One month later, late at night.
The Weapon Forge of the Land of Whirlpools.
Akio stood in the dim workshop, holding two strangely shaped blades, one in each hand. He took a deep breath.
Calling them "blades" was being generous.
The one in his left hand had no point, no edge just a rod of metal, somewhat similar in shape to the Thunder Blade used by Ringo Ameyuri of the Hidden Mist.
The one in his right hand wasn't really a sword at all. More like a dagger, barely eight inches long, covered in tiny engraved seals so dense they could give anyone with trypophobia nightmares.
Odd designs aside, Akio looked completely satisfied.
"Good thing I dumped five Witness Points to max out my forging skill. Two divine weapons, finally."
Up until now, he'd kept his forging ability at level eight to save points. Even that level had let him recreate Tobirama's famed Sword of the Thunder God.
Now, with forging maxed and his sealing jutsu at level nine, even he felt a little nervous about what he'd created.
"These two weapons… the lightning one is fine, but the other one's going to be tough to assign to someone."
He glanced outside. Night had fully settled in.
"Tomorrow I'll test them properly. Let's see if they match my expectations."
The Next Morning
Before dawn broke, Akio dragged his two students and Minato and Kushina out to the training grounds.
Ignoring their half-asleep expressions, he felt genuinely excited. Good craftsmanship deserved to be shared… and he felt wide awake anyway.
"Morning, sensei. What's so urgent?" Minato yawned.
Akio grinned. "Remember how I've been forging the last two missing swords? They're finished. Time to test them."
Their fatigue lifted a little, until he actually revealed the weapons.
Kushina immediately stepped back.
"Great-Grandpa, I should go. Naruto's about to wake up, and I still need to make breakfast."
"Yeah, sensei, I'm gonna catch a quick nap. Big day ahead," Nagato muttered, stretching.
"What big day?" Akio shot him a look.
Konan stepped in gently. "Sensei, tomorrow's the New Year festival. We're in charge of preparations."
Akio blinked. "Right… forgot. Well, it won't take long. I won't sleep unless we test these."
And if he wasn't sleeping, clearly no one else would either.
Seeing Nagato still half-asleep, Akio poked him with the rod-like blade
Crackle.
"Sensei!! You didn't have to use Lightning Release!" Nagato jerked upright.
Akio snorted. "I didn't. This blade naturally generates lightning. The more chakra you feed it, the stronger the discharge gets. No upper limit."
"No upper limit?" Minato latched onto the words instantly, and everyone perked up.
"Right. The only limit is the user's chakra pool. For example, me, going all out."
He stabbed the blade into the ground. All four of them felt their legs go numb.
The weapon itself didn't even glow. Akio had sealed all the outward energy into the blade.
"…That's kinda evil," Nagato said, scratching his head.
Akio glared. "It's called strategy. Not evil. And its Lightning-Release amplification is leagues above the Fang Sword."
"Great-Grandpa, you modeled it after that sword, didn't you?" Kushina teased.
Akio's eye twitched.
No need to point out the obvious…
When Konoha delivered their materials earlier, he'd spent days trying to invent something new—but inspiration didn't come. So he'd borrowed the concept and upgraded it massively.
"I don't care if it's similar. This one's stronger. That makes theirs the knockoff. Mine's the original!" he declared proudly.
He tossed it to Nagato. "Assign it as you see fit. Not many in the Land of Whirlpools specialize in Lightning Release anyway."
"Yeah!"
Akio then held up the dagger.
"And now, the star of the show."
"So many sealing formulas…" Kushina frowned. "Is this a sealing blade? No… these aren't standard patterns."
Akio smirked.
"This weapon's name is… the Forty-Meter Cleaver."
"Forty-Meter Cleaver? Sensei, that's… actually a great name," Nagato said, fighting laughter.
Akio squinted at him. "Nagato… are you humoring your teacher on purpose?"
Nagato blinked. "Huh?"
"I forge two swords and you've been roasting them nonstop. Trying to boost my self-esteem?"
Nagato rubbed his head. "Sorry, sensei. Still half-asleep. Please continue."
Akio glanced at the others. Minato looked neutral. Kushina thoughtful. Konan was clearly holding in laughter.
"So, you are playing comic relief for me…" Akio muttered half touched, half annoyed.
Then he pointed the dagger at Nagato.
"Come on. Run thirty-nine meters. Let's see if the Forty-Meter Cleaver catches you."
Nagato paled. "Sensei, I'm sorry!"
Akio rolled his eyes and stepped forward. Pointing the dagger at the open field, he channeled chakra.
A pale-blue blade of chakra extended from the dagger, growing longer as he poured chakra into it—until it stretched dozens of meters across the clearing.
He flicked his wrist.
A single sweep.
Several trees toppled instantly.
He cut the chakra, and the enormous blade vanished.
"Your turn. Don't overload it on your first try. This takes some practice."
He tossed the dagger to the group.
As they experimented, Akio noticed something interesting: the weapon could measure its user's chakra output with surprising accuracy.
He'd named it the Forty-Meter Cleaver because that was the maximum length he could generate at full power.
Among the others, Kushina, using the Nine-Tails' chakra barely hit thirty meters, laughing while she teased Minato.
Minato managed only around ten.
He looked devastated.
After testing everything length, sharpness, stability, the sun was rising. Akio reclaimed both weapons. They were too precious to hand out casually.
"Alright. Morning training done. Get some sleep if you can."
The four exchanged helpless smiles.
At this hour? Sleep was a lost cause.
As they left, Kimimaro, Haku, and Karin approached together, the final day of their personal training under Akio.
"Last session today. Make it count."
Their reactions differed: Kimimaro looked disappointed, Karin expressionless but thrilled inside, and Haku, as usual, greeted him with that deceptively serene smile that always unsettled him a bit.
"And I still need to rough Naruto up one more time. Last beating before he turns six tomorrow…"
"Six years old," Akio sighed. "Time for him to start the Academy."
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