Sigh...
At this moment, Akira Uchiha sighed deeply in his heart, rolling his eyes at Fugaku.
To change the subject, he had intentionally reminded Sasuke and the others about their mission reward!
Akira had known from the moment they all tagged along that he wouldn't be able to avoid splitting the reward with them.
"Ahem, well, it's true we did this mission together, but all the hard work was mine, wasn't it?" Akira said, addressing Sasuke and the others.
"Exactly, so I won't ask for much. Ten million ryō should be enough," Sasuke nodded, agreeing with Akira's point, before stating the amount he wanted.
"Right, we didn't do much, so ten million ryō each sounds fair. Consider it a friendly discount," Kakashi added, nodding as well.
"Ten million ryō? That'll last me quite a while!" Naruto chimed in with a big grin on his face. Even though Naruto was already well-off as the son of a Hokage, nobody ever complained about having more money, right?
"Ten million each? That's thirty million gone just like that?" Akira's eye twitched at the thought.
"Akira, normally S-rank missions come with a reward of a few million," Sasuke pointed out. "But this mission, where we infiltrated an enemy village, was definitely an extremely difficult S-rank task. And considering the level of the shinobi involved, ten million ryō is really a friendly price. You're holding one hundred million in mission rewards, and you can't spare just thirty million for us?"
Hearing this, Akira couldn't argue.
Sasuke was right—S-rank missions generally paid out a few million, and that was for regular jonin-level shinobi. For Kage-level missions, ten million ryō was practically a bargain.
After all, how many Kage-level shinobi were there in the entire shinobi world? Each one was a powerhouse in their own right.
And considering Akira had just pocketed one hundred million, it would indeed seem stingy not to share.
"Fine, fine. Ten million each is fair," Akira said with a forced grin, unable to argue any longer. He took out the money and handed ten million ryō each to Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto.
Sigh... well, at least I still have seventy million left, Akira thought, trying to comfort himself. After all, thanks to selling explosive tags in Sunagakure, he had managed to make a decent profit. He figured he could afford to be a little generous.
With the mission rewards divided, everyone was in a good mood.
Ten million ryō wasn't a small amount, and after a bit more small talk, the group finally split up.
Akira first took Konan and Karin back to the Uchiha clan's district, making sure to settle them in comfortably.
Karin was easy to deal with—she had free reign both within the clan grounds and throughout Konoha.
But as for Konan, Akira had to assign some trusted eyes to keep a close watch on her.
Even though Konan likely had no plans to flee, it was impossible to guarantee she wouldn't try anything in Konoha.
At Akira's request, his grandfather immediately assigned three elite clan members—each possessing the Three-Tomoe Sharingan—to keep a close watch on Konan.
After all, the Sharingan's abilities were no joke.
With everything settled at home, Akira left and made his way to Konoha's hospital.
He'd been away from the village for more than half a month, and now that he was back, it was time to check in on Hinata.
"Brother-in-law, you're back!" In the hospital room, Hanabi was still caring for her sister, and when she saw Akira walk in, her face lit up with a smile.
"Brother-in-law?" Akira paused, a bit taken aback by the way Hanabi addressed him.
"Yeah, brother-in-law! Or... did I say something wrong? You don't want to be my brother-in-law?" Hanabi asked, noticing his hesitation but speaking earnestly.
"No, no, I think that sounds just fine. Go ahead, call me that again," Akira chuckled, clearly amused.
"Brother-in-law? Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law…" Hanabi repeated, using different tones and inflections with each call.
Akira's eyes squinted with pleasure as he listened. Hearing her call him "brother-in-law" was music to his ears.
Looking at Hanabi, Akira suddenly felt much closer to her. After all, if he was her brother-in-law, then wasn't she family?
"Hanabi, you've worked hard taking care of your sister. Here's some pocket money from your brother-in-law—buy whatever you like!" Akira said grandly, pulling out one million ryō and handing it to her.
After all, with the money he had now, Akira figured that as long as he didn't break into Kage-level strength too quickly, he wouldn't need to worry about running out of funds for the next two or three months.
And as her brother-in-law, wasn't it only proper to give his little sister-in-law a generous gift, especially considering she was a princess from a prestigious clan?
"Wow! Thank you, brother-in-law, you're the best!" Hanabi exclaimed, overjoyed as she accepted the one million ryō. Even as a princess of the Hyuga Clan, she wasn't used to receiving pocket money in such large sums.
This newfound wealth gave Hanabi a sudden sense of what it was like to be truly rich.
"All right, you go take a rest. I'll stay here," Akira said gently, ruffling Hanabi's hair as he spoke, clearly doting on her.
After Hanabi left, Akira placed the flowers he had bought on his way into the room, arranging them in a vase beside Hinata's bed. Watching her lying there, still unconscious, a smile crept across his face.
Even though he hadn't yet asked for an update on her condition, just by looking at Hinata, Akira could tell that her situation had improved significantly.
Before, she had looked frail, like a living skeleton, almost mummified. But now, Hinata's appearance had noticeably improved—she had gained some color and looked much healthier.
Akira said nothing, simply sitting there quietly and watching her, as the room remained peaceful and serene. The only interruption came when a nurse entered to replace a bag of saline solution.
After the nurse left, a group of them gathered outside to chat.
"Handsome, the head of Konoha's ANBU, one of the most powerful shinobi in the entire world, and on top of all that, he's so devoted—he's been sitting by his girlfriend's bedside for two hours without getting bored. What a perfect man!" one of them gushed.
The other nurses nearly started a fight over who would get the chance to change Hinata's medication next.
Akira's sheer perfection made just seeing him feel like a privilege.
Unaware of the nurses' conversation, Akira continued sitting by Hinata's side for a good two to three hours. It was already evening by the time the door opened again, and Orochimaru entered.
"Akira-kun, I heard you were back, and I thought I might find you here," Orochimaru's raspy voice carried a hint of magnetism as he spoke.
"Yeah, it looks like Hinata's condition has improved a lot over the past few weeks," Akira replied with a nod.
"That's mainly thanks to the Hashirama cells she's been implanted with," Orochimaru explained.
"Well, whatever the reason, I appreciate your help. How long do you think it will take before she fully recovers?" Akira asked.
"Judging by her current progress, she could wake up in as little as one to two months, though it could take as long as three to five months," Orochimaru estimated.
"That's good enough," Akira nodded.
Although he wanted Hinata to wake up as soon as possible, as long as she could recover, he was content.
"Actually, based on my research, the Hashirama cells within her body were activated by the powers of Indra and Asura. Hinata should have awakened already, perhaps even by the time you returned to Konoha," Orochimaru continued.
"Unfortunately, something unexpected occurred. A portion of the chakra that was supposed to help her recover mysteriously disappeared. I've spent the past few weeks studying the phenomenon, trying to figure out where that chakra went. Only about ten to twenty percent of it remains to aid in her recovery," he explained.
"Indra and Asura's powers, huh? And Hinata has the bloodline of the Ōtsutsuki clan," Akira mused. "So, it's not that surprising something unusual happened during the recovery process. As long as she's on the right track, that's all that matters."
Orochimaru nodded in agreement. After chatting a bit more about Hinata's condition, and with members of the Hyuga clan arriving to take over her care, Akira finally stood up and left Konoha's hospital.
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Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 270+ at patreon.com/Emik01.