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"This trip really didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped."
Akio let out a sigh and shook his head.
From Konan, he had learned that she had been wandering alone for about a year.
"It's still not time for them to meet?" Akio muttered.
In Akio's mind, he didn't particularly care about Yahiko. After all, in the original story, Yahiko wasn't especially important—he only appeared as a deceased figure in Nagato's memories. He wasn't like Konan, a beautiful woman…
But while the person wasn't important, the Witness Points were. With the plot drawing nearer, Akio—though now the strongest shinobi in the world—still had the Great Toad Sage's prophecy on his mind. He wanted to max out all seven chakra natures to Level 9 as soon as possible.
"Sensei, can we bring her along?" Young Nagato still didn't know that the purpose of this trip was precisely to find Konan and Yahiko.
Akio glanced at the girl, whose face still held a wary expression, then nodded. But coaxing little girls was never his strong suit. Even decades ago, he'd been at a complete loss when a crying Izuko clung to him.
So he handed the task to Nagato, letting the boy calm Konan down.
Perhaps it was their similar age, or maybe because Nagato had just saved her—Konan soon lowered her guard.
"Thank you, Uncle."
Her address made Akio freeze. It finally hit him: it had been 23 years since he saved Tobirama. Though he reduced his age by one each year, he now appeared as a 43-year-old man—not quite old enough to be called a grandfather, but certainly a middle-aged "uncle."
"All these years and I never used a Transformation Jutsu to hide my appearance. People must have noticed something was off…" Akio muttered, shaking his head. "No, they definitely noticed."
Still, Akio didn't really care. Back then, he'd hidden things because he lacked the power and didn't want to explain to acquaintances. But now, neither of those concerns applied.
Looking at the girl before him, he shook his head.
"Like Nagato, just call me 'Sensei.' I'll be teaching you ninjutsu from now on."
Konan's face lit up in surprise.
"I can become a ninja too?"
After a brief pause, she quickly added,
"Thank you, Sensei!"
At that moment, a line of characters flashed in front of Akio's eyes—he had gained another 50 Witness Points.
"As expected, taking Konan as a student also yields Witness Points—though not as much as Nagato did. I still need to find Yahiko. Even if he's only worth 20 or 30 points, it's something."
Akio sighed. Poverty had stripped him of all pride…
"Nagato, Konan, let's explore more of the Land of Rain!"
Their party of two became three. With a girl who hadn't begun training yet, their pace slowed considerably.
Still, the Land of Rain wasn't very large—about the same size as the former Land of Whirlpools, just a few dozen square miles. Slightly bigger than the Hidden Leaf, but not by much.
They wandered in circles, exploring every street and alley, but Akio never caught a trace of Yahiko.
"Could it be that he hasn't become an orphan yet? That can't be—at his age, he should be." Akio muttered, leading the two kids toward the one place they hadn't searched yet: the center of the Land of Rain!
"Sensei, that place is where Lord Hanzō lives…" Konan spoke hesitantly.
Nagato was too young when he left to understand such matters, but Konan, who had wandered the Land of Rain for over a year, had heard plenty of stories about Hanzō's fearsome reputation.
Akio waved his hand. "Don't worry. They won't notice us."
He understood full well that Yahiko was unlikely to be there. Still, since he'd come all this way, and only half of his goal had been achieved, he couldn't help feeling a little dissatisfied.
As they approached, the number of guards noticeably increased, and the architecture changed as well.
To cope with the constant rain, the buildings here were tall and narrow, with countless interconnected drainage pipes. Surprisingly, there were even lightning rods installed.
"Interesting. I never noticed this before—Rain Country has lightning rods, but the Land of Lightning doesn't."
As the trio advanced, all the patrolling shinobi ignored them completely.
They circled nearly all of Hanzō's estate. Unsurprisingly, they didn't find Yahiko, but Akio's curiosity was satisfied.
"So Hanzō is a sword collector. Didn't expect that." Akio looked around, then suddenly froze.
"Well, well—what a coincidence, Lord Demi-God!"
At some point, Hanzō had approached and now stood quietly nearby, observing the three of them. Akio had been too engrossed in examining the swords to notice.
"Indeed, quite the coincidence, Akio-senpai. I didn't expect to see you in my home."
Hanzō had actually learned to joke.
Akio blinked, then patted Konan on the shoulder—she looked terrified—and smiled as he shook his head.
"No need to be afraid. Hanzō is a good man."
Even Akio nearly laughed at his own words.
Nagato, on the other hand, showed no fear at all. He curiously studied Hanzō.
"Senpai, are you interested in swords?" Hanzō asked.
Akio nodded shamelessly. "I've used swords before."
"But that's not why I'm here. I just wanted to check if anything unusual had happened to you."
That was his true reason for coming to Hanzō's estate. Since that strange Akatsuki organization kept trying to "correct" the plot, they might set up their base here in the Rain Country again. But so far, he hadn't found any sign of them.
"No need for you to worry about me…" Hanzō replied calmly—though he was probably fuming inside.
Akio chuckled, unfazed.
"In that case, I'll be on my way. Take care, Lord Demi-God. Don't let yourself get killed by some bizarre new enemy."
In his mind, Akio was already estimating the strength of the strange Six Paths of Pain. When Mito had driven them off, she'd expended a considerable amount of chakra, suggesting their power was just below hers. That would make them stronger than Hanzō, but not by an overwhelming margin. As long as Hanzō wasn't careless, he could still escape with his life.
Hanzō clearly didn't take Akio's warning seriously, offering only a perfunctory nod and an expression that practically screamed please leave.
Akio didn't mind. He had only reminded Hanzō in passing—whether the man listened or not didn't really matter.
As he led the two children away, a thought struck him:
"If the plot is being corrected so deliberately, then the Rain Country must still become their headquarters. They just haven't arrived yet. If that's the case, maybe I can use the opportunity later to uncover their true nature?"
"Yahiko should be about 20 years old when he dies in the original timeline. Since he and Nagato are the same age, that should be around Year 49 or 50 of the Hidden Leaf calendar. I'll come back then!"
With thoughts churning in his mind, Akio set off for the Land of Whirlpools with the two children in tow.
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