The next day, at the meeting time.
Maruboshi Kosuke arrived right on time with his pot on his back, only to find Kakashi and Uchiha Toru there.
One person was missing.
Maruboshi Kosuke looked around. "Where's Shin-chan?"
The two of them sighed at the same time.
Maruboshi Kosuke froze. "What's wrong?"
"He's probably late," Kakashi said.
Maruboshi Kosuke waited about five minutes, but there was still no sign of him. He couldn't help asking, "How late is he usually?"
Uchiha Toru thought about it. "It depends."
"What's the longest he's ever been late?"
"I never counted." Uchiha Toru paused, then added, "It's also possible he doesn't know where we're meeting."
Maruboshi Kosuke waited a little longer, then finally sighed. "Let's go look for him."
At the ninja school, Class A.
Teacher Ibuki was standing at the podium with a piece of chalk, writing something on the blackboard. The students below were sitting neatly, all looking up and listening to the lesson.
Uchiha Toru peeked in from the doorway, but he didn't see Shin-chan.
At the Hokage Tower.
Some people were receiving missions, some were reporting missions, some were delivering letters, and some were moving things around. People came and went, making the place very lively.
Kakashi made a round there too, but still didn't find Shin-chan.
At Konoha's training ground.
Maruboshi Kosuke went to the place where Yūhi Shinku often trained the genin.
Several genin were doing physical training, running back and forth, while Yūhi Shinku stood in the middle of the field with his arms crossed and a stern expression.
But Shin-chan was nowhere to be seen.
In the end, the three of them met by the roadside, all silent.
"Where else could he go?"
Kakashi suggested, "Why don't we check his house? He might still be sleeping."
Uchiha Toru thought for a moment, then nodded.
At Shin-chan's house.
Misae was hanging laundry in the yard. When she saw Maruboshi Kosuke arriving with Kakashi and Uchiha Toru, she looked a little surprised.
"Is Shin-chan home?"
Misae shook her head. "He went out very early."
"Shin-chan didn't come to the meeting place."
Misae froze. "He didn't? But he clearly left very early, and he looked especially eager."
Kakashi and Uchiha Toru exchanged a look.
Misae thought for a moment, then continued, "When he went out, he kept muttering something. It sounded like Earth Style or something."
"Grandma Tanaka's house," Kakashi realized immediately.
Maruboshi Kosuke also nodded. "Let's go."
At Grandma Tanaka's house.
Before they even reached the entrance, the three of them heard the sound of water.
They went around the courtyard wall and walked behind the house. Beside the vegetable field, there was now a water channel.
It stretched all the way from the distant river to the edge of the field. The earthen walls on both sides of the channel were neat and straight, as if they had been cut with a blade.
The vegetable field had already been watered.
Water droplets on the vegetable leaves sparkled under the sunlight, looking fresh and full of life.
Shin-chan was sitting there, his legs swinging back and forth, holding a snack in his hand and eating happily.
Beside him was a tray with several more snacks and a cup of tea.
Grandma Tanaka sat next to him, smiling warmly as she watched him eat. From time to time, she reached out to wipe the corners of his mouth.
"Grandma, this red bean cake is yummy," Shin-chan said indistinctly, his mouth stuffed full.
"If it's good, eat more." Grandma Tanaka picked up another piece and handed it to him. "You worked hard today, coming so early in the morning to help Grandma."
"It wasn't hard." Shin-chan took the red bean cake and bit off a big mouthful. "I learned Earth Style last night, so I wanted to try whether it worked."
"It works, it works." Grandma Tanaka smiled so widely she could barely close her mouth. "From now on, it'll be much easier for Grandma to water the field."
Maruboshi Kosuke and the other two came out from behind the courtyard wall.
When Shin-chan saw them, his eyes lit up. He raised the red bean cake in his hand and waved it.
"Why are you only getting here now? Grandma Tanaka's red bean cakes are really good. Hurry and try some."
Maruboshi Kosuke stood by the field ridge and looked at the water channel, silent for a long time.
"You made this?"
"Mm." Shin-chan nodded. "I used Earth Style."
"By yourself?"
"Yeah." Shin-chan took another bite of red bean cake. "My chakra's almost all used up."
Maruboshi Kosuke was silent for a while.
Drawing water over from the river, across such a long distance—even for an adult ninja, there was no guarantee their chakra would be enough.
Shin-chan said it was "almost all used up," which meant that before finishing all of this, his chakra had been enough.
Maruboshi Kosuke had seen plenty of geniuses before, but the chakra reserves of this five-year-old child in front of him were truly abnormal.
"Did you eat a soldier pill?"
Shin-chan blinked. "Soldier pill? What's that? Is it tasty?"
"It's a pill that restores chakra."
"Oh." Shin-chan shook his head and raised the red bean cake in his hand. "I ate this. After eating it, I got strength."
Red bean cake could restore chakra now?
Maruboshi Kosuke shook his head and threw that thought out of his mind, then changed the topic.
"What Earth Style did you use?"
"Moving Earth Core." Shin-chan was still eating.
Maruboshi Kosuke's eyebrow twitched. Moving Earth Core required extremely high chakra control. Ordinary genin had great difficulty learning it.
"How many times did you use Moving Earth Core?"
Shin-chan thought about it. "I didn't count."
"Roughly?"
"I just kept using it, all the way from the river to here." Shin-chan gestured. "By the time I finished, I was pretty much out of chakra."
Maruboshi Kosuke glanced at the water channel. Its width and height were astonishingly consistent, proof that the caster's control over the jutsu and chakra was extremely impressive.
This little brat in front of him, eating red bean cake with crumbs all over his mouth, could no longer be described simply as a "genius."
But none of that was important.
What mattered was his heart.
No one had told him to come. No one had offered him a reward. And yet, he had still dug a water channel for Grandma Tanaka.
Even though all he received in return was a few pieces of red bean cake, he was completely satisfied.
He sat there swinging his legs, his face covered in crumbs, smiling like it was New Year's.
Maruboshi Kosuke lowered his head and remembered something from long ago.
Back then, he had been very young, obsessed with becoming stronger, wanting to be promoted to chūnin and prove himself.
And then?
For the sake of the title of chūnin, he rashly accepted a mission beyond his abilities.
He refused to listen, refused to turn back, and stubbornly pushed forward.
As a result, the mission failed, and his teammates died.
They died right in front of him.
And the one who deserved to die the most had survived.
Maruboshi Kosuke's hand clenched slightly.
Back then, he had been too selfish. His heart had only held himself. If he had considered the others even a little more, then maybe...
"Uncle, what's wrong?" Shin-chan's voice came from beside him.
Maruboshi Kosuke lowered his head.
Shin-chan stood in front of him, tilting his head as he looked up, still holding half a piece of red bean cake in his hand.
"Nothing," Maruboshi Kosuke said. "Let's go receive today's mission."
"Oh." Shin-chan stuffed the remaining half of the red bean cake into his mouth. "Then let's go."
He took two steps, then turned back and waved at Grandma Tanaka.
"Grandma, I'm leaving. I'll come eat red bean cake again next time."
"Alright, alright. Walk carefully." Grandma Tanaka smiled and waved.
Shin-chan ran a few steps and caught up with Kakashi and Uchiha Toru ahead.
Maruboshi Kosuke walked at the back.
He remembered something the Third Hokage had once said.
"The strength of a ninja is not measured by how many ninjutsu he knows, but by what he chooses to protect."