Obito held onto the doorframe and stood up, his legs still weak.
"Didn't you just eat dango?"
"The dango is here." Shin-chan pointed to his left pocket, then patted his stomach. "The chicken leg is here. They don't fight."
"I'm asking if your stomach isn't full."
"It's not." Shin-chan held the chicken leg in front of Obito and waved it. "No matter how much you eat here, you don't get full."
Obito froze. "You don't get full?"
"Yeah." Shin-chan nodded. "I already ate three chicken legs, two bowls of ramen, one plate of fried shrimp, and a cake this big."
He spread his arms wide to show an exaggerated size.
"But my tummy is still flat."
Shin-chan patted his stomach, making a thumping sound.
A chill began crawling up Obito's back again. "Don't you think that's strange?"
"What's strange?"
"The part where you don't get full."
Shin-chan tilted his head and thought about it, then moved the chicken leg away from his mouth. "But it tastes good."
Obito sat down beside Shin-chan, grabbed a rice ball from the table, and took a big bite.
It tasted exactly like a real rice ball.
"You really don't get full." Obito felt nothing in his stomach.
"So you can keep eating." Shin-chan picked up another skewer of grilled meat. "Mom would definitely be jealous if she knew. Every time she eats one extra piece of cake, she pinches her belly for a long time."
Obito reached out for a second rice ball. Since he couldn't get full anyway, it would be a waste not to eat.
Then his movement stopped.
No.
Now wasn't the time to eat.
Obito put the rice ball back on the plate. "Don't you think this place is weird?"
"Yeah."
"What's weird?"
"That little girl." Shin-chan jerked his chin toward the other end of the hall. "She keeps staring at us. Does she want to eat too?"
Obito's body instinctively stiffened.
A small figure walked over.
Her gaze moved from Obito to Shin-chan, and her brows furrowed slightly.
"Who are you?"
Shin-chan looked left and right, then pointed at himself. "Are you asking me?"
"Yes." The little girl took two steps forward. "How did you get in?"
Shin-chan tilted his head and thought about it. "Through the door."
"If I remember correctly." The little girl examined him with a scrutinizing gaze. "I only invited His Highness the Prince inside."
She walked across from Shin-chan and placed both hands on the edge of the dining table.
"You weren't pulled in by me. How did you appear here?"
Shin-chan looked at the little girl in front of him for about three seconds, then took another bite of grilled meat.
"I walked in."
"Walked in?"
"Yeah." Shin-chan thought about it. "I was walking and walking, then I saw a big house. The door was open, and there was a really nice roasted meat smell inside, so I walked in."
The little girl's expression grew even more confused.
"Impossible." She shook her head. "My genjutsu world has boundaries. People who haven't been invited can't see the entrance at all."
Shin-chan blinked. "I don't understand."
The little girl stared at him for another few seconds, then seemed to suddenly remember something.
"Pardon my manners." Her voice became formal. "I am Kurama Nini, daughter of the Kurama clan head. I am five years old."
"You're five too?"
"Mm."
"Then you're a child too."
"I'm different from you." Nini put both hands on her hips. "I am a genius of the Kurama clan. In all of Konoha, there are very few people who understand genjutsu better than I do."
Obito let out a faint sound from beside the door, probably wanting to say something, but in the end, he swallowed it back.
Shin-chan nodded. "I know genjutsu."
Nini glanced at him.
"A really big green pepper chased after me." Shin-chan's expression became serious. "And it wanted to stuff me into its mouth."
Nini's expression shifted from confusion into a subtle look of disdain.
"My genjutsu is completely different from that kind of thing."
"How is it different?"
"In my genjutsu world." Nini glanced at the grilled meat skewers on the table. "The things I see, the things I imagine, can all become real."
A skewer of grilled meat lifted itself from the plate and floated steadily in front of Shin-chan, hanging in midair.
"You can touch it."
Shin-chan reached out and touched the skewer. "It's real."
"Of course it is." Nini put both hands on her hips. "In my world, if I want something to be real, then it is real."
Shin-chan's mouth slowly opened wide. "So you can make any food appear?"
Nini nodded.
"What about chocolate sticks?"
Nini glanced at the dining table, and a box of chocolate sticks appeared out of thin air.
Shin-chan let out a cheer and immediately reached out to take one.
"Is it good?" Nini asked.
"Good." Shin-chan's voice was muffled. "Better than the ones Mom buys."
"Of course it's good. These are the tastiest chocolate sticks I can imagine."
Shin-chan picked up another one and looked up at her. "But I've never seen you at school."
Nini's expression changed subtly.
"I don't need to go to school."
"Why?"
"I already know everything they teach at school." Nini turned her face to the side. "And sometimes, my ability isn't very controlled."
"What does that mean?"
"Sometimes, I'm just thinking about a story, and when I get too absorbed in it, the people nearby get pulled in." Nini said, "The people who get pulled in are all scared. No one wants to play with me."
"Um." Obito's voice floated over. "Sorry to interrupt. You two are having a nice chat, but can you let me out first?"
Nini glanced at him. "Your Highness, your role hasn't finished yet."
Obito's face immediately turned pale.
"The next scene of the engagement ceremony is going to ask Father for his approval." Nini counted on her fingers. "Father will fly into a rage and throw you into the dungeon..."
"Wait." Obito waved both hands repeatedly. "I don't want to be thrown into the dungeon."
"That's the script."
"But I don't want to act it out."
"It's not easy for someone to come play with me. I don't want you to leave so soon." Nini's expression dimmed. "It's been a long, long time since I played with anyone else."
Shin-chan jumped down from the chair. "You can come play with me."
Nini lifted her head and looked at him.
"I'm not scared of being pulled in." Shin-chan put both hands on his hips. "The food here is really good."
"Really?"
Shin-chan held out his hand. "Let's pinky swear."
Nini stared at his extended pinky and froze.
"What is a pinky swear for?"
"A pinky swear means it's a promise," Shin-chan said. "My mom taught me."
Nini stared at that little pinky for several seconds, then slowly extended her own hand.
Their pinkies hooked together.
"Pinky swear, hang by a hook. No changing for a hundred years."
Shin-chan let go and nodded in satisfaction. "Okay. Now you can come play with me anytime."
Standing at the side, Obito suddenly felt that his own existence had become very unnecessary.
~~~
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