The Epitome

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Akio had been robbed of all the fun by his shadow clone. He thought boredom would follow, but all of a sudden, his shop exploded in popularity.

Whether someone had advertised for him or the exquisite craftsmanship of his carvings had spread by word of mouth, there were plenty of people who simply ignored the price tags.

In just a few days, Akio had earned over thirty million ryō—about the price of Asuma's head... no, more like twenty thousand bowls of Ichiraku Ramen.

"As expected, the new generation always replaces the old... More people are buying Tobirama than Hashirama. Good thing I didn't carve myself—imagine if not even one sold..."

"Boss Hagoromo! I'm back!"

While Akio was still mulling over his business boom, a familiar voice rang out. Jiraiya had returned yet again.

Akio sighed helplessly. "Give it up. I'm never selling it to you."

Jiraiya's intent was clear—he wanted a Tsunade figurine.

"You stubborn old man," Jiraiya muttered and gestured to the person behind him. "I'm just accompanying my student this time."

Akio blinked in surprise. It had been a while since he last saw Minato, who had been diligently training and completing C-rank missions.

Minato greeted him with a bright, cheerful smile and pulled out a photograph from his cloak.

Akio paused and took it. The photo showed a group of children. He only recognized Minato and Kushina—it must have been their graduation photo.

"You stubborn old man, see the red-haired girl? Could you make a carving of her for my student? Not even a little girl is okay?"

Akio hesitated, looking at Minato's hopeful expression. Back then, he'd agreed to let Kushina return to the Uzumaki clan for two years as a petty way of getting back at Hiruzen... but now, he started to regret it.

"Fine, I'll carve one for you."

"Thank you, Grandpa!" Compared to Jiraiya, Minato was much more polite.

Akio examined the photo intently for a while before slowly beginning to carve. It took about half an hour before he finally finished.

"That'll be one million ryō!"

Of course, Minato didn't have that kind of money. Jiraiya reluctantly pulled out the payment with a look of deep pain.

"You old miser," Jiraiya grumbled. "Carving a kid should've saved you a ton of wood—can't you cut me some slack?"

Akio rolled his eyes and took the money without a word.

As the two walked off into the distance, Akio could still faintly hear Jiraiya's voice: "Now look what you've done. My teacher's savings are gone. I'm telling you, Minato, just train hard. Once you're strong enough, who cares about the Uzumaki clan? If that old monster gets in your way, just knock him out…"

Akio was seriously tempted to go over and knock him out.

Fortunately, a new customer saved Jiraiya from a beating—and left Akio stunned.

"Excuse me, may I take a look around?"

Akio nodded and replied with his usual line, "Feel free to browse, but don't touch anything."

"Understood."

Akio studied the man and felt a wave of confusion.

"This guy… he's not dead? I could've sworn he was already written off…"

The visitor's name was Dan Katō—Tsunade's lover in the original timeline. He had died in the Second Great Ninja War and was one of the reasons she developed hemophobia. Due to changes in the timeline, Akio had never met him before and assumed he had quietly died on the battlefield. Yet here he was—alive.

After a brief hesitation, Akio greeted him with a smile.

"You seem unfamiliar. I've been in Konoha for a while, but I don't recall ever seeing you."

Dan looked slightly surprised but responded kindly, "I've been away on long-term missions. I don't think we've met before either."

Akio nodded without pressing further, though he had his suspicions.

"Long-term missions… one of the original 'Guardians of the Twelve Ninja'? In the original timeline, there were only twelve, but thanks to me, there are now eighteen… so he must've been among the added ones?"

"Boss, I heard everything here costs a million ryō, but you also take custom orders?"

Akio nodded. Dan then pulled out a photograph.

"What the heck… since when is photo tech in the shinobi world this advanced? Feels like they're everywhere now…" Akio thought as he accepted the photo.

The person in the image looked familiar—and bore a strong resemblance to Dan.

"That's my father," Dan explained, noticing Akio comparing the photo to his face.

Dan Katō's father… Akio pondered, feeling a vague memory stir.

"He died in the previous war. I'd like a larger wood carving of him. If possible, life-size would be ideal," Dan said with a sad expression.

"He's dead?" Akio paused for a moment.

Then he remembered—he had interacted with Dan's father before, back during Konoha's early days when the shinobi ranking system was first implemented. Dan's father had received the rank of Tokubetsu Jōnin from Akio.

"Come to think of it… I even kicked him once in the soul space."

"Boss, would that be possible?" Dan asked again. "As for the cost…"

Akio waved a hand and smiled. "Doesn't matter. No matter how big the sculpture, it's still a million ryō. But this one will take longer. Come back in two days."

Dan looked delighted. "Thank you so much, boss!"

As Akio watched him walk away, he gave Jiraiya a moment of silent condolence.

Since Dan Katō didn't die, there's no way Jiraiya could ever win Tsunade's heart now. Between Dan's personality and looks, Jiraiya didn't stand a chance.

"Then again, who knows? The story's already gone off the rails. Maybe Dan won't fall for Tsunade this time."

Akio muttered to himself and got back to work.

…

That was a glimpse of Akio's life after opening his "ShinobiBay" store.

All these years, he'd been circling around the Senju and Uzumaki clans, and before he knew it, many key figures from the canon storyline had already been born. And yet, he hadn't interacted with most of them.

In the year and a half he spent observing Ichiraku Ramen, he made no real progress. But as a figurine seller, he had met people from all walks of life.

For example, the fathers of the future Ino-Shika-Chō trio once asked Akio to carve all three of their kids on the same block of wood—showing just how close they were. However, since Chōza used up too much material, Akio charged an extra 500,000 ryō.

There were also others—Shibi Aburame, Tsume Inuzuka, and various other parents of the Konoha 12. While not all of them were his customers, Akio did see them at Ichiraku from time to time.

Akio never intended to run a wildly popular shop, but it still stung a little to be so thoroughly overshadowed by a ramen stand.

"When I've got more time, I'm definitely going to make something so irresistible that people won't care how expensive it is."

But time was running out. A year and a half had passed in the blink of an eye, and Nawaki and Mikoto's wedding preparations were already underway. A Senju–Uchiha union was a huge event for Konoha.

"This past year and a half has been unusually peaceful… Hiruzen and Danzō haven't stirred up trouble, and even after losing a member, Akatsuki hasn't made a move."

"For now, I'll keep this shopkeeper identity. With the shadow clone working alongside me, it's a good double cover…"

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