The Pikachu That Stood Up

"Aka, the Lord Hokage cared about you a lot when he was alive."

"Oh, my name is Kanami, not Chi."

"..." After a moment of silence, Xiang said, "I don't know how you view the Lord Hokage, but I won't inform those two advisors about your relationship with Danzō."

"Okay, thanks," Kanami replied.

Then, the elephant vanished, its whereabouts unknown.

Kanami closed the window, sat back on the bed, and sat close to Hinata.

"Was that person from the Anbu? Did something happen?" Hinata asked softly.

The two hadn't deliberately hidden their conversation by the window, but they weren't talking loudly; Hinata could only hear them buzzing.

"Fine."

"Oh..." Hinata lowered her head, looking somewhat disappointed.

Her two little hands dangled on her lap and turned around.

A few seconds later,

The spinning fingers stopped, and the two little hands clasped together.

"I know I'm weak, and even if I know some things, I might not be able to help you... but I still want to know..."

Hinata looked at Kanami and shared her thoughts.

Kanami said softly, "I was afraid you'd worry."

"I know..."

Upon hearing Hinata's reply, Kanami was taken aback at first, then smiled and ruffled Hinata's hair, "He asked me some questions about Danzō, nothing serious."

He then said, "I'm planning to buy some things later, will you come with me?"

"Okay..." Hinata nodded in agreement.

After resting for a while, Kanami used the Flying Thunder God Technique to take Hinata to the Commercial Street.

Compared to the past, the Commercial Street now has far fewer pedestrians, and even several fewer shops.

"Hair clips for sale! Masks for sale! We have everything! Handsome guys and beautiful girls passing by, come take a look!"

Upon hearing the familiar shouts, Kanami immediately pictured a shifty-eyed, cunning merchant in his mind.

Hey, handsome guy and pretty girl?

The shop owner had extremely sharp eyes and immediately recognized Kanami and Hinata, so he greeted them at his stall.

Kanami smiled and said, "It really is you."

The boss's face completely overlapped with the face in his mind.

"Hehe, you two are my lucky stars! After that pretty girl bought the headband last time, a bunch of people rushed to buy it too."

"And then? Now that you see us, you're trying to rip us off again?" Kanami chuckled.

"How could that be! Our shop is honest and fair! Didn't you buy a light blue Butterfly Hairpin from me later? Now I've stocked up on a lot of similar little accessories."

"You'd definitely be a perfect match for your girlfriend."

Hearing her boss's words, Hinata's face flushed slightly, and the corners of her lips curved into a gentle smile.

"Okay, just because you said that, I'll buy it."

Although Kanami understood that these were all tactics the other party used to trick him into spending money, that was the clever part—even knowing it was a trap, they still made you want to jump in.

"Hehe, just a moment."

The grocery store owner chuckled and jogged back to the back of his stall to start rummaging through his large box.

At that moment, Hinata reached into her clothes and pulled out a small cloth bag, which she then placed in Kanami's hand.

Um?

Kanami felt the weight in his hand and estimated that it was worth at least two hundred thousand taels!

"I have money."

After saying that, Kanami prepared to stuff the small cloth bag back in.

Hinata shook her head. "No, this is the allowance I borrowed from my father last time. He told me to keep it for myself."

"But I don't really want anything, so... could you spend my money?"

Upon hearing this, Kanami was taken aback.

No, I'm spending your money to buy things, and you're actually asking me if I can spend your money?

If this were his past life, he would definitely have thought the other person was a fraudster or something.

But the opponent is Hinata Hyuga!

Kanami then glanced at Hinata and found that she was looking at him with clear, big eyes, her sincere gaze revealing no trace of pretense.

He swallowed hard and said weakly, "Then I'll... use it?"

"Good."

Hinata smiled.

Everyone says that being a kept man is incredibly painful, but why do I feel strangely happy about it?

Kanami couldn't help but smile.

Before long, the shop owner finally pulled a bunch of things out of the large cardboard box and brought them to Kanami and Hinata.

"Look, how is it? I specially brought my Neighbor's little girl with me when I went to buy the goods."

Kanami glanced at the trinkets displayed on his stall.

Red Octopus Hair Clip, Butterfly Hairpin, star stickers, moon stickers...

There was even a glittery powder that Kanami was forced to put on his face when he was in elementary school and participated in a New Year's Eve party. He had forgotten what it was called.

Kanami couldn't help but ask, "Seriously, boss? How young is the girl you're with?"

The boss looked thoughtful, then said, "Hmm... six years old?"

'No wonder they're not selling. A six-year-old wouldn't have the money to buy these things, and even if they had money, they wouldn't buy these for their six-year-old.'

Kanami sighed.

Hinata, do you see if there's anyone you like?

"Hmm..."

Hinata nodded, looking intently at the various trinkets on the stall.

After a period of scrutiny and judgment,

She scratched her head and looked at Kanami: "Can I have them all...?"

"Okay, checkout."

He agreed without hesitation, simply because it wasn't his money.

"Alright, that'll be ten taels in total."

Ten taels?

"The profits you two brought me last time far exceeded the value of these little trinkets. I've always wanted to thank you, but I haven't had the chance."

The shop owner said with a smile.

Kanami nodded, took out ten taels of silver, and handed it to him.

Thank you, I wish you great success in your business.

'It's true that we shouldn't easily form stereotypes based on appearance.'

Kanami felt a pang of guilt. He had subconsciously assumed that Feng An was a cunning businessman simply because of his shifty-eyed appearance.

Today changed his perception.

"Hehe, it's nothing. Actually, besides those, I have some other things here that are different!"

The shop owner grinned and pulled out a bunch of large plush toys from under his stall.

"These are all goods I managed to source from many countries! Look at this yellow plush toy, Pikachu Soldier, and there's a blue one, I think it's called Crotch-Staring Cat, and look at this green Garlic Turtle..."

Upon hearing the boss's introduction, Kanami felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

He then interrupted his introduction, pointing to the yellow plush toy. "How much is this Pikachu Soldier?"

"Not expensive! The original price was 19,998 taels, but since you're my esteemed guest, I have to give you a discount! Now it's only 19,990 taels!"

"How many???"

Kanami glanced at the trinkets in Hinata's bag, then looked at the half-meter-tall Pikachu Soldier.

Then, he looked directly into his boss's eyes and said, "Look into my eyes. Do you see anything in them?"

The boss narrowed his eyes slightly. "Eyes... eyeballs?"