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Three Years Later
"Sensei, do you think my monkey mask is cute?"
Akio stared blankly as Izuko held up a monkey mask against her face.
Perhaps it was due to the prolonged peace within the clan, but the number of children had significantly increased in recent years. Somehow, masks had become a popular trend among them, leading to the first-ever Mask Festival being held today.
"Sensei…" Izuko pouted, dissatisfied that Akio had spaced out.
"Oh, it looks nice… very nice," Akio responded absentmindedly before regaining his focus. "Where are the other two?"
"Jitou is still training. I called him, but he refused to come," Izuko grumbled, crossing her arms. "Nanako-neechan is still picking out a mask too..."
Akio nodded in understanding.
Among his three students, Jitou was the one he was most satisfied with. Perhaps it was his self-imposed training regimen, or maybe his natural talent in taijutsu was just that exceptional. Despite being only eleven, Jitou had already reached the level of a Jōnin in hand-to-hand combat. There were times when Akio sparred with him and had to take things seriously to avoid embarrassing himself.
It even made Akio consider adopting a similar training method, but he ultimately gave up on the idea. Jitou seemed to be heading in the same direction as Guy and Lee…
As for Izuko, at nine years old, she hadn't changed much from three years ago. She still acted like a child, sometimes so spoiled that Akio felt like he was raising a daughter. However, her talent for ninjutsu was frighteningly high. Not only had her hand-sign speed caught up to Akio's, but she had also mastered every B-rank or lower Wind and Fire Release technique he had taught her. Akio planned to introduce her to the Rasengan series soon. Once she grew older and her chakra reserves expanded, she would essentially become a living ninjutsu turret.
And the last student…
"Sensei, I'm here! Check out my mask! Doesn't it look cool?" Just as Akio was thinking about her, Nanako's voice rang out.
Akio sighed and looked up. Over the past few years, Nanako had completely integrated into their group, revealing her true nature. While she usually maintained a refined and well-mannered demeanor, she occasionally showed a bold and fiery side. Akio even suspected she might have a split personality like Sakura.
One look at her choice of mask confirmed it—what kind of girl would choose a Shinigami mask?
Wait… a Shinigami mask?
Akio's expression changed as he carefully examined Nanako's mask. "Nanako, that mask looks interesting. Let me see it."
"Sensei, you didn't even look at my mask!" Izuko protested.
Ignoring her, Akio took the mask from Nanako and inspected it closely. After a moment, he exhaled slightly in relief.
"Just a similar design, huh?" he murmured, finding nothing unusual about the mask. "But why Nanako?"
He couldn't help but feel uneasy. Over the past three years, Nanako had progressed rapidly in her study of sealing techniques. If she ever managed to develop the Dead Demon Consuming Seal in the future, Akio wouldn't be surprised.
"I should keep an eye on this…" he muttered before handing the mask back to Nanako and turning to Izuko, whose pout had reached the point where she could balance a bottle on it.
"Izuko, let me see your monkey mask."
Taking the mask from her, Akio examined it briefly before putting it on.
"Sensei, you really look like a monkey!" Izuko giggled.
Akio's face darkened, and he quickly handed the mask back.
"I… I must be a comic relief character sent by the Monkey Clan..."
Not caring whether his students understood the joke, he continued, "Alright, let's go check out the Mask Festival."
As Akio led his students through the clan's marketplace, he noticed that all the usual goods had been replaced with masks for the festival.
Animal masks, character masks… and Shinigami masks.
Akio wasn't interested in the animal masks—those were for children. As for the character masks…
"What the—?! Why is there a mask modeled after me? And why does it look so ridiculous?"
Akio stared in shock at the mask vendor before his face darkened.
"Wait… isn't this Uzumaki Masahiro, the former second elder of our clan? I thought you retired. Since when did you start selling masks?"
The vendor, none other than Uzumaki Masahiro, chuckled. "Akio, my boy, I've had a lot of free time these past years, so I made a few masks. My grandson didn't like them, so I decided to sell them instead."
"Your grandson? He doesn't like masks? All the kids love them!" Akio asked, puzzled.
"He's eleven… and all he ever does is train." Masahiro paused before adding with a grin, "My grandson is Jitou, actually."
Akio's face twitched. "Wait, you entrusted me with training your grandson?! We had a bit of history, didn't we?"
"That was almost fifty years ago. I let go of our past grievances long ago, and I'm sure you have too. After the battle against Kaguya, I knew you were the best possible teacher for Jitou."
"I let go of the past," Akio admitted, "but now we have a new grievance—you violated my image rights."
"My what?"
"Image rights!" Akio pointed at the mask before shaking his head and turning away. "Let's go, kids."
"Sensei, wait!" Nanako called out.
Ten minutes later, Akio stood speechless as Nanako proudly wore a "Akio mask."
"Sigh… These clanspeople really lack legal awareness. When Hashirama establishes Konoha, I need to remind him to strengthen the villagers' understanding of the law…" Akio muttered nonsense that no one understood.
"Sensei, that's the shop where I bought my mask!" Nanako's excited voice snapped Akio back to reality.
Looking ahead, Akio saw various Shinigami masks on display.
As they approached the stall, the vendor greeted them enthusiastically. "Welcome, Lord Akio! What can I help you with?" He paused when he saw Nanako. "Oh, little miss, are you looking for another Shinigami mask? You picked an excellent one last time—it was the only unique design of its kind."
Nanako beamed at the compliment and stepped forward, but Akio stopped her.
"Only one? A unique design? Why was that mask the only one of its kind?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Uh… actually, I didn't make that mask," the vendor admitted sheepishly. "All the others here are my creations, but that one… I found it among my family's old belongings. It still looked new, so I put it up for sale. If it turns out to be an heirloom, I might have made a huge mistake…"
"Speaking of my ancestors, they were quite prominent figures in the Land of Fire…"
"Alright, I get it," Akio interrupted, not interested in a lengthy history lesson. "Izuko, Nanako, let's go home."
"Who knows… that mask might really have belonged to someone important…"
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