Honestly, even Akaba hadn't expected this volume to have any real impact.
He'd just completely copied everything.
However.
That afternoon, The Third summoned him to discuss whether there was any possibility Rain Country's village might be collaborating with Madara and Black Zetsu. That's when Akaba realized—Amegakure had basically become the scapegoat.
Shamon's disappearance definitely had nothing to do with Amegakure, but what Sunagakure thought was another matter entirely.
They always went after the weakest first.
Compared to Konoha, Amegakure was always an easier target. Whether they actually did it didn't even matter—did Sunagakure really not know this wasn't Konoha's doing?
They just needed an excuse, that's all.
The reason The Third called Akaba in was simple: increase pressure, and don't stop operations against Amegakure.
According to the original plot, after this came the arc where Akatsuki sealed the Three-Tails and captured Yugito Nii, Cloud's Jinchuriki. Then followed the new Ino–Shika–Cho trio teaming up with Kakashi to fight Kakuzu and Hidan.
But since The Third had given direct orders, opportunities had to be created, even if they didn't exist.
Akaba returned to his manga shop, thinking things through for a long time before finally deciding to produce an extra OVA volume. This one would focus on Kakashi infiltrating Amegakure to find Hanzo Sanshouo.
This particular story arc took place after Tsunade assumed leadership during the new Chunin Exams, when Kakashi went to Amegakure to investigate internal affairs.
Since The Third wanted more pressure applied, he'd have to work along these lines.
Additionally, several people were already discussing Akatsuki's "true motives" back in the village. Many gathered in Akaba's newly renovated lounge, snacking and chatting about everything related.
Here, even ordinary citizens could openly talk and critique villages like Amegakure or Sunagakure. Too bad those words wouldn't reach Amegakure themselves—otherwise, it probably would've made for quite a show.
Moreover,
Akaba learned from The Third that Sunagakure Village had officially begun increasing their personnel in the Land of River.
Obviously, they still had no idea Madara Uchiha was hiding within Sunagakure itself—so naturally, Konoha stayed silent too.
Loguetown lay along the western riverside of the Land of River, quite close to the Land of Wind. If Sunagakure planned to invade the Land of River, they'd definitely move through Loguetown.
You know how it goes—believe half of what you see and nothing of what you hear. Let Sunagakure see for themselves whether Madara truly walked among the living.
While working through the plotlines, Akaba also considered the current state of the One Piece storyline.
Luffy was still stuck on the drawn-out Long Island arc. Akaba had considered cutting it short—it really was boring, just like filler arcs that add nothing to the main story.
Still, this part was official manga canon.
More importantly, a key character would debut here—one of the three admirals: Kiji, also known as Aokeiji, wielder of the Ice-Ice Fruit.
In his previous life, Akaba had greatly admired this character.
Aokeiji possessed immense power and was once seen as a strong contender for the next Fleet Admiral position. His view of justice wasn't nearly as extreme as Akainu's.
If he or Fujitora had taken command, perhaps the Marines might have gone in a very different direction.
Unfortunately, the next in line was Akainu.
After some thinking, Akaba figured—he had no patrol duty today, so he might as well wrap up the drawn-out Long Island arc. That way, he could speed things up and get to the Water 7 arc faster.
Once CP9 appeared, he'd finally be able to unlock [Marine's Six Styles].
The Marine's Six Styles were incredibly powerful. Even in the Fire Shadow World, they were remarkably practical abilities. If it weren't for having to conserve chakra, he could maintain four or five Multiple Shadow Clones at once to work together.
That way, there'd be absolutely no worries about updates.
But not now.
Three Multiple Shadow Clones and one original body—though the number wasn't small, Akaba still found himself strained and tired handling the updates for Naruto, Naruto OVA, and One Piece.
"Is Akaba here?"
A voice came from outside. From the sound of it, it should have been Gekko Nightdance.
"You go check. I don't know either."
Sakuma Yunlang sighed.
Ever since he got the Flying Thunder God technique, even Sakuma couldn't be sure whether Akaba's real body was present or not—after all, he never returned through the front door.
"I'm in."
Akaba poked his head out and waved them over.
Nightdance carried something in his hand as he entered the room. Seeing the "four" Akabas immediately gave him a slight shock.
Then he couldn't help but exclaim, "Being able to maintain so many clones working at once—you're truly amazing."
The Multiple Shadow Clone training method had already spread widely, but after testing it out, everyone understood just how high the demands were on chakra and mental willpower.
Precisely because of this,
Even maintaining a single Multiple Shadow Clone created such a burden. For Akaba to maintain three or four Multiple Shadow Clones every day for drawing work, the consumption and strain must have been immense.
Nightdance looked at Akaba, then at himself, inevitably feeling somewhat doubtful about life. Both coming from families plagued by weak health, why was there such a difference between them?
"It's only a bit mentally taxing. When it comes to spirit points, our Sakuma clan has no shortage of that."
Akaba modestly replied.
Nightdance rolled his eyes, sat down without ceremony, and then handed over the small package in his hand.
Akaba didn't bother reaching out to take it, instead speaking while drawing, "I saved you not for any reward. Between us friends, why be so formal?"
"My father insisted I give it to you. Besides, it's nothing valuable anyway, and you happen to be in need of these things."
Nightdance spread open the package.
There were two land deeds inside.
"I'm just saying—"
Akaba originally intended to refuse, since his original intention truly was just to save Nightdance back. But when he saw the location of these two land deeds, he felt like he might be about to eat his words.
The value of the deeds was incredibly valuable—especially one containing what was practically the best commercial spot in Konoha. Just this one deed alone was worth a huge sum of money.
The other deed was for a more remote area—a forested mountain region.
In short, both land deeds held significant value.
But if it were merely land deeds, he wouldn't necessarily accept them. It just so happened that recently he particularly needed a shop and a forest—the trees from the mountain area could be used for wood carving, and the shop could be used to sell figures.
Clan leaders always had a few tricks up their sleeves. Even though Yagami Sachika was practically retired, this gift hit Akaba's sweet spot perfectly, accurately predicting he would definitely not refuse.
He became somewhat conflicted.
"Come on, without you, I'd probably end up crippled even if I survived the Land of Wind. Besides, what's the point of being friends if we can't help each other out? You happen to need them, we happen to have them—just take them."
Nightdance was very clear:
Though much stronger than before, he was still only on par with a Tokubetsu Jonin at best.
Located deep in the heart of the Land of Wind, there was no way he could escape on his own again. A mutual loss would best serve Madara and Black Zetsu's interests.
"It looks like Uncle Sachika did a bit of digging on me," Akaba said with a wry smile.
At this point, refusing would seem fake.
But Nightdance suddenly grinned mischievously while rubbing his hands together. "If you're really feeling awkward about it, just ask Senior Kozuke to make me a Zoro with the Three-Blade Style next time."
"No problem."
Akaba nodded right away. The new store originally sold figurines; giving away some at the beginning to boost popularity was completely normal, especially since Nightdance paid quite a high price for these two land deeds.
"Awesome."
In Nightdance's eyes, perhaps the value of the first batch of figurines exceeded that of a single land deed. Soon enough, he was gonna end up a full-on otaku in the Ninja World.
After thinking for a moment, Akaba asked, "Is Uncle Sachika interested in wood carving?"
"Him?"
Nightdance almost scoffed but then recalled his father's increasingly frail body due to his injuries, falling into thought instead.
Previously, definitely not.
But now...
He remembered seeing several Manga volumes in his father's room yesterday, so there might actually be a chance.
Thinking thus, Nightdance replied after a second or two: "I'll go ask. If it works, I'll come tell you right away."
"Okay."
While answering, Akaba finished another page of the Manga.
Accumulating more Manga pages ahead would allow time later to paint and color the wooden figures before launching the figurine shop. However, since this was the first batch of figurines, they must be crafted with painstaking precision.
Later on, they could release a "common version"—using [Earth Release] to mold the figurines and then painting them.
Earth-molded figurines were more challenging to preserve, possibly cracking or breaking over time. Their quality definitely fell short compared to wooden dolls, and their prices were relatively cheaper.
Other than this matter, there was something else too.
Recently, he should send a Shadow Clone to check up on Jiraiya, especially concerning that bird who ate the Human-Human Fruit—whether it died or had been captured and kept by Jiraiya's group.
But that could wait until after finishing the manga update.
By evening, the updates were nearly complete. Akaba took advantage of the situation, sending a Shadow Clone along with some manga chapters out to Jiraiya at sea.
This time, no need for secrecy.
The Shadow Clone appeared beside Jiraiya directly. At that moment, Jiraiya sat outside a small room. Directly in front of him was a crack, through which he observed what was inside.
Inside the room was a bird currently in human form. In Jiraiya's hand was an illustration titled "Bird Girl." The outline was already drawn, missing only facial features and hands.
"Honestly didn't expect you to be like this, Jiraiya! You've got some wild tastes!"
"Don't talk nonsense. It's not like—"
Jiraiya was about to retort when he abruptly realized this wasn't his clone's voice?
He snapped his head around—and sure enough, it was Akaba. When his eyes landed on the manga in Akaba's hands, he completely forgot about Akaba himself and grabbed the manga instantly.
"These are pure gold!"
Flipping through them briefly, he couldn't help complaining, "Hasn't Master Nobusuke updated yet?"
"Not for now."
"Wow, so many manga! I'm thrilled! You're my savior, Akaba!"
Jiraiya was about to lose his mind.
For nearly a week now, he'd flipped through all the manga until they were practically falling apart. Out here in the vast ocean, going days without seeing another person was normal enough. The only thing left was staring at this bird girl.
At least she was female and humanoid. Setting aside her unusual origins, she transformed into a petite, adorable human form, possessing a unique kind of beauty.
Multiple Shadow Clones glanced over and nodded approvingly, saying, "Putting everything else aside, your drawing skills have improved greatly—doesn't that mean your goal has already been achieved?"
"Hmph."
What kind of human talks like that?
Stick someone out at sea, leave them for weeks with no one else around, then force them to focus on just one thing? Of course they'll improve fast too!
To put it bluntly, how was this any different from forced labor?
Jiraiya muttered under his breath as he retreated with the manga. With manga to enjoy, who still cares about some "avian maiden"?
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