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Walking along the streets of the Land of Whirlpools, Akio felt a bit troubled.
Tsunade and Orochimaru, who were following behind him, exchanged glances, both confused.
Unlike the excitement he felt when he saw Tsunade born more than ten years ago, Akio wasn't eager to watch Kushina grow up—he was worried about the direction the story was taking.
He had just seen the newborn Kushina, and even the blanket wrapped around her had golden embroidery. That alone told him her situation was completely different from the one in the original storyline.
In the original timeline, Kushina was a war orphan. But now she had become the princess of the Land of Whirlpools. Akio wasn't worried about her being spoiled—he trusted her character. What concerned him was that, with her current status, there was no way she'd be sent to Konoha to become the Second Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
"I can't possibly be the one to send her there…" Akio sighed, stuck between a rock and a hard place.
He could accept changes to other plot points, but this one—Kushina going to Konoha—was something he absolutely didn't want to alter.
"If Kushina doesn't go to Konoha, how will she meet Minato? And without Minato, how can Naruto be born? And if there's no Naruto…" Akio didn't dare follow that train of thought any further.
"Great-Grandpa, what's wrong? Should we go find Teacher?" Tsunade asked with a trace of concern.
"It's nothing. I'll think of something," Akio sighed.
"What are you thinking of?"
Akio was momentarily stunned. "Nothing important."
"Let's go find Hiruzen… Kagura Mind's Eye!"
The Land of Whirlpools wasn't very large. With his sensory abilities fully extended, Akio could cover nearly the entire region.
After sensing for a moment, he furrowed his brows in confusion.
With a few twists and turns, he led the two of them to… the prison of the Land of Whirlpools. He could sense that Hiruzen and Jiraiya were inside.
"Great-Grandpa, is this… a prison?" Tsunade asked, puzzled.
Akio nodded.
"That idiot," Orochimaru muttered, seemingly understanding something.
Ten minutes later…
Akio looked on helplessly as Hiruzen, drenched in sweat, scrambled to explain himself.
"Elder Akio, it's not what you think. It's all Jiraiya's fault. He said Tsunade and Orochimaru had abandoned him, so I tried to comfort him…"
"And?" Akio gave a faint smile. "You comforted him all the way to a women's bathhouse?"
Hiruzen's face was filled with embarrassment. What made it worse was that he had been caught peeping red-handed.
"Heh… Elder Akio, your patrol ninja are really strong," Hiruzen quickly changed the subject, though he genuinely meant it.
"Of course," Akio nodded, offering no further explanation.
He hadn't spent the past ten years just training. Every year, he personally selected a few talented graduates from the Uzushio Ninja Academy and had them trained. After all, he couldn't always stay by the seaside. These kids eventually formed the Land of Whirlpools' patrol squad, responsible for maintaining national security.
So far, there hadn't been any S-rank ninja among them, but there were already several elite jōnin. Thanks to the Uzumaki clan's vast chakra reserves, their elite jōnin were even stronger than their counterparts from other villages.
Of course, no matter how strong they were, Akio didn't believe they could defeat someone like Hiruzen. But since Hiruzen had been caught peeping, he couldn't exactly start a fight in the Land of Whirlpools… and so, he ended up in jail.
"I'll let it go this time since you didn't try to deny it," Akio said with a chuckle and a shake of his head.
Hiruzen sighed in relief and turned to glance at Jiraiya—only to see him with a head full of lumps, having been thoroughly pummeled by Tsunade.
Akio blinked, then glanced at Hiruzen's forehead. For some reason, his hand itched.
Hiruzen quickly changed the subject. "Elder Akio, Teacher seems to have something urgent he wants to discuss with you. Could you come to Konoha with us?"
Akio was a bit surprised that he needed to go personally.
"Tobirama didn't tell you what it's about?"
Hiruzen shook his head. "He said it's a secret. He wouldn't tell me."
"A secret…" Akio muttered, curiosity piqued. "What could be so important that even Hiruzen can't know?"
"All right, I'll go with you." Akio nodded. With Kushina now born, he wanted to check if Minato had shown up in Konoha. Sasuke's parents had already been confirmed, so as long as Minato wasn't missing, Akio believed he could still find a way to see Team 7 come together.
"Great-Grandpa, are you coming with us to Konoha?" Tsunade walked over, having finished lecturing Jiraiya, her face full of anticipation.
Akio sighed. "I'm not going to teach you gambling techniques. You wouldn't learn them anyway, give it up."
"Let's go, Hiruzen."
"Wait, Elder Akio. Tsunade, where's Nawaki?" Hiruzen finally remembered the often-forgotten kid.
"Over there, he's coming." Akio pointed as Yuna approached, holding the hand of a young boy from the Senju clan.
"Yuna, I'm heading to Konoha. Are you coming? Want to find Sakumo?" Akio asked with a smile.
Yuna hesitated, then shook her head. "No, I want to improve the hand cannon a bit more."
"Hand cannon…" Akio paused, suddenly recalling that his force field could cancel out recoil.
"If that's the case… couldn't I use it as a weapon?" The more Akio thought about it, the brighter his eyes grew. "Carrying a hand cannon and blasting enemies… that'd look pretty cool." His thought process was always unique.
In the end, as they set off for Konoha, Akio had added a new sealing scroll to his gear.
Two kilometers out of the Land of Whirlpools, Akio sighed and looked helplessly at Nawaki, who was trailing along behind them.
"With this little guy in tow, when are we ever going to get to Konoha…"
"All right, don't resist. I'll fly us there," Akio said with a smile.
"No!" Jiraiya looked terrified—he might've developed a fear of flying.
Not that it mattered—resistance was futile. Akio's warning was only for Hiruzen's sake.
The group of seven quickly took to the skies, flying toward Konoha.
Half a minute later, two Konoha ANBU arrived at their launch point, stared at each other in confusion, and quickly sped off toward the village.
Traveling by air was much faster. In about half an hour, they reached Konoha—slowed only because Akio had to accommodate Nawaki.
Outside the village gates, Akio didn't bother landing. He flew the whole group straight toward the Hokage Tower. Many villagers and shinobi spotted them and pointed from below.
Hiruzen gave a wry smile. "Elder Akio, isn't this a bit… much?"
"What's wrong with it? The view from above is a whole different experience. Not something you get to see every day."
"…Fair enough." Hiruzen sighed, noticing that the others were enjoying the aerial view and decided not to press the issue.
As they neared the Hokage Tower, Akio spotted Tobirama standing by a large glass window, looking up at them.
He guided the others down to the ground while he himself flew straight through the open window.
"Granduncle, it's been a while. You've gotten even stronger…" Tobirama said slowly.
Akio nodded silently. Looking at Tobirama's once-silver hair, now beginning to turn white, he didn't speak right away.
"Granduncle, I called you here to meet someone familiar to you."
"Someone I know?" Akio blinked, watching Tobirama's mysterious expression with growing curiosity.
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