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At the entrance to the Uzumaki compound.
Akio stood with his head lowered in contemplation, hesitating to enter. He wasn't sure how to face Izuko.
After a long silence, Akio gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind. Just as he was about to step forward, a shadow suddenly lood over him.
A vaguely familiar figure crashed straight into him, knocking him over. Akio couldn't help but feel like he was having a streak of bad luck.
Not long ago, he'd been hit in the head by Kagami Uchiha. Now soone had knocked him to the ground again.
"Walking backwards…" Akio sighed without even looking up. "Besides that idiot student of mine, no one else could manage sothing so ridiculous…"
Sure enough, a familiar voice rang out—Jitou's.
"Grandpa! Are you okay?"
Akio sighed and reached out his hand for support. After opening the Eight Gates for too long, he was still dealing with the aftereffects. Or maybe, at his age, he was just getting lazy—he really didn't feel like picking himself up.
But halfway through helping him up, Jitou suddenly let go.
Akio fell with a thud—again.
He glared at him, only to see Jitou covering his face with both hands.
"Waaah… I'm sorry, Grandpa! You look so much like my late teacher! I got emotional… And when you glared just now, you looked even more like him!"
Akio was speechless. At a loss for words, he simply sat on the ground and watched his student grieve.
Ten full minutes passed before Jitou finally stopped crying. Noticing that Akio was still sitting there, he rubbed his face sheepishly and helped him up.
As Akio stood, before he could say anything, Jitou suddenly shouted toward the Uzumaki compound, "Izuko! Co quick! There's an old man out here who looks just like sensei!"
Akio's face darkened. Uzumaki clansn rushed out en masse, forming a curious crowd.
"He really does look like the Grand Elder…"
"Just older, maybe."
...
Hearing the commotion, Izuko erged from the compound. When she saw Akio, she rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
Then, with clenched fists and a fierce aura, she marched toward him.
Akio's heart sank. So she's angry with after all…
But instead of hitting him, Izuko turned and punched Jitou square in the face, sending her flying with a scream.
"You idiot! You didn't even recognize your own teacher!"
With tears streaming down her face, Izuko embraced Akio. "Sensei… I thought I'd lost you too…"
Akio sighed and waved off the gathered crowd.
"It really is the Grand Elder…"
"Thank goodness, he's alive!"
"With him back, the Hokage position is as good as ours…"
...
It took more than ten minutes for Izuko to calm down. Then she pulled Akio aside and started asking him question after question.
Akio recounted the events of the past few days to both Izuko and Jitou. Then, after a pause and a sigh, he admitted, "Ashina's death was my fault. If I hadn't stirred up trouble in Kumogakure, Tobirama and I wouldn't have gone there. And you wouldn't have had to head to Sunagakure…"
Izuko fell silent, then shook her head. "It's not your fault, sensei. If I'd been stronger on the battlefield, Ashina wouldn't have died."
Akio said nothing more. He knew the truth of the plot. In his heart, he was well aware—Ashina's death had been largely his doing.
"The mont I chose to save Tobirama, I knew things would start to change… but I didn't expect the first consequence to be this."
Akio followed Izuko into the compound's main hall. After a mont of silence, he asked, "Where are Nanako and Genkai?"
"They're visiting Konoha's smaller clans one by one, vying for support in the upcoming Third Hokage selection. But now that you're back, I'll go bring them back imdiately," Izuko replied.
"No need," Akio said. "With so many Uzumaki clansn seeing return, word will spread soon enough."
Unlike the Uchiha clan, where only Kagami and Izma knew of his return, too many Uzumaki had witnessed his arrival—and Akio hadn't told them to keep quiet. Soon, all of Konoha would know.
Just as he expected, within an hour, the Uzumaki compound had beco a gathering ground for the major Konoha clans.
Each representative greeted Akio first, then imdiately asked about Tobirama's situation.
Akio didn't bother explaining it to each person individually. He simply asked them to sit and wait until everyone had arrived.
Nanako and Genkai returned midway, and Akio didn't offer much of an explanation to them either.
When Akio felt the crowd was complete, he raised his hand, calling for silence.
Scanning the room, he saw that nearly every clan had sent soone. Tobirama's six disciples, the Uchiha, the Hyuga, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio…
"Tobirama is alive."
His opening line caused a visible ripple through the room—so faces lit up in joy, others fell into disappointnt. Akio saw it all.
"But he's injured and will need six months to a year to recover. During that ti, Konoha must appoint an acting Hokage to manage village affairs."
Surprisingly, no one responded right away.
Then, everyone turned to look at Genkai. Clearly, with Akio's support, Genkai's odds had skyrocketed.
The Nara clan head sighed. "Elder Akio… You're not really going to support Uzumaki Genkai as acting Hokage, are you?"
Akio chuckled, glanced at the hopeful Genkai, then sighed. "I'll take the role of acting Hokage."
Everyone was montarily stunned. Then, most let out a breath of relief. Clearly, Akio was a much more acceptable choice than Genkai.
Akio scanned their expressions. "Looks like no one has any objections."
"Then, as my first act as acting Hokage…" He turned to a visibly disappointed Genkai. "Starting today, the Uzumaki compound in Konoha will be dissolved. Genkai, take your clansn and return ho. When Tobirama recovers, I'll return too—and we'll establish our own nation. Of course, the alliance between the Uzumaki and Konoha will remain intact."
Akio noted the mixture of surprise and joy on the faces of those present. He sighed inwardly.
"So… the Uzumaki no longer belong in Konoha. Is it simply because there are too many of us now?"
"It's getting late. Please return to your clans and pass on what I've said."
"And tomorrow morning, I'll convene a council eting at the Hokage Tower to resolve the village's accumulated issues."
After seeing the representatives off one by one, Akio turned to the excited yet anxious Genkai and smiled.
"Once the nation is founded, you'll be the daimyo. Feeling the pressure yet?"
"Don't worry, Grand Elder! I'll do my best!"
"Good… I'll need to do my best too." Akio let out a long sigh.
Tobirama's injury and Ashina's death had shown him—any small decision he made could trigger enormous consequences. From this mont on, the world he was in was no longer the Naruto story he once knew.
anwhile—
Hiruzen and Danzo walked side by side, having just left the Uzumaki compound.
"Danzo… Sensei is still alive! This is wonderful!" Hiruzen said excitedly.
Danzo hesitated, then replied haltingly, "…Y-Yeah. Wonderful."
"Why… why was my first reaction disappointnt when I heard sensei was alive at the compound just now? No… that must've been an illusion…"
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