The scale of Akira's Deep Forest Emergence, which exceeded his usual chakra reserves, even left him quietly shaken. No wonder it had drained nearly all of his chakra. With tens of thousands of trees sprouting up, it was truly a vast and dense forest.
Where once there had been barren, hilly land, a lush forest had emerged, instantly elevating Iwagakure's landscape by several levels.
"Well, how about now? Satisfied?" Akira descended from the air, retracting his Sage Mode, and asked Ōnoki with a grin.
"He's not even out of breath, and his face doesn't show the slightest fatigue?"
The people around them, already stunned by the sheer amount of chakra Akira had expended, were now utterly shocked to see that he didn't appear exhausted at all. Just how deep were this kid's chakra reserves? It was beyond belief.
"Yes, I'm satisfied… You've done more than enough," the Third Tsuchikage stammered after a long moment of stunned silence.
"Good. In that case, it's time for us to head back to Konoha." With a nod of satisfaction, Akira waved dismissively.
"Safe travels," Ōnoki said, still in a state of disbelief as he watched Akira and his group prepare to leave. He couldn't shake the image of Iwagakure being transformed into a forested country, and the overwhelming feeling lingered in his heart.
"Oh, one more thing, Third Tsuchikage," Akira said suddenly, as if recalling something just as he was about to leave. "You must be running low on explosive tags now, right, after handing over all those supplies? I've got a batch I could sell you. Interested?"
"No!" Ōnoki's expression soured, and he immediately shook his head.
What was this? After extorting a massive amount of resources from Iwagakure, Akira now had the audacity to try to sell them back something? It was beyond shameless!
"You misunderstand. The ones I'm offering you aren't the same ones I just took from you. These are from my own stockpile," Akira quickly explained, noticing the sour look on Ōnoki's face.
"No, thank you!" Ōnoki waved him off, clearly not believing a word of it, and shook his head once more.
"I'll give you a discount! How about 20% off? No? Okay, how about 30% off? Hey, don't just fly off…" Akira called after Ōnoki, but the Tsuchikage had already taken off, flying away as fast as he could without another word.
"Well, whatever," Akira shrugged, watching Ōnoki fly into the distance. "It's not like I needed the extra cash anyway. I'm already a millionaire heading back to Konoha!"
If he could've made a little more money, that would've been great. But Akira wasn't the type to push it too hard. After all, with his recent windfall, he wouldn't be strapped for cash anytime soon—at least not until he surpassed Kage level.
After packing up everything and tidying up, Akira left Iwagakure behind and began the journey back to Konoha.
As they passed through the forest a kilometer outside the village, Sasuke and the others turned back, still trying to grasp the sheer scale of Akira's Deep Forest Emergence.
"It's hard to believe… Is this really something a human can do?" people in Iwagakure continued to murmur, still deeply shaken by what they had witnessed.
The villagers finally understood why the Tsuchikage had agreed to hand over so many resources to Konoha. It wasn't really compensation—it was more like Ōnoki had hired Akira to improve the environment of Iwagakure.
With that perspective in mind, the people of Iwagakure began to think that perhaps the resources spent had been well worth it.
As for Akira, he felt like it had been more than worth it.
He had accomplished his objective: by leaving behind this massive forest, he had effectively ensured that Iwagakure would think twice before attempting any more hostile actions against Konoha.
The sheer power he had demonstrated, enough to engulf the entire village in a forest, would make them carefully consider their options before making any future moves.
And with that, Akira had successfully completed his mission in Iwagakure—surpassing even his own expectations.
After traveling for several days with his group, Akira finally returned to Konoha.
With money in his pocket, Akira was feeling generous. Along the way, he didn't hesitate to treat his companions to good meals and comfortable accommodations at every stop.
Each day, as part of his Life Simulation, Akira checked in on the forest he had left in Iwagakure. Not only had it served as a show of force to Iwagakure, but it had also sent shockwaves through the entire shinobi world.
Meanwhile, Akira's recent training efforts had been focused on refining his Wood Release jutsu.
Why? The reason was simple: cost-effectiveness.
Now that he was at the Kage level, Life Simulations cost one million ryō each.
If Akira focused solely on increasing his chakra reserves, he would soon surpass the Kage level in terms of chakra capacity. Once that happened, his overall strength would exceed the Kage rank, and the cost of each simulation would jump to ten million ryō!
If he was going to spend that much money, wouldn't it be better to focus on learning new jutsu first while the simulations were still relatively cheap?
So, Akira decided to prioritize learning advanced techniques like True Several Thousand Hands and Topping Buddha before moving on to increase his chakra.
For the next few days, Akira didn't focus too much on increasing his chakra, instead putting his efforts into mastering more jutsu.
Finally, after several days of travel, Akira and his team returned to Konoha.
Upon their return, Akira headed straight for the Hokage Tower. Along the way, he bid farewell to Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto.
"All right, Akira, let me know when you have another mission!" Naruto waved energetically as Akira said his goodbyes.
Not thinking much of it, Naruto turned and started walking home. But after a few steps, he noticed something odd.
Why weren't Sasuke and Kakashi heading off in different directions too? They were both still walking with Akira towards the Hokage Tower!
"Sasuke, aren't you going home?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Oh, I was just planning to drop by the Hokage Tower to see my father," Sasuke replied with a casual smile.
"I've got some business with Lord Hokage too," Kakashi added, sounding nonchalant.
Their reasons sounded perfectly reasonable, but why was Naruto the only one heading home? His instincts told him something was off.
"You know what? I think I'll come with you guys," Naruto said, deciding to trust his gut and follow them.
"Why are you tagging along?" Akira asked, casting an exasperated glance at Kakashi and Sasuke before turning back to Naruto.
"Why can't I? Can't I go to the Hokage Tower if I want to?" Naruto shot back.
"You've been gone for over half a month. Don't you want to go home and rest first?" Akira tried to persuade him.
"Nah, it's not urgent. You guys don't seem to be in a hurry either," Naruto said stubbornly, now even more convinced that something was up. He refused to leave.
Akira could only sigh in resignation.
There was no getting rid of Naruto, so the whole group arrived at the Hokage's office together.
Inside the office, Fugaku glanced at Konan, noting her cloak with the red clouds. He shot a questioning look at Akira.
Akira explained that she was a prisoner of war, and then made sure that Karin was registered as an official shinobi of Konoha.
For Akira, it was no big deal to pull a few strings to get her properly registered.
Karin was overjoyed when she received her shinobi registration and forehead protector. From that day forward, she was officially a member of Konoha.
With that out of the way, Fugaku turned to Akira and asked, "So, how did the war reparations negotiations go with Iwagakure?"
"Here's the list of supplies," Akira replied, handing over the inventory.
Fugaku scanned the list and his eyes widened in shock.
"This… this is way too much!" Fugaku nearly jumped out of his seat, his voice filled with disbelief.
Even though Fugaku had expected Akira to extort a hefty sum, given that he had brought three Kage-level fighters with him, the actual amount far exceeded his expectations.
Was this really a negotiation? Or had Akira robbed Iwagakure's entire warehouse?
Seeing the stunned look on Fugaku's face, Akira smiled and asked, "Hokage-sama, don't forget you promised me—ten percent of the total compensation as my reward."
"Of course, of course. There's eight hundred million ryō in cash here, plus all the other supplies. Let's call it an even billion. So, one hundred million for you," Fugaku said with a nod.
"Wait a minute! All those kunai, shuriken, explosive tags, and other materials—you're only valuing them at two hundred million?" Akira protested.
"Let's not get too picky with the numbers," Fugaku said with a dismissive wave, clearly not interested in haggling.
Then, as if to change the subject, he turned to Sasuke and Kakashi and asked, "By the way, how much of the mission reward did Akira promise to split with you guys?"
Both Kakashi and Sasuke grinned mischievously, their eyes gleaming as they glanced at Akira.
Even Naruto, who had only just figured out what was going on, suddenly realized why Sasuke and Kakashi hadn't left earlier.
Clearly, they were expecting a cut of the mission reward too!
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Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 270+ at patreon.com/Emik01.