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The Second Great Ninja War, which erupted in the 29th year of Konoha, entered a temporary ceasefire due to the Rain Country's withdrawal.
Originally, three nations had been besieging Konoha, but with Amegakure stepping back, the other two villages also tacitly agreed to halt their attacks for now.
They needed time to reconsider whether they could still afford to oppose Konohaâespecially with Kumogakure's weakness becoming harder to conceal. If not for the Uzumaki clan having taken most of their supplies, Iwagakure would've long since abandoned any concern for Konoha and launched an assault.
After giving a small helping hand to the Three Legendary Sannin in the Rain Country and earning a Witness Point, Akio flew straight back to Konoha. He was more interested in the "relationship" between Kushina and Minato.
But just like in the original timeline, Kushina wasn't particularly impressed with Minato's "pretty boy" demeanor. Akio wasn't worried, thoughâhe knew that once the hero saves the damsel, everything would naturally fall into place.
"Wait⊠something's offâŠ" Akio suddenly remembered. "In the original story, it was a Kumogakure ninja who kidnapped Kushina. Would they still dare to try that now?"
After a moment of contemplation, Akio sighed. "Guess I'll take it one step at a time."
Suddenly, noise erupted from outside, and Akio focused his senses to listen.
"The troops who fought off Sunagakure are back!" came the cries of celebration and cheering.
"They're all back?" Akio muttered to himself. Not long ago, Konoha had celebrated similar returnsâonce for the trio who repelled Amegakure, and once for the Senju-HyĆ«ga alliance that pushed back Iwagakure.
"Time to get busy again." Straightening his clothes, Akio headed out.
But not to welcome Konoha's heroesâhe went directly to Konoha Hospital.
"Little Tsunade, I'm here to take over."
With Konoha's forces returning wave after wave, the hospital was completely overwhelmed, and there weren't nearly enough medical-nin to go around.
Akio usually wasn't one to get involved, but after seeing Tsunade exhaust her chakra day after day until she collapsed, only to wake up and continue treating the wounded, he couldn't help but lend a hand.
"Great-Grandpa, you're here," Tsunade greeted him with a tired smile.
"Another squad's returned. Go get some rest."
Tsunade shook her head. "I need to check if there are any critically injured."
AwkwardâŠ
Akio's expression stiffened. When it came to medical ninjutsu, he had clearly fallen behind Tsunade. Medical ninjutsu wasn't something that appeared in his skill interfaceâit wasn't considered an independent ability, and likely relied on multiple elemental affinities. The only way for Akio to improve was slow accumulation over time. As for his innate talent in healing... let's just say it would take years to bear fruit.
Sure enough, before long, more and more wounded were being brought in.
Out on Konoha's streets, villagers continued to cheer for the returning heroes. They saw Konoha's great victory, but few could appreciate the price paid for it.
Akio stepped forward, briefly activating his sensory abilities to gauge the conditions of the incoming wounded. This was the one area where he held an edge over Tsunade in the field of medical ninjutsu.
"These ones only need basic treatment."
"This one too⊠Hmm? Kagami!" Akio paused in surprise. He hadn't expected Uchiha Kagami, the commander-in-chief of the operation, to be here at the hospital.
"Elder Akio!" Kagami greeted him.
Akio pulled up Kagami's sleeve and revealed a large patch of abrasions.
"This injury⊠Iron Sand?" he asked tentatively.
Kagami nodded. "It's the Third Kazekage's kekkei genkai."
"To think he could wound you⊠You've made quite a bit of progress since the jĆnin exams," Akio remarked.
"Uncle Kagami, let me treat you," Tsunade said, stepping forward to take him aside.
Akio continued sorting through the injured, but compared to the previous battles, these wounds were generally lighter.
"Is it because Suna's poisons are too deadly and those who were seriously hurt didn't survive? Or is it just that the strength gap was too wide?" Akio muttered, selecting two more seriously injured individuals for Tsunade to treat. As for the rest, surface wounds could be handled with some Slug Healing and bandages.
By the time everything was done, the sky had darkened, and the cheers on Konoha's streets had finally died down.
Tsunade emerged from the "operating room," drenched in sweat and nearly out of chakra.
Akio smiled. "Go get some rest, Lady SanninâŠ"
Tsunade gave a bitter smile. "If it weren't for you, we might not have made it back at all."
By now, she had learned that it was Akio's hidden support that had helped them in that pivotal battle. For a while, she had honestly believed her own performance had been extraordinary.
With that, Tsunade left the hospital to get some rest. Akio didn't follow her. He made his way, through a few turns, to a special ward.
"Great-Grandpa, you're here. Did Tsunade head home?" The person in the bed was wrapped from head to toe in bandagesâit was Senju Kenji, freshly returned from the Iwa front.
Akio nodded. "She did."
"You probably heard that Uchiha Kagami, the clan head, came back with only a few scratches. But look at you, the head of the Senju Clan, all bandaged up. Aren't you embarrassed?"
Kenji's body twitched. Though his face was completely wrapped, Akio could clearly tell he was forcing a smile.
"Kagami doesn't have a little brother twenty-five years younger than him!"
Akio chuckled and shook his head.
From what he knew, Senju DĆzan had caused all sorts of trouble for his big brother on the battlefieldâalways up to something wild.
"He really forgot where he planted those explosive tags?"
In most ninja wars, unless there was a massive strength disparity, traps were indispensable. DĆzan, being young, was part of the trap team. But his single-mindedness truly stood out.
He either buried the explosive tags so cleverly that even allies couldn't find themâor so obviously that everyone could see them from a mile away.
Still, that kind of trap work had indeed caused considerable trouble for Iwagakure. They'd never encountered such "creative" traps before.
However, on the retreat back to base⊠well, let's just say Kenji ended up looking like a wrapped rice dumpling.
"Great-Grandpa, I really embarrassed myself in front of my daughter this time," Kenji muttered.
Akio shook his head. "Don't dwell on it. You'll have plenty more chances to embarrass yourself in front of Tsunade. She's already caught up to you in strengthâgive her another two or three years and you won't stand a chance. Deep down, you're probably proud of her."
Kenji moved his head slightly, as if nodding in agreement.
"Alright, I'm heading off. You get some rest," Akio said, standing and leaving the room.
At the door, he smiled and nodded to three people waiting outside: Mito, and a sulking DĆzan.
DĆzan perked up when he saw Akio.
"Great-Grandpa, is there any news about Sister Yuna?"
Akio shook his head. "You should be more worried about your big brother, you little rascal."
"You all go on in. I'm heading home to eat, too."
This simple life of hospital, home, and the battlefield had already become Akio's daily routine for nearly a week. He had grown quite familiar with it.
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