Evening Encounter
In the evening, light snowflakes drifted down from the sky.
The commercial street in Konoha's new district buzzed with activity, its neatly aligned eaves sheltering an orderly array of shops.
This was a food street, offering not only common snacks but also regional delicacies from various places.
Ever since the new district opened, many people enjoyed strolling through it in their free time.
As dusk fell, the streets grew especially crowded.
"I never expected Konoha to become like this. I used to look forward to missions just for the chance to travel, but now it seems there's no need anymore," Rin sighed as she walked arm in arm with Anko.
Beyond the food street, there were also shopping streets and various well-planned districts.
The cleanliness of the environment was striking—throughout the day, workers diligently kept the streets spotless.
The first time she and her friends visited, Rin had felt like a country girl stepping into a grand city.
No, even during past missions when she had visited capitals and major cities of the Land of Fire, none had been as prosperous as this.
Now, Rin finally understood what the Hokage was busy with every day.
"Rin, this street was built by me!" Obito boasted proudly beside her.
"Isn't the entire new district built by you?" Rin glanced at him.
Obito chuckled sheepishly. "Well, yeah, but the architects worked hard too!"
Today, Obito had invited her out for a walk, and since Rin had nothing to do at home, she had asked Anko to join them.
Stopping by a food stall, the three bought snacks and stood beneath a streetlamp, eating as they took in the lively atmosphere.
Under the glow of the lamps, the snowflakes became clearly visible, tiny shards of white drifting through the bustling crowd.
Rin suddenly noticed that every store and streetlamp here used electric lights.
Electricity had always been expensive—many households had appliances but rarely used them to save costs.
Not long ago, Konoha had introduced a new electricity policy, significantly lowering electricity costs.
"When did the village become so wealthy…?"
Rin wondered to herself.
What she didn't know was that the reason Konoha could afford such luxury was because the very Sanbi that had once been inside her was now tirelessly supplying chakra at the newly established energy station, converting it into electrical power.
"Hey, Itachi!"
Obito suddenly noticed someone and waved enthusiastically.
Rin and Anko followed his gaze and saw a black-haired young man accompanied by three children—whom they all recognized.
"What a coincidence, Obito-san," Itachi greeted as he approached, the three children by his side naturally being Neji, Naruto, and Sasuke.
They began chatting casually.
It wasn't unusual to run into familiar faces in the village.
Itachi mentioned that he had come with the Hokage's family, but since Naruto and Sasuke had been noisily insisting on buying food, he had brought them ahead.
"The Hokage is here too?"
"He's on another street."
Rin's attention remained on the three children—each of them was truly Makoto's son.
Makoto even had a daughter.
She still felt like she hadn't completely grown up herself, yet Makoto's children were already this big.
After Itachi and the kids left, Rin turned to Anko and asked, "Anko, isn't Uchiha Itachi one of the Crown Guardians? You must be pretty familiar with him, right?"
"Not really," Anko replied nonchalantly.
Among the Seven Crown Guardians, the only ones she was close with were Hakumen, Kakashi, and Guy.
As for Shisui, Kabuto, and Itachi, they were merely acquaintances.
Besides, her position among the Crown Guardians was more honorary than anything else.
Obito, however, chimed in from the side, "I'm really close with Itachi."
Seeing how he just had to butt into every conversation, Rin shot him an exasperated look. "Did I ask you?"
Obito scratched his head sheepishly. "Itachi and I are from the same clan, we really are close! Same with Shisui."
Rin's eyes flickered with curiosity before she suddenly asked, "Obito, if I remember correctly, all the Seven Crown Guardians are people around our age, and some are even younger than us. Why didn't you make it into the Crown?"
Obito's cheerful expression instantly froze.
Kakashi, Guy, and even his two younger clansmen had all been chosen.
There was no way he hadn't thought about it.
He had even subtly brought it up to the Hokage once, but Makoto had told him outright that the Crown wasn't suitable for him—so he had no choice but to let it go.
Obito stiffened his neck and declared, "The Crown are the Hokage's guards. I'm going to be Hokage one day, so why would I need to join the Crown?"
He felt that this was the most convincing argument—one he had repeated to many people.
After all, he was the future Sixth Hokage!
People like Kakashi and the others in the Crown would all just be his bodyguards in the future.
Seeing his earnest and somewhat silly expression, Rin couldn't help but chuckle. "Our future Hokage had better train hard. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if you couldn't even defeat your own guards?"
Obito turned his head away proudly. "Of course! I'm already an elite Jonin personally recognized by the Hokage!"
Hakumen, Kakashi, and Guy had all reached a level where their strength was practically unfathomable.
After being promoted to Jonin, Obito had sparred with Kakashi once—but that match had dealt him a heavy blow.
He realized that the gap between them was even wider than it had been a few years ago!
Ever since then, he had never slacked off in his training.
As they stood beneath the streetlights, the snowfall gradually ceased.
Watching the bustling crowd, Rin suddenly said, "It might be nice to move here. What do you think, Anko?"
Anko replied, "Too noisy."
Rin was surprised. "Didn't you used to like lively places?"
Obito added, "The houses here are really expensive. I heard they cost ten million ryo each."
Rin's eyes widened. "That expensive?"
Anko also glanced over in surprise.
Ten million ryo for a house?
That was insane. When had property become so valuable?
Obito nodded. "Ever since the new district opened, lots of people from outside want to move in. The competition is fierce, so the prices just keep rising."
Rin quickly did some mental calculations before turning to Obito. "Obito, you can build houses with ninjutsu… You could make a fortune!"
Obito laughed. "You can't just build houses whenever you want. You need the Hokage's permission."
"Ten million ryo…" Rin clicked her tongue in disbelief.
Ninjas were considered high-income earners, but ten million ryo was still a massive sum.
"Obito, how much did you get paid for that S-rank mission to build the village?"
"…Five hundred thousand."
Obito didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
Even if the houses were sold for ten million, the money still belonged to the village.
The payment was just his own reward.
And even if he hadn't received any payment at all, the fact that the village valued him was enough to make him happy.
The commendation ceremony that the Hokage had specially held for him back then had already made him feel that everything was worth it.
For someone like Obito, Makoto had nothing but appreciation and admiration.
As the three of them were chatting, Anko suddenly interrupted for no apparent reason. "That's enough. Let's go back."
Rin was surprised and was about to ask why when she suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure in the crowd.
"Lord Hokage!"
Obito also noticed and quickly walked forward to greet him.
Makoto was accompanied by Ayari and Kushina.
Rin recalled that Itachi had mentioned earlier that he had come out with the Hokage's family.
She hadn't seen him in several days, and for a moment, she regretted not turning around and leaving with Anko immediately.
But by now, Obito had already led Makoto and the others over.
Rin had no choice but to acknowledge them and greeted, "Lord Hokage, Lady Ayari, Kushina-nee."
Anko, however, remained silent, showing no intention of greeting anyone.
Ayari glanced at Anko, then smiled warmly. "Hello to all of you."
Rin twitched the corners of her mouth and forced a smile in return.
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