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Ever since Tsunade was born, Akio would often wander the streets of Konoha, blending in with the crowd of housewives buying groceries, trying to gather news on which family had a newborn.
In his memory, Orochimaru and Jiraiya seemed slightly younger than Tsunade, though the three were born in the same year.
Orochimaru was the easiest to find. Surprisingly, his parents were both civilian shinobi who had enrolled in the very first class of the newly established Konoha Ninja Academy. Akio had even seen them back when they were children, though he hadn't realized at the time that they would become Orochimaru's parents.
"The early establishment of the Konoha Academy… ended up making Orochimaru's parents classmates with Hiruzen and the others. I wonder what kind of impact that might have…" Akio muttered to himself, feeling vaguely like he had caused some major butterfly effect by founding the academy ahead of schedule.
He didn't alert them—just observed baby Orochimaru from a distance before quietly leaving, continuing his journey to search for Jiraiya.
There was no real way to approach Orochimaru's parents anyway. What was he supposed to say? "I came to visit the future great scientist Uncle Snake"?
He'd definitely be seen as mentally unstable…
What he didn't know was that Orochimaru's parents—who had already suffered greatly from the torture of music classes during their academy years—already thought of Akio as a lunatic.
Finding baby Jiraiya, on the other hand, proved incredibly difficult. Even by mid-year of Konoha Year 11, Akio hadn't heard of any child named Jiraiya.
"My dear Toad Sage… don't tell me I accidentally erased you from existence…" Akio sighed.
"I remember Jiraiya being an orphan… Could he be one from outside the village?" That was the only plausible explanation Akio could come up with.
"Speaking of which, shouldn't Konoha have an orphanage by now?"
But just a few days later, Akio tossed that thought aside when news arrived: the Senju clan was holding a birthday banquet to celebrate Tsunade turning one.
"There's such a thing in the ninja world?" Akio's face twitched. He had never heard of it before.
After asking around, he learned that birthday banquets like these were usually held only by the nobility of the Land of Fire. Their purpose? To collect gifts.
"But even Hashirama and Tobirama agreed to hold this kind of event? Isn't this just asking other ninja clans for gifts? Has the Hokage also learned how to be corrupt…" Akio shook his head in exaggerated heartbreak.
The gift Akio prepared for Tsunade wasn't complicated—he took the opportunity to hand over the Slug Summoning Contract. Hashirama would likely give her that necklace, and as for Tobirama…
Akio honestly had no idea what Tobirama might give.
Sure enough, on August 2nd, at Tsunade's first birthday banquet, various ninja clans sent representatives to offer their congratulations and gifts. However…
"Saru, what do you mean by giving her a stick? Are you trying to turn my dear Tsunade into a monkey?" Hashirama growled as he choked his student Hiruzen by the neck.
Hiruzen could only force a wry smile and apologize.
Akio twitched at the scene, but was quickly distracted by the sound of baby Tsunade crying.
Taking a few steps forward, Akio sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Aburame clan, is giving her a special insect really a good idea?"
Still… Tsunade really hadn't changed much—she was scared of bugs even as a baby!
Akio scanned the area and caught sight of Kenji's helpless and bewildered expression. He nearly burst out laughing.
"A birthday banquet…" Akio shook his head. "Kenji, you're turning the Senju clan into an armory."
What could ninjas give as gifts, after all? It's not like they could present gold and jewels like the nobility of the Land of Fire. So, on the gift table, there was a mountain of weapons—kunai, shuriken, swords, blades… There was even a box of explosive tags, which Kenji hurriedly removed.
The more thoughtful gifts included a batch of special soldier pills from the Akimichi clan and a beautiful pair of antlers from the Nara family.
"My gift is still the best…" Akio nodded proudly as he handed the Slug Summoning Contract to Koari.
Kaori glanced at it casually and placed it on the table, leaving Akio's expression darkened.
"Miscalculation. Kaori's not a ninja—she doesn't recognize its value… I should've given it to Kenji."
Meanwhile, Hashirama had let go of Sarutobi Hiruzen and was now comforting the crying Tsunade.
But the item he used to cheer her up made Akio's face darken even more. Wasn't that Hashirama's ever-present dice cup?
Shockingly, Tsunade stopped crying. She clutched the dice cup in her little hands, shook it a few times, and broke into a smile, making Akio shake his head.
"A born gambler…"
"Thank you, Grandpa!" came a crisp little voice, leaving Akio momentarily dazed.
"Oh right… a one-year-old Tsunade should be able to talk. How could I forget?"
Akio quickly stepped forward, eager to hear Tsunade call him "Great-Grandfather."
He nudged Hashirama aside and asked, "Little Tsunade, do you know what to call me?"
Tsunade paused for a moment before softly saying, "Old Ancestor."
"What the hell?" Akio muttered. "It's Great-Grandfather!"
"Great-Grandpa, should she really call you that? I mean, I don't even know what to call the grandfather of my grandfather… So we figured 'Old Ancestor' would be best," said Kenji, who had somehow appeared beside them.
Akio was about to make fun of him for being uneducated, but then he paused. "In the chaotic Warring States Era, there probably was never a time with five living generations in one household…"
Hashirama seemed to have thought of the same thing and smiled. "Tsunade, remember—your grandfather's grandfather is called Great-Grandfather. You'll be using that term a lot more in the future!"
Little Tsunade nodded in confusion, while Akio started to worry.
"If we end up with a sixth generation… what would they call me? Would it really be 'Old Ancestor'…" Akio genuinely didn't know. Even in his previous life, six generations living together was virtually unheard of.
"Wait a second… what would Naruto call me?"
While Akio was still lost in thought, someone tapped his shoulder. It was Tobirama, who had finally arrived.
"Well, well, the Hokage himself, arriving late to his grandniece's birthday banquet. What'd you bring her?" Akio asked with a grin.
Tobirama sighed helplessly and silently held up a specially crafted Flying Thunder God kunai.
Akio nodded slightly. That was actually a pretty decent gift. He was about to say more when Hashirama suddenly announced the banquet had begun.
Representatives from all the clans began taking their seats. Akio shook his head and said no more—it was time to eat.
The banquet dishes laid out on the tables were truly luxurious—almost on par with the feast Akio had once enjoyed at the daimyo's estate. The Senju had really gone all out for Tsunade's birthday.
This time, Akio didn't immediately start eating. Instead, he glanced at the gift table with a smile. A mountain of kunai and shuriken had piled up, with only a few slightly special gifts that weren't even particularly expensive. Ninja really didn't know how to give presents…
"Honestly… if it weren't for my summoning scroll, the Senju would've taken a huge loss this time."
"I really am a generous person…"
Akio nodded in satisfaction—and dug in!
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