By the fourth day at the Daimyo's residence, Shin-chan was beginning to suspect that he had accepted a fake mission.
It was supposedly an S-rank mission, with an absurdly high reward, free food and lodging, and unlimited chocolate sticks.
He had expected something exciting, like an assassination squad scaling the walls in the middle of the night or poisoned needles and darts flying all over the courtyard.
But four whole days had passed, and the greatest threat so far had been a stray cat trying to steal the koi from the pond.
When he picked the cat up, it even yawned at him.
"At this rate, I'm going to become completely useless."
Shin-chan lay on the roof with a chocolate stick between his lips, watching the white clouds drift lazily across the sky.
Warm sunlight spread over his body, and the breeze carried the fragrance of flowers from the courtyard.
He rolled over and moved the chocolate stick to the other corner of his mouth.
"Although becoming useless doesn't sound that bad either."
The faint footsteps of maids came from the courtyard below.
They carried seasonal clothing through the corridors, their wooden sandals tapping a crisp rhythm against the stone path. In the distance, a thin trail of smoke rose from the kitchen chimney. The cooks were probably preparing lunch.
Everything was quiet, orderly, and lazy.
This felt nothing like an S-rank mission. It felt more like an extended vacation with no fixed end date.
After finishing the last bite of his chocolate stick, Shin-chan reached into his ninja tool pouch and pulled out a specially made kunai.
Uncle Tobirama had said that the formula of the Flying Thunder God Technique was essentially a spatial coordinate. It allowed a person to move instantly between two points, but the things it could transmit were very limited.
"Very limited."
Shin-chan stared at the kunai as several ideas began sprouting in his mind.
Could the Flying Thunder God formula transmit sound?
For example, if he carved a formula onto a kunai, could someone on the other end speak into it and let him hear their voice?
"It would be great if I could talk to Misae through Flying Thunder God." He held the kunai in front of his eyes. "For example, if I ate some delicious dango, I could tell her directly, 'Misae, Misae, this dango is super delicious. You should come try it next time.'"
He imagined the scene.
Misae would definitely shout through the kunai, "You spent your mission allowance on snacks again, didn't you?"
Then Hima would fight to speak and say, "Big Brother, bring some dango home for me!"
Shin-chan closed his eyes and began sensing the Flying Thunder God formula carved onto the kunai.
"If the formula itself is an anchor point, then maybe I can add another layer of chakra fluctuations to the anchor..."
He tried it.
Nothing happened.
Sound was another form of energy, so perhaps it required a specialised medium for conversion.
The problem was that his current ability was not enough to handle energy conversion.
"Too difficult."
He fell backward and sprawled across the roof like a starfish.
"Converting energy into sound and sound back into energy would require inventing an entirely new technique."
"Oh well. I'll write it down first."
He took a small notebook from his ninja tool pouch and wrote:
Flying Thunder God Improvement Plan: Let Misae talk to me through a kunai.
Difficulty: Currently harder than learning all of Uncle Tobirama's Water Style techniques combined.
After writing it down, he put the notebook back into his pouch and resumed lying flat.
A cloud drifted over from the distance, shaped like a chocolate stick that had been broken in half.
"Oh, right. Misae." Shin-chan suddenly thought of another problem. "If I really invent this technique, will Misae use the kunai all day to tell me to come home?"
"Shin-chan, where did you go today?"
"Shin-chan, don't eat too many snacks..."
He fell silent for a while.
"Maybe I should put this invention on hold."
When he jumped down from the roof, he happened to run into the steward.
"Lord Nohara, there is something I need to confirm with you."
"What is it?"
"The kitchen has reported that over the past few days, our supply of sweets has been consumed at three times the normal rate."
"Oh."
"Of the three boxes of chocolate sticks delivered yesterday, only one remained this morning."
Shin-chan looked at the steward with an equally serious expression. "Could a stray cat have stolen them?"
"Stray cats do not eat chocolate sticks, Lord Nohara."
"Then it might have been a particularly unusual stray cat."
The steward was silent for a moment and decided to abandon the subject.
"Additionally, the patrolling guards reported unusual footsteps on the roof last night."
"That was me."
"...What were you doing on the roof?"
"Looking at the stars," Shin-chan said. "There are far fewer stars in the capital than in Konoha Village."
The steward did not know what to say.
"Is there anything else?" Shin-chan asked.
"...No."
"Then I'll continue my patrol."
Shin-chan turned and headed toward the kitchen.
"Lord Nohara, the patrol route is not in that direction."
"I know." Shin-chan's voice came from around the corner of the corridor. "I'm going to inspect the security surrounding the chocolate sticks."
That afternoon, Ai returned to the study after finishing her music lesson and found Shin-chan sitting cross-legged at her writing desk. A pile of messy drawings was spread out in front of him.
"Young Master Shin-chan, what are you drawing?"
"An improvement plan." Shin-chan did not raise his head. "I want to make a kunai that can talk."
Ai sat across from him and picked up one of the sheets.
It contained a rough sketch of a kunai, surrounded by densely written symbols and notes.
"I originally wanted to use the Flying Thunder God formula to transmit sound, but I realised it was too difficult, so I'm trying a different approach now." Shin-chan picked up another sheet. "If sound can't be transmitted, then I'll transmit something else. As long as it can send information, it works."
Ai carefully studied the symbols she could barely understand. "Why do you want a kunai to talk?"
"Because it would be convenient." Shin-chan put down his brush. "For example, if I were carrying out a mission on the front lines and Misae missed me at home, she could shout into the kunai, 'Shin-chan, come home for dinner!' Then I could use Flying Thunder God and go whoosh straight home."
"Only so you can return home for dinner?"
"That's very important. Misae's curry rice doesn't taste good once it gets cold."
Shin-chan picked up the brush again and drew a new formula structure on the paper.
He worked very seriously, muttering to himself as he drew. He looked nothing like his usual self.
"Young Master Shin-chan has changed a great deal."
"Hmm?" Shin-chan raised his head. "What changed?"
Ai did not answer.
From the first time she met him, she had known that this boy was different from everyone else.
Even though he had learned to draw complicated formulas and improve ninjutsu, he still showed pure happiness over sweets. He still sat cross-legged in her study and got ink everywhere.
Some things had changed.
Others had not.
Shin-chan suddenly threw down the brush and collapsed backward onto the tatami.
"I've used up all my brain cells."
"Then you should rest for a while." Ai stood and walked toward the tea cabinet. "Would you like some tea?"
"Yes."
Ai took out the tea utensils and began heating the water with practised movements.
"Did you learn that in tea ceremony class?"
"Mm." Every one of Ai's movements traced an elegant curve. "My teacher said my movements still lack 'heart.' I focus too much on form."
"What is 'heart'?"
"Perhaps... it means your state of mind while making tea." Ai lowered her eyelashes. "You must clear your mind of distractions and focus entirely on the present moment."
"Is your mind free of distractions right now?"
Ai's hand paused slightly.