"Awesome!"
"Do it again!"
"I want to see too!"
Shin-chan wiggled his finger, and another tiny flame appeared. This time, he deliberately made it spin around his fingertip.
"So cool!"
"Are you a ninja?"
"Of course." Shin-chan dragged out his words. "And I'm a super—powerful ninja."
"Whoa!"
Several children nearby exclaimed at the same time.
The little boy did not cheer like the others. Instead, he stared at Shin-chan's fingertip for a while, seemingly thinking about something.
"What's wrong?" Shin-chan noticed his expression.
"How did you make it come out?"
"You just gather chakra in your finger, and then—bang."
"What does 'bang' feel like?"
Shin-chan tilted his head and thought about it. "It's like... when you've been holding in a fart for a long time and finally let it out."
The children all burst into laughter.
"What's your name?" Shin-chan took out another dorayaki and handed it to the boy.
"Kabuto."
"Kabuto? That name is easy to remember."
"You said you're an S-rank ninja. What missions have you done?"
"I just went to the Land of Snow a few days ago."
"What kind of place is the Land of Snow?"
"It's a place where snow keeps falling from the sky. Everything is white."
A little girl with twin ponytails leaned closer. "What is snow like? I've never seen it before."
"It's like shaved ice, except you can't pour syrup on it." Shin-chan gestured with his hands. "It makes a crunching sound when you step on it, and if you grab a handful and throw it down someone's neck, they scream."
A boy hiding behind Kabuto timidly poked his head out. "Can you use any other ninjutsu?"
Shin-chan placed both hands on his knees and assumed a position as if preparing to jump.
"Watch closely! Frog Jump Jutsu!"
He leaped straight up, performed a somersault in midair, and landed steadily on the ground.
The children froze at first, then collectively burst into even louder laughter.
"That wasn't ninjutsu!"
"That was obviously just a frog jump!"
"No, no! Frogs can't do somersaults."
"Then was it a somersaulting frog?"
"You don't understand." Shin-chan raised one finger. "True ninjutsu is about making the enemy unable to guess what you're doing. None of you guessed that I was going to do a somersault, right?"
"But you shouted 'Frog Jump Jutsu,' so we all knew you were going to jump."
"That's different. I shouted 'frog jump,' but I did a somersault. That's called tactical deception."
The children looked at one another.
It sounded slightly reasonable.
But it also sounded like complete nonsense.
While they were thinking, Shin-chan took out a pile of dorayaki and distributed them among everyone.
"Come on, come on. Don't think too much while eating, or you'll get indigestion."
His words produced immediate results. The children instantly threw all philosophical questions concerning ninjutsu and frogs to the backs of their minds.
Kabuto walked over to Shin-chan. "Why did you come here?"
"Because I met Big Sister Nono on the street. She said she was bringing snacks to the children, so I followed her."
"Just because of that?"
"Yeah. What other reason would there be?"
Kabuto lowered his head, silently judging whether Shin-chan's words were true.
"The director treats us very well. She teaches us how to read, arithmetic, and how to identify medicinal herbs. She said that once we grow up, we'll be able to choose what we want to do."
"What do you want to do?"
"I don't know yet." Kabuto raised his head. "But I want to become useful."
Yakushi Nono stood at the other end of the veranda with a tea tray in her hands, but she did not walk over.
People who had once served in Root all shared an instinctive habit.
Whenever they encountered a ninja, the relevant intelligence file would automatically appear in their minds.
Name: Nohara Shinnosuke
Sex: Male
Age: Twelve
Ninja Registration Number: 009719
Mission Experience: Detailed mission records classified. Special authorization required for access.
Ninjutsu: Mastery of all chakra natures.
Taijutsu: Unable to assess.
Genjutsu: Unable to assess.
...
The children's noisy voices pulled her out of her memories.
Several children had dragged Shin-chan into a game of tag. He was playing the "Great Demon King" whom everyone had to chase, deliberately slowing himself down so even the smallest child could grab the corner of his clothes.
The girl with twin ponytails wrapped her arms around his leg and refused to let go. A moment later, the children pushed Shin-chan onto the ground.
"I surrender, I surrender." He raised both hands.
"Big Brother Shinnosuke is so weak."
"Exactly! You surrendered so easily."
Shin-chan climbed up from the ground. "That's because you're on the side of justice. Of course the side of justice wins."
Kabuto stood outside the crowd, watching with a trace of envy.
"Don't you want to join them?" Yakushi Nono walked over to him.
"They're too noisy."
"Is that so?"
"I'll join them when they quiet down."
Yakushi Nono smiled without exposing him.
As the sky grew darker, Shin-chan stood up. "I have to go home. If I'm any later, Mom will punish me with her Iron Fist."
"What is Iron Fist punishment?" the little girl asked curiously.
"It's an extremely terrifying taijutsu technique. One punch can make even the strongest ninja fall to their knees and beg for mercy."
"Is it stronger than your ninjutsu?"
"A hundred times stronger."
Kabuto sat to his right and quietly asked, "Will you come again?"
"Of course." Shin-chan said, "I still owe you demonstrations of several ninjutsu."
"Those ninjutsu you mentioned..." Kabuto thought carefully about his wording. "You made them up yourself, didn't you?"
"The names of official ninjutsu are all too strange. Things like 'Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu'—by the time you finish saying it, the enemy has already run away. The names I come up with are more down-to-earth. You understand them as soon as you hear them."
"Like 'Somersault Jutsu'?"
"That's 'Secret Technique: Midair Rolling Style.'"
"You clearly called it 'Frog Jump Jutsu' earlier."
"The name isn't important. What matters is the effect." Shin-chan stood up and waved to them.
Nono also rose. "I'll walk you to the gate."
The two walked side by side to the orphanage's entrance.
"Thank you, Shinnosuke," Nono said softly. "The children haven't been this happy in a long time."
"I had fun too," Shin-chan said. After thinking for a moment, he added, "And I'm not just saying that to be polite."
"I know," she said. "You really are just like the intelligence report described."
"What intelligence report?"
"It said that you..." Nono paused. "Never mind. It's nothing important."
Shin-chan did not press her. He merely waved and turned to walk toward the setting sun.
After taking two steps, he turned back again.
"Oh, right, pretty big sister."
"Mm?"
"Next time I come, I'll remember to say, 'The weather is lovely today. Would you like to take a walk with me?'"
Nono leaned against the courtyard gate and smiled as she shook her head.
The sunflowers in the courtyard swayed gently in the evening breeze.
Kabuto sat beneath the veranda, lost in thought.
"Kabuto, what are you thinking about?" the boy beside him asked.
Kabuto remained silent for a moment.
"I'm wondering just how powerful the strongest ninja are."
"Did you figure it out?"
"No."