"Tissue fluid, add some culture medium, plus continuous energy supply, and use continuous chakra activation..."
Looking at the tissue blocks that had begun to undergo some changes in the huge sci, fi glass container, Akira couldn't help but sigh. The world of Naruto was really unscientific. They could actually cultivate clones directly by relying on chakra and some simple equipment.
Although it was not known whether this cultivated body had a soul, this was the beginning of science afterall. Whether it could achieve immortality like Orochimaru or master the power of the Six Paths in the future probably depended on these means.
"I wonder if this thing could be used as a carrier for 'Immortal Reincarnation'?"
Dong dong dong...
Just as Akira was considering the feasibility of this method, someone knocked on the door upstairs.
Judging from the force behind the knocks, it was undoubtedly Mito.
After casually packing up his things, Akira opened the door and was immediately bumped into by Mito, who had broken in.
Behind Mito knelt one of the Anbu who had been assigned to Akira by Hashirama.
"I'm sorry, Master Akira, Master Mito..."
"It's no problem."
Akira waved his hand and then stroked Mito's red hair. "Let Mito come whenever she likes. Anyway, she, wait..."
Only then did Akira register that the person he was fondling was Hashirama's future second wife. If Hashirama found out, he wouldn't just lose his chance of clinging to her , he'd probably lose his legs too.
However, Mito, oblivious to the seriousness of the situation, suddenly grinned upon hearing the first half of Akira's words.
"Heehee..."
"Hey, your head!"
Akira gave Mito a light slap on the back of her head before picking her up as she leaned on him. He did not forget to lecture her along the way.
"You're already grown up. It's not good to be like this forever. What will you do if you end up unable to get married?"
Mito rubbed at the sore spot on her face but froze after hearing Akira's words.
"Well then, what makes a good woman? Brother Akira, what kind of person do you like?"
Looking down at the hopeful glint in her eyes, Akira knew that if he held back an answer now, she might not leave him alone until midnight.
After waving off his subordinates outside, he started describing Madara's image instead to throw her off track.
"My requirements are simple. I want a woman with big breasts and a big butt, tall with long legs, good, looking but not pretentious, and strong."
"Ah?"
Listening to Akira's requirements, Mito looked at herself and realized that aside from her looks, nothing really matched that description. Her enthusiasm died down immediately.
"Can't you say anything sympathetic to comfort me?"
Seeing her expression turn gloomy, Akira tried to soften the blow a little.
"You're young. You haven't grown into your full body. When you get older..."
"What happens after I've grown?"
Mito perked up again right after those words. Her mood did a complete reversal in seconds flat.
Clearly underestimating just how mischievous Akira could be when he wanted to tease someone, she fell hook line and sinker into his next sentence.
Akira smiled faintly before holding her face in both hands.
"Think about it, your face is small and round now. When you get older in a few years, it'll probably become a big round face."
As he spoke, his hands moved midair to mime the exaggerated shape of a large circle , more reminiscent of a washbasin than a face.
Strangely enough, Mito wasn't mad when she saw that gesture.
Instead, she walked over slowly and gently grabbed Akira's wrist. After rolling up his sleeves and rubbing his arms,
"Brother Akira, lend me your hand?"
"Huh?"
Caught off guard by her movement, Akira extended his hand without thinking , and then...
"Aah... Let go! Let go already, it's gonna start bleeding!"
"Who told you to laugh at me?"
"Relax."
"No!"
"You asked for it!"
Even though being bitten hurt more than it should have, Akira knew based on Mito's usual behavior that if he just left her alone, she might bite down for an entire hour straight.
To avoid others witnessing this mess and misreading things completely, he decided to use his trump card.
"Gejigji..."
His fingers started immediately tickling Mito under her armpits. Her angry expression cracked before laughter overtook everything else, her legs trembled and her mouth pulled into a grin against her will.
"Ku~ji~! Ku~ji~!"
Akira's teasing voice paired with his relentless tickles pushed Mito over the edge as she rolled onto the floor wheezing with laughter, and finally released his hand from her grip.
"Hahaha…"
Satisfied that he'd had the last word, Akira kept up his attack even harder while she writhed around helplessly on the floor.
"Ha! That's what you get for biting me!"
"Hahaha! I'm sorry, Brother Akira, I, haha, please stop, haha…"
Mito's laughter echoed throughout the room until,
Outside the front entrance, Hashirama stood beside his wife and smiled faintly as he listened in from beyond the door.
"Akira really likes teasing Mito."
"They're just kids. They'll probably stop doing that once they mature."
"Mm. Let's go."
"Right."
...
Three months passed slowly. During that time period,
Akira devoted himself to forbidden techniques alone,
Mito focused on improving her combat abilities,
Tobirama and Madara began meticulous preparations for impending war,
, and Hashirama?
He was arguably the most idle man in the whole Senju clan after tossing almost everything to Tobirama. Ever since then, he reliably showed up at Akira's place whenever he had free time , officially to gather intel… but unofficially just for fun and games.
In reality? He hadn't gotten a single relevant detail from Akira, not unless chicken feathers counted as intelligence reports, and instead spent every day playing with Mito and engaging in various antics involving board games like Go, Monopoly and even classic cards from Earth. Every day brought a different game or variation he'd learn from Akira's "house of wonders."
It wasn't until Tobirama reminded him about actual battle plans that Hashirama finally remembered why he was even visiting so often in the first place.
Which brought him here,
On the eve of their coming conflict,
Serious, faced once again for the first time in weeks,
Finding Akira alone amidst another round of solitary training,
"Hashirama? What are you doing here...?"
"Friction's begun again at our borders with Uchiha."
Just hearing that was enough for Akira to realize what stage they'd reached now: war was imminent again.
"So they're ready too," Akira said calmly. "Makes sense, it's Uchiha we're dealing with. Three months is more than enough..."
"Thousand Stars..."
Hashirama cut in sharply. His usual carefree expression flickered with concern again as he continued quietly,
"I've seen Tobirama's plans... Honestly? I don't see how we win this one outright. If Uchiha really overcomes Tobirama, then we..."
Akira raised an eyebrow before replying evenly,
"But we've always had you."
"…She's on par with me."
"You know how strong Sister Madara is too," Akira replied bluntly. "Had you not held back against her before… Uchiha would've been buried years ago."
"You…"
Hashirama blinked in disbelief, for once caught completely off guard by how accurately he'd been read through and through, because even Tobirama hadn't figured that out.
Akira just smiled meaningfully and shrugged it off as if nothing special had been revealed at,
"Who doesn't know this if they've read the original novel..." he sighed inwardly before putting on a neutral smile again outwardly.
"No one wants to see your bare ass either," he added flatly. "Don't worry, they'll win this round. After that... you'd better get ready to negotiate peace."
"Wait, how do you know what I was thinking?" Hashirama blinked again before narrowing his eyes slightly. "Actually, why would Uchiha agree to peace so soon?"
Akira tilted his head but offered nothing further beyond:
"Just trust me."
"I should get back to ninjutsu practice now."
"Wait, can I,"
Bang!
Hashirama stood facing a closed door seconds later with an exasperated sigh.
"...Weren't I supposed to be collecting intelligence?"
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