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Inside the crystal ball, the blond-haired boy finally caught up with the "Hidden Cloud Village" ninja. After a fierce battle, he successfully took down the enemy and won the beauty's heart...
At least, that's how Akio imagined it.
In reality, the difference wasn't huge, but Minato hadn't defeated the enemy—he merely fought him off and forced him to flee. In the end, he didn't manage to catch up.
"As if he could catch up. That guy's a Jonin, and Minato's just a kid..." Akio's lips twitched as he watched the vivid scene play out in the crystal ball, where Minato rescued Kushina and confessed his feelings to her.
"Even though Kushina and Minato finally ended up together, why do I feel like punching someone?" Akio sighed from behind the wall, glancing at Hiruzen and Danzo, who exchanged knowing looks. He shook his head helplessly.
"Looks like they realized Kushina is suitable as the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki and want to use this method to keep her around."
Sure enough, Hiruzen and Danzo had already started discussing it, and their conversation wasn't far off from Akio's guess—he overheard every word.
After a while, Hiruzen sighed. "Danzo, we should consider how we're going to explain this to Elder Akio. I don't think we can hide it from him."
Danzo frowned. "Let's keep it under wraps for now. Once their relationship grows stronger, Elder Akio won't break them up, right?"
"What if we can't keep it hidden?"
"I'll think of somethi—" Danzo cut himself off mid-sentence, sensing something wrong. He turned his head stiffly after seeing Hiruzen's exaggerated expression.
That last question had come from Akio.
"So, tell me. What's your plan to keep this from me?" Akio asked with a forced smile.
Danzo quickly composed himself. "Elder Akio, perfect timing. Just now, a ninja from the Hidden Cloud tried to kidnap Uzumaki Kushina, but her classmate Namikaze Minato managed to save her."
"Oh, I see." Akio nodded with a smile, glancing at Danzo with amusement. He hadn't expected him to lie so brazenly.
"And what happened to that Cloud ninja? Did you catch him?" Akio continued.
Danzo frowned and shook his head. "Unfortunately, he got away."
Akio glanced at Hiruzen and sighed. "We really need to tighten up security in Konoha, Hiruzen."
Hiruzen nodded repeatedly.
Akio said no more and turned to leave. After such a farce, he wasn't sure whether he should even hold them accountable.
However, just as he reached the door, Akio turned back and added, "Whether Kushina becomes the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki must be her own choice!"
Leaving those words behind, Akio ignored the awkward looks between the two scheming men and walked off to check on Kushina and Minato.
The location from the crystal ball looked familiar—probably a forest southwest of Konoha. Sure enough, Akio detected two chakra signatures there.
Without hiding his presence, he stepped into the open. Kushina's eyes lit up when she saw him, but Minato reacted faster.
"Old prophet?"
Akio's face darkened. What the hell?
"Great-grandpa!" Kushina called out as she ran over. Only then did Akio snap back to his senses.
After listening to Kushina's brief complaints, Akio shifted his attention to Minato. Ever since Kushina had called him "great-grandpa," Minato's expression had grown more complicated.
"You're Kushina's great-grandfather? Then… you must be Elder Uzumaki Akio?"
Akio nodded, and Minato's expression became even more conflicted.
"About that exchange student incident…" Minato trailed off.
Akio felt awkward and silently cursed Hiruzen. Couldn't he tell it was just a random excuse? And he even told Minato the lame rejection line?
Akio quickly shifted the blame. "What about it? The exchange student program was managed by my disciple, Uzumaki Izuko . Is there a problem?"
Minato paused and nodded. "Oh… I see." But clearly, he didn't believe a word of it.
Kushina looked between them and nudged Akio. "Great-grandpa, did you bully Minato?"
Akio helplessly covered his face. Damn Hiruzen's pretty-boy ploy—it worked too well. Still, he didn't really mind.
"Of course not," Akio denied flatly.
Then he turned to Minato and asked the question he was most curious about.
"When Kushina was kidnapped earlier, how did you realize it?"
It made sense—the one who kidnapped Kushina should've been someone from the Anbu, at least a standard Jonin. It couldn't have been like the original story, where some random Cloud Chunin gave her time to drop strands of hair.
Minato paused, then said, "I just happened to be training nearby, and that person carried Kushina right past me..." As he spoke, his brows furrowed. He seemed to sense something wasn't right.
Seeing Minato lost in thought, Akio actually felt relieved. At least Minato hadn't been in on the scheme—that was good.
"It really was a well-planned setup… Hiruzen, Danzo, how interesting..." Akio shook his head. "Come on, to thank you for saving our Kushina, let me treat you to some barbecue."
The two kids followed Akio to a thirty-year-old establishment—the Akimichi clan's barbecue restaurant.
Unexpectedly, he ran into some familiar faces there. The Legendary Sannin were dining together.
"Old monster!" Jiraiya called out first. Akio actually found the nickname somewhat endearing now.
He ignored him and smiled at Tsunade, who looked visibly shaken. "What's with that expression?"
Before Tsunade could reply, Akio felt a chill. Orochimaru's eyes were fixed on him, practically glowing green.
"Damn it. Looks like Orochimaru's parents really are dead in this timeline… must've thrown himself even deeper into research..."
Akio shot him a glare, and Orochimaru retracted his gaze, speaking in his raspy voice, "Elder, that idiot Jiraiya just proposed to Tsunade for the seventh time…"
Akio froze, then burst out laughing, pointing at Jiraiya. "With that face of yours…"
Halfway through, he closed his eyes and shook his head, making Jiraiya feel even worse.
"You damn old monster…"
"Alright, alright," Akio waved him off. "This meal's on me. I'll treat you all."
Only then did the Sannin notice the two kids behind Akio. Tsunade, already familiar with Kushina, smiled and waved her over. As for Minato—after looking at Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who both seemed like bad influences—he sat tight next to Akio.
"Old monster, I'm gonna eat till you're broke!"
Akio shook his head with a wry smile. Jiraiya was twenty-five and still acting like a kid.
"Wait… twenty-five?" Akio paused. "Isn't Tsunade also twenty-five? What about Dan Kato? Is he dead already?"
Since Jiraiya was still chasing Tsunade, that meant she didn't have a boyfriend yet. But if she was already twenty-five, she should have one by now in the original timeline…
"Maybe the war progressed differently this time?" Akio couldn't recall what had sparked Tsunade's romance with Dan.
"If that's the case, then Jiraiya might actually have a chance this time... Should I help him out?" Akio chuckled to himself. But seeing Jiraiya loudly proclaiming he'd eat him poor, he shook his head.
"You don't have the looks to pull off a 'pretty-boy' strategy..."
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