The system notification that appeared just in time made Akio momentarily suspect that Orochimaru had somehow discovered the system's existence through his blood, but he immediately dismissed the thought.
"Impossible. The system is beyond science, beyond metaphysics… it's practically divine."
Akio had never tried to uncover the origin of the system. To him, it was simply a god's power something to be used, not questioned. And since it wasn't even sentient, that made him feel all the more at ease.
"If it's not the system… then what did he mean by the power of 'fate'?" he murmured, frowning slightly.
He expanded his sensory perception to the maximum, but couldn't detect even a trace of Orochimaru's chakra.
"So he escaped, huh? Dropped a few cryptic words just to mess with his ancestor. You'd better hope I don't run into you again." Akio sighed long and deep. "If only Fat Cat were here, its nose is so sharp…"
That thought froze him.
"Wait, I dumped Fat Cat on Tenten several hours ago… hopefully it hasn't caused any trouble."
He hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. "It should be fine. That girl seemed to like cats. I'll check this lab first, maybe I'll find something useful."
…
At Tenten's house.
Fat Cat sat majestically atop the dining table.
A delicate-looking woman was sweating profusely as she carried over plate after plate of fish, each disappearing into the cat's mouth in one bite.
On the other side, a burly man was rubbing Tenten's small head. "Tenten, where exactly did you find this cat?"
Tenten looked close to tears. "At the shop's front door… a red-haired uncle abandoned it there."
The man frowned, thinking. "Well… maybe that's not so bad. It could be a legendary summoning beast. If you could make a contract with it someday… though, it sure eats a lot."
He glanced at his exhausted wife, concern flickering across his face.
Tenten's voice trembled. "If it doesn't get full, and eats us instead, what do we do? Dad, let's call the shinobi!"
"Meow~ This great one doesn't eat humans."
"Eh? It can talk?!"
…
The next morning, Akio finally emerged from Orochimaru's underground lab.
He hadn't slept a wink, but his face was radiant with energy.
The lab had clearly been abandoned long ago, yet Akio still found one thing, a single document, but one that was exactly what he needed.
It detailed how to use cells taken from elderly bodies to reincarnate someone in the form of their younger self. That could be the key to properly reviving Hashirama and the others later on.
Without this method, they would only live another decade or two after resurrection. As for someone like Mito Nanako, who had died of old age naturally, she might die again the very next day.
"Orochimaru left this for me on purpose, didn't he?"
Akio looked toward the rising sun, feeling oddly satisfied.
"At least the kid knows how to show respect to his ancestor. I won't question that nonsense about the 'power of fate'..." He paused. "No, I have to. It's bothering me."
He grumbled, "Paying respect to your ancestor is what you're supposed to do," and vanished from sight.
Ten minutes later, he reappeared in the Hidden Leaf Village.
Near the Ninja Tools Shop, Akio rubbed his temples, he couldn't sense Fat Cat's chakra anywhere.
"Did it go to Tenten's house, or… the Ninja Academy? Or maybe it's just wandering around on its own?"
"I really should've made a summoning contract with it. Didn't even think of that before. Now I don't have a single summoning beast, pretty unfitting for someone of my standing."
He frowned. "Then again… summoning a fat cat doesn't sound very dignified either."
Still musing over nonsense, he made his way toward the Hokage Building.
"Elder Akio! You've returned!"
Sakumo appeared beside him, having clearly been waiting.
Akio nodded. "Mm. I'll head up now."
In the Hokage's office, both Hiruzen and Jiraiya were present.
The moment Akio entered, Jiraiya tensed. "Sensei, did you find Orochimaru?"
"I did," Akio nodded.
Jiraiya began to relax until Akio added, "Unfortunately, he got away."
Jiraiya froze. "Orochimaru managed to escape… from you?"
Akio arched an eyebrow. "Why? You and Hiruzen together couldn't beat him. But it's surprising he escaped from me?"
Jiraiya opened his mouth, then shut it again, unsure how to respond.
Akio turned to Hiruzen, who had been silent since he arrived. "Well? It's been long enough. Have you decided what kind of explanation you're going to give me?"
Hiruzen smiled bitterly. "That depends on which version of the story you've heard."
Akio pulled out a chair and sat. "I heard you refused to let Minato and Kushina go to aid the Land of Whirlpools, forcing Minato to resign as Hokage."
"That's not true," Hiruzen interrupted immediately.
"Minato resigned of his own accord."
Akio frowned, waiting for him to elaborate.
Hiruzen cleared his throat. "When the Land of Whirlpools was attacked, the entire shinobi world was watching, waiting to see if news of your death was true, and whether Konoha would intervene."
"As soon as the Hidden Cloud mobilized its forces toward the Whirlpools' border, both the Hidden Stone and Hidden Sand went into wartime readiness, waiting for us to commit troops. Once we did, and our defenses weakened, they'd have struck the Land of Fire."
"As Hokage, Minato knew that. But he also couldn't abandon the Whirlpools."
"So he came to me and said: 'Because of my choice, Konoha will lose its peace and be plunged back into war. Therefore, I'll step down as Hokage by my own will.'"
Akio frowned deeper. "That decision itself isn't wrong. If Konoha didn't assist, the Whirlpools' fall would have led to a four-nation siege anyway. So why resign?"
Hiruzen sighed. "Elder Akio, the Whirlpools were strong enough to fend off two nations at once, though with heavy losses. As Hokage, the most rational choice… was to wait and see."
Akio's expression darkened. "So you're admitting it. If it were you, you'd have done the same."
Hiruzen smiled bitterly, avoiding the question. "The Hokage's foremost duty is to protect the Leaf."
"Old man…" Jiraiya finally lifted his head, his tone a mix of disappointment and frustration.
"So what happened after?" Akio asked. "The Whirlpools' crisis was resolved, then what made Kushina refuse to let Minato return?"
Hiruzen hesitated, then sighed. "That… has to do with their son, Uzumaki Naruto."
"Wait, wait, Uzumaki Naruto? Why not Namikaze Naruto?" Akio cut in, confused.
Hiruzen blinked and exchanged glances with Jiraiya.
Jiraiya muttered awkwardly, "Elder Akio… I'm not a Namikaze either."
"I know you're not wait, huh?"
"Minato was a commoner… an orphan. He never had a clan name. 'Namikaze Minato' isn't surname and given name, it's just his full name."
Akio stared blankly.
"Well, that's… something new I've learned today."
---
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