Steam floated above the bowl as Akira stepped out of the kitchen, carrying freshly cooked noodles in his hands. The moment he entered the room, he stopped cold,Hashirama, Tobirama, and Mito were staring at him with unreadable expressions.
"Stare~~"
Akira's eyebrows drew together instantly. He didn't speak at first. He just looked at the three of them, then glanced down at his ramen bowl, then back up at their faces.
"Tch… Forget Mito, but you two are grown adults," he snapped. "You're seriously trying to mooch food from me?"
Hashirama and Tobirama flinched under the sudden outburst. Mito gave her usual nervous laugh,"Hehehe",and scratched the side of her head.
"Wrong," Mito suddenly said, her tone shifting as she straightened up. The look in her eyes turned serious again as she stared at him. "Brother Akira… what is your relationship with Uchiha Madara?"
Neither Hashirama nor Tobirama said anything,but both their stares clearly backed up the question. Tobirama especially gave no space for doubt; his eyes were narrowed, calculating. He wasn't just curious,he was suspicious.
Akira didn't answer immediately. He met their eyes briefly before glancing away. Inside, his thoughts spun fast.
'Looks like they figured some shit out..I have to talk my way out of this somehow.'
Aloud, he spoke with measured calm. "I'm afraid that's not what you want to know."
Mito opened her mouth quickly,"It is what I wanna know",but Tobirama cut her off coldly.
"Yes. What exactly is your so,called plan? And are you helping our Senju clan,or the Uchiha clan?"
His tone left no room for neutrality. Hashirama looked toward Akira as well, not interrupting,but it was clear he shared the same unease, even if he hadn't voiced it as sharply.
Akira sighed inwardly. "Tobirama doesn't pull punches even when I'm tired…"
Without bothering to look at Mito's raised hand again, Akira addressed only Hashirama.
"What do you even want me to say?"
Hashirama scratched his head and shrugged slightly. "It's just… your actions really don't make sense. We lost that battle,and lost people too,but somehow the rest of the clans are acting enthusiastic about it. Some of them are even claiming you're trying to build a village…"
Hashirama's gaze lingered uncertainly on him. "Honestly, if we hadn't grown up together, I'd have thought you came back from the future."
Behind heavy lashes, Akira stared at nothing in particular.
His lips tightened into the faintest frown before shifting back into neutral. "Well… that's some protagonist intuition for you."
"My relationship with the Uchiha?" he began again aloud with practiced ease. "It's nothing special. The only one I have any direct connection with is Madara,and that's it."
"And your plan?" Tobirama pressed.
Akira smiled faintly and leaned his weight onto one hip. "I'm guessing they think they won because of tactics I gave them," he said slowly, dragging the words as if thinking aloud rather than lying through his teeth. "Since that's likely out already… I'm sure your next few weeks will be busy. You should probably focus on rooting out any other hidden collaborators instead of questioning me."
Tobirama's posture stiffened before he narrowed his eyes further and stepped toward him.
"You… did you intentionally allow those ninjas to escape?"
Akira's brow ticked up slightly. "What now?"
He had no idea what Tobirama was talking about,but there was no way he'd admit that here. Instead, he smiled like someone who always knew what was happening and wasn't surprised at being figured out.
Tobirama visibly trembled. "You,you could actually do that?!"
In place of answers, Akira tilted his head and said nothing.
Hashirama folded his arms in frustration, glancing between them both. "What are you two even talking about?"
Tobirama ignored him completely. After gathering his thoughts for several seconds, he finally answered his older brother while keeping his eyes fixed on Akira.
"I'm saying,I think he planned it from the beginning."
"Planned what?"
"Everything," Tobirama said firmly,voice low but hard as steel. "From the moment he returned,all of it."
Akira remained silent again,partially because he couldn't follow half of what Tobirama was even piecing together anymore,and partially because anything he said now would sound like denial and make things worse.
Let him talk himself into circles…
Tobirama took another breath and turned again to Hashirama.
"Do you remember that strategy Akira wrote down in one of the scrolls? 'Defeat the enemy without fighting'?"
"Sure," Hashirama said cautiously. "What about it?"
Tobirama's jaw flexed once,but he cooled himself quickly again before answering evenly.
"I think that even without our wager,even without any promises,he had no intent to win that battle."
"Huh?" Mito interrupted at last with obvious confusion. "How is losing better than winning in war?"
"No," Tobirama said flatly as he shook his head once and stared back toward Akira again.
"If the Uchiha believe their victory came from his help,then what happens next matters far beyond this battle."
His words lingered heavily as silence followed his conclusion.
Akira shifted where he stood and felt everyone watching him again,especially Tobirama, whose stare now bordered on obsessive admiration rather than simple insight.
'I only gave Madara one win because I thought Hashirama would win anyway… Jeez, you're making this way too complicated.'
Aloud though, Akira only gave one line.
"Sure,just what you said."
He gestured lazily toward them with one hand and turned back toward the kitchen door again.
"And it's already late," he added lightly over his shoulder without changing expression. "You should get some rest or whatever…"
"Hiss…"
Hashirama didn't move,and ignored the dismissal entirely. Whatever Tobirama had figured out had blown the lid open on several realizations in his mind too. He stared at Akira like seeing him for the first time,and now refused to budge until he understood it better.
Akira felt that gaze tighten around the back of his neck,and cursed internally when Hashirama suddenly stepped forward without warning and reached for him bluntly.
(T/N: Akira is going to be the next Aizen and Ainz, he can actually while being vastly overestimated.. i love this shit.)
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