Yamashiro Rinne and Kato Megumi agreed quickly and then left together, clearly going on a date.
Natsuki smiled and said, "Aoba-sensei, your clan younger brother is quite fast."
Yamashiro Aoba spread his hands, "That kid Rinne is quite clever. When he meets a cute girl like Megumi, he has to make a move early, otherwise he'll have nowhere to cry later."
"Hehe, he's quite clever. What about Aoba-sensei? Why didn't you make a move on Shizune-senpai earlier? Did you think Shizune-senpai wasn't cute? Does Aoba-sensei have a place to cry now?"
"You brat! How dare you tease your sensei! Go play on the street!"
Yamashiro Aoba kicked Natsuki out. For a moment, he really had nowhere to cry. How could he have known that Tsunade-sama would take Shizune away, and for so many years?
Back then, the three cutest girls in their class were Kurenai Yuhi, Kato Shizune, and Rin Nohara. Rin Nohara had already sacrificed herself, while Asuma was pursuing Kurenai Yuhi. Shizune was nowhere to be found. The men of their generation were quite miserable, okay? And this guy Natsuki was still rubbing salt in the wound. Isn't this asking for a beating!
Natsuki had already slipped out onto the street.
I have to say, it's worthy of being the Capital City of the strongest nation in the Ninja World.
Fire Country has always been very prosperous due to its advantageous geographical location. The Capital City where the Daimyo resides is even more bustling. Even late at night, it is still brightly lit, and there are laughter and joy even at night, as if this Ninja World is not chaotic at all.
This might be an unwritten rule of the Ninja World.
It's okay for Ninja villages to fight to the death among themselves, but no one is allowed to attack the Daimyo. Otherwise, it's a violation of the rules.
The Daimyo is the ruler of the country, with money and power. Ninja villages are just armed organizations under the Daimyo's jurisdiction. Generally speaking, they have to obey the Daimyo's orders. Even the Fourth Shinobi World War was like a war game played by the Daimyo.
This is truly unbelievable for people from the Flower Country.
If an ambitious person from the 'Land of Flowers' came here, they would overthrow the Daimyo and everything else. After all, besides their so-called status and money, the Daimyo have nothing; they lack powerful strength, they lack formidable armies, and when something happens, they still have to rely on the Ninja Villages. How can such people be the rulers of a country?
Overthrow them! Overthrow them all!
Moreover, they would unify the entire Ninja World!
Then they would capture all the girls like Hinata, Ino, Kurotsuchi, Karin, Mei Terumi, and so on!
Those who are more ruthless wouldn't even spare Granny Chiyo!
Uh, these are all the thoughts of ambitious people. Natsuki felt tired just looking at them. What's fun about such a twisted world? Anyway, he didn't want to live so tiringly.
Natsuki strolled around the city, buying some small items to take back for Tenten. As for a gift for his Father-in-law, there was no need to bring one at all.
Because when he reported to his Father-in-law before leaving Konoha, his Father-in-law said something:
"Natsuki, do you know how many businesses our family has?"
"On this trip to the Fire Country Capital, you can go take a look at these few shops; just consider it getting familiar with them..."
After walking around, Natsuki did find the few shops his Father-in-law mentioned, which were a hotel, restaurants, cloth shops, and so on.
Heh heh, he'd skip getting familiar with them for now and do it with Tenten later.
However, since his family already had businesses in the Fire Country Capital, there was no need to bring a gift for his Father-in-law.
Anyway, Natsuki didn't have much money, and the cheap goods he bought might not even catch his Father-in-law's eye.
But Tenten was different; bringing a small item could make her happy and let her know her boyfriend was thinking of her.
After buying the gifts, Natsuki started walking towards the inn.
However, after only a few steps, he saw Yamashiro Rinne and Kato Megumi, his two good teammates, walking back hand in hand in the distance. Kato Megumi was even feeding Yamashiro Rinne a grilled sausage, and both had shy smiles on their faces.
Very good, those two were indeed as he suspected!
It's just that they were too engrossed in their date and didn't notice someone following behind them!
Natsuki's gaze narrowed, and he discovered a person sneaking behind the two. Judging by their steps, they should be a Ninja, and he could sense a slight Chakra fluctuation.
Who dared to follow Ninjas from Konoha?
And what was their purpose?
Natsuki decisively lightened his steps and silently followed the tracker, trailing all the way to the vicinity of the inn. After Yamashiro Rinne and Kato Megumi shyly let go of each other's hands and entered the inn, the tracker finally intended to quietly leave.
However, just as the tracker turned their head, they were suddenly startled by the figure that appeared before them.
Without a word, Natsuki slapped the tracker on the forehead, knocking the person unconscious on the spot. He then quickly frisked them and pulled out a forehead protector.
"Hmm? A music symbol? Otogakure?! Was it sent by Orochimaru?!"
The appearance of an Otogakure Ninja forced Natsuki to take it seriously.
Previously in the Village, he hadn't considered matters related to Orochimaru because the Konoha Crush was still far away. Even if Orochimaru quietly returned to the Village, it was only to trade with Danzo, and he basically wouldn't cause trouble.
As for now, it seemed the Chunin Exams were not far off, and the Konoha Crush was about to begin.
So, what was the purpose of this Otogakure Ninja tracking Konoha Ninjas?
Was it just a simple investigation? Or were they planning to kidnap? Or even assassinate?
Natsuki didn't understand, so he simply carried the person back to the inn, knocked on Yamashiro Aoba's door, and blew a signal to call Yamashiro Rinne and Kato Megumi over as well.
"What happened?"
Yamashiro Aoba immediately opened the door. Seeing the person Natsuki was carrying, his expression instantly turned serious.
Yamashiro Rinne and Kato Megumi also rushed over. Seeing the scene, they were momentarily confused but didn't ask questions, instead following everyone into Yamashiro Aoba's room.
Yamashiro Aoba even specifically used Chakra to scan the surroundings, ensuring no one else was eavesdropping before looking back at Natsuki.
Natsuki took out the Otogakure forehead protector and said, "When I came back, I saw this person quietly following Runya and Megumi, so I followed him too."
"Until he tried to leave, I simply knocked him out and then found this on him."
Yamashiro Rinne and Kato Megumi's expressions changed.
They hadn't expected two groups of people to be tracking them. It was one thing for their relationship to be discovered, but being tracked by strangers without noticing was a bigger problem.
Yamashiro Aoba glanced at his clan junior but didn't say anything.
Instead, he took the forehead protector and looked at it: "Otogakure?"
"I did hear before that Otogakure was established in the Land of Rice Fields. Lord Hokage was curious but didn't send anyone to investigate thoroughly."
"Now a Ninja from this Otogakure is suddenly tracking our Konoha Ninjas. What is their purpose?"
What their purpose is, you should ask yourself, Aoba-sensei!
You can use Mind Reading!
Yamashiro Aoba also knew he had asked a pointless question. He formed a few hand signs, placed his large hand on the person's head, and began reading their memories.
Not long after, Yamashiro Aoba's expression suddenly turned stern, and he blurted out: "Orochimaru..."
Fortunately, he closed his mouth in time, otherwise, the students would have heard.
However, Yamashiro Aoba's expression was extremely serious, completely lacking his usual demeanor.