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GSiN: Ch. 108
🕑 Added 2025-05-28 15:28:16 +0000 UTC---Third POV---
Ryouma shrugged lightly and said, "Alright, I'm actually curious about how Yu holds a fireworks festival too."
"Yay!" Obito jumped up excitedly when he saw Ryouma agree. "Then let's head out right now!"
Even Kakashi, hidden behind his mask, had a slight curve at the corner of his mouth, he could finally go buy the latest issue of Shinobi Ball.
"Have fun!"
After saying goodbye to the people in the room, the three of them got ready to head to Yu.
"Wait." Ryouma suddenly spoke up. "I'm going to call a few more people."
"?"
Kakashi and Obito looked at him curiously.
---
"You two wait here. I'm going to buy some oranges—ah, no, I mean, call a few people. I'll be right back."
After giving some instructions, Ryouma walked toward the wall in front of an old stone house at the Konoha camp. Standing guard here were a ninja from the Uchiha clan and another from the Yamanaka clan.
When Yuta saw who it was, he quickly stepped forward. "Vice Commander Ryouma!"
His eager tone gave Yuriko beside him goosebumps. Internally, she was full of complaints, this cold-faced guy could actually show this kind of expression? But thinking again, facing someone as powerful as Ryouma, even an Uchiha acting like this was understandable.
The scene where he struck away dozens of Tailed Beast Balls with one blow was simply too cool. To the ninjas on the battlefield of the Land of Hot Water, the name Ryouma was legendary, on par with the First Hokage.
If there was one difference, it was probably that Ryouma was still alive.
He had gradually grown used to the respect shown by the surrounding Konoha ninjas. He waved his hand to signal no need for formality and asked, "Are Shiori and Shisui inside?"
This time, Yuriko rushed to answer. "Both are inside, watching over the three prisoners."
"Okay, I'll go check. Thanks for your hard work."
"Mmhm!"
Yuriko bounced in place with excitement.
Ryouma opened the small gate of the outer fence and walked into the house. The room inside was still quite spacious. It used to hold a number of prisoners, but with the war over, most had already been exchanged and sent back. Only the last three high-value prisoners remained, temporarily kept inside an earth-style prison cell. Of course, the cell was more for appearance. What truly kept them from escaping were the sealing techniques and curse marks personally set by Ryouma.
Combined with the constant 24-hour watch by two elite Uchiha, escaping was practically impossible.
"Hmm?" Shisui heard movement at the door and turned. "Oh, it's you."
Shiori also looked over curiously and asked, "What brings you here at this hour? Don't tell me someone from Kumo came to break them out?"
That would be great, she hadn't gotten enough fighting in last time. Ryouma could guess what she was thinking just from her expression and got straight to the point.
"No prison break. Yu is holding a fireworks festival to celebrate the end of the war. Want to come with us to check it out?"
"What?" Shiori hadn't expected Ryouma to suddenly invite her to see fireworks. Her usually cold face instantly flushed red.
"Oooh~!" Several nearby ordinary Konoha ninjas who overheard couldn't help but start jeering playfully.
Several Uchiha clan members showed an expression of sudden realization, no wonder Shiori scolded those clansmen who spoke disrespectfully about Ryouma during the last clan meeting. So this is the reason. Now it all made sense.
"Huh?" Ryouma was confused about why all the ninjas seemed to be acting like they'd just seen something romantic unfold.
Shisui patted him on the shoulder and said, "I support you, Ryouma. Good luck!"
From inside the cell, Killer B suddenly got inspired. With a kip-up, he sprang to his feet and started freestyle rapping.
♪Yo, yo! Young hearts, emotions rise!
Friends or lovers? The plot's a surprise!
Can't stop shipping, feelings so high,
It's joy, baby, joy, we're touching the sky!
Bakayarō! Konoyarō!♪
"Idiot." Shiori flushed with embarrassment and anger when she heard him teasing. She quickly formed hand seals and activated the seal to put him into "physical mute mode." But that still didn't stop him from giving Ryouma a big thumbs-up through the bars.
At this point, Ryouma finally realized what had happened, his earlier phrasing had caused a misunderstanding. It sounded like he came just to invite Shiori to watch the fireworks alone.
Did this just turn into him asking her out on a date?
He was just about to explain that he actually came to invite both of them when he felt someone lightly tug at his sleeve. Looking down, he saw Shiori avoiding his gaze, speaking softly. "Only kids like fireworks. Of course, I'm not interested in that kind of thing."
As she spoke, she suppressed the slight upward curve of her lips and continued with her usual cold tone. "But if you really want to go, then I guess I can… reluctantly accompany you."
Seeing her cheeks slightly red and her fingers fiddling with the hair on her forehead, he felt like he had just stumbled into some special galgame alternate route. All that was missing were two giant choices floating in his field of view.
He shook his head hard, trying to toss those weird thoughts away. Shisui immediately sensed something off from Ryouma's expression. Oh no, did I say the wrong thing...?
Quickly, he placed one hand on each of their shoulders and started pushing them out of the room while talking nonstop. "This is so nice! I really want to go too, but we can't both leave the prisoners unattended."
Not giving Ryouma a chance to speak, he swiftly escorted them to the door. "Have fun!"
Click—
He shut the door smoothly.
Bam~
Inside, A stared at the now-closed door and grumbled, "On the battlefield he's so decisive, but in daily life he's all wishy-washy. What kind of man is that?"
Hearing this, Yugito beside him looked a bit speechless. Why didn't you say that when he was standing right in front of you...?
On the other side, Ryouma, having just been combo-pushed out the door by Shisui, shrugged and said helplessly, "Did he really have to take it so seriously? Work never ends, you've gotta know how to slack off a little."
"Not everyone's like you." Shiori tapped her toe lightly on the ground, her tone carrying a slight hint of impatience. "Let's go already. I'm not the only one going, right?"
Ryouma raised an eyebrow slightly, sounding a bit puzzled. "How do you know there are others…"
Before he could finish, Shiori cut him off, a confident gleam in her eyes. "Of course I know. Because it's you."
---
"Huh?" Obito squinted exaggeratedly. "Why is this violent girl coming along too?"
It was supposed to be a gathering between good bros, why did they invite her?
"You're being so rude," Kakashi said without any concern. He didn't think there was anything wrong with bringing Shiori along. He had sparred with her quite a bit during their time at the Ninja Academy, so they were fairly familiar with each other. Besides, his only goal today was to buy some novels.
All in all, although she had been rather aloof in school, rarely speaking to anyone besides Ryouma, it also meant she hadn't had any conflicts with anyone.
"Hmph." Shiori snorted lightly and turned her head away, too lazy to bother with this fool. She was in a good mood today and decided not to argue with him.
Ryouma nodded in agreement. "Kakashi's right. Obito, you should learn from him more."
"Uh…" Obito stared at Kakashi with wide eyes. Bro, I thought we were on the same wavelength, why are you doing this?
Was he really the odd one out here?
---
"So many people." Kakashi frowned slightly as he looked at the lively scene. It would be hard to find the book stall like this. Shiori, meanwhile, was distracted by a nearby mask stall.
"Hey kid, want an apple?" A sturdy man with a twig in his mouth held out an apple and called out to Ryouma.
"Uh, no thanks." The scene felt a bit familiar to Ryouma. If not for the unmistakably ninja-style buildings around them, he would have thought he'd somehow transmigrated again...
Suddenly, Obito's excited voice rang out in his ear. "Ryouma! Let's have a goldfish scooping competition, all four of us!"
Ryouma thought it was way too childish, not to mention they had already done this during the New Year celebration back in Konoha. "No way, that's boring."
Obito then turned his hopeful eyes toward Kakashi, who, feeling awkward under Obito's eager gaze, suddenly had a great idea. "I'm abstaining. So now it's one vote each from Obito and Ryouma."
And just like that, the final decision was left to Shiori.
Under Kakashi and Ryouma's subtle signals, Shiori surprisingly agreed to Obito's suggestion, even smiling slightly. "Let's see what you've got then. Whoever catches the fewest goldfish has to carry everyone's stuff."
"Alright! Get ready to witness the skills of Goldfish Scooping Sage Obito!" Faced with Shiori's challenge, Obito accepted without hesitation. He grabbed Kakashi, who was still scanning for book stalls, and marched straight to the goldfish game stand.
Shiori followed suit, grabbing Ryouma's left hand and trailing behind. The game stall owner was an elderly man who spoke in a slow, relaxed tone.
"Well now, quite a few kids today. Here are your paper scoops. Be careful, they'll tear easily, and once they do, the game's over."
To avoid drawing attention, none of them wore their forehead protectors out in the open.
Obito confidently accepted his scoop and bowl, grinning. "Haha, I'm a pro at this. Don't be shocked when I scoop up every goldfish you've got!"
The old man chuckled heartily at his words, then swiftly handed out the other scoops and bowls to the rest. "Alright then, the game begins now."
Per Shiori's request, Ryouma acted as the temporary referee, making sure no one used chakra to strengthen the scoops, and ensuring absolutely no favoritism.
He felt a little helpless. Why are all my friends so competitive?
Sighing inwardly, he fully activated his Rikugan. In an instant, he could clearly perceive the movement patterns of every goldfish in the pool.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black...
He started scooping rapidly, with an almost 100% success rate. Almost, because someone next to him was being even more outrageous.
"You cheater!" Obito exclaimed when he noticed Shiori had activated her Sharingan to catch fish.
"The rule only said not to enhance the paper scoop with chakra. There's no rule against this. If you've got the guts, turn on your Sharingan too," Shiori said smugly.
"Hmm, we did only say no chakra reinforcement on the scoop," Ryouma said. He had to admit he hadn't considered this, there was still a lot he could learn from his friends.
With a sigh, he then stopped using his Rikugan.
Just now, a few goldfish he was sure he'd get were snatched away by Shiori.
It looked like he might not win this round without the Rikugan after all… Wait! A sudden realization struck Ryouma, and he turned to look at Shiori, startled.
Could it be… her goal from the beginning wasn't to beat Obito, but to use this chance to win against me?
Thinking back to how strangely willing she had been to accept Obito's suggestion, a chill ran down his spine.
Was that part of your plan all along, Shiori!?
Noticing Ryouma's stare, Shiori smirked slightly, satisfied.
Finally figured it out? But too bad, it's already too late. This victory belongs to me.
The joy and grief of humans and beasts were not the same.
Perched on Ryouma's shoulder, Shukaku just thought humans were really weird. His usually reliable partner could sometimes be incredibly childish. Really childish... like that time he'd spent weeks trying to create what he called a "gaming console" using chakra-infused metal and strange sealing techniques. When Shukaku had asked why he was wasting so much effort on such a bizarre thing, Ryouma had pulled out a mysterious round disc and declared with utmost seriousness, "For GTA 6!" Whatever that meant.
The console had never worked. But Ryouma hadn't given up, tinkering with it obsessively for months afterward. The way he spoke about this "GTA 6" with such reverence made Shukaku wonder if it was some kind of powerful jutsu or forbidden technique. Maybe it stood for "Great Transcendent Arts of the Six Paths"? That would certainly explain Ryouma's desperate determination to make it work.
The disc had strange markings and drawings he couldn't decipher, and Ryouma's eyes had held that same distant, almost desperate look he got when writing those "Shinobi Ball" novels, sometimes appearing inexplicably sad or wistful as he penned stories about collecting seven mystical orbs to summon the Sage of Six Paths who would grant one wish.
He shook his head in exasperation. As if the real Sage of Six Paths would ever waste his time playing genie to every random person who managed to find a few shiny baubles.
But whenever he mentioned this to Ryouma, his partner would just get that distant look again, like he was remembering something painful. Humans and their incomprehensible emotions, at least the writing seemed to keep him entertained, even if it sometimes made him melancholy.
So, just in case anything went wrong again, he leaned in closer to Ryouma's ear and whispered, "You noticed it too, didn't you?"
Ryouma gave a subtle nod. "Good."
Reassured by his partner's response, Shukaku lay back down on his shoulder, continuing to watch the "battle" unfold between Kakashi and the others.
This wasn't some kind of role-playing or cryptic mind game between Ryouma and Shukaku.
Before the game started, when the old stall owner handed the goldfish scooping tools to Ryouma, he had sensed something unusual.
The old man seemed to carry a faint chakra fluctuation, similar to a cursed seal. The trace was incredibly faint, Ryouma's heightened senses had caught it.
Shukaku had noticed something too. But to him, it smelled less like a cursed seal and more like a genuine curse, similar to the foul stench that used to emanate from the evil beings the Sage of Six Paths once traveled around to subdue.
That said, Ryouma hadn't come to investigate curses today, he came to enjoy the fireworks festival.
So as long as no trouble came his way, he had no intention of doing anything to this seemingly kind old stall owner.
As the number of goldfish in the pool dwindled, the four of them began to scheme and strategize to snatch up the remaining ones.
For example, just as Shiori had cornered a goldfish and had her scoop perfectly in position, Ryouma smacked the water's surface to scare it away, ruining her chance.
But Shiori wasn't about to back down. She retaliated with her own "sneaky" tactics to interfere, after all, her main goal was to beat Ryouma.
As for Obito? She didn't care about him, he was just a pawn in the trap to lure Ryouma in.
