After finishing the discussion about their cooperation, Akaba returned the cup to the front desk.
He was about to head back to work when he suddenly remembered something and turned around to ask, "Big Brother Yunlang, did you mention the kunai matter to Mr. Yamano?"
"Don't worry, I've already handed the specially crafted kunai over to Mr. Yamano. He said they should arrive in the Country of Chuan tomorrow along with the caravan."
Sakuma Yunlang replied.
"That's good."
Those kunai carried spatial markers embedded within them.
Once they reached the Country of Chuan, he could use the Flying Thunder God to teleport directly and check on the situation in Loguetown.
Now that he thought about it, the manga copies being sent tomorrow would reach Kakuzu just as his storyline concluded.
Could that count as a welcome gift?
If anyone else had gone, Kakuzu might have been furious enough to kill them. That guy was never an easy target.
But now there was no need for the Kaleidoscope or mind games anymore. With just the power of the Goro Goro no Mi, he could defeat Kakuzu straight up. Facing him head-on held no fear for him.
Even if ambushed by Madara, it wouldn't be a big problem. All he needed was to release the Yin Seal and then use the Flying Thunder God to escape.
Returning to his room, everyone else was already working hard.
Half of them were working on the latest One Piece updates, while the others focused on Naruto. Since there were no special assignments today, they aimed to finish ten chapters for each series.
Ten chapters weren't really that much.
For the next ten chapters of Naruto, the story would progress just enough to cover Sasuke defeating Orochi in a counterattack. Meanwhile, Konoha received the same news and started searching for Sasuke Uchiha.
This was just a short bridge between major arcs.
From the point where Sasuke defeated Orochi, the Shippuden storyline would truly unfold, involving various jutsu and abilities worth exchanging for.
[Hydrification Technique]
The Hozuki clan's Hydrification Technique was essentially an elemental secret technique. Although it had weaknesses against certain ninjutsu, it was extremely useful in most situations.
Earlier, he had captured one member of the Hozuki clan, but unfortunately the person's Hydrification Technique had been sealed using a Secret Technique from their clan. Forcefully breaking the seal might lead to the person's death.
However, now that he possessed the Goro Goro no Mi, his desire for the Hydrification Technique wasn't that urgent anymore.
As for Jugo's Sage Transformation... he ultimately decided against it.
The most worthwhile ability to exchange would probably be Obito's Intangibility, but that came as part of the Kaleidoscope and couldn't be selectively obtained.
"Forget it. It's better to focus on improving my own attributes."
Akaba shook his head slightly.
Judging from the fight between Itachi and Sasuke, the Sharingan's immunity to genjutsu wasn't absolute.
It only enhanced the ability to break free.
Madara's eyes were similar in this regard.
Ordinary genjutsu had little effect on Madara, but as long as his spiritual power was strong enough, he could still damage Madara through genjutsu techniques.
Therefore, the key factors remained spiritual power, plus the Eternal Kaleidoscope Sharingan and the Rinnegan.
The Eternal Kaleidoscope first appeared during Itachi and Sasuke's clash. That section where they clashed wasn't far off anymore.
As he drew, these thoughts swirled through Akaba's mind. By the time he'd finished mulling things over, he was already halfway through a chapter.
Of course, his speed wasn't particularly fast—his shadow clones had each already completed nearly a full chapter.
"Still, obtaining the Eternal Kaleidoscope might cause some trouble with the Uchiha clan."
Akaba pondered inwardly.
Even the secret of the Eternal Kaleidoscope Sharingan was probably unknown to Motonami Uchiha.
Whatever, I'll handle it when it happens.
He continued illustrating. While working, he secretly slacked off a bit. Because of his slacking, everyone didn't finish all the updates until evening.
They updated the manga chapters, covers, promotional posters, and supplemental posters.
In each volume, he still inserted ten mini posters.
Due to long-term rule enforcement, no one used ninja abilities to search for those ten posters in such a despicable way anymore. Everyone searched purely by luck. Occasionally, some lucky commoners found them and could sell them to people willing to pay premium prices for considerable profit.
That's why he never banned this activity. Commoners had their own ways of making a living—there was no need to be too strict about these things.
After delivering these manga volumes, he took the opportunity to visit the Third Hokage to learn about the frontline battle situation. Although officially granted leave in Konoha, he still had duties regarding coordination and support missions.
Operations against the cult went smoothly. Orochimaru's capabilities were fully demonstrated. Under his planning and design, not a single cultist managed to escape back to the Land of Fire.
As for the western front—the Land of River—
This part became somewhat significant. Sunagakure Village had started moving into the Land of River, and this time didn't seem like a joke. They had genuinely deployed many jonin specifically for operations in this region.
By today, numerous jonin teams had already infiltrated the border areas of the Land of River.
Sunagakure might finally make its move soon.
Returning from visiting the Third, Akaba formed some thoughts. Since he was going to the Land of River tomorrow anyway, he'd go check out the situation.
The next day.
The caravan arrived at the Land of River as scheduled. This batch of manga reached one day later than Konoha, but the locals here didn't really care.
As long as they could read it, being first release wasn't that important.
"Leader, what should we do with this kunai?"
A guard from the caravan pulled out the kunai.
This kunai was the item Izumi Yamano had instructed them to bring into the Land of River. At that time, they emphasized its importance so seriously, even mentioning Akaba himself.
"Just put it in the store. As for specifics, I believe Konoha has their own plans."
The caravan leader ordered.
This kunai was special. It bore an unusual marking on its surface. The leader believed Akaba asked them to bring it to the Land of River likely because of this mark.
Looking at the details,
It somewhat resembled the kunai from the manga—the one given to Kakashi by the Fourth Hokage. Though the appearance differed, the handle markings were almost identical.
Therefore, the caravan leader judged this was probably a kunai bearing the Flying Thunder God marking.
Just as he reached this thought,
"Ah! Who are you?!"
A panicked shout came from inside the house. When the leader entered, after slight surprise, he immediately bowed respectfully: "My Lord Akaba, I didn't expect you'd actually come."
"Don't call me Lord. Actually, I should thank you for bringing this kunai to the Land of River. Otherwise, if I had to come myself, it would've been quite troublesome."
Akaba stretched his muscles slightly.
Then he swallowed a Military Rations Pill, asked the caravan for more dried rations, and started munching as he recovered his energy.
It cost a lot of chakra to teleport to the Land of River. If a battle were to happen now, he would have no choice but to draw upon the chakra sealed within the Yin Seal.
After a long while, his chakra had finally recovered.
At this point, he thanked the store owner again, performed some minor disguise on his appearance, left the shop, and walked onto the streets. As he walked, he extended his sensory ability to locate Kakuzu and Madara.
Though Madara was powerful, under the enhanced Observation Haki perception, it would be difficult for him to evade Akaba's search.
However,
he searched all of Loguetown but found no trace of Madara's presence.
"It seems Madara really isn't in Loguetown. But he might still be in the Land of River, waiting for the war to begin. His next target is likely still the Bijū of the Land of Wind."
Akaba mused inwardly.
With Madara's abilities, sealing Shukaku would be effortless. However, it was highly probable that Madara hadn't yet summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Summoning the Demonic Statue required a massive amount of chakra, and given its enormous size, he would also need a well-concealed location to operate from.
Moreover,
Madara likely didn't fully trust Black Zetsu, and Black Zetsu had probably sensed this distrust as well. The two might have already gone their separate ways. Otherwise, there would be no need for Madara to recruit Kakuzu.
As Akaba pondered silently, after a moment of hesitation, he headed toward where Kakuzu was located.
Since Kakuzu was alone now, it was time to meet with him and clear up a few things.
Kakuzu was in a tavern.
When Akaba arrived at the tavern, Nora immediately recognized her superior and led him discreetly to see Kakuzu.
Descending into the basement, Kakuzu saw Akaba and felt a wave of relief wash over him before smirking coldly, "You finally showed up. I thought you didn't care about what's happening here in the Land of River. If that were the case, I'd better run early."
"Not at all. I was dealing with something else previously. I just didn't have the chance to come by until now."
Akaba smiled slightly and sat down on a nearby stool.
Of course, "dealing with something" was just an excuse.
Both men understood why he hadn't come earlier, but since they weren't particularly close, there was no need to spell it out.
Kakuzu didn't dwell on it and got straight to the point, "Madara has temporarily left, but he'll definitely return later. What are your plans?"
"Do you know that Madara has already awakened the Rinnegan?"
"The Rinnegan?"
A chill ran through Kakuzu's heart, and shock involuntarily flashed across his face.
For shinobi like him, ordinary news rarely caused such a reaction. However, the Rinnegan was something that had only ever appeared on the Sage of Six Paths.
So Madara had awakened such terrifying power? No wonder he dared to reappear in this world.
Kakuzu felt increasing relief that he had never fought Madara directly—no number of deaths could convey how dangerous that would've been. This wasn't just hyperbole—it was a very real threat.
Thinking about it further, his whole body broke out in cold sweat.
"That's right. Earlier, I was involved in a major battle with Mito Uzumaki against Madara at the Naka River. Madara lost and fled from the Naka River to the Land of River. The disappearance of Shamon from Sunagakure was orchestrated by them."
Akaba continued explaining.
Mito?
Kakuzu naturally didn't think of Homura Mitokado—it would be absurd to imagine that weakling standing before Madara. That could only mean the wife of the First Hokage.
The legendary female kunoichi who was equally formidable.
Madara actually lost against Akaba and Mito Uzumaki? Did Akaba and Mito Uzumaki really defeat Madara? That can't be true?
He found it somewhat unbelievable, but looking at it another way, if Madara had truly defeated his opponent, there would have been no need to come to the Land of Chuan. Dealing with the Nine-Tails first was more important than anything.
After all, the Nine-Tails was the strongest of all the tailed beasts.
Based on this reasoning, Madara might indeed never have faced Akaba and Mito Uzumaki together.
Kakuzu took a deep breath, suppressing the chaotic thoughts swirling in his mind, before asking, "You cut straight to the point—what exactly are you planning?"
Akaba shook his head gently and said, "That depends on what you're planning, not me."
"Me? Hmph, I don't want to be someone else's dog, even if that someone is Madara Uchiha."
Kakuzu's tone was icy cold.
He'd already endured enough of being ordered around back in Taki village. If he didn't have a choice, he would've gone along with it just to live in peace. But now that there was a way out, why should he suffer under Madara?
Of course.
This statement applied not only to Madara, but also to Akaba.
Another reason Kakuzu dared speak like this was the hope sparked by the news Akaba brought—that Mito Uzumaki might still be alive… and still pack a punch.
"Then we're settled."
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