GSiN: Ch. 197

"Oh? Shukaku, you sure know what you're talking about."

Feeling that having two tailed beasts hanging off him was a bit strange, Ryouma handed one of them over to Shiori. Why keep them both on himself, after all?

"Hey, wait a minute, I can walk on my own."

"Don't be so tsundere, Kurama. Shiori isn't an outsider."

As he said this, Ryouma plopped the Nine-Tails onto Shiori's shoulder.

"Mm, now the two of us look much more harmonious."

Hearing him say that, Shiori immediately stopped her gesture of refusal, met the eyes of Kurama at her shoulder, and then, human and fox alike, snorted softly and looked away.

---

Meanwhile, on another main peak of Kumo...

Darui extended his right hand. Under C's calm gaze, he drew a card from C's hand.

Joker! Damn it!

He'd drawn the worst card. Darui hid his hand behind his back and reshuffled the order.

Next, it was Kura's turn to draw.

He carefully studied Darui's expression, trying to find a clue. Nothing... If that's the case, then he'd just have to trust his own luck. Draw!

Joker!

He really shouldn't have trusted the same "luck" that got him picked out by Orochimaru from a crowd of Iwa cannon fodder.

Sensing this was bad, he did the same as Darui. He reshuffled the cards and laid them out in front of C.

People are surprisingly good at convincing themselves everything's fine.

The three of them, left behind as the stay-behind personnel, only needed to complain a little about their respective bosses before quickly becoming like-minded friends.

With three men gathered together, they naturally started brainstorming ways to pass the time.

Seeing that Obito and A were nowhere near done fighting, Kura suggested they play UNO.

This card game had recently become popular in the capital of the Land of Fire, and once it spread to Konoha, it instantly became one of the adults' favorite pastimes.

---

Far away, in a field of rubble.

Obito, panting heavily, leaned against a nearby boulder. Stray arcs of lightning still flickered in his vision.

"Huff... huff... You sure... can hold out..."

A wasn't in great condition either, but his age worked in his favor.

A man in his prime naturally had far more chakra than Obito, who'd only just turned eighteen.

And against Obito, he didn't need to maintain his Lightning Release Chakra Mode at full power the entire time. He only needed to watch for the startup of Susanoo and dodge in time.

Dragging things out favored him, and the scales of victory were tipping his way, even if the win wouldn't exactly be glorious.

Thinking this, he gathered chakra at his feet and leaped onto a cliff ledge above Obito's head.

"You're running low on chakra, aren't you? I advise you to surrender early. I'll even pick out the best girl for you."

"Stop dreaming. I still have a trump card left."

As he spoke, Obito let out a cold laugh and quickly reached toward the ninja tool pouch at his waist.

A didn't expect him to actually be serious instead of bluffing. He instantly activated his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, his body turning into a streak of lightning as he shot toward Obito, intending to stop him.

Naturally, the attack passed straight through Obito's intangible body and hit nothing.

Obito grabbed a small vial of liquid. After a moment of hesitation, he decided not to inject it. Instead, he twisted open the cap and drank it down.

Feeling his cells grow active again, the corner of his mouth curled upward. He raised a hand and pointed provocatively at A, who had landed in front of him.

"Get this straight, you're the challenger here."

---

On the main street of the festival, freshly made lightning-shaped amber candy filled the air with a rich, tempting caramel aroma.

The scent drifted everywhere, like invisible hands teasing everyone's senses.

The moment Shukaku smelled it, it instantly perked up, and one of its tails slapped excitedly against Ryouma's back.

"I want to try that!"

"Try it, try anything you want."

Ryouma waved his hand generously, declaring that all expenses today would be on him.

As they approached, the large, broad-shouldered stall owner broke into a wide smile and greeted them enthusiastically.

"Hey, want two servings of amber candy?"

"Two isn't enough. One for each of us. Make it four."

---

Soon, Shiori took the paper bag Ryouma handed her. Her fingers gently picked up a piece of candy, and she took a small bite.

But almost immediately her brows tightened into a knot as she complained.

"This is way too sweet. Do people in Kumo really like food this sugary?"

She was normally quite a fan of sweets, but this level of sweetness was probably only tolerable to someone like Anko, who was obsessed with sugar.

Ryouma paused to think. Knowledge he'd learned in the past surfaced in his mind, and he attempted an explanation.

"Maybe it's because living in a high-altitude mountain environment makes people anxious and irritable. The sugar in sweets can stimulate the brain to release dopamine, which helps relieve discomfort..."

Halfway through speaking, he sensed something off. He looked up to find everyone staring straight at him.

"...Why are you all looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?"

Shiori tilted her head in distress, confusion all over her face. The brain could secrete things?

The stall owner scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh.

"Uh... haha, so there's a theory like that. As expected of a distinguished guests from Konoha, so knowledgeable. But this... what was it... dop-a-something? Is that also a kind of candy?"

"It's dopamine. Never mind, just pretend I didn't say anything."

Ryouma sighed helplessly, thinking that if Orochimaru were here, he would definitely understand.

Just then, the drums in the festival plaza suddenly changed rhythm. The previously light supporting beat shifted into the main rhythm.

"Oh oh! Here it comes, here it comes!" The stall owner cheered excitedly, clapping along with the drums.

Shiori looked at Ryouma in confusion. "What's coming?"

Ryouma smiled. "The bonfire festival, of course. This time we'll get to taste premium beef freshly cut right here in the Land of Lightning!"

Thanks to Mabui's earlier explanation of the general flow of the Cloud Festival, he had a good grasp of the important venue locations.

He dumped all his amber candy into Shukaku's pouch, then took Shiori's left hand and pulled her toward the bonfire event grounds.

Shiori lowered her head slightly, her gaze fixed on their tightly joined hands. The colorful performances along the street could no longer catch her attention.

His familiar voice reached her ears.

"After the bonfire festival, the fireworks go up. I heard they even invited a famous pyrotechnician from the Land of Hot Water this year. It definitely won't disappoint you."

---

As the flames rose into the night sky, the faint starlight reflected in Shiori's pupils.

Warmth from Ryouma's palm spread through her left hand. She imagined her cheeks must be glowing like the flame inside a festival lantern.

"Tch, it's just a bit of meat. Are you humans always this impatient?"

Kurama crouched on Shiori's shoulder, twitching its ears. Its fur brushed past her ear.

"Back in my day, when I followed the Sage of Six Paths to the Festival of Fire..."

"Shut up already!"

Shukaku poked its head out from behind Ryouma.

"You're just a relic from the old era who's been sealed away for ages. What do you know about how good human food is nowadays? I can already smell the roasted cow! I want ribs!"

"You damn tanuki!"

"What about me, huh? A fox who's never had a few decent days in her life shouldn't go getting all excited just because she finally tastes something good! Hahaha!"

Ryouma sensed that Shukaku was overdoing the mockery a bit. All of Kurama's fur seemed ready to ignite.

He quickly tugged at one of Shukaku's tails and reminded it, "Enough. Don't forget what you promised me. You're supposed to be a polite tanuki now."

"...Fine. I won't stoop to the level of this fox with more tails than sense."

Shukaku felt extremely satisfied with this round of bickering. Seeing Kurama so furious nearly made it hum with joy.

As for Kurama, of course it was all just talk. It wasn't actually going to do anything.

With the tiny bit of chakra it had left, it was questionable whether it could even win against Shukaku now.

After all, Shukaku wasn't like it. Thanks to Ryouma's indulgence, Shukaku could draw on the chakra Ryouma possessed that belonged to it at any time.

Back when they both followed the old Six Paths Sage, it had been the most favored one.

---

At the bonfire festival grounds, most of the Kumo ninjas had already gathered.

Dodai stood on a platform giving a loud, long-winded speech. More or less the same type of thing the Third Hokage used to say when preaching the Will of Fire.

Come to think of it, this assistant to the Raikage was probably the highest-ranking member of Kumo's "Talent Introduction Program," or, uh, "Kumo's Acquire-New-People Initiative," if you wanted to phrase it politely.

In the shinobi world, villages were originally formed by alliances of multiple ninja clans. But as time passed, those clans and their villages had become inseparable, their interests tightly bound. Most villages strongly rejected outsiders attempting to integrate.

Kumo was the rare exception. Once you joined, almost no one cared who you had been before.

---

"Ryouma, Dodai specifically instructed us to wait here for you and guide you. Please, this way."

As guests from afar, Ryouma and Shiori were escorted by two Kumo kunoichi straight to the center of the festival grounds as soon as they appeared.

At the center stood a massive bonfire, built upon a pre-constructed wooden platform.

"It's huge!" Shiori looked up, letting out a soft gasp.

Ryouma estimated its size. Nearly twenty meters tall, and the base at least ten meters wide.

Even in his previous life, a bonfire of this scale would be considered among the larger ones, something only held in certain coastal cities with special traditions.

While he was observing it, a woman with braids walked toward them.

"How do you find our Kumo festival? Are you enjoying your visit?" Yugito asked with a smile.

Ryouma turned his head. "It's wonderful. Actually, I once had a dream, to travel across the entire shinobi world and experience the customs of every nation."

Shiori's ears perked up instantly, locking onto the keyword: dream.

Ryouma truly hid things well. She never knew he had such thoughts.

Yugito widened her eyes a little too. She was honestly surprised. For someone as powerful as him, to have such a simple dream? Shouldn't it be something grand, like pursuing world peace?

Seeing the shocked looks on Shiori's and Yugito's faces, Ryouma spoke, "Hey, hey, what's with those expressions? Is my dream that strange?"

"No... just unexpected. With your strength and your space-time ninjutsu, fulfilling that dream should be easy," Yugito explained.

Shiori asked, "You said 'once.' Does that mean you don't want to pursue that dream anymore?"

Ryouma sighed. "It's not that I don't want to. Traveling the world sounds wonderful... but actually doing it takes a lot of motivation. If someone could go with me, that'd be different..."

Shiori raised a brow and parted her lips, about to say "I can go with you," but at the last moment, the Uchiha clan's passive skill, "Drop-the-ball-at-crucial-moments," activated.

She hesitated and ultimately couldn't bring herself to say it.

Watching from the side, Yugito's gaze grew increasingly playful. A few years ago, when Ryouma had captured her and kept her in the Konoha camp, she'd seen these two heading off together to the firework festival in Yu.

She had assumed they were already a couple. But looking at them now, apparently not.

Thinking about tonight's fireworks performance, her lips curved slightly. It seemed she'd be getting a good show later.

While the group chatted, Dodai finally finished his speech on the platform.

Ryouma was quite satisfied. At least he wasn't like Hiruzen, whose speeches were measured in hours.

"Since the Raikage has urgent matters and cannot attend, the bonfire for this year's Cloud Festival will be lit by the man who carries the title of this era's B, the Eight-Tails' Killer B..."

"Yoo-hoo!"

Dodai wasn't even done building up the moment when B strutted out from behind the stage.

♪Yo yo yo, listen up, y'all,
Your main man B,
Eight-Tails' jinchūriki!
A's got business, so I'm takin' the lead.
This bonfire's mine to ignite and succeed.
Let the flames explode, just like my might.
Come shake with me tonight,
Open up the wild delight,
oh yeah!♪

As B danced and rapped onstage, Kurama remembered a private conversation it'd had with Gyūki in the tailed beast space.

According to Gyūki, "Back then, B had no strength. He could only perform for villagers who pelted him with rotten eggs. But now, he stands as the Raikage's dazzling brother. He can finally show people his unique charm."

In short, Gyūki admired B's strong, optimistic mindset. That was also why it rejected the olive branch Kurama had offered it, even after learning that somewhere outside, a schemer was plotting to reunite all the tailed beasts into one again.