422 Learning Ninjutsu in a Glance

The next day.

Shinju slept straight through until noon—pure bliss, like he'd taken off into the sky.

At midday, Shinju took a moment to stop by the small room next to the office to quiz Naruto. Afterward, he felt Naruto was still a bit lacking in cultivation.

"All right, keep working at it. I'm off to grab some Ichiraku ramen."

Stepping outside, he happened to run into Tsunade-sensei, who was heading out for lunch.

When Tsunade saw that Shinju was on vacation yet still worrying about government affairs, she felt even more guilty.

"I'm giving you a full week off! Don't come in at all this week! I'll quiz Naruto for you!"

Shinju wanted to explain, but his sensei's enthusiasm was impossible to refuse, so he gave up. In the end, he treated her to lunch.

...

On the streets of Konoha Village.

With no work to do, Shinju felt like even the air tasted sweet.

He hadn't been strolling for long when he ran into Konohamaru's squad, who were heading out on a mission.

"Shinju, you're not working today?" Konohamaru grinned and waved.

Shinju answered happily, "The Fifth Hokage's covering for me. Konohamaru, where are you headed?"

Their squad leader, Ebisu, answered respectfully,

"Sixth-sama, we're heading to Orange Village. There have been reports of missing people in that area, and the villagers asked us to help find them."

Shinju replied casually, with no airs at all, "Ebisu-sensei, just call me by my name…"

When Ebisu heard that, tears instantly streamed down his face! (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)

He still vividly remembered the stupid things he'd said back then, when he looked down on Naruto and Shinju!

He never expected the Sixth Hokage not only to hold no grudge, but to still call him "sensei" like in the old days…

Compared to the Sixth Hokage's breadth of character, he himself was nothing but a clown!!

Seeing Ebisu's expression slowly collapse, Shinju looked speechless.

"I told you not to call me Sixth-sama—why are you crying now… Don't cry. If you really want to call me that, it's fine…"

Konohamaru: (||๐_๐)

This is way too embarrassing for me!

Drag him away, now!

...

In the blink of an eye, night fell.

After parting ways with Konohamaru's squad, Shinju spent the whole afternoon enjoying life—browsing stalls, buying clothes.

Just as he walked out of the Konoha shopping district, he ran into Konohamaru's squad again.

"Shinju!" Konohamaru greeted him as enthusiastically as ever.

Shinju seized the chance to grab him as free labor.

"Perfect timing, Konohamaru. Help me carry some of this."

Then he frowned. "Wait—why do you all look so dusty? Did the mission fail?"

Hearing the Sixth Hokage ask, Ebisu answered shamefully as the squad leader,

"The mission was successful. There were just… some minor complications along the way."

Shinju didn't press further. He grabbed Konohamaru and continued shopping.

On the way, Shinju asked casually, "What kind of complications? Tell me in detail."

"It's nothing major. It just felt like the people in Orange Village all have pretty bad memories. They seemed to forget about paying the mission fee, and sensei almost got into a fight with them…"

Shinju bristled. "They dared make Konoha shinobi work for free? (ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ)"

"Did you get the commission fee in the end?"

Konohamaru shook his head. "Ebisu-sensei said this needs to be reported and decided by the Hokage's office."

Shinju waved it off. "No problem. I am the Hokage. I've decided—tomorrow I'll take you there and get that commission fee back! (▼ヘ▼#)"

"Aren't you super busy after becoming Hokage?" Konohamaru asked curiously.

"It's fine. I'm backing you up ! ヽ('⌒´メ)ノ" Shinju said, waving boldly.

"Whoa—!" Konohamaru instantly turned into a starstruck fanboy!

(´◊ω◊｀)

At that moment, in his eyes, Shinju-niichan was practically glowing.

...

The next day.

Orange Village.

When Shinju first heard the name, he assumed it was just a small village in the Land of Fire.

But once he arrived, he realized every household had its own small building, and some people had even constructed palace-like homes. The place was extremely wealthy!

"That's strange. This place doesn't look poor at all, so why wouldn't they want to pay the commission fee?" Shinju muttered.

Konohamaru shook his head. "No idea. Maybe they're really just bad at remembering things? (￢‸￢)?"

After some inquiries by Shinju and Konohamaru, they learned that Orange Village had no village head. The ones in charge were the Shōmura family, who lived in the palace-like building in the village.

A few minutes later, the two arrived at the Shōmura family's gate.

"Ding ding ding—"

They rang the doorbell, and an elderly woman dressed like a servant came to open the door.

When she saw Konohamaru beside Shinju, she spoke up immediately.

"You two are shinobi from Konoha Village, right? Thank you for helping Orange Village recover the missing children. Please follow me to receive the mission commission."

Konohamaru was stunned.

"That's not right—you weren't this easy to talk to yesterday! ╰_╯"

The old woman looked guilty.

"This is indeed our fault. Please don't blame us. The people of Orange Village… our memories aren't very good."

Shinju asked curiously, "Why does that happen?"

The old woman began recounting Orange Village's history.

"That was hundreds of years ago. A yokai came to Orange Village, named Zouma. Zouma has no physical body and loves to devour human memories… Later, a hero defeated Zouma and sealed it inside a massive stone. Recently, the seal has loosened, so the people of Orange Village often experience memory lapses…"

"But this situation will soon end. All that's needed is for a woman of the Shōmura family and a man of the Meigetsu family to marry…"

After hearing this history, Shinju and Konohamaru both fell silent in thought.

A few minutes later, led by the old woman, they met the current head of the Shōmura family—

Shōmura Lemo.

A little girl, about eleven or twelve years old…

"The one getting married is her?" Konohamaru asked in shock.

Shōmura Lemo looked young, but spoke with an old-fashioned air.

"The marriage is merely to fulfill my family's duty…"

Konohamaru: "..."

"This is way too illegal. (꒪⌓꒪)"

"You're still a child. Isn't getting married way too early?"

Shōmura Lemo shot Konohamaru a sideways glance.

"A child like you wouldn't understand. ¯\(ツ)/¯"

Konohamaru retorted, "I'm way older than you, okay…"

Shinju stepped in to separate the two bickering kids. He crouched down and looked Shōmura Lemo straight in the eye.

"You can commission Konoha shinobi to kill Zouma."

"The commission fee won't be high. Do you want to issue the request?"

Konohamaru stubbornly turned his head away.

"I'm not helping a kid like her with anything! (′д｀σ)σ"

"Bang!"

Shinju smacked Konohamaru on the head!

"Anyone who turns down money is an idiot! That's my teaching—remember it! (｀Δ´)!"

Konohamaru clutched his head: ꒦ິ^꒦ິ

Seeing this, Shōmura Lemo burst into giggles. "Hehehe…"

Seeing the client happy, Shinju pressed on.

"Go ahead and issue the commission. Konoha shinobi will solve all your problems! ❛‿˂̵✧"

...

Half an hour later.

Led by the old woman, Shinju and Konohamaru arrived at the sealed cave in Orange Village.

At the very center of the cave stood a gigantic stone, as tall as a person.

From the top of the stone grew a pair of horn-like protrusions, resembling antlers.

The old woman explained, "What's growing from the stone are Zouma's horns. If the people of Orange Village wish to reseal Zouma, the Meigetsu family and the Orange Village family must unite, and together cut off Zouma's horns…"

"Two honorable shinobi, what do you think should be done…?"