Memories of the Land of This

"Ah, now that you mention it, you do look a little familiar~" The Daimyo of the Land of This looked as though he had suddenly remembered something, taking a bite of sushi as he thought.

"I actually came to the Land of This once before. I had just finished an escort mission at the time, so I joined the Imperial Martial Competition while I was here."

"Oh, I remember now. You were second place in the Sword Fighting Competition Group, Kamise Yushi. I never expected that—in the blink of an eye, you've grown up so much. No wonder I didn't recognize you~"

Having identified Yushi in a single sentence, the Daimyo of the Land of This was in high spirits and stuffed another piece of sushi into his mouth.

"I didn't expect you to recognize me after all. Come to think of it, I was still rather hot-blooded back then~ But, my lord, about the upcoming Martial Arts Tournament..."

"Go participate. I would also like to see the prowess of Konoha Ninja once more." The Daimyo of the Land of This chewed while propping up his chin. His eyes rolled, and he suddenly recalled something else. "But you'll need to remove your forehead protectors, or your identities will be exposed~"

Having received permission, Yushi's face broke into a smile. He quickly bowed again. "Understood. I'll make sure they remember the rules as well. Please rest assured, Daimyo."

"Mm, Konoha Ninja have never failed to put people at ease. I trust you. The competition begins tomorrow, and outstanding men from the army will be participating as well. So rest today and experience the customs of my Land of This~"

"Understood, my lord. We'll take our leave first~"

With that, Yushi led everyone away.

They had not gone far before Namiashi Raidō could no longer contain his excitement and hurriedly asked.

"Teacher, teacher, there'll be lots of experts skilled in swordsmanship at the Martial Arts Tournament, right?"

"Mm, I suppose so~"

Knowing Raiton's temperament well, Kamise Yushi answered with deliberate calmness, making Raiton all the more anxious. But he had already learned what he needed to know and could not think of anything else to ask, so he poked Genma.

Genma understood what Raiton meant, but he was in no rush. Instead, he asked leisurely, "By the way, Teacher, did we rush here because of this competition?"

"Heh, what do you think?"

That counterquestion left Genma somewhat bewildered. He did not understand what Kamise Yushi was concealing, but judging by the smile on his face, it should be something good.

So Genma stopped making a fuss of himself and said no more about the Martial Arts Tournament.

"Teacher, is there anywhere nearby that sells ninja tools?"

"Sells ninja tools? Are you preparing for war?"

Genma nodded, while Yushi sank into thought.

Once they left the palace, Yushi swiftly leaped onto the roof of a building and looked out into the distance.

After a while, Yushi hopped down as lightly as a dragonfly touching water and returned to the group. "It's been so long since I came here that I've forgotten the place a little. I remember there being a Weapon Shop. I just checked, and it should be in that direction."

Everyone looked where Yushi pointed. There did seem to be more men in their prime in that direction, so it was indeed possible that a Weapon Shop was located there.

Before everyone could recover, Kamise Yushi continued, "But it's already lunchtime. We can have lunch first; it won't be too late to go afterward~"

"Oh~ Food? Hurry up, then. I can't wait any longer~" Noma, who had remained silent the whole time, suddenly strode off briskly and left everyone behind.

"Wow, Teacher ran off so fast. That's practically cheating!" Might Guy was the first to react. After complaining, he immediately took off in a cloud of dust.

Seeing how energetic Guy was, Kamise Yushi could not help but smile. "Then let's hurry too. This street is Food Street~"

"Oh~ No wonder the delicious smells coming from here never stopped~" Raiton's eyes widened in wild delight.

This was another place beyond Konohagakure, after all. Who knew what novel delicacies they might find?

Just as Namiashi Raidō sank into wonderful fantasies, Ebisu grinned foolishly as if he had discovered something incredible and started walking.

Seeing Ebisu leave, Raiton followed him. Only then did the quieter Washi begin to move.

Genma and Kurenai, who appeared remarkably calm, remained where they were. More accurately, Genma was thinking.

Everything he thought of came from his memories. His memory had always been excellent, and even as time passed, not a single detail of Naruto World's plot had faded from his mind.

In fact, the moment he entered this country, memories related to it had already surfaced in his mind.

He remembered that, in the plot, the Land of This seemed to be the suzerain state of the Land of Them. In other words, in the war between the Land of This and the Land of Them, the Land of This had ultimately emerged victorious.

Even so, Genma would not lower his guard because of that, much less believe that war was something to be fought carelessly.

Thus, the first thing he thought of was buying more weapons—preferably weapons with tremendous destructive power, such as Exploding Tags.

Next, he recalled certain events from the plot. The story described how the Ino-Shika-Cho team and the protagonist Uzumaki Naruto were hired by the Land of Them to rescue the Young Master of the Land of Them from the Land of This and escort him back to the Land of Them.

A great deal happened along the way. Putting aside the final outcome, the customs and local culture of the Land of This that he remembered from then had become useful now.

Naruto's group arrived in the Land of This just as the entire country was holding a Gourmet Competition to celebrate the harvest.

Unlike the Martial Arts Tournament, the Gourmet Competition was held entirely for eating contests. It was essentially a competitive eating competition.

And judging from the food in that competition, ramen had to be the undisputed champion.

Having thought everything through, Genma looked at Kurenai, who had been silently waiting for him. "Ah, sorry. I was thinking about something just now. Huh? What's going on? Teacher, you haven't left yet?"

Kamise Yushi smiled faintly. "I wanted to leave, but seeing you act so unusually made me curious."

"Uh, is... is that so~" Genma was a little confused, but when he saw Kurenai beside him clutching her stomach as her delicate nose twitched, he took her hand and asked, "Teacher, where's the Ramen Shop? Can you take us there?"

"Huh? From the way you said that, it sounds like you know the ramen here is delicious."

"Ah, I don't actually know. I just heard someone say that the ramen here is really good~"

"Is that so~" Yushi frowned, wanting to figure something out, but his stomach rumbled. He soon gave up thinking. "Let's go. I'm starving too. Let's have ramen~"

Kamise Yushi spoke as he set off at a brisk pace, and Genma pulled Kurenai along after him.

After taking a few steps, Genma realized he seemed to have forgotten something important, so he asked, "By the way, Kurenai, why were you waiting for me just now?"

"Then I won't wait for you next time. You can stand there all alone and feel lonely!" She had kindly waited for him, only to receive that response. Kurenai was a little upset and even pulled her small hand free.

"Uh, I was just worried you'd get too hungry. I'm sorry, Kurenai~"

Kurenai had actually wanted to say that she was worried Genma might be captivated by another woman and do something that would betray her. The possibility was small, but it still worried her.

But hearing Genma apologize so sincerely, she felt that waiting for him had not been so unbearable after all.

Before they knew it, their hands had found each other again.

It seemed that ever since they had held hands last time, their relationship had entered a subtle state.

On the surface, they were still shy and bashful, but from time to time, they wanted to lean on one another. Even if all they did was hold hands, they were happy.

Genma had been fairly conservative in his previous life as well. Deep down, he had always longed for a romance that began innocently, slowly blossomed, and gradually matured.

And now, it seemed to be exactly like that.

So he was in no hurry. No matter when it happened, he could wait and endure. He would simply wait until everything fell into place, then give this beloved girl a heart-stirring wedding.

As he thought about it, he thought of money. And thinking of money made him remember that business genius, Tony.

Tony had remained in contact with him, but there had still been little progress in investigating Kana.

That made Genma realize that Kana might be extremely cautious in her dealings, or perhaps possessed powerful counter-surveillance abilities. Yet remembering that she had no Chakra signature at all, he could not truly connect her to ninja.

Of course, that did not stop Genma from having plenty of guesses.

Even the name Kana was enough to set his imagination running wild.

The name did not refer to some beautiful woman from another country in his previous life, but to a rather special person in Naruto World.

Karin of the Uzumaki Clan seemed to share many similarities with Kana.

The same red hair, and even their names were somewhat alike. Although the timing of the pregnancy seemed a little off, he did not dare be certain.

According to Karin's memories, she should have been born during the Third Shinobi World War. By that reasoning, it seemed to fit, yet there also seemed to be some gaps.

The main gap was the location. The original Karin appeared in Kusagakure, yet she had now appeared on Rainbow Mist Mountain—and was even a Mountain Bandit's child.

Putting aside who Karin's father was, just the place where she appeared was difficult to understand.

But no matter what, that was not the main point of his thoughts. What he cared about more was Tony himself.

Tony could be considered a genius. Others might not think so, but Genma believed that if Tony were given enough money, he could build a business empire.

Tony's decision to set up his shop at the border was also quite farsighted. After all, borders were unavoidable routes for the circulation of goods. But his business model was simply too ahead of its time, making it difficult for it to become hugely successful.

Therefore, Genma genuinely wanted to recruit the man and have him build up a business for his family.

Speaking of which, Hideyoshi had now become the one in charge of the family's money. Although Hideyoshi was quick-witted, compared to Tony, one was a professional while the other was an amateur.

In terms of vision, with Genma backing Hideyoshi, they were indeed evenly matched. But when it came to actual operations, Hideyoshi still lacked some polish.

To bring Tony into the family and have him earn money for them was something Genma had thought about many times. But most of the time, it was difficult to say aloud, and he could not make that decision himself.

Still, Genma had brought it up before and had Hideyoshi try to get in touch with Tony. Now it depended on what sparks the two might create.

Genma did not even know how he had arrived at the Ramen Shop or how he had ordered. By the time he came back to his senses, a huge bowl of noodles sat before him, containing four large pieces of char siu, many narutomaki slices, and plenty of other ingredients. The aroma wafted into his nose and made his mouth water.

As his hunger rose, he also heard the sound of people eating noodles beside him and understood what the ramen in front of him was about.

"Kurenai, thanks. I'll pay the bill~"

"Mmm~ Delicious~ I want another bowl~"

"Oh, okay. I'll order one for you when you finish."

Uh, this chapter seemed a little messy and a little padded. If you don't like it, you can skip it.