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Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was already the 25th year of Konoha.
Half a year ago, Akio returned to the Uzumaki Clan and brought back three reserve patrol members—all relatively elite Chūnin around sixteen or seventeen years old. After all, Akio would've felt embarrassed making thirty- or forty-year-old Chūnin participate in the joint Jōnin examination.
Currently, at the Konoha training grounds, Akio was giving some last-minute crash training to five youths. Two of them were, of course, Tsunade and Jiraiya. As for the two children from the Hyūga clan, they had already enrolled in the Ninja Academy last September.
As for Orochimaru, since he wasn't required to participate in the Jōnin exam, Hiruzen had taken him aside for some "special tutoring."
"Old geezer! Why am I the only one who has to do taijutsu training?" Jiraiya, drenched in sweat, complained from the side. At some point, "old geezer" had become his affectionate nickname for Akio.
Akio shook his head. "Of those four, which one can you beat in taijutsu?"
The three Uzumaki youths had undergone strict training since childhood. Though their overall strength was still below Jiraiya's, when it came to taijutsu, they'd been thoroughly humbling him over the past six months.
Jiraiya glanced at the other four, then sighed. "Just watch—Lord Jiraiya will surpass them all!"
Akio nodded approvingly. "That's the spirit! In that case, I'll need to increase your training load. There's only two months left before the exam!"
With a wave of his hand, Jiraiya—who had been doing frog jumps—nearly collapsed onto the ground.
"Old geezer, are you trying to kill me?!"
"What do you mean? I only doubled the gravity. Do you even realize that your predecessors trained under several hundred times gravity?"
"What kind of monsters were those predecessors…" Jiraiya grumbled, continuing his frog jumps.
Akio didn't answer, but smirked to himself. Predecessors from Dragon Ball…
He turned to look at the four still sparring.
It was supposed to be a four-way match, but in reality, the three Uzumaki youths were ganging up on Tsunade. Though she was at a disadvantage, she still held her ground. Her raw punching power was terrifying—whenever she was in a pinch, she'd slam the ground, forcing the other three to scatter. Eventually, Akio had to summon three small slugs to attach to his clan members for protection. Tsunade's punches were so destructive that only Jiraiya could somehow shrug them off unscathed.
"Hmm?" Akio's expression shifted slightly as an Anbu appeared before him in a blur.
"Elder Akio, the Hokage requests your presence!"
Akio chuckled. "Sakumo, you can just call me Grandpa."
This Anbu was none other than Hatake Sakumo. He had become a Jōnin at fifteen and had only been in the Anbu for two years before rising to the rank of squad captain.
Sakumo scratched his head, remaining silent.
"Tobirama wants to see me? Got it. I'll head over shortly."
"Yes, Akio… Grandpa," Sakumo finally relented under Akio's stern gaze.
Watching Sakumo disappear, Akio nodded in satisfaction. "At this rate, in a few years… we might see Kakashi… East?" he muttered as he turned back toward the five still training.
He waved his hand. "You heard that—Tobirama's looking for me. Continue training on your own."
"Yes, Great Elder!" the three Uzumaki youths replied in unison.
"Ancestor Grandpa, you go ahead," Tsunade said between breaths. Jiraiya didn't speak but nodded repeatedly.
As soon as Akio was out of sight, Jiraiya collapsed onto the ground. "Phew… that old geezer is going to kill me…"
Just as he let out a sigh of relief, his expression changed. He immediately ducked—sure enough, a small stone whizzed past and smashed a dent into the ground behind him.
"OLD GEEZER! Are you trying to kill me?!"
Far in the distance, Akio nodded slowly and chuckled. "At least he's improving…"
Arriving at the Hokage building, Akio spotted Tobirama waiting at the entrance.
"You're waiting for me? What's so urgent?"
Tobirama smiled and shook his head. "Not for you—the Sand shinobi have arrived."
"Who came? For you to greet them personally—did the Kazekage show up?"
Just as Akio asked, his expression shifted and he looked toward the distance.
"That's Chiyo, the elder of Sunagakure," Tobirama replied as he walked forward to greet them.
Akio's face changed several times as he followed, a bitter smile forming. You don't have to tell me—I've flirted with her before…
Chiyo had personally led the delegation, accompanied only by three Chūnin. From afar, Akio frowned. Two of the teens looked oddly familiar. Both had large, layered bundles strapped to their backs—likely concealing Sunagakure's distinctive puppets.
While Tobirama exchanged formal greetings with them, Akio watched from the sidelines.
After a few pleasantries, Chiyo spotted Akio in the distance. Her expression froze momentarily before shifting.
Akio smiled and walked over.
"Little Chiyo—it's been twenty-five years already. You've become an elder of the Sand Village. Do you regret not coming with me to Konoha back then…?"
Chiyo's expression was complicated. "I didn't expect you'd actually still be alive…"
Akio's face darkened. "Now what kind of thing is that to say?"
Tobirama looked puzzled. "Second Grandpa, you… know each other?"
"Ah, back when we went to the Land of Wind to capture Shukaku, I met her. She was just eleven or twelve then. I even thought of bringing a genius back to Konoha!"
Tobirama shook his head with a wry smile. This Second Grandpa really would do something like that…
Meanwhile, one of the teenage boys in Chiyo's group looked startled and whispered, "Mother, don't tell me this old guy is my father?"
Though he spoke quietly, Akio's Wind Release mastery at level eight picked it up loud and clear.
Before Chiyo could respond, Akio hurriedly interjected, "Boy, you can't joke about things like that! Just because our hair color is similar doesn't mean we're related!"
Chiyo shook her head and sighed. "Don't be ridiculous. I've told you before—your father passed away long ago. Besides, Elder Uzumaki Akio should be over ninety by now."
"You make it sound so harsh… though that is true," Akio admitted, feeling a little awkward.
Tobirama glanced around and lowered his voice. "Second Grandpa, you…"
"Don't start."
Akio silenced him, carefully observing the two familiar-looking youths. When the boy called Chiyo "mother," Akio finally recalled—these two had appeared in the original series... but only as puppets. They were the parents of Sasori of the Red Sand from the Akatsuki.
"Three familiar faces… and one extra," Akio muttered. The other teenage boy had dark blue hair and left no impression—Akio figured if he'd seen him in his past life, he would've remembered.
Seeing that Tobirama was arranging their accommodations, Akio didn't linger. He planned to return and resume training the five kids. Sasori's parents likely wouldn't be weak.
Unexpectedly, another Anbu suddenly appeared. "Hokage-sama! The Kirigakure envoy has arrived!"
Tobirama was surprised. "Who's leading the team?"
"Only one person—a young man."
"Just one?" Tobirama took a deep breath. "Bring him here."
Akio was puzzled. "Only one? Is that confidence… or desperation?"
His curiosity was piqued.
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