The first snow after winter set in blanketed the entire village in pure white.
Shin walked along a snow-covered street that had yet to be cleared, his boots crunching with every step. He realized he was far less resistant to the cold than the people here and had already put on thick clothes.
Having just finished meeting with a group of merchants, Shin was on his way back. Under his administration, the village had returned to order, and everything was recovering.
"I really want hot pot," Shin remarked.
"There are hot pot restaurants in the village. If Lord Shin wants some, we can go," Kamado, his personal attendant beside him, reminded him.
Shin merely shook his head. The hot pot here was the traditional Japanese kind. What he wanted was the sort with red chili oil floating across the broth and peppers filling the pot as far as the eye could see.
A group of children were chasing and roughhousing in the street when a snowball flew over from afar and struck Shin.
"Kenji, you hit the wrong person."
"Sorry, sorry!"
Shin simply brushed the snow from his clothes and said with a faint smile that it was fine, watching the children laugh and run off again.
He suddenly recalled a plan concerning these children. The Ninja Academy needed to greatly expand its enrollment next year; otherwise, Konoha's number of ninja would not recover for a very long time.
But the war had just ended. The villagers might not all be willing to send their children to the Ninja Academy, so Shin needed to find a way to persuade them.
"Let's go eat barbecue," Shin suddenly said.
He immediately headed with Kamado to Yakiniku Q on West Street. Business at the barbecue restaurant was much livelier than usual in snowy