwagakure attacking the Land of Lightning could become a real headache. The next batch of supplies from the Land of Lightning was due soon. If they got intercepted, that would be seriously annoying.

He didn't want to personally help the Land of Lightning—too much effort for too little gain. But the Land of Whirlpools was still in its development stage. Losing those resources now would be a huge setback.

"Sigh... The Land of Whirlpools still isn't strong enough. We're relying entirely on looted supplies. The core issue is still the lack of population."

"Maybe I'll have to visit Iwagakure myself and demand compensation..."

Looking up with a grin, Akio said, "I've decided. Izuko, have the Land of Whirlpools promote childbirth—including among the Uzumaki Clan."

Izuko was stunned. Akio's reply seemed completely off-topic. They had been talking about whether to assist Konoha, and now suddenly it was about encouraging people to have more children?

Seeing her expression, Akio chuckled helplessly.

"Do I really need to say whether we should help? Last time they fought three countries at once and still came out on top. Now it's just one—or two at most. They don't need our help."

Izuko shook her head, still serious. "Sensei, there's also Takigakure. Their leader, Kakuzu, seems to have joined the organization that attacked us. Konoha is worried they'll get involved in the next stage of the war."

Akio's brow twitched. So Kakuzu had really joined the Akatsuki... This awkward plot twist left a bad taste in his mouth.

After a long silence, Akio exhaled deeply and muttered, "So, trying to 'correct the plot,' huh? Let's see how that works out for you."

"Tell Konoha I know Kakuzu better than anyone. If he refuses to cooperate, it's just because they haven't paid him enough. Raise the price and see what he says."

"As for us, we'll focus on building a new socialist countryside."

After sending Izuko off, Akio threw himself into his carving work with renewed enthusiasm.

"I was always the one trying to 'fix the plot.' Now someone else is more desperate than me? Interesting."

"Well, I'm done fixing. From now on, I'm changing things. Let's make the Land of Whirlpools one of the new Five Great Nations—see how you like that! Let's finish the cutting machine, usher in the era of mass production—see how you like that!"

Akio, long bored with daily life, had finally found a new source of joy.

---

For early access to advanced chapters visit my P@treon:

P@treon/ Dexy3

Thank you so much for your support and for reading!