Bad News

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Distracted, Akio bid farewell to Senju Butsuma, Tobirama, Hashirama, and Mito, politely declining their offer to see him off. He set out alone on his journey home.

"To participate in and witness the development of the Flying Thunder God Technique... If that's the case, I should keep a close eye on Tobirama. The Shadow Clone Technique should be completed soon, and there will likely be many key moments to witness. Most importantly, there's the Impure World Reincarnation—this broken technique better give me at least 50 witness points, or it wouldn't be fair."

What other jutsu were there? Come to think of it, I don't necessarily have to wait until Konoha is founded to accumulate witness points...

The journey was uneventful. Traveling alone, he covered a good distance, and in just over an hour, he was less than five miles from the Uzumaki clan's territory.

Akio suddenly stopped, remembering something important.

Coming and going, he had de-aged by twelve years. If he claimed it was due to Yin Seal, the clan leader and the three elders would definitely mock him...

Should he say he ate a rejuvenation fruit? Damn it, this isn't some fantasy world.

Or maybe he should just say, "An old man's fleeting moment of youthful vigor?"

…

Forget it. This is fine. Akio quickly formed a few hand seals: "Transformation Technique!" Instantly, he returned to his previous appearance. The Three Basic Jutsu at level 10 proved useful once again.

"Alright, time to head back." With that thought, Akio stepped into the clan's territory.

The two guards at the entrance exchanged glances upon seeing him, then simultaneously left to report to the clan leader.

Akio was puzzled. "I'm just coming home. One of you reporting to the clan leader would have been enough—why did both of you go?"

Unable to make sense of it, he shrugged it off and walked toward his house.

Before he even reached home, he noticed someone blocking his path. Focusing his gaze, he was surprised to see the clan leader himself.

"Uh, are you that eager to hear about your daughter's situation? Let me tell you, Mito—" Akio was mid-sentence when he noticed the clan leader's somber expression.

"Muren is dead." The clan leader forced out four words.

"What?" Akio didn't quite catch it—or rather, he didn't want to believe what he had just heard.

"I said, Muren is dead..." The clan leader repeated.

This time, Akio heard it loud and clear. Without another word, he turned and ran toward the main hall.

Upon entering, he saw that a funeral was already in progress. The second and third elders glanced at him but had no energy to acknowledge his arrival.

"Where's the first elder? Don't tell me he also..." Akio asked.

The second elder shot him a glare. "Big brother is fine. He suffered some minor injuries and is resting in his room. As soon as we received the distress signal, we rushed over immediately, but we were too late. Muren succumbed to his wounds on the way back..."

Akio carefully examined Muren's body. The fatal injury was a piercing wound through the chest, likely puncturing the lungs.

"This wound..." Akio muttered.

"Yes, it was the work of those lunatics from the Kaguya clan," the third elder confirmed.

Akio glanced at Muren's unnaturally youthful face, remembering how confident he had been in protecting Mito before leaving for the Senju clan. He sighed. "Damn this Warring States era..." With that, he turned and walked out of the hall.

The clan leader was waiting for him at the entrance, aware that Akio had a lot of questions. Before he could ask, the clan leader took the initiative to explain:

"Yesterday, we detected suspicious activity on the eastern outskirts of our territory. Muren's squad was assigned to investigate."

"They arrived at a valley and were discovered by the enemy. The attacker was the Kaguya clan leader, Kaguya Jōrai."

"The moment he spotted Muren's squad, he launched an assault. Muren stayed behind to cover his teammates' retreat, engaging the Kaguya leader in battle."

"The rest you already know. The three elders arrived for backup, the first elder was injured, and they managed to drive off the Kaguya leader. But Muren… he didn't survive the return trip." The clan leader's voice was calm but heavy.

"Two questions. First, why did the Kaguya clan leader personally come near our territory? Second, though it might be an inappropriate question during wartime, we had no prior grievances with the Kaguya. Could it be because of Mito?" Akio asked.

"No, it was because of Frostbone Grass," the clan leader replied.

"Oh, I see," Akio responded plainly.

"And now, there is no longer 'no grievance.' Prepare for war..." the clan leader added.

"Understood," Akio said, turning back toward his home.

Frostbone Grass was a rare pale blue herb capable of suppressing the Kaguya clan's genetic disease. Akio knew that this herb was becoming increasingly scarce, and soon, it would likely disappear completely.

If not for this affliction and the dwindling supply of Frostbone Grass, the Kaguya clan would never have declined into obscurity in Kirigakure. During the Warring States era, the Kaguya were second only to the Senju and Uchiha. Even the Hyūga were slightly inferior in comparison.

Had the disease not plagued them, and had Frostbone Grass remained abundant, the Kaguya might have been counted among the three great clans of the Warring States alongside the Senju and Uchiha.

Now that Frostbone Grass had been discovered near the Uzumaki clan's land—and in considerable quantities—the Kaguya leader had personally taken action.

Muren's death had made war inevitable.

Back in his room, Akio collapsed onto his familiar bed.

"Tired... Half a month away, my body was already exhausted. And now, returning home only to hear such bad news... I'm drained, both physically and mentally." He muttered.

Over the past half-month, Akio had grown stronger, though his training had slightly relaxed. In hindsight, he was merely an elite jōnin. Even with some special abilities allowing him to fight above his level, he shouldn't have been so complacent.

"Right now, I still don't stand a chance against the Kaguya. Let alone the possibility of assisting the Senju against the Uchiha in the future..." At this thought, Akio immediately became alert.

Improving his strength was the only way forward!

Witnessing the development of the Flying Thunder God had earned him five witness points, and with the one remaining point from before, he now had six. How should he use them to maximize his power?

"Right, I haven't allocated any points into 'Jutsu' yet. I wonder what effect it has."

With that in mind, he invested one point into 'Jutsu.'

Jutsu: 1004 (+1)(+)

"Huh? What does this mean?" Akio didn't feel any immediate change, so he added another point.

This time, he noticed a distinct difference—the density of his chakra had increased by two levels. In other words, with the same amount of chakra, his jutsu would be two tiers stronger than before.

Realizing this, Akio was ecstatic and spent the rest of his points on 'Jutsu.'

Jutsu: 1004 (+5.5)

"After five points, each increase is only 0.5 now? Makes sense. Otherwise, I'd become invincible too quickly." He mused, looking at his status screen with satisfaction.

Now that his jutsu power had increased by 5.5 levels, even against a clan leader-level opponent, he could hold his own… Well, at least stall them.

"Alright, it's decided—call me Uzumaki Staller from now on." Akio thought to himself with amusement.

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