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Team Minato returned to the village.
Akira had planned to go straight home and 'lie flat' (slang for taking it easy/slacking off), but Obito sneaked over to him.
"Akira, I'm really sad."
Obito, who had been silent the whole trip, finally spoke up.
"Huh? What are you sad about?" Akira was puzzled.
"You don't know, yesterday at the outpost, I overheard Rin and the other three talking quietly."
"About what?"
"They said you're a genius." Obito was dejected.
Akira was very surprised.
They say I'm a genius, so why are you downcast?
As a good brother, shouldn't you be happy for me?
"It's fine if they say you're a genius, but I also heard them talk about me being a dead-last (crane-tail)."
Obito's tone was full of disappointment.
Akira: "..."
I see.
"Akira, we used to be dead-lasts together! Why did you leave me behind?"
Facing Obito's sharp question, Akira thought seriously.
"Maybe it's because you walked too slowly?"
"I'll train hard! I'll definitely catch up with you!" Obito waved his fist determinedly.
"Oh, then do your best." Akira encouraged him with a straight face.
"Just you wait!"
With those words, Obito disappeared in a flash.
As soon as Obito left, Rin, Yūgao Uzuki, and Anko Mitarashi walked over.
"Akira."
"What about you three?"
"Um, could you maybe guide our training?" Rin's tone was a bit hesitant.
Akira looked at Rin, then glanced at Yūgao and Anko.
He saw that both girls looked hopeful.
It seems that in just two days, these three girls have... grown up?
"Are you sure you want me to guide your training?" Akira asked again.
"Yes! Just guide us using your usual cultivation method!" Anko replied.
Akira was speechless.
My usual training method?
That method is literally lying flat.
If he really guided them like that, these three girls would regress.
"However, there is a fee for my guidance," Akira stated a condition.
"No problem," the three girls nodded in unison.
Seeing that even charging a fee wouldn't deter them, Akira reluctantly agreed.
After all, any place is good for resting, and he might as well earn a fee.
"Okay, then you girls need to prepare a few changes of clothes. Remember, they should be ultra-thin and breathable! See you on the back mountain."
With a wave of his hand, Akira departed.
The three girls stood rooted to the spot, looking stunned.
"He... he just said, bring how many changes of clothes?" Rin's brain felt fuzzy.
"They need to be ultra-thin and breathable!" Anko muttered, a little flustered.
"And we still have to go to the back mountain..." Yūgao felt uneasy.
Do I really need to bring this kind of thing for training?
Is Akira really just going to guide our practice?
The three women looked at each other.
"So, should we still go?" Rin asked the other two for their opinion.
"Go! Why wouldn't we go! I don't believe Akira would dare try anything with all three of us..." Anko scoffed, but trailed off.
"But, what if he does?" Yūgao shot back.
"Wait a minute!"
Suddenly, Rin remembered something.
"Do you know how Akira got his bathhouse?"
Hearing the gossip (Eight Trigrams), Anko and Yūgao immediately leaned in.
"How?"
"Tell us, tell us!" the two girls urged.
"He got it by sleeping with the Land of Hot Water Daimyō, Minako," Rin whispered.
Anko Mitarashi: "My God! He slept with a Daimyō?"
Yūgao Uzuki: "Akira is that kind of person?"
Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked at the mission report submitted by Minato, and the pipe in his mouth fell to the ground with a "clack."
Seeing this, Danzō Shimura also leaned over and quickly scanned the contents.
Then.
Danzō's one visible eye widened.
"Uchiha Madara? Still alive?"
The words were spoken by the two of them almost simultaneously.
This was enough to show the depth of their shock.
Minato Namikaze stood where he was, anticipating their reaction.
As soon as he returned to the village, he found Kushina, indirectly confirming the authenticity of Akira's intelligence, and then came to the Hokage's office to report.
After a long moment.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō returned to their senses.
"It's unbelievable, Uchiha Madara was killed by the First Hokage," Danzō muttered to himself.
"Minato, can you guarantee that the person you met was Uchiha Madara?" Hiruzen looked at Minato for further confirmation.
"It was him!"
Minato responded seriously.
He then added: "And he launched an attack on our team."
Minato said this specifically to downplay Akira's actual intelligence-gathering ability. He wanted to protect his student from being noticed by others.
Hearing what Minato said, Hiruzen and Danzō exchanged glances.
"Actively attacking you... does this mean Uchiha Madara was trying to take someone away?" Hiruzen guessed.
"He must have been trying to take the Wood Release user, Yamato!" Danzō interjected.
After Danzō said this, Hiruzen suddenly realized.
"That's right! Madara wanted to capture Yamato, who possesses Wood Release, so he attacked Team Minato! But he didn't expect that Yamato wasn't part of this mission!"
As he spoke, Hiruzen became increasingly sure of this guess.
"So, when Madara discovered there was no Wood Release ninja, he chose to evacuate."
Everything was explained.
Minato Namikaze put on a look of sudden realization, admiring the Third Hokage's wisdom.
"In that case, it's no wonder the Rock Shinobi (Iwa) withdrew from the Land of Grass! It seems even Iwa discovered Madara's existence and chose to wait and see," Danzō added.
After reporting the mission, Minato left.
Subsequently, Danzō also left the Hokage building.
Staring at Minato's retreating back, Danzō's expression was grim.
Swoosh!
Waving his hand, a member of the Root organization appeared.
"I need to know everything about the Uchiha clan regarding the Sharingan. Remember, everything!"
"Yes!"
As his subordinate quickly left, Danzō's mind was churning with the mystery.
"The First Hokage cannot be wrong! Uchiha Madara must have died by his hands back then."
"But now, Madara, who should be dead, is still alive."
"Is it some kind of Sharingan ability? Or is it a Forbidden Jutsu?"