Kakashi and Nohara Rin woke up when the Ninja Hawk started screeching in the woods.
Actually, the hawk's cry was so loud, as if intentionally trying to wake them up.
But not even that could wake them. Just look how deeply Shindai was sleeping—like a corpse. The hawk had even gone so far as to peck him right on the head. It was obvious that it had run out of options to try such a risky move.
What rotten luck for the hawk to end up serving a master like Shindai.
Right now, Shindai was standing not far away, opening a letter.
The first sentence alone made his blood boil.
"Can you believe this? I've suffered enough already! Now he's telling me I have to endure more suffering?! Where's the humanity?! Who in their right mind wants to be a hero? Let whoever the hell wants this stupid hero title take it! If I hadn't thought fighting on the battlefield would be more dangerous than being a spy, there's no way I'd have come here!"
In a rage, Shindai hurled the letter to the ground and stamped on it repeatedly.
Seeing the situation, the Ninja Hawk quickly flew away fearing Shindai might actually cook and eat it.
Obito, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly jolted awake. "Who? Who's shouting? Could there be enemies?"
Rin covered her eyes—she'd already seen enough.
Obito got woken up just by Shindai's yelling. You could clearly tell how loud he was.
As a spy, didn't he care about compromising their cover at all?
Kakashi whispered, "Hey Obito, don't expose us!"
Obito gave Kakashi a confused look. "Expose what exactly?"
Minato Namikaze heard footsteps approaching. With no time to explain, he immediately flung a small stone at Obito's head.
Obito rolled his eyes before collapsing unconscious on the spot.
Minato, Kakashi, and Rin quickly shut their eyes and pretended to sleep.
Shindai stormed back to where he'd been lying earlier, his anger only growing as he replayed the letter's contents.
Didn't anyone care about his safety at all?
They weren't especially close, but they were blood-related after all.
Still fuming, Shindai couldn't fall asleep again, waiting like that until daybreak.
Pretending to awaken, Minato opened his eyes and saw Shindai, who was still wide-awake looking sulky. He said, "You're up early, Shindai."
Shindai forced a strained smile. Angry as he was, he still needed to protect his life carefully—he couldn't afford to show attitude toward Minato.
"Yeah, I'm really excited! We're finally getting to meet the Hokage!"
Minato gave a subtle smile. "I see. Then today you'll finally get to meet him. Kakashi, wake up Obito—we're leaving."
Kakashi strode over to the still-unconscious Obito, seized him by the collar, and yanked him upright. "Hey, wake up!"
After Kakashi shook him hard, Obito slowly began to regain consciousness.
Obito stared at Kakashi in confusion. "Ah, it's Kakashi... Wait, last night..."
Before Obito could say more, Kakashi shot him a sharp glare. "There's nothing from last night. We need to get moving now. Hurry up and get ready to leave!"
Minato Namikaze also spoke up, trying to prevent Obito from saying anything else that might mislead Shindai. "Right then, let's move out. The Third Hokage is looking forward to meeting you, Shindai. Let's not waste any time. The sooner we return to Konoha, the sooner your wish will come true, right, Shindai?"
Shindai forced a smile. "Yes, yes indeed. Right now, I really wish I were already in Konoha."
After everyone quickly packed up, they resumed their journey toward Konoha.
It was around 2 PM.
Obito stretched lazily. "Hmm~ Finally back. Feels like the last time I came back to Konoha was just yesterday."
Rin Nohara carefully pondered Obito's words, sensing something odd. "Obito, what you just said... somehow sounds like you said nothing at all."
Kakashi immediately quipped, "Just meaningless babble."
As Shindai looked at Konoha's great gate before him, he felt an entirely different vibe compared to Sunagakure's entrance.
Sunagakure's gate, constantly battered by desert sands, looked worn and shabby.
In contrast, Konoha's gate looked grand and impressive.
Minato smiled as he said, "Well then, let's head inside."
Following Minato Namikaze and Kakashi, Shindai successfully entered Konoha.
Once on Konoha's streets, surrounded by so many people, Shindai felt extremely uneasy. His whole body stiffened. He didn't know what to do with his hands and feet anymore.
Indeed, Konoha and Sunagakure were worlds apart.
One was dirt poor, the other absurdly rich.
No wonder Sunagakure coveted Konoha so much.
The delicious aromas wafting from food shops had Shindai repeatedly swallowing hard.
Noticing the strange look on Shindai's face, Minato asked with concern, "What's wrong, Shindai?"
Swallowing again, Shindai replied, "I'm fine... I'm just not used to being around this many people."
Obito asked curiously, "You're... socially anxious?"
Shindai proudly puffed his chest. "No way! How could I possibly be socially anxious? Back in Sunagakure, they called me the Social Bandit!"
Then he wiped sweat from his brow and slightly hunched his back. "It's just... I've never seen so many people in Sunagakure before, so I'm a little out of my element."
Minato recalled Yamanaka Aoi's findings about Shindai's memories.
Apparently, Shindai had lived alone since childhood and never went outside.
Considering Shindai's earlier awkwardness, his tense expression, flushed face, and tendency to avoid eye contact, Obito might have been right after all. Shindai really did seem to suffer from social anxiety.
Minato Namikaze noticed Shindai Shin's gaze linger on a tempura restaurant, swallowing hard several times.
Smiling, Minato said, "Since we're already in Konoha, let's grab something to eat before meeting with the Third. It's not like we're in such a big hurry, right? My treat—how about some tempura?"
Shindai Shin heard that Minato was offering to pay and specifically suggested tempura, which he'd been craving. His eyes lit up. "Great! Thank you so much, Lord Minato! You're too kind!"
"No problem. Then let's go."
Minato Namikaze led Shindai Shin and Kakashi into the restaurant, deliberately choosing a private room.
He handed Shindai Shin the menu. "Here, order whatever you want."
Shindai Shin's eyes sparkled as he looked at Minato. "Seriously? I can really order anything I want?"
Minato chuckled and nodded. "Of course. Order whatever you like."
Minato wasn't worried about Shindai Shin ordering too much—after all, how much could a ten-year-old kid possibly eat?
But soon, Minato's calm expression began to falter.
"Let me start with ten orders of sea bream tempura just to tide me over."
"Then another ten orders of oyster tempura."
"Oh, crab meat tempura looks delicious too—get fifteen of those."
...
Minato twitched slightly at the corner of his eye. He wanted to take back what he had just said—"eat whatever you like."
Why does this kid order everything in sets of ten?! Who places an order like this?!
That's classic 'robbing the rich' behavior!
Kakashi and the other two were also stunned. How could one person eat this much?
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