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Akio carefully examined Danzo's injuries, frowning slightly.
"Who treated him? It was done quite well. Honestly, even if it were me, this is about as much as I could have done." Akio wasn't particularly skilled in medical ninjutsu, but over the years he had picked up some knowledge. With time and experience, he'd become decently proficient. That said, with Katsuyu around, he hardly ever needed to treat injuries himself.
"Koharu handled it," Hiruzen replied.
"Koharu?" Akio was briefly stunned. The name brought to mind the image of an old woman—Koharu Utatane. "Didn't expect her medical ninjutsu to be this competent."
Letting out a sigh, Akio shook his head. "You might want to ask young Tsunade to take a look. There's nothing I can do to speed up his recovery."
At only twenty-one years old, Tsunade was already being called the "Slug Princess" on the battlefield. With her life-saving abilities, she had earned the deep trust of many in Konoha.
In truth, Danzo's injuries were severe. His right eye was likely completely blind, and the damage to the right side of his body would permanently weaken him. It was doubtful he could ever cultivate Wind Release to the same elite level as Akio. Though he'd suggested summoning Tsunade, Akio didn't have much hope.
Hiruzen shook his head. "The situation at the Amegakure front is dire. Tsunade can't return."
Akio sighed inwardly. So the guilt-tripping begins, he thought, then said with a smile, "How dire are we talking?"
Hiruzen noticed Akio's smile and hesitated for a moment, but still responded with a grave face, "With Danzo injured, I had no choice but to send Kagami to lead the forces against Sunagakure. That left only Orochimaru to handle Amegakure. It's a critical situation—Hanzō, the leader of Amegakure, hasn't even made a move yet."
Akio frowned. "You sent Kagami to Sunagakure because of Danzo's injuries?" That was news to him.
He suddenly paused. "Wait, that doesn't add up. Danzo's just injured, but the Second Kazekage died! And Sakumo is stationed there too."
Hiruzen shook his head helplessly. "They've already chosen the Third Kazekage. The assault has only grown fiercer. I can't rely on Sakumo alone."
Akio hesitated.
Seeing this, Hiruzen was secretly pleased.
"And," Hiruzen continued, "the situation on the Iwagakure front isn't looking good either. Even though most of the Senju and Hyuga elites are stationed there, no one can counter Dust Release. It's a Kekkei Tōta—ordinary ninjutsu won't work." As he spoke, Hiruzen threw in a subtle compliment, patting Akio's ego.
But this only made Akio more suspicious. Everything Hiruzen said seemed like exaggeration of Konoha's disadvantage. If things were truly that bad, Konoha would have lost the war in the original timeline.
"If that's the case, why aren't you out there on the battlefield?" Akio asked with a grin.
Hiruzen's expression froze. "Elder Akio, I have to stay in Konoha to guard against potential threats."
Akio chuckled. "It's fine. I'll stay in the village for a while—you go."
"..."
The next day, Akio sent Hiruzen off to the front lines, once again stepping into the role of Acting Hokage.
His first task as acting Hokage was to assign the newest batch of ninja academy graduates. Whether they would be deployed to the battlefield as fresh forces or distributed among the various short-staffed departments in the village was up to him. Of course, their personal preferences would be respected. They could submit applications, much like university students choosing their majors.
"Uchiha Mikoto, application to study at Konoha Hospital." Akio stared at the document, blinking in surprise.
"Mikoto graduated already? Konoha Hospital…" Without hesitation, Akio approved the request. No need for Itachi's mom to go stirring up trouble on the battlefield.
After skimming a few more documents, Akio twitched slightly. Not a single one had applied for battlefield deployment. These kids…
"Wait a second, applications to go to the battlefield?" Akio paused. He remembered that in the original story, during the Third Great Ninja War, there weren't any applications—graduates were basically sent straight to the front lines.
Now that was a real crisis… Hiruzen's definitely trying to guilt me into helping. Akio smiled and mentally patted himself on the back.
Finally, he found one application for battlefield deployment.
"Request to be stationed at the Amegakure front? Brave indeed." He glanced at the name and his mouth twitched. "Senju Nawaki!"
Akio immediately denied the request in bold strokes. "Denied!"
He remembered from his past life that Nawaki had died on the Amegakure front shortly after graduating. Maybe he just wanted to reunite with his sister, but Akio thought he was walking straight to his death.
Nawaki was talented, but not exceptionally so—not quite at the level people expected from a Senju heir. At eleven years old, he had only just graduated, still lagging behind prodigies who completed the academy at seven or eight.
Akio assumed the denial would discourage him, but to his surprise, Nawaki came to confront him.
"Grand-ancestor, why won't you let me go to the front lines?"
Akio looked at the anxious boy and sighed.
"What are you going to do on the battlefield? Does Mito know about this?"
Nawaki hesitated. "Grandma said it's okay!"
"Yeah, right…" Akio muttered. "You've just graduated—your skills and experience aren't enough. You need more training."
"But I promised my classmates we'd go together!" Nawaki protested.
Akio blinked, then laughed helplessly.
He handed him a stack of documents.
The more Nawaki read, the more dejected he looked. "No one else is going? Cowards… Even Mikoto's not going."
Akio paused, sensing something off, but didn't dwell on it. "I'll be in the village for a while. I'll teach you some ninjutsu during that time."
Though disappointed, Nawaki nodded and left without further argument.
Akio let out a breath of relief—then suddenly had a nagging thought.
What if I let Nawaki go to the front lines, then secretly followed and saved him? That'd earn me a lot of Witness Points, wouldn't it…
He shook his head and smiled wryly. I must be going crazy over Witness Points.
If that's the case, why not just kill Hiruzen? That's gotta be worth 500, maybe 1000 points!
As he was lost in thought, a knock came from the door.
Akio froze. Sensing the chakra, his expression turned odd. Just when I was thinking of something evil, someone shows up?
"Come in."
Danzo entered, dressed just like he had been in the original story, leaning on a cane. He greeted Akio politely.
Akio smiled. "Awake already, Konoha's hero?"
Danzo was silent for a moment. "Elder Akio… about my body…"
Akio shook his head. "I can't help you—but you should know what to do."
Danzo's face darkened as he fell into thought.
Akio sighed. "Keep it discreet—I don't want to see it. And don't target your own village, especially the Senju or Uchiha. Once you're healed, stop immediately."
Danzo nodded and left.
I hope he can restrain his ambition and avoid walking the path he took in the original story. If not… I'll have to kill the so-called hero of Konoha myself. With me here, he shouldn't dare to go that far.
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