"Any discoveries?"
After exiting the basement, Sakumo quietly asked.
As a longtime teammate, he could tell from Akaba's small gestures that this guy definitely found something.
"Let's talk further away."
Akaba didn't answer directly, following Sakumo back to their squad tent.
Nightdance and Shinku had gone on patrol and weren't inside the tent—the only one present was Shishio.
Once seated inside the tent, he considered for a moment before deciding to reveal part of what he'd learned: "Based on my speculation, Chiyo might not know her son went to the Front Lines. This was Kazekage's own decision."
Shishio paused after hearing this, immediately understanding that it must have come from examining the body. He thought for a moment, inspiration flashing in his mind—he instantly understood Akaba's intention.
Sakumo caught on equally quickly.
Nagare's actions were controlled by Madara; previously there was no evidence, but now Chiyo's son represented significant evidential value—provided Konoha could use it properly.
[Impure World Reincarnation!]
Sakumo and Shishio exchanged knowing glances, fully grasping Akaba's meaning.
They looked at each other, then Sakumo voiced the question: "Do you need help from our side?"
"Just be careful yourselves. Also, let Yamanaka Senior know he should watch out for Black Zetsu."
There was no need to whisper about these matters.
Having said that, Akaba pulled out three or four manga volumes from his pocket—one being today's latest Naruto Shippuden update, while the others were recent One Piece releases.
Since they had nothing for entertainment out here, he brought along some comics for them.
They both lit up with genuine excitement.
Manga were like treasure out there on the Front Lines—a rare way to kill time. Of course, both understood the principle of prioritizing missions. They'd never let vigilance drop or neglect duties just because of some comics.
Besides, Sunagakure Village would surely seek revenge. To keep their safety secure, Yamanaka Kazuhiko had no plans to send them on too many missions lately, so during this period, they might be relatively free.
Not wanting to bother Akaba anymore, they each grabbed a comic and started reading—Sakumo went for One Piece, while Shishio jumped straight into the new Naruto Shippuden.
Actually, Shishio wasn't all that into Naruto itself—he just wanted to see what happened next with Kakashi's story.
Too bad Kakashi didn't show up at all in today's issue.
It focused mainly on the fight between Naruto and Pain, with a brief cameo from the Fourth Hokage.
As for Pain's portion, it didn't really move Shishio much.
He saw himself as just another rank-and-file ninja, someone who followed superior orders without question. Whether peace existed within the Ninja World wasn't something he could decide—including this incident where he killed Chiyo's child.
The mission was assigned like that, could he possibly make such decisions himself?
Therefore, Shishio remained quite philosophical—on the battlefield, you either kill or get killed. It could easily be your turn one day.
Sakumo had accumulated many unread volumes, and devouring them all the way through Judicial Island's mid-section created a tremendous sense of satisfaction.
What interested him most was Storm Legs.
Kaku (from One Piece) developed an unconventional multi-blade style based on Storm Legs, which gave Sakumo a lot of inspiration.
By the time they finished both volumes, Akaba's chakra had also mostly recovered.
He needed to inform the Third about [Impure World Reincarnation], so he didn't linger at the Front Lines any longer. After saying goodbye to Sakumo and Shishio, he immediately returned to Konoha using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
To ensure the summoned body remained intact, he consumed a significant amount of chakra. Therefore, after returning to Konoha, he was once again low on chakra.
No matter how much chakra they had, it was never enough.
Although under different circumstances, at this moment, Akaba truly understood how difficult things were for Kakashi.
The moment he returned to Konoha, he brought the summoned body to Anbu while explaining his idea—using [Impure World Reincarnation] to force Chiyo's son to reveal everything that happened back then.
Even though they couldn't avoid the issue of Sakumo killing her son, at least the truth needed to be revealed to Chiyo and the others.
Whether they'd choose to fight until both sides fell apart, waiting for Madara to take over the Sand Village, or use Konoha's strength to find a way to resolve the problem of the Kazekage being manipulated—that choice now lay with Chiyo and Ebizo.
Konoha doesn't provoke trouble, but also isn't afraid when trouble comes.
Danzo said he would discuss it with the Third. He wasn't unaware of Akaba subtly shifting responsibility, but currently, [Impure World Reincarnation] was their only breakthrough.
If this was an official matter, there was no need to hide anything from the Third.
Hiruzen Sarutobi could sometimes be overly cautious in certain matters, but Danzo didn't believe that during a crisis, the Third would still refuse to employ [Impure World Reincarnation] over trivialities.
After handing everything over, Akaba returned to his private chamber to recover his chakra.
Due to excessive chakra consumption, the shadow clone he left in the manga room had already dissipated, and now without chakra reserves, he had to wait until some recovered before releasing new multiple shadow clones.
After gobbling down a massive meal, Akaba's physical energy quickly replenished. He rested briefly afterward and barely managed to gather enough chakra to sustain three shadow clones for one or two hours.
Then, he collapsed into sleep.
Sleep was the best way to restore mental energy—it wasn't like he was just craving an afternoon nap or anything.
He didn't wake up until the evening came rolling in.
He slept comfortably, but another problem arose—the shadow clones automatically dispersed due to insufficient chakra before even two hours passed.
The time was too short. In One Piece, that might cover five scenes, but in Naruto, only two.
It wasn't the clones' fault; if Akaba worked alone, considering the chaotic battles involved, he might complete only one scene in an hour. After all, these parts involved chaotic battles requiring far more lines than usual.
Should he make up for it?
Akaba hesitated for a second before deciding to put it off for today.
Because recent events overwhelmed him—he needed a plan regarding Chiyo's son, plus Danzo surely had another countermeasure needing his cooperation. These next two days wouldn't offer much time for drawing.
Exactly as expected.
The next day, before Akaba woke up, an Anbu ninja waited downstairs while Sakuma Saiki entered his room, pulling Akaba out of bed.
This wasn't quite dawn yet, but normally Akaba would have slept another couple of hours.
When they arrived at the Anbu headquarters,
Danzo explained his idea to Akaba: he hoped Akaba could ask the Yumekuma whether a secret meeting through dreams was possible.
Dreams and genjutsu offered the most discreet way to communicate—but only if the Yumekuma could pull it off.
Akaba wasn't sure.
His most frequently used companion was a lazybones just like himself. The improvement only started after he gave him a proper kick in the tail.
The powerful members of the Yumekuma clan
Dared to provoke sages from the Three Sacred Lands, they must possess remarkable abilities.
So Akaba summoned Little Yumekuma and talked things over with him before finally asking, "If I use my genjutsu, can a few Yumekumas team up and pull everyone into a shared dream?"
"I'm not sure either. I'll go ask first."
Of course, Little Yumekuma had no idea whether it would work. After hearing this, he immediately rushed back to the clan compound out of fear to report. A moment later, Akaba performed summoning again, and Zhi Meng reappeared.
Looking around, Zhi Meng said, "This place might not be very convenient, but no worries, let's talk inside the dream."
After saying that, Zhi Meng used his [Dream-walking] technique to pull Akaba into a created dream. Then, seeing the indescribable expression on his face, sitting in darkness was Danzo. It hesitated for a moment, sucked it up, and dragged Danzo into the dream too.
"You must be Akaba. No wonder Zhi Meng wouldn't let us respond to summonings!"
"What exquisite spiritual energy."
As soon as Akaba entered, he saw two huge illusions appear before his eyes. He knew these two must be experts from the Yumekuma clan.
The two experts had barely finished praising him before they followed up in surprise: "Huh? There's another one? Puh."
In the next second, their transformed forms distorted somewhat. In Akaba's view, they gave off an impression of "soul scattering."
Right after that, Danzo showed up inside the dream.
"Hmm, it's you. You're Danzo Shimura, right? This flavor leaves a deep impression."
One expert finally stabilized its form.
This meant its connection with the dream had been reestablished.
Compared to Akaba's spiritual energy, which was like a top-tier delicacy, Danzo's… well, to put it bluntly, left a really bad taste in the mouth.
"That's correct."
Danzo remained expressionless. He certainly understood those Yumekumas were disgusted by him; otherwise, there wouldn't have been such a stark difference in treatment between Akaba and himself.
"Your request is for us to collaborate and create a massive illusion, pulling people from distant countries into dreams for a dream meeting. This is difficult — it requires enormous spiritual energy to maintain."
One Yumekuma expert spoke up.
Difficult, but not impossible.
Akaba pondered for a while. Their biggest problem mentioned was spiritual energy, which actually could be solved by Konoha's side.
However, for the Yumekuma, taste-wise, they couldn't really be picky anymore.
Without hesitation, Danzo immediately said, "If you don't mind, our Konoha has plenty of personnel available to supply spiritual energy."
"Erm... Well, preferably use equipment to filter it if possible. If not, directly supplying spiritual energy works too — but Akaba, you will need to contribute two days' worth of spiritual energy afterward."
???
Why did the conditions end up involving me? Two days' worth of spiritual energy? Are you guys joking?
"Fine, we agree."
Before Akaba could say anything, Danzo accepted the proposal instantly without even a second's delay.
Thus, the dream ended.
Akaba almost wanted to shout a curse.
Although the two days of spiritual energy mentioned by the Yumekuma would certainly leave him some minimal reserve, he estimated it would barely prevent him from collapsing unconscious.
Chakra comes from combining bodily and spiritual energy. Without spiritual energy, it's naturally impossible to extract chakra.
Two days after the ritual, he was just dead weight.
"What's with that face? Great, just catch some Z's for two days. Lazy naps all day long—didn't you always love that?"
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>