Torifu had initially assumed it would be a low-quality item, happy enough if it managed to produce a semblance of sentience. He hadn't expected the actual effect to far exceed his expectations.
As expected, it was a system-made product.
"With this, this year's Spring Festival seems to have many more interesting activities. It can project all sorts of things to add to the festive atmosphere of Konohagakure."
Ten thousand Peace Points for a projector—Torifu felt it was a bargain, especially with such excellent results.
Even after the festival passed, he could keep it for Akihara to play with.
Torifu descended from the sky, landing precisely in his lounge chair, and began fiddling with the holographic projector. He wanted to see what would be suitable to project in Konohagakure during the Spring Festival to let everyone experience it.
On the projector's touchscreen, Torifu started selecting the built-in projection objects. Besides the cyan little bird he had just seen, there were many other things Torifu hadn't encountered before, though most of them were animals.
They looked strange and outlandish, with nothing at all related to the New Year's atmosphere.
Until Torifu scrolled to the very bottom and saw a question mark icon.
"Connect consciousness… project imagination?"
"This makes things much easier."
After Torifu clicked that option, a data cable popped out from the small square. According to the instructions on the screen, it seemed he needed to drip a drop of blood onto the data cable to automatically connect with the user's thoughts.
And the connection could be cancelled at any time.
Torifu followed the instructions immediately but couldn't think of anything specific at first. So, he simply imagined a dazzling crystal in his mind.
After about a minute, the object Torifu had imagined appeared on the screen.
Torifu was no stranger to this; the technology was too advanced for him to investigate further.
The imagined diamond was directly added to the material library, giving Torifu one more item to choose from.
"Hmm, this way, the possibilities are greatly increased. I'll give the villagers a small surprise on New Year's Day. I just wonder if it will turn into a fright."
Torifu smiled faintly, seemingly having decided in his heart what to project on New Year's Day.
Holiday time always passed exceptionally quickly. In the blink of an eye, five days had gone by.
During these five days, the news of the Spring Festival had spread throughout the ninja world, and many people wanted to visit Konohagakure for tourism.
This included the Mizukage-sama, far away in the Land of Water. Unfortunately, the journey was too long, and he eventually gave up, only chatting with Torifu for a long time on the phone.
Within Konohagakure, the villagers had already decorated the village festively. Large red lanterns hung under the eaves of their homes, paper-cut chubby babies adorned the windows, and couplets were pasted on both sides of the doorframes.
The villagers quite liked these novelties. Konohagakure itself didn't have many special festivals, and customs were relatively simple, with almost no traditional customs passed down in ordinary villagers' homes.
Only some prominent families still maintained them.
However, with Torifu's gradual changes, most villagers now celebrated the festivals Torifu had 'created,' and their spiritual lives became richer.
"Hmph, is this still the Konohagakure I know?" Ōnoki arrived at the main gate of Konohagakure. He saw two large 'Fu' characters (meaning 'blessing' or 'good fortune') pasted on the massive village gate, with red lanterns hanging on both sides.
It was Ōnoki's first time seeing such a display, and his accompanying personnel were also a bit bewildered.
But this was undoubtedly preparation for the Spring Festival.
Upon seeing the Tsuchikage's arrival, the guard immediately sent someone to call the Hokage, while he went to the gate to welcome Ōnoki and his entourage inside.
"Tsuchikage-sama, welcome! Hokage-sama has already had your usual apartment prepared, and you can move in now."
Ōnoki stroked his beard. "Hahaha, excellent. You can go back to your post for now. I've been to Konohagakure so many times, I'm very familiar with it."
Seeing the Tsuchikage say this, the guard agreed, knowing that the Hokage would arrive shortly anyway.
"Tsuchikage-sama, didn't you say you were coming with the Kazekage-sama? Why is it just you and a few others?"
Upon seeing Torifu, Ōnoki shook his head helplessly. "I waited for that Kazekage boy at the intersection for half a day. After calling him, I found out he had left three hours late."
"He really made me wait. I couldn't wait any longer, so I just left, but I did let him know."
So, they weren't having a spat; this relieved Torifu. The New Year should be joyous, and arguing over travel plans wouldn't be worth it.
Torifu also chuckled and consoled him, "Alright, perhaps his village encountered some unforeseen issues. Please try to be understanding."
Torifu's words were quite effective, and the Tsuchikage didn't take the matter to heart either.
After a brief chat with Torifu, he led his team to the apartment to settle in first. The two days of travel had left Ōnoki feeling somewhat tired.
After all, he was middle-aged, already over fifty.
But even so, the strange sights within Konohagakure made him resist his fatigue. He enjoyed the view for a good while before contentedly heading to the apartment.
On the way, he bought a red padded jacket from a roadside stall and put it on. He saw many villagers wearing them, and it was a case of "when in Rome," a phrase he'd learned from the Hokage himself.
Torifu estimated that the Kazekage should arrive soon, so he found the nearest teahouse, sat down, ordered a pot of tea, and began sipping it while playing on his phone.
Torifu hadn't initially cared much for tea, but having gotten used to it, he found it tolerable now—at least not as distasteful as before.
Not long after, he saw a strong gust of wind kick up outside Konohagakure. He didn't even need to think; it was undoubtedly the Kazekage.
After paying, Torifu stood up and walked towards the main gate.
"Oh, the Kazekage-sama has arrived, and Mifune-sama too. How did you two run into each other?"
The Kazekage, who should have come with Ōnoki, hadn't met him. But how had he met Mifune, who wasn't even on the same route?
The Kazekage laughed heartily. "We ran into each other not far ahead. It was quite a coincidence that we met General Mifune-sama."
The general of the Land of Iron was now Mifune, while the original old general, Ichiryu, had retired to enjoy his twilight years.
The Land of Iron was now quite comparable to other major nations, with hopes of becoming a new fifth great nation.
This was primarily due to Mifune's capable governance, which had reformed the country and led to such achievements.
Mifune's trip was very simple; he brought only one attendant. After all, he was on vacation, and too many followers would be tiring, especially since he was coming in a private capacity.
"Indeed. I didn't expect the Kazekage-sama to also be coming to Konohagakure for a holiday today. What a coincidence."
They exchanged pleasantries to break the awkwardness of not having seen each other for a long time. Before long, the three of them grew reacquainted.