"Why are you looking at me? I've completed my task, now it's up to you."
"Are you kidding me?"
No matter how thick, skinned Hashirama was, he couldn't help but grumble inwardly. He quickly grabbed Akira, who was about to leave.
"Don't go now! You haven't told me what to do next!"
"What else is there to do? There's plenty of work left after the war. As for dealing with the Uchiha, let's keep that confidential for now and wait until the date of the next battle is set."
Seeing that Hashirama was clearly lost, Akira had no choice but to offer some reassurance.
"You could always discuss countermeasures yourself, maybe yours will be better than mine."
After that, Akira gave the others in the room a mysterious smile and added, "Here's a hint: my method for dealing with the Uchiha is to push forward directly."
With that said, Akira didn't bother with anyone else's reaction. He called Mito over and walked out without hesitation.
"Brother, he, "
"Let him go for now."
Hashirama stopped Tobirama from continuing. After everything today, Akira had clearly proven his strategic value. If he wasn't talking, he must have had his reasons.
As the leader of the alliance, Hashirama understood the importance of delegation.
However, just as he was preparing to explain why Thousand Stars had seemingly turned on their own companions, he noticed that the ninja clan leaders were looking at him with unusually eager eyes.
"Uhh…"
"Lord Hashirama, are we building a village?"
"Ah, how did you know?"
Hashirama responded instinctively before realizing he'd just spilled the secret himself.
"Excellent!"
Cheering broke out across the room immediately. As for the few who had died? During the Warring States period, human life was cheap, especially if they weren't your own people. Dead was dead, no one lingered on it long.
Soon after the celebration died down, the clan leaders began excitedly discussing Akira's tactical suggestion as if no defeat had just occurred.
Watching them from across the tent, Hashirama and Tobirama exchanged looks. They both saw the same thing in each other's eyes, shock and helplessness.
"Was this part of your plan too, Akira?"
…
Had Akira known that everyone in that tent had suddenly "transformed," he might have laughed himself breathless. From start to finish, he had only ever intended one tactic: tell Hashirama to push forward directly.
At the end of this Warring States period, Hashirama was the undisputed hero. With his strength and plot awareness, if he couldn't win by force alone, he might as well quit trying altogether.
Whether it involved the tailed beasts or his scrolls of reference material, once Hashirama stopped playing the diplomacy game with the Uchiha, conflict would inevitably bring this era to its end.
And that was why Akira wouldn't hesitate to give anything to Madara if it helped him succeed with her.
As soon as Akira stepped outside the tent, Anbu agent Momori dropped to her knees in front of him.
"Lord Akira! I failed to protect you, it was my fault. Please punish me."
Seeing her reminded Akira of the two Anbu who had been sent flying by Madara's Susanoo. He had no clue if they were alive or not now.
Though he knew Tobirama's true intentions when assigning them, those two had been diligent and dedicated since joining. Akira didn't feel any ill will toward them.
Especially considering it was Madara who'd taken them out, Akira actually felt pretty guilty about that now.
She did kiss him on the head… and if you rounded things off creatively enough, that counted as dating. It wouldn't take much to push that to marriage either, the thought wasn't outlandish anymore.
In his mind, they were already bound for life anyway, so of course he'd take the blame for her instead.
"I won't blame you for this. Get up. By the way, where are Xun and Xin? How are they doing?"
Hearing she wasn't in trouble, Momori finally relaxed, but stayed kneeling as she gave her report.
"Sir, thank you for your concern. Xin broke two ribs; Xun fractured both arms and legs. They're receiving treatment as we speak. I'm afraid I'm the only one left assigned to protect you right now."
"That's fine, I'm not planning on running around too much. Make arrangements. We'll go together."
"Yes."
Mito perked up noticeably at the words. She was happy she could finally go back. There was nothing fun here, no good food, nothing interesting to do, and those clan leaders were always so serious and boring anyway.
It was a long walk back though, and inevitably, Mito started chatting out of boredom.
"Umm... Brother Akira, you were acting kind of different back in the tent…"
She trailed off without explanation, as if worried she might upset him by saying too much too directly.
Akira didn't mind at the slightest and explained then and there, even with Tobirama's 'undercover agent' present right beside him.
"Doesn't it make sense? I did it on purpose."
"Why?"
"If Hashirama wants to be seen as the good guy, then I'll be the bad one instead. I'm not aiming for leadership anyway, so whoever wants power should get their hands dirty instead of me."
Mito hadn't expected that answer at ALL. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"That's it?"
"Exactly!"
"I think you're just lazy."
"Hahaha, think whatever you want."
Akira didn't tell her the truth, not because he couldn't, but because things were already moving fast enough behind the scenes. He and Madara were close enough now that cooperation between Senju and Uchiha had already begun behind closed doors. Marriage was simply the most stable alliance left on the table at that point.
Someone from Senju who wasn't gunning for leadership marrying Uchiha's leader? Even those stiff, necked clan elders would have no complaints about THAT outcome.
As thoughts of what was ahead flickered through his mind, a grin spread over Akira's face without even realizing it.
Mito eyed him warily,
"Brother Akira... your smile looks kind of shady."
She teased him gently before leaning closer with narrowed eyes, her tone unusually neutral as she asked her next question:
"So... what's that smell on you?"
Akira froze instantly.
Her tone was calm, but he felt frost crawl down his spine right away.
Trying not to panic, he kept his expression relaxed and asked flatly:
"What smell?"
"The smell of woman."
Panic surged hard through his chest, the same kind of fear that gripped him during his nightmares after Madara caught him before.
"It's just residual fear, it's fine, it's fine…"
Akira tried comforting himself mentally, but his thoughts began spinning fast now.
Everyone knew this: when cheating goes wrong, the man temporarily evolves into Einstein, and women become Sherlock Holmes in pursuit of truth.
To throw Mito off completely, Akira came up with what he considered to be the perfect lie on the spot:
"That has to be from Uchiha Madara! She's the one who captured me, it's not strange that I'd pick up some scent off her."
"But why does it smell like rouge?"
"How should I know? She's a woman too, maybe she just likes perfume or powder? Anyway, I don't know where it comes from! Also, I think I left soup cooking at home, I gotta check on it!"
"I checked your kitchen earlier, you obviously haven't cooked anything today! Hey! Don't run away, Brother Akira! Wait up!"
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