Remembering Minato Namikaze's promise to take the children from both teams to experience ordinary civilian life outside Konoha in the towns near Tanzaku Quarters, Adult Kakashi spoke up.
"I'll stay behind and keep an eye on Kabuto Yakushi. Sensei, please take them out and let them enjoy themselves."
He didn't know how long Minato would remain in their world. A few months, or perhaps a few years. But no matter what, Minato would eventually leave.
Kakashi didn't want Naruto to be left with regrets. He hoped that the Minato-sensei standing before them could, in place of their own world's Fourth Hokage, give this child a little more care and warmth.
Obito Uchiha hesitated, as if he wanted to say something. In his eyes, this Kakashi in his early twenties needed attention just as much.
Given Kakashi's current mental state, it wouldn't be surprising if one day he seized an opportunity to heroically sacrifice himself for Konoha.
"No need," Minato said, lightly twirling the Flying Thunder God kunai in his hand. "I'll go inform the Third Hokage myself and have Yamato keep an eye on him as well. Yamato's Wood Release is perfect for restraining someone like that."
With that, and without giving Kabuto Yakushi any chance to protest, Minato Namikaze vanished from sight in an instant, taking Kabuto Yakushi with him.
"The Flying Thunder God of the Second Hokage and the Fourth Hokage really is convenient," Sakura said with a sigh.
Everyone else nodded in agreement. Even though some time had already passed, being able to see that legendary hero in person still felt like a dream to them.
Obito Uchiha suddenly remembered something. He took out his mission scroll and pointed at the S-rank mission written on it.
"Look at this. This is the S-rank mission I completed a few days ago."
Everyone's gaze focused on the mission scroll in Young Obito's hands—
[Mission Rank: S-Rank]
[Mission Content: Awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan]
[Mission Status: Completed]
This was the mission completed when they returned to their own era and Obito had unintentionally revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan again at Kannabi Bridge.
Young Obito continued, "If Naruto's two S-rank missions caused Itachi and Kabuto Yakushi to obtain mission scrolls, then what about my S-rank mission? Who received the scroll from it?"
"!!!!"
"Give it here, let me see," Sasuke said, snatching the scroll and examining it carefully while replaying the details of that time in his mind.
"The only common point I can think of between Itachi and Kabuto Yakushi…" Sasuke paused briefly. "They were both Konoha missing-nin."
Regardless of what the truth had been back then, Itachi had indeed once carried the identity of a Konoha missing-nin.
As for Kabuto Yakushi, though he came from the Land of Fire, he passed Konoha's intelligence to Orochimaru, which firmly placed him in the category of a missing-nin as well.
Naruto spoke up. "Could it be Orochimaru? Didn't Dad say Orochimaru was Grandpa Hokage's disciple? His status should count as a Konoha missing-nin too, right?"
"Hard to say," Young Kakashi replied. "After all, the number of missing-nin we know is pretty limited."
Standing beside him, Adult Kakashi suddenly had an idea, but he wasn't confident enough to voice it.
Coincidentally, Young Obito Uchiha had arrived at the same thought.
"Well…" He looked a little awkward, hesitating before continuing. "Actually, the biggest missing-nin of all… isn't it possible that it's another me?"
Everyone's expressions froze.
"......"
Damn it.
They'd completely forgotten about him!
When Minato Namikaze returned, he was greeted by a group of people all wearing strangely exaggerated expressions, almost like they were performing some kind of silent skit. It left him both amused and baffled.
He couldn't help rubbing his son's head again as he asked with a smile, "What's wrong, everyone? Did my coming back really shock you that much?"
"No, Dad!" Naruto said quickly. "We just realized something! Obito also has a completed S-rank mission!"
Sasuke followed up with the key point. "Based on Obito's guess, the person who received the mission scroll from that S-rank mission… might be the other Obito. The masked man."
To make sure there was no misunderstanding, he deliberately emphasized the masked man's identity.
Minato's expression turned serious. Adult Kakashi explained their line of reasoning, and Minato likewise felt that the likelihood of it being the masked Obito was the highest.
"But for now, we can't contact him," Minato said. "And even if we could, there's no guarantee we'd get truthful information from him."
That Obito wasn't easy to fool. Even Itachi's Sharingan genjutsu might not work on him, let alone relying on a not-even-fourteen-year-old, half-baked Obito.
"All right, thinking about this won't get us any answers for now."
Minato hadn't forgotten the two main reasons he brought the kids here.
"Tonight, we'll meet Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama at a tavern in Tanzaku Quarters. But for now, we've got the entire afternoon to properly explore a village outside of Konoha."
Outside, the sunlight was bright and warm. Minato, along with Obito, Kakashi, and Rin from his team, and Kakashi with his students Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, eight people in total, slowly walked down from the second floor of the inn.
The innkeeper, who had earlier been so frightened by Minato's leaking killing intent that he tumbled down the stairs, stared at them with wide eyes.
How did these people even get upstairs in the first place?!
He hadn't seen everyone clearly before falling. The most vivid images burned into his memory were a terrifying blond man and a gray-haired man who looked like he had been completely subdued.
Could he have already been killed?! He really didn't want his guesthouse turning into a crime scene!
"Sorry, could you please open four more rooms?"
Minato Namikaze smiled warmly as he paid for four rooms, facing an innkeeper whose legs were visibly trembling.
"Can't we just use Flying Thunder God to go back?" Naruto asked, confused.
Minato chuckled.
"When you're traveling, isn't it more fun to actually stay at a guesthouse?"
Besides, the Fourth Hokage and Kushina had accumulated plenty of mission pay back in the day, all deposited with the Third Hokage. Letting his counterpart in this world spoil his own son a little wasn't unreasonable at all.
They took the keys from the jittery innkeeper and began assigning rooms.
"I refuse to sleep with Naruto!" Sasuke declared immediately. "Kakashi, I'm sharing with you!"
Naruto jumped up, yelling that Sasuke was looking down on him.
Knowing his son's terrible sleeping habits, Minato couldn't help laughing. His plan to let the kids bond by sharing rooms clearly wasn't going to work, so he rearranged them instead: Sasuke with Adult Kakashi, himself with Naruto, Sakura with Rin, and Young Kakashi with Obito—exactly the same arrangement they usually had back at the Hatake residence.
The city itself was mainly a commercial hub, and after walking a short distance, they could reach Tanzaku Quarters. Unlike the rest of the area, Tanzaku Quarters was dominated by gambling houses and entertainment districts.
Deliberately avoiding that side, Minato led the six kids through the streets, eating as they walked and taking in what the real ninja world looked like.
"It's way more lively than during the Third Shinobi World War," Obito remarked.
"Well, more than ten years have passed," Minato said with a smile. "Only peace can drive development. Look at everything around you—this hard-won peace exists because everyone worked together to end the war."
The sacrifices of the past had bought the stability of the present.
Young Obito nodded, his thoughts drifting back to his conversation with the other him the night before. That version of himself was far too pessimistic, seeing only the darkness of the ninja world, unable to notice the ordinary people out here chasing their own small happiness.
"Strictly speaking, ninja only make up a very small part of society," Adult Kakashi said, handing out the red bean soup he'd bought to Obito, Young Kakashi, Rin, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. "But because ninja villages determine a nation's military power, a Kage's decisions don't just affect one village. They can decide the fate of an entire country."
Naruto listened with only half an understanding. He took the red bean soup and exclaimed in surprise,
"This is rare! The penny-pinching Kakashi-sensei actually spent money?"
Sakura teased, "Probably because Obito likes it. You're always eating red bean sweets."
Young Kakashi stubbornly retorted that his future self must only be buying snacks because some idiot always dragged missions down and got fined until they couldn't afford food. That immediately made Obito argue back, while Sakura and Rin watched from behind, once again seeing the same dynamic Naruto and Sasuke always had.
Minato took the grilled squid the vendor had given him as a buy-one-get-one deal and handed the larger one to Naruto.
"It's pretty crowded here, but you can wander around freely. If you get separated, just make sure you're back at the inn before five in the evening. Even if you get lost, it's fine. I've placed Flying Thunder God marks on all of you. As long as you're still in this city, I can find you."
He then passed out the remaining grilled squid to everyone else, even giving one to Adult Kakashi.
Unfortunately, both Adult Kakashi and Young Kakashi had mastered the skill of eating at lightning speed, finishing theirs so fast no one even caught a glimpse.
Sakura and Rin said their goodbyes and went off to browse things girls would like.
Sasuke and Young Kakashi headed toward a ninja tools shop.
"Boss! Cream potatoes!"
"Chocolate bananas too!"
"Almond candy as well!"
"And that okonomiyaki over there!"
Before long, Naruto and Obito were holding piles of snacks from the food street.
"Boss, one large serving of fried noodles!"
"I'll take a large one too!"
"You're buying a lot," the vendor said cheerfully as he cooked. "You three don't look exactly alike, but are you brothers?"
He had clearly mistaken Minato Namikaze, Obito Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki for siblings.
Minato was only twenty-one at the time, so the misunderstanding was understandable.
Since no one here recognized them, Naruto finally got the chance to brag about having parents. He hurriedly explained that one was his dad and the other was his dad's student, proudly boasting about how amazing his father was.
"Oh, so you're ninja," the vendor said, clearly enjoying the conversation. "Always out on missions, only just back in town? That's really tough."
He looked at Minato with sympathy.
"So young, and already raising such a big kid. Life must be hard. Here, I'll give you an extra serving—on the house!"
Naruto thanked him enthusiastically.
Minato smiled helplessly, thinking that this might be the first time in his life someone had pitied him.
They really had bought too much to finish, but luckily several of the things Obito bought were meant for Kakashi and Rin anyway.
"There's a game street on the next block," Minato said. "The games are way too easy for ninja, so winning prizes is effortless. It's fine to play a bit, just don't bully the shop owners too badly."
By the time Naruto and Obito arrived at the game street, Sasuke and Young Kakashi were already competing. Both were genius ninja, neither willing to back down. Shuriken flew nonstop, prizes disappearing one after another, while the shop owner's face turned green and Adult Kakashi stood to the side apologizing with forced smiles…
After finally persuading the two to stop, Naruto and Obito stepped forward, ready to take their turn.
"Keep fleecing them and it gets rude. You two should switch targets," Adult Kakashi said helplessly. He left some money behind to compensate the shop owner, then went with Minato-sensei to take the four kids to try something else.
Goldfish scooping came next. Naruto, Obito, Sasuke, and Young Kakashi competed fairly…
…and were just as fairly wiped out.
Adult Kakashi was no better at it, having barely ever played before. But the moment Minato Namikaze stepped in, the difference was obvious. After all, he was the man known as the Yellow Flash. Before the paper net even tore, and before the owner could react, Minato had already scooped up three goldfish in one go.
Feeling the admiring looks from his son and students, Minato never imagined that the techniques he once used to woo Kushina would one day come in handy again, earning him a wave of awed, sparkling eyes.
When he asked who wanted to keep the fish, only Naruto raised his hand. The others all declined the responsibility of caring for small animals, so Minato didn't scoop any more.
As they passed a lottery booth, Obito suddenly spotted a camera model that didn't exist in their era, displayed as the second-prize reward. He begged the others to wait while he tried his luck.
Brimming with confidence, he bought ten lottery tickets at once.
Ten shakes later, ten white balls dropped out. He received ten lollipops as consolation prizes and handed them out to everyone else.
"I really shouldn't trust my luck…"
Seeing his dejected look, Young Kakashi decided to buy a ticket himself. If he won anything even slightly better than a consolation prize, he could use it to mock that idiot.
"Congratulations! You've won the fourth prize! A personally signed book by the famous author Jiraiya-sama—one copy of Icha Icha Paradise!"
The colored ball burst with a loud pop, drawing the attention of people nearby.
Young Kakashi hadn't forgotten the social death of reading Icha Icha Paradise aloud in the Land of Waves, nor the old bet where he'd had to read it ten times to pay off a debt…
Holding the book the owner handed him, Young Kakashi genuinely felt the urge to tear it apart.
Was this book deliberately messing with him?!
Before he could do anything, Adult Kakashi snatched it away first and treated it like a priceless treasure, saying that even his current self never had luck this good.
To prove it wasn't a fluke, he bought ten more lottery tickets. His luck was only slightly better than Obito's: nine white balls for consolation prizes, and one green ball that earned a bathhouse admission ticket.
Seeing how fun it was, the others each bought two or three tickets as well.
Their luck, however, was generally terrible.
The last to draw was Naruto Uzumaki. First shake—
An orange bead, which corresponded to…
Obito shouted, "The camera I wanted!!"
Second prize on the very first try.
Naruto's second draw—
A white bead. A consolation prize.
Normal, normal. Everyone else patted their chests in relief, feeling like they could still survive this.
But then…
Naruto's third draw—
A golden bead, corresponding to the grand prize.
"One million ryō?!"
That was equivalent to the reward for a D-rank mission scroll, more than enough for an ordinary person to live comfortably for quite some time. Normally, Naruto would share mission rewards with everyone, but this was pure luck. No need to split it with anyone.
The others seriously suspected that all of their collective luck had been concentrated onto Naruto alone.
Naruto wasn't very interested in cameras anyway. He preferred keeping potted plants.
After Naruto handed the camera over to him, Young Obito hugged it tightly and thanked him over and over.
"It's about time we head back," Minato said. "Rin and Sakura are probably already waiting for us at the inn."
They left together. Only after they had been gone for quite a while did a strange masked figure silently toss the money for a lottery ticket onto the counter.
"One draw, right?" the owner greeted him warmly. "Turn the wheel, wait for the bead to drop, then check the prize based on its color."
The masked figure said nothing. His black-gloved right hand grabbed the handle of the wheel and spun it twice at random…
Click. Click. Click.
A small red bead dropped into the box.
"First prize!!"
The owner handed over a massive, solid gold mask to the already masked man.
"Here," the owner said unwillingly. "A 24K pure gold mask. Hurry up and swap out that ugly spiral mask on your face!"
Masked Man: "..."
…
Elsewhere—
Before leaving the shopping district, Minato spotted a mask stall.
It reminded him of something he'd seen in another parallel world, where young Naruto had wanted to buy a mask but was chased out onto the street by the owner, who even closed the shop and sprinkled salt afterward.
On impulse, Minato bought a fox-shaped mask and handed it to Naruto.
At that moment, Minato's expression suddenly turned cold.
He sensed spatial–temporal chakra fluctuations from a mission scroll somewhere in the distance?!