Outside the village gate, a carriage was already waiting.
A middle-aged man sat at the front of the carriage. When he saw them come out, he immediately jumped down and came forward to greet them.
"You must be the ninja from Konoha, right?" He rubbed his hands together, his attitude very polite. "My name is Matsuda. I'll be troubling you this time."
Maruboshi Kosuke exchanged a few simple words with him, then turned back to arrange positions.
"Four corners of the carriage. Shin-chan, front right. Uchiha Toru, front left. Kakashi, back right. Pay attention to your surroundings."
"Understood."
Once everyone was in position, Merchant Matsuda called out, and the horse began moving its hooves. The group left Konoha's gate.
The trees on both sides of the road retreated one by one.
Shin-chan stayed quiet for about three minutes.
Then...
"Uncle Matsuda." He looked up at the merchant on the carriage. "What kind of business do you do?"
Matsuda lowered his head and looked at the little thing who wasn't even as tall as the wheel. He smiled. "I sell cloth. There are many hot spring inns in the Land of Hot Water, so they need a lot of yukata."
"Oh." Shin-chan dragged out the sound. "Then do you make money?"
Matsuda was amused by the blunt question. "A little. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to hire Konoha ninja to escort me."
"Oh." Shin-chan thought again. "Then have you ever met bad guys?"
"I have," Matsuda said. "This road used to be rather unsafe. Bandits and the like would pop up every now and then. But..."
He looked at the forehead protectors on the little ninja beside him. "With Konoha ninja here, I'm not worried."
"Why?"
"Because Konoha ninja are strong." Matsuda smiled. "When those bandits see that forehead protector, most of them hide on their own."
The more Shin-chan chatted, the more relaxed he became. After that, he looked like he was out on a picnic.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Toru walked at the front left of the carriage, one hand always gripping a kunai, his eyes constantly scanning both sides of the road.
The woods, the bushes, the distant slopes—every place where someone could be hiding, he checked twice.
An old farmer carrying a hoe walked toward them from the opposite direction.
Uchiha Toru's body instantly tensed. His steps paused slightly, and his grip on the kunai tightened.
The old farmer glanced at them, passed by, and headed into the fields.
Uchiha Toru watched him walk over a dozen steps away before slowly letting out half a breath.
A while later, a woman carrying a bamboo basket appeared.
Uchiha Toru tensed up again.
The woman walked quickly and soon turned onto a side road, disappearing from sight.
Uchiha Toru's hand still did not leave his kunai.
Shin-chan turned his head. "Toru, aren't you tired?"
Uchiha Toru didn't look at him. His eyes were still sweeping over the roadside bushes. "No."
"You've been holding that the whole way." Shin-chan pointed at his hand. "Your kunai is going to sweat from being squeezed."
"This is an escort mission."
"But there's nothing happening right now." Shin-chan spread his arms and spun in place. "Look. The sky is so blue, and the wind feels so nice."
"It's exactly because nothing is happening that something is most likely to go wrong." Uchiha Toru's grip on the kunai did not loosen at all.
Maruboshi Kosuke walked behind the carriage and heard the two children's conversation clearly.
One was too relaxed, and the other was too tense.
He shook his head and said nothing.
The road was still long.
No one knew whether it was because the Konoha forehead protectors had worked, because the road was already peaceful to begin with, or simply because their luck was good.
Nothing happened the whole way.
No bandits. No masked men suddenly jumping out from the roadside. They didn't even see a suspicious figure.
When the carriage crossed a small hill, the scenery before them suddenly changed.
In the distance, wisps of white smoke rose from the ground, dispersing into thin mist beneath the sunlight. A faint smell of sulfur drifted through the air.
The Land of Hot Water had arrived.
After entering the town, the merchant let out a long breath, turned around, and bowed repeatedly to the four of them.
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone. The journey was safe thanks to you."
"It was our duty." Maruboshi Kosuke waved his hand. "Our mission is complete."
After the merchant walked away, Shin-chan turned to Maruboshi Kosuke.
"Uncle, C-rank missions are so easy."
Maruboshi Kosuke lowered his head and looked at him.
"We walked the whole way, nothing happened, and the mission was done." Shin-chan said, "So C-rank missions are just walking."
Maruboshi Kosuke was silent for two seconds. "We were lucky this time."
Whether Shin-chan actually listened or not, he nodded anyway.
"Let's go." Maruboshi Kosuke stepped into the town. "Since we're here, let's try the hot springs of the Land of Hot Water."
The streets were packed with people, and colorful lanterns and flags hung on both sides of the road.
The strangest thing was that everyone wore masks.
Cat masks and dog masks filled the streets.
On top of that, the people wearing cat masks and those wearing dog masks each gathered into separate groups, with an invisible line between them. Neither side moved toward the other.
Shin-chan looked up, his mouth forming a round "O." "Wow, so many cats and dogs."
"The Dog-Cat Festival." There was a trace of surprise in Maruboshi Kosuke's voice. "I didn't expect us to arrive at just the right time."
Shin-chan immediately turned his head. "Dog-Cat Festival? What's that?"
"A festival for people who like dogs or cats," Maruboshi Kosuke said. "They wear cat masks or dog masks. It's very lively."
Before he had even finished speaking, a young man wearing a dog mask rushed over from the side and nearly bumped into Shin-chan.
He held a small flag in his hand. On it was a majestic-looking dog, with the words "Long Live the Dog Faction" written underneath. As he ran, he shouted, "Lord Dog God is the true messenger! Victory to the Dog Faction!"
As soon as he finished shouting, a girl wearing a cat mask across the street refused to back down and raised the sign in her hand. A cat was drawn on it.
"Nonsense! Lord Cat God was the first to dig up the hot spring! The Cat Faction is the orthodox one!"
The two stood face to face, and the gazes behind their masks looked like sparks were about to fly.
Uchiha Toru stood beside Shin-chan, watching all these masked people arguing back and forth, and frowned.
"Mr. Kosuke, these people..."
"It's fine." Maruboshi Kosuke waved his hand. "It's just a festival. They've been arguing for years. They won't actually fight."
Shin-chan, however, didn't care at all. He had already been drawn over to a roadside stall selling masks.
The stall was filled with masks. The row on the left was all cats, and the row on the right was all dogs.
Shin-chan stood in front of the stall, looking left, then right. His expression was even more serious than when he was learning ninjutsu.
The stall owner was a round-faced old man. He smiled warmly at him. "Little friend, buying a mask? Are you Cat Faction or Dog Faction?"
Shin-chan looked up and answered very seriously, "I'm Shiro Faction."
The stall owner froze. "What is Shiro Faction?"
Shin-chan picked up Shiro at his feet and held him in front of the stall owner.
"It's Shiro."
The stall owner looked at Shin-chan, then at Shiro.
"Shiro Faction is fine too. Pick whatever you like. Wear whichever one you want."
~~~
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