"Second Grand-Uncle, stop wasting time with Hashirama," Mito said calmly.
"He got away."
"Relax, Mito," Akio replied without concern.
"He's not escaping."
He slammed Hashirama with a heavy punch, shattering several towering Wood Release trees. Akio frowned and looked up.
"Madara didn't show? Seriously? Is he messing with me now?"
Hashirama charged again.
Akio's gaze sharpened.
"Eight Gates Fifth Gate: Gate of Limit open!"
Explosive chakra erupted outward, tearing apart the endlessly growing forest. Akio vanished in a flash and reappeared behind Hashirama, tackling him to the ground and locking him in a tight grappling hold.
"Second Grand-Uncle, what are you doing?" Hashirama protested while struggling.
"You could've just used that bone spike technique"
"Heh." Akio chuckled.
"Sorry, Hashirama."
A sealing scroll flew out on its own and unfurled midair. Eight iron rods shot forth, piercing Hashirama's Edo body from different angles.
"Sealing Technique, Eight Trigram Suppression!"
The rods formed a sealing array, pinning Hashirama firmly to the ground.
"All done." Akio clapped his hands, releasing Sage Mode and the Eight Gates as he stepped back.
"This way you can catch up with Mito and Tsunade. That guy won't be undoing Edo Tensei anytime soon."
Since Edo Tensei couldn't be selectively dispelled, and unaware that Madara had already broken free elsewhere, Akio assumed the caster wouldn't dare cancel the technique.
Hashirama could only move his head now. He looked up helplessly.
"Second Grand-Uncle… you're really going to make me talk to them like this? Couldn't you use a different seal?"
Akio smiled.
"Anything else would take too long. Less chatting, I need to chase him down before he really disappears."
"Great-Grandfather, go," Tsunade said as she approached.
"Take your time finishing him off. Nawaki, Daoyama, and Itachi will wake up soon. Let them see Grandpa and Grandma too."
"No worries," Akio replied.
"Edo Tensei doesn't end just because the caster dies."
He vanished.
Hashirama fell silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled at Tsunade.
"Tsunade… did you bring the dice?"
She sat down cross-legged.
"Of course."
Nearby, Mito restrained herself with sealing techniques and quietly watched the two of them gamble, a gentle smile on her face.
Five Kilometers Northwest of the Senju Grounds
Akio flickered into existence in front of the fleeing young man.
"You almost slipped out of my sensory range," Akio said with a chuckle.
"So, any last tricks? Showing up at the Senju ancestral grounds… you didn't just dig up their graves, did you? Why not bring Hashirama's dad out for a reunion?"
The young man took a deep breath, locked eyes with Akio and vanished again.
Akio sighed as bone spikes burst from his right arm.
"Guess that's a no. All-Killing Ash Bones."
Clang!
That strange weapon blocked the strike again.
Akio grinned, pulling his left arm back.
"Same situation as before. Let's see you block this one too."
"Eighty Gods Vacuum Fist!"
"Almighty Push!"
This time, the repulsion only held for a moment.
The young man spat blood and was hurled backward by the remaining force.
Akio walked forward, watching him struggle to rise, drenched in blood.
"Scared to die?" he asked quietly.
"Or is there still something you haven't finished?"
"Uzumaki Akio!" the young man roared.
"You really… don't remember who I am?!"
Akio froze briefly, then frowned.
"We've met? Don't try to fool me, my memory's still sharp."
The young man laughed weakly as he stood, blood streaming down his face.
"So… you never thought much of me at all."
Akio shook his head, drawing his arm back again.
"That's nonsense. A normal body surviving this long with nothing but Madara's Rinnegan? No one could look down on you."
"I'll give you a proper ending, Eighty...hm?"
The young man suddenly rolled sideways, triggering a mechanism and dropping straight underground.
"So there's a hidden base here," Akio muttered.
"No wonder he ran this way."
He studied the ground where the entrance closed again.
"…Open sesame?"
Nothing happened.
"Figures."
Akio lifted his foot and stomped down hard. The ground collapsed with a thunderous crash, revealing a deep tunnel. He jumped in.
"Big underground chamber… and another chakra signature. Backup?"
"Guess I'll go straight for a wall-piercing headshot."
Focusing with Kagura's Mind Eye, Akio formed a Tailed Beast Aaronl in his mouth and fired it straight through multiple layers of rock.
The explosion shook the entire underground space. Akio quickly used Earth Release to stabilize it; he wasn't about to let the guy escape buried rubble by pure luck.
"The chakra's still there…"
He flashed through the smoke and found the young man lying in a pool of blood. In front of him, a familiar coffin rose from the ground.
Beside it, a scruffy old man had already been sealed inside.
"So not backup," Akio said flatly.
"A living sacrifice."
He raised his hand like a gun, aiming at the young man.
"Brother Minato! Brother Minato!"
"…What?"
Akio froze. The Tailed Beast Ball at his fingertip dissipated as he turned toward the coffin.
"The one sealed inside just now… was an intermediary?!"
"That's right," the young man said, slowly forcing himself up.
"Uzumaki Akio. I didn't want to use this card."
Akio was silent for a moment.
"Intermediary or not" he said quietly,
"the naïve kid I knew died back in Konoha Year 13."
"But you really are ambitious. Using an immortal body as an Edo sacrifice immortality stacked on immortality. You think that makes you untouchable?"
BOOM!
The coffin doors exploded open.
Akio's confident smile instantly froze.
"…You actually pulled it off."
He thrust his hand forward, firing multiple miniature Tailed Beast Aaronls at the young man's position.
But a blur moved sideways.
A red-haired young man appeared, eyes shut tight, holding the young man under one arm. A pillar of blue chakra surged skyward from his body.
The red-haired youth opened his eyes and looked around, confused.
"Oh! Sensei… are you dead too?"
Akio's face darkened.
Then
"Huh? Sensei, who am I holding?"
"Huh? Why is the Seventh Gate open?"
"Huh? Why can't I control my body?"
"Hey, hey why is all this chakra rushing toward my heart?!"
Akio's heart sank.
"…Looks like I talked too much," he muttered.
"So, this is the real comeback protagonist."
He exhaled slowly.
"Guess I'll have to go all out."
---
[Every 50 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
For early access to advanced chapters visit my P@treon:
P@treon/ Dexy3
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!