Tsunade had left the Sakuma clan's compound by climbing over the wall and returned to the Senju clan with the first three beautifully illustrated manga volumes.
The Senju clan wasn't very large these days. Most of its members had scattered and blended into Konoha, with only the main branch still living in the Senju Forest—the traditional territory of the Senju Clan. The current leader of the Senju clan was none other than Mito Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
In the afternoon, Mito Uzumaki sat with her eyes half-closed, basking lazily in the sun in the courtyard. Soon afterward, a voice came from outside.
"Grandma, Grandma!"
Hearing the voice, a small figure rapidly ran across rooftops in the distance.
"You didn't get into trouble again, did you, Tsunade?" Mito smiled as she saw the little girl Tsunade approach.
War had taken many loved ones from her, but this little one—Tsunade, so adored and doted upon since childhood by Hashirama Senju—was among those dearest to her. Tsunade often caused mischief, and whenever that happened, she'd run straight to Mito for help, which was why Mito immediately assumed the girl must be in trouble again.
Landing in the courtyard, Tsunade pouted slightly and said, "No, I brought you something interesting today."
"Oh? You brought me something fun?"
Mito sat up straighter, displaying just the right amount of curiosity in her expression.
Seeing her grandmother's reaction, Tsunade proudly pulled out the precious comic book hidden in her robe and presented it like a treasured artifact.
Mito assumed it must be something important. When she leaned closer and looked, the cover depicted a cute child with six whiskers—an artistic style unlike anything she'd ever seen before.
What was this?
Puzzled, she took it and flipped through the first page, discovering more drawings in that same unique style, all accompanied by text explaining the story clearly.
It was a whole new way of telling stories—different from oral tales or written novels.
"Grandma, look at the content! This character is named Naruto Uzumaki!"
Excitedly, Tsunade pointed at the blonde boy on the cover.
"Naruto Uzumaki?"
Mito paused for a moment, then carefully turned to the first page.
Nine-Tails Beast, Fourth Hokage...
This told a story set in the future, not the present day.
"Who drew this?"
She was deeply shaken inside. She realized others might not understand, but she knew exactly what it meant—the Nine-Tails beast here most certainly referred to the tailed beast sealed within her body.
"My classmate, Sakuma Akaba."
Tsunade replied.
"The Sakuma clan? No wonder he's a Kekkei Genkai wielder?"
Mito nodded knowingly.
"Yeah, he awakened his Kekkei Genkai recently, and his genjutsu are really annoying."
Tsunade frowned, troubled because she could do nothing against Akaba's terrifying illusions.
"Well, that makes sense then. The Sakuma clan hasn't had anyone awaken a bloodline limit in years."
Mito mused aloud, her tone implying deeper meaning.
Suddenly producing such talent would naturally earn him heir status; it wasn't surprising if he had access to these kinds of records.
After all, the history before the founding of Konoha by the First Hokage and Madara remained no secret. Many historically significant clans could trace those details in their own archives.
Starting with the Nine-Tails and featuring Uzumaki clan members as protagonists—it was likely connected to the jinchuriki theme.
Thinking about this, she kept reading forward—and couldn't help smiling faintly.
The previous pages were still talking about the Nine-Tails Beast causing chaos, yet the story opening showed the Hokage stone statues covered in wild graffiti. Especially after paint was added, they looked bruised and battered—very pitiful indeed.
Because of this, however, Mito Uzumaki became increasingly interested in the story.
Page by page, the quiet courtyard made one almost hear the wind rustling. A serene beauty spread across her face.
When flipping to a scene where everyone else celebrated excitedly while Naruto sat alone outside, a bitter emotion welled up inside her.
She lingered on that page for quite a while. Though the Uzumaki clan resided in the Land of Whirlpools, their relationship with Konoha had always been excellent. So why would members of the Uzumaki clan be treated like this?
The Uzumaki as a people should never be treated this way!
Confusion and anger stirred within her, but soon transformed back into calmness.
After all, it's just a story.
Yet the more she read, the more intense Mito's emotions became. When Iruka finally revealed the truth in the story, she nearly released a slight amount of Chakra unintentionally.
Still, she couldn't deny how captivating this story was—so much so that even someone as experienced as herself had her heartstrings tugged.
Mito Uzumaki gave a soft sigh and closed the manga book gently.
"Huh? Grandma, you're not going to keep reading?"
Tsunade asked, puzzled.
"I've read for a bit and feel slightly tired. Also, could you bring me the author of this book? I'd like to meet that child in person."
Mito Uzumaki replied.
Tsunade hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Okay then, though it's pretty late now. I'll arrange for him to come tomorrow."
Mito nodded, took the manga in hand, stood up, and walked toward the inner room, saying along the way: "I'll keep this book with me first—I'll read it slowly."
"Fine, fine."
Tsunade felt somewhat disappointed. She originally wanted to ask her grandmother for this rare handmade edition of the manga right after she finished reading. But unexpectedly, Mito didn't rush through it at all—after only reading one chapter, she immediately closed the book. Thus, Tsunade's plans had fallen completely apart.
But why did Grandma want to meet Akaba?
A brief confusion passed through her mind before she stopped thinking too much. After all, Grandma wouldn't mean Akaba any harm.
As for Akaba, after dealing with Saiki—who was already itching to act—he immediately grabbed this drawing draft and headed out to find the Clan Leader.
The matter with his mother was merely a small incident; Akaba didn't dwell on it afterward. The manga shop remained his top priority right now.
Danzo Shimura wasn't easy to deal with. Who knew what kind of Bell Test or other absurd challenges awaited? In any case, there was no avoiding an entrance exam.
If Akaba wanted a happy future, he at least had to do well enough to keep that old creep Danzo off his back.
To the entire Sakuma clan, the cost of establishing a mere manga store was nothing significant. Quite the contrary—it was extremely rare to find a genius like Akaba once every few decades, so naturally they bought the storefront without hesitation, starting renovations immediately upon receiving the design blueprint.
At that time, Konoha hadn't yet gained Yamato—the construction captain—so people built houses rather traditionally. To follow Akaba's sketches for renovation, at minimum three to four days would be required.
That was considered fast. For regular families, such work might take a month or two. But for Akaba, just sitting around and doing nothing for even a few days was out of the question.
Running a manga shop couldn't just rely on rough sketches anymore, like it used to. Colorful covers for booklets, posters, and more were also needed. Fortunately, the Fire Shadow World's tech tree was strange enough to make it possible to spread manga books across the land without having to invent the printing press first.
With his tasks done, Akaba finally came back and could finally rest properly.
"Today I took an exam, drew several comics, added coloring, and even did an extra colored illustration. I'm completely wiped out."
Lying on his bed, Akaba let his thoughts wander until he remembered that rare edition manga he had given Tsunade.
Thinking about the time, Tsunade should have already gone back to her place and handed the book over to Mito Uzumaki by now.
He opened his system panel and checked his points—60?
No way!
Akaba was instantly shocked. Did she read just one chapter or more?
If this was the total score for three chapters combined, that was just too damn low. Come on! She's not just anyone—she's the current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and Hashirama Senju's wife after all!
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~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** on the weekend!