412 Learning Ninjutsu in a Glance

"By the way, how's the company's game console development going? When will it go on sale?" Shinju continued.

Sasuke knew nothing, giving only a vague answer.

"Ah… well… it should be soon, I guess!"

Shinju: "..."

How could he possibly feel at ease leaving the company to people like this?

In the end, it was Raimon, who had just finished an experiment, who answered Shinju's question.

"The game console development is already in its final stage. In another half month, it'll be ready for sale!"

Shinju nodded in satisfaction and left the company. Before going, he didn't forget to leave one last remark:

"Delegate the authority to Raimon. With you two (Sasuke and Naruto) here, the company will go bankrupt sooner or later."

Sasuke: "..."

...

Night.

Shinju was walking alone down the street.

As he walked, he arrived at a park that was still under construction.

Nowadays, Konoha was comparable to a small city-state. Its construction area had expanded by who knew how many times compared to before. Besides Shinju Park, there were quite a few smaller parks, and currently two large parks were still under construction…

To commemorate the two great clans that founded Konoha, the two parks under construction were named "Senju Park" and "Uchiha Park."

The one in front of Shinju was Senju Park, rebuilt and renovated on the basis of the old park.

Walking inside, he found that the large park was nearly finished, so Shinju casually took a stroll around.

After just a few steps, he saw two people sitting on a bench in the distance!

Shinju: (๑ʘ̅ д ʘ̅๑)!!!

If nothing unexpected was happening, that was Tsunade-sensei and Jiraiya-sensei!

The two of them seemed to be playing cards. Judging by Jiraiya-sensei's expression, there was definitely some not-safe-for-children wager involved…

Shinju took a couple of glances and left. Look not at what is improper!

Leaving the park, Shinju resumed wandering aimlessly through the streets.

Wherever he went, everyone stopped to salute, respectfully calling out, "Hokage-sama."

Hearing it made Shinju uncomfortable, so he transformed into Sasuke's appearance…

After strolling through two more streets, Shinju noticed a huge crowd gathered ahead.

Only when he got closer did he realize it was a big-eater competition being held by the dango shop.

Konoha's three giants of the food industry were Ichiraku Ramen, the dango shop, and the barbecue restaurant.

Ichiraku Ramen needed no explanation—Naruto's favorite.

The barbecue restaurant was the place Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino loved most.

As for the dango shop, it was said that Uchiha clan members used to love coming here. Its signature three-color dango was extremely popular with the public…

Shinju thought that since he was already disguised as Sasuke, it would be just right to go eat at the dango shop.

Idle was idle anyway, and if he won the big-eater competition, he could even freeload a meal…

...

Two hours later.

Shinju's home.

Shinju, who had just won the dango-eating competition, was stuffed to the point of burping.

At that moment, he was lying on the sofa, patting his belly as he said,

"This is killing me. The three-color dango really is delicious, but I ate over a hundred skewers… If I hadn't used space-time techniques to send away the dango that reached my mouth at the end, I really would've lost to Choji today…"

Just then, the sound of a door opening softly echoed.

A short while later, Sasuke opened the door and came inside.

By then, Shinju had already switched back to a normal sitting posture, sitting straight-backed on the sofa.

"Sasuke, you're back."

Sasuke said, "Shinju, I passed by the dango shop just now and saw a notice board in front of it saying, 'Congratulations to Uchiha Sasuke for becoming this tournament's Big Eater Champion,' and it even had a photo of me eating dango attached."

"Do you have any idea what that's about? (ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ)"

Shinju shook his head repeatedly in denial.

"No! You're not suspecting me, are you?"

Sasuke himself found it strange too.

It made no sense!

Even though Shinju was the biggest suspect, him disguising himself as me just to enter a big-eater competition—

What would be the point?! ( ´◔‸◔`)

"Alright then. I'm going upstairs."

...

The next day.

Shinju went to work as usual, handling the various commissioned missions from the past few days.

Suddenly—

"Ring ring ring—"

The phone on the desk rang.

Shinju picked it up and asked, "This is the Hokage's office. Who is this?"

A familiar voice came through the phone.

"It's Suigetsu. Shinju, the commission you gave us—we've already completed it! ୧⍢⃝୨"

As soon as Suigetsu finished speaking, sounds of scuffling came through the phone. After a while, Karin's voice rang out.

"Shinju~ we've successfully become the daimyo of the Land of Silence. When are you going to go on a date with me? (ᴗ‿ᴗ)"

Shinju: ◝₍ᴑ̑ДO͝₎◞

"Daimyo? Didn't I tell you to pick a wise ruler to support? How did you end up becoming the leaders yourselves?"

Suigetsu's voice sounded again.

"It's not that we didn't want to support someone. It's just that all the factions fighting for power in the Land of Silence were absolute trash. Not a single one cared about the people."

"Later on, didn't you send two more people? That Ketsuryūgan and Nowaki… We thought that little Ketsuryūgan girl seemed pretty good, so we gathered a group, pacified all the factions, and let her become the daimyo…"

Shinju: (ಠ .̫.̫ ಠ)

"Chino, huh… letting that one become daimyo—won't she really turn the land into a living hell…?"

Suigetsu said, "Since the matter was handed to us, we'll definitely handle it properly. I'll stay here and keep an eye on her."

Shinju let out a sigh. Since things had already come to this point, it clearly wasn't feasible to change people at the last minute. Hopefully Chino would be reliable!

"Then be careful. The Ketsuryūgan is hard to deal with—stay on guard."

Karin said, "Okay! I've received your concern and affection! (๑ت๑)"

After chatting a bit more, Shinju hung up the phone and rubbed his temples.

The things that had been happening lately were getting more and more outrageous…

Maybe it was some kind of omen of a great disaster.

When he thought of great disasters, Shinju recalled the Great Toad Sage who had gone to sleep and never woken up…

"Come to think of it, I haven't gone over there in quite a while."

...

Deep within the temple on Mount Myōboku.

The Great Toad Sage smiled as he looked at Shinju below.

"Yo, little Shinju is here. Did you run into some trouble? ∩_∩"

Seeing that the Great Toad Sage was clear-headed at the moment, Shinju was overjoyed.

"Great Toad Sage, I think I've already met the person from the heavens in your prophecy."

The Great Toad Sage said, "Oh? Looks like you defeated them. Tell me about your experiences. ( ´▽` )"

So Shinju briefly told the Great Toad Sage about Toneri, as well as the descent of Momoshiki and Kinshiki.

Finally, Shinju asked, "Great Toad Sage, before you fell asleep last time, you had Fukasaku tell me that the people from the heavens were 'one near and one far.' The 'far' most likely refers to the Ōtsutsuki clan members who crossed the stars to reach the ninja world. Does the 'near' refer to Toneri on the moon?"

After hearing Shinju's question, the Great Toad Sage shook his head.

"No, no…"

"The moon is already very far away…"

"Although I can't see too clearly, what I meant by 'near' refers to someone standing on the same land beneath our feet… at least, that's what I saw."

Shinju: Σ(っ °Д °;)っ

"Then does that mean there are other Ōtsutsuki clan members still on the lands of the ninja world?! Σ( ° △ °|||)︴"

The Great Toad Sage said, "You'll have to find the answer yourself. Toads need to rest…"

After saying that, the Great Toad Sage began to yawn…

Shinju understood and took the initiative to leave the temple.

After declining Shima's invitation to bug cuisine, Shinju returned to Konoha and began investigating the Ōtsutsuki that might exist within the ninja world…

...

Happy New Year! Wishing you health, happiness, and new opportunities ahead