"What?! You agreed?!"
Konan rarely looked surprised, but this time her eyes were wide. Minato beside her looked equally confused.
Akio shrugged. "If Nagato wants to sing, we might as well hear him out. No need to crush the kid every time."
"But…" Konan hesitated.
Akio laughed softly. "Relax. I know you're both worried about Killer B. I'll handle him."
Konan sighed in defeat. "As long as you and Nagato are happy…"
Akio gave her a mischievous grin. "Good. Then go get things ready."
"Get… ready for what?" Konan blinked.
"To sell tickets, of course. We can't exactly hold a concert for just a handful of people. Set it for noon tomorrow, at the Whirlpools Arena. Besides the seats reserved for us, sell five hundred tickets."
Minato leaned closer to the door again, listening to the two rappers inside. His face twisted into a silent plea: Why are we doing this to ourselves?
Konan had a similar expression, silently protesting on behalf of every innocent civilian in the Land of Whirlpools.
But then she thought… Surely no one will buy those tickets.
Some older residents still remembered the riot caused by Killer B's "concert" ten years ago.
Akio simply smiled knowingly. "Go promote it. Those five hundred tickets will be gone in no time."
Half an hour later, news swept through the entire country:
The current clan leader, Nagato, would be performing a live concert the next day. Only five hundred tickets. Ten thousand ryō each.
Nagato was the clan head, so plenty of civilians and shinobi were curious, but ten thousand ryō wasn't pocket change. Many people hesitated, figuring five hundred tickets would take a while to sell.
Then, suddenly, a wave of unfamiliar faces, four to five hundred strangers appeared out of nowhere and formed a line stretching down the street.
Konan and Minato stared expressionlessly as they took stacks of ten-thousand-ryō notes. In barely fifteen minutes, the tickets were gone.
"Where are all these people from?" Konan muttered.
"Lady Konan! Can I get a ticket, too?"
A familiar villager jogged up.
Konan gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Uncle Gosuke… they're sold out."
"Sold out?! No… no! I missed the clan leader's concert…" Gosuke groaned, then turned to the crowd behind him. "Everyone disperse! No tickets left!"
The others murmured:
"Already sold out?"
"What a shame…"
Then they wandered away, mostly confused.
They'd only lined up because everyone else was lining up. Now that they'd missed it, they didn't feel disappointed… just weirdly uneasy.
Not far away, Nagato and Killer B were watching.
B was nearly in tears. What a beautiful country, so receptive to the rap arts.
Nagato scratched his head, baffled.
Something felt wrong… concerts couldn't be this easy to organize, could they?
Later, at Ichiraku Ramen (Whirlpools Branch)
Konan and Minato returned after selling every ticket.
"Sensei, they're all gone," Konan reported.
Akio nodded proudly. "Told you. Nagato's got star power."
"He has no such thing… he's hopeless…" Konan whispered.
Minato was staring at Akio with dawning realization, putting some suspicious pieces together.
But before he could question anything, Kushina walked in with Naruto.
"Grandpa, I heard Nagato's doing a concert! Give me a ticket!"
Akio smirked and glanced at Konan. "See? Told you they'd sell."
Minato quickly pulled Kushina aside to explain the situation.
"The Eight-Tails' jinchūriki? If he sounds horrible, I'll just punch him into the horizon. I just want to hear what Nagato sounds like. The boy's always 'yo-yo-yo,' but I've never heard him actually sing."
Akio assured her, "Don't worry. We've got special seats. We can just walk in when it starts."
Little Naruto peeked around Kushina with a scowl, still embarrassed from the previous night's celebration, where his tiny hair buns had gotten him teased relentlessly.
Akio noticed and cracked his knuckles, eyes drifting toward Naruto's backside
"Good evening, honored ancestor!"
Naruto yelped immediately, standing at full attention.
After a while, Konan headed off to help prepare the venue. Minato and his family soon left as well.
Akio turned to Sara. "Want to go tomorrow?"
She smiled knowingly. "You definitely have something planned… but I think I'll stay out of the chaos. You can tell me all about it afterward."
Akio chuckled. "Suit yourself. We're not really going to listen to a concert anyway."
He looked at Kimimaro and Haku.
"I'll take you two with me tomorrow."
He did not expect what happened next.
Word spread FAST that all five hundred tickets had sold instantly.
The whole country exploded with excitement.
Rumors twisted the story until Nagato's singing voice was being described as heavenly.
People begged for tickets everywhere, even asking Akio directly.
He refused for their own safety.
In the end, he only added Karin to their group.
The Next Day – Whirlpools Arena
The same four to five hundred "mysterious strangers" showed up again to have their tickets checked.
Akio's group waited and entered last.
Kushina frowned. "I don't recognize any of these villagers… Hmm? That lady kinda looks like Grandma Mito…"
Akio's gaze softened.
That was Mito's grandmother, his sister-in-law in her youth. And the man beside her was his older brother.
Moments later, Kushina asked again:
"And those two? They look… intimidating. When did we get guys like that in our country?"
Akio shook his head gently. "No idea."
Though inside he was practically cackling.
Those two were Butsuma Senju and Tajima Uchiha.
Then Karin piped up: "Whoa… those two over there? Total hunks."
Akio followed her gaze.
He suppressed a cough.
Those two were Uzumaki Dehua and Uzumaki Jay-len, faces he remembered from his old world when he needed to fill more seats.
As the five hundred entered, Kushina's jaw slowly dropped.
Minato looked increasingly suspicious.
"Grandpa… I don't recognize a single one of these people!"
Akio hid a grin.
Of course she didn't.
All five hundred were his shadow clones.
Every single one.
Nagato… Killer B…
Now let's see you two try to perform while your entire audience is me.
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