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At the gates of Konoha, Akio greeted the two gatekeepers and walked into the village.
Originally, he had planned to remain in the Land of Whirlpools, peacefully training his disciples. However, a letter from Hiruzen had drawn him back. According to the letter, Konoha was preparing for the third expansion of its Ninjutsu Archive.
The first expansion occurred during the village's founding, when each clan contributed their jutsu—excluding their secret techniques—to form the foundation of Konoha's Ninjutsu Archive.
The second took place after the end of the First Great Ninja War, under Tobirama's direction. Besides supplementing the archive with several newly developed jutsu, Tobirama also gathered a great number of secret techniques, which were compiled into the Scroll of Seals. At the time, Akio had been secluded within the Uzumaki clan, focusing on his training, and didn't participate.
"They're already preparing a third expansion? I guess the Second War yielded quite a haul of new jutsu," Akio murmured to himself.
He had come alone, without his two newly accepted disciples. Konan was still working through the basics of shinobi training—it had only been about three months since she began.
He had no intention of visiting the Senju compound this time and headed straight for the Hokage's office—without sneaking in as he often did.
"Elder Akio, you've arrived," Hiruzen greeted him at the door.
Akio nodded and glanced inside. "Where are the others?" He was referring to the other three elders.
"They've already gone to the various clans to collect jutsu," Hiruzen replied.
"The clans?" Akio frowned. Tobirama had supposedly already collected all the jutsu from the clans.
"Yes. Many new techniques were seized as spoils of war during the recent conflict. They're considered each clan's rightful winnings," Hiruzen explained, surprising Akio.
"Back during Tobirama's time, the spoils of war were distributed centrally. What's with this system?" Akio thought for a moment. He figured Hiruzen had probably done this deliberately. Giving each clan the incentive to contribute more would only make them work harder.
"So, let them fight over the spoils first, then reclaim them later in the form of jutsu contributions. Everything else gets redistributed. Hiruzen's getting crafty… or maybe this is Danzo's idea?" Akio wondered silently, but didn't ask further—it didn't concern him directly.
Inside the office, Akio's gaze fell on a thick book lying on the Hokage's desk.
"The Ninjutsu Encyclopedia?" Akio raised a brow. He hadn't heard of such a thing before. Flipping it open, he found, "It's just a catalog of jutsu names—but still, quite a number."
The book didn't contain any specific training instructions—just a list of names—but it was thick.
Back when Hashirama first collected jutsu from the clans during the village's founding, Akio hadn't been involved much. After all, he already knew over 200 jutsu at the time—and by now, even more. The Uzumaki clan's jutsu collection was also extensive.
"202 Fire Style, 94 Lightning Style, 175 Earth Style, Wind Style… 207? Where did all these come from?" Akio frowned. Fire Style was understandable—the Uchiha had countless Fire Release techniques. But many of these Wind Release jutsu were unfamiliar to him.
"What the heck is this… Spiral Chain Sphere?" He couldn't help but cringe at the proliferation of "sphere-based" techniques.
Hiruzen chuckled. "Those are techniques I developed based on your Rasengan."
"I thought it was Danzo's handiwork," Akio muttered. Hiruzen was acting like Naruto in the original story—if one Rasengan wasn't enough, just throw two. The thought made him uncomfortable.
"Water Style… only 42?" Akio was surprised.
"Why so few? I recall Tobirama developing a great number of Water Style techniques."
Hiruzen gave a bitter smile. "Most of Tobirama-sensei's Water Release techniques were compiled into the Scroll of Seals. Ordinary techniques weren't many."
Akio nodded, letting the issue drop, and read the catalog from beginning to end once more.
"Looks like nearly half of these are jutsu I don't know. I underestimated the clans," he admitted. He had thought that over the past century, he had already mastered most known techniques.
Looking toward Hiruzen, Akio asked, "When I leave, I'll be taking a copy of all the ordinary techniques, excluding secret ones. That's fine, right?"
He hadn't asked for secret techniques—they were mostly useless to him, and too difficult for others to master.
Hiruzen nodded quickly. "No problem. But I hope you'll contribute as well. We're aiming to gather over a thousand jutsu in this expansion."
"A thousand?" Akio frowned. "Why so few? In the original story, didn't they say Kakashi copied over a thousand jutsu? That was probably an exaggeration, huh?"
Akio didn't wait for an answer and returned to flipping through the encyclopedia while Hiruzen stood by, nervously waiting.
After nearly half an hour, Akio let out a deep breath. "So there are 720 now? You could've just written the total. I had to count them all."
Hiruzen gave a wry smile—he had almost thought Akio was going to refuse.
"Missing… yeah, 280 more. I can probably contribute a dozen or so Water Style techniques—ones I acquired in the Land of Water."
Hiruzen hesitated. "There's also the advanced Rasengan-based techniques you developed… and those unique Lightning Release techniques used by your disciple, Uzumaki Seitō…"
Akio paused, giving Hiruzen a long, meaningful look. No wonder the Hokage had been so eager to summon him—the man was eyeing his exclusive jutsu.
"You can have the Chidori and its derivatives. Like the Rasengan, they're foundational for more advanced techniques. But the actual advanced jutsu—those are S-rank secrets. You expect me to trade them for a few common jutsu?" Akio looked at Hiruzen with a half-smile.
Hiruzen clenched his teeth. "Aside from each clan's secret techniques, you may take a copy of everything in the Scroll of Seals."
Akio waved him off. "I've already read the entire Scroll of Seals. I know how to train in just about everything in it."
That book, created by Hashirama and supplemented by Tobirama, was something Akio couldn't possibly have missed. He had memorized all of Tobirama's forbidden techniques and various Wood Release jutsu. If not for the fact that his affinity never showed a space-time attribute, he would've mastered the Flying Thunder God by now.
Hiruzen frowned, racking his brain for something else to offer in exchange.
"I've developed quite a few new jutsu myself in recent years—probably around a hundred or so. You may have them all if you wish."
Akio was surprised. A hundred new jutsu? That was a bit of a stretch. The current catalog only listed 720 techniques—many of which were the accumulated wisdom of generations.
"No wonder they call Hiruzen the 'Professor of Ninjutsu,'" Akio thought, intrigued, and began "trading" with Hiruzen.
Most of Hiruzen's creations weren't completely original—just modifications or fusions of older techniques. Still, they gave Akio new inspiration.
"I might not need these myself, but if Nagato can't master Dust Release, I could pass some of these on to him."
In the end, Akio handed over the Chidori series of techniques. He wasn't reluctant to give up Rasenshuriken—it was just that, aside from Sage Mode users like Tsunade and Jiraiya, no one in Konoha could train in it anyway.
Finally, with the combined efforts of the three elders' collections, the total number of jutsu just barely reached a thousand.
Thus, Konoha's third Ninjutsu Archive expansion was completed.
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