Akio took quite some time to collect his thoughts after that revelation.
"So that's how it is… Makes sense. Killer B isn't really 'Killer' B either, huh? Still why is Minato's name four syllables long? Did the orphanage director get inspired and just… add an extra character because it looked good?"
He chuckled softly.
"Uzumaki Naruto, huh? That's better. It feels right…"
He leaned forward.
"Alright, keep going. What happened next? Did Danzō make his move?"
Hiruzen gave a wry smile.
"Danzō secretly sent people to approach Naruto, hoping to convince him to stay in Konoha."
Akio frowned.
"For the Nine-Tails? But Naruto was only three and a half years old then, did Danzō really think a child that age could decide where to live?"
Hiruzen sighed.
"At that time, both Minato and Kushina were hesitant about whether Naruto should remain in Konoha. They were preparing to head to the battlefield and couldn't care for him themselves. They couldn't decide whether to entrust him to the Daimyō of Uzushiogakure or to Uchiha Mikoto. After all, Konoha was the place Naruto was familiar with and at Mikoto's house, he also had his childhood playmate, Senju… Akio."
Akio nodded silently. He already had a suspicion: Kushina must have discovered Danzō's interference, leading to the chain of events that followed.
"So, Naruto stayed in Konoha?"
"That's right," Hiruzen said.
Akio blinked, stunned for a moment. He'd guessed wrong and judging by the smug look on Hiruzen's face, it felt like the old man was teasing him.
"Naruto stayed in Konoha?" he repeated incredulously.
Hiruzen nodded.
"The person Danzō sent was just another child, simply keeping Naruto company, no tricks. I allowed it, because I believed Naruto staying in Konoha would maintain the alliance with the Uzumaki clan. Once the war ended, Minato could return and continue as Hokage."
Akio shot him a look.
"Keep talking."
He wasn't going to guess again.
"Naruto stayed in Konoha, and Minato and Kushina went to Uzushiogakure. But Danzō had another plan."
Hiruzen's tone turned heavy.
"The child Danzō sent kept praising Konoha to Naruto, constantly talking about its virtues. At first, I didn't think much of it…"
Akio's brows knit.
"Praising Konoha? To make Naruto develop an attachment, a kind of psychological conditioning?"
Hiruzen's eyes widened.
"You knew? At that time, I didn't even understand what 'psychological conditioning' was. Since no genjutsu was involved, I thought it harmless."
Akio twitched his mouth.
Danzō, that sly bastard… He couldn't use genjutsu without getting caught, so he resorted to verbal brainwashing.
No wonder he had so many die-hard followers in the original timeline. If he'd lived in modern times, he'd be running a pyramid scheme.
"So, what happened next?"
Hiruzen sighed.
"Eventually, Danzō's methods were exposed by a certain prodigy of the Senju clan."
"Itachi? He's already?"
"A jōnin. Only ten years old," Hiruzen said.
Akio nodded without surprise.
"Itachi came to me and said Naruto was being subjected to subtle psychological manipulation. I doubted him, but then he explained, when a child spends too much time with someone, even their facial features start to subtly resemble that person. And if that same child keeps hearing about how wonderful Konoha is…"
Akio choked mid-sip of tea, coughing violently.
"Damn it, my own tricks, uncovered by a kid… how embarrassing."
Hiruzen smiled bitterly.
"I wasn't entirely convinced, but I asked Nawaki to lead a team of Senju to protect Naruto in Uzushiogakure. When Danzō tried to stop that, I knew something was wrong."
Akio exhaled slowly.
"So that's how it was. At least things didn't turn out as bad as I feared. If Konoha had truly refused to help Uzushiogakure, I'd have been utterly ashamed… Still, thinking about it, Kagami and Hiashi aren't the kind of men who'd allow that either."
He muttered to himself, then looked up.
"Jiraiya, everything Hiruzen said true?"
Jiraiya scratched his head.
"I wanted to go to Uzushiogakure with Minato to help, but he stopped me. I don't know about the rest, I was already deployed to the frontlines."
Sakumo suddenly appeared in the room.
"Elder Akio, the Third Hokage is telling the truth."
Akio relaxed slightly; he trusted Jiraiya and Sakumo's words.
"No wonder Naruto's always wanted to come back to Konoha. Maybe that's part of the reason, huh? I never even noticed…"
He sighed, shaking his head.
"Danzō's handiwork, as usual. Though I'll admit, his methods are gentler than I expected. Probably because Uzushiogakure was too powerful by then; if he'd pushed too hard and gotten caught, it would've backfired and cost Konoha dearly."
Hiruzen hesitated.
"Elder Akio, could you perhaps speak to Kushina for me? She's been… rather angry with me over this."
Akio paused.
"Good. She should be angry. You really thought you could talk your way out of this? Don't think I haven't noticed, your so-called 'Will of Fire' speeches are basically a form of mass psychological conditioning. And you claim you didn't recognize what Danzō was doing?"
"You probably approved of it until things blew up in your face. Then you scrambled to fix it, sent the Senju to assist, and pretended it was all under control. You think you can fool me?"
Jiraiya blinked.
"Wait, you serious, old man?"
Hiruzen gave a helpless smile and sighed.
"You're right."
Akio waved him off.
"At least you weren't completely blind. You realized your mistake and fixed it barely. But as for Kushina, that's on you. Ask her forgiveness yourself. I'll deal with you later. For now, I'm going to beat the crap out of Danzō!"
He turned to leave, then froze mid-step and scratched his head.
"By the way, any of you seen a particularly fat white cat?"
The three men exchanged glances.
Sakumo frowned.
"Fat?"
Akio nodded.
"Yeah, maybe thirty jin or so."
Sakumo's mouth twitched. What kind of cat grows that big? Even Elder Akio's pets are abnormal.
Just then, an ANBU operative appeared with a flicker.
"Lord Hokage! There's chaos at the Academy, someone's stolen all the first-year students' lunches!"
"Lunches?" Hiruzen blinked. "Understood. Calm everyone down and investigate, I'll be right there."
"Yes, sir!"
Akio suddenly felt a chill.
"That fat cat I mentioned earlier… was just a joke. There's no way it could've been that fat."
He turned toward the door.
"Danzō's still stationed near Kumogakure, right? Perfect. I'll start by flattening him!"
With that, Akio's figure vanished in a flash
leaving the three others staring wordlessly at the empty space he'd just occupied.
---
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