What Cat Faction or Dog Faction? I'm Shiro Faction

A horse-drawn carriage was already waiting outside the village gate.

A middle-aged man was sitting in front of the car. When he saw them come out, he immediately jumped out of the car and went to greet them.

"You must be the Ninja lords of Konoha?" He rubbed his hands together, his attitude very polite. "My surname is Matsuda. Thank you for your help this time."

Maruboshi Kosuke exchanged a few brief words with him, then turned around and gave instructions. "Four corners of the carriage, Shin-chan -chan to the front right, Uchiha Toru to the front left, Kakashi to the rear right. Be careful to observe your surroundings."

"Clear."

After everyone was in position, the merchant Matsuda gave a shout, the horse spurred its horse, and the group left the gates of Konoha.

The trees on both sides of the road receded one by one.

Shin-chan was quiet for about three minutes.

Then...

"Matsuda," he looked up at the businessman in the car, "What kind of business do you do?"

Matsuda looked down at the tiny figure, who was barely taller than a car wheel, and smiled. "I sell fabric. There are many hot spring inns in the Land of Hot Water, and the demand for yukatas is high."

"Oh," Shin-chan drawled, "So, do you make money?"

Matsuda was amused by the straightforward question, "I made a little money, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford Konoha Ninjas to escort me."

"Oh." Shin-chan thought for a moment, "Have you ever encountered bad people?"

"I've encountered them before," Matsuda said. "This road used to be quite dangerous; bandits and the like would pop up every now and then, but..."

He glanced at the Forehead Protector of the young Ninjas beside him. "With your Konoha Ninjas here, I have nothing to worry about."

Why?

"Because the Ninjas of Konoha are powerful," Matsuda chuckled. "Most of the bandits would avoid you if they saw this Forehead Protector."

Shin-chan became more and more relaxed as they chatted, and eventually he seemed to be out for a spring outing.

Uchiha Toru walked to the left front of the carriage, one hand always gripping Kunai, his eyes constantly scanning both sides of the road.

He would look twice at every possible hiding place: the woods, the bushes, the distant hillsides.

An old farmer carrying a hoe walked over from the opposite side.

Uchiha Toru's body tensed immediately, his steps faltered slightly, and he gripped his Kunai even tighter.

The old farmer glanced at them, brushed past them, and went into the field.

Uchiha Toru watched him walk more than ten steps away before slowly letting out a sigh of relief.

After a while, a woman carrying a bamboo basket appeared.

Uchiha Toru tensed up again.

The woman walked quickly and soon disappeared down a side road.

Uchiha Toru's hand remained on the Kunai.

Shin-chan turned his head. "Xiao Che, aren't you tired?"

Uchiha Toru didn't look at him; his eyes were still scanning the bushes by the roadside. "Not tired."

"You've been holding his hand the whole way," Shin-chan said, pointing to his hand. "Your grip on my Kunai is making it sweat."

"This is a guard duty."

"But there's nothing here now." Shin-chan spread his arms and spun around in a circle. "Look, the sky is so blue, and the breeze feels so nice."

"It's precisely because there's nothing there that things are most likely to go wrong." Uchiha Toru held onto the Kunai tightly.

Maruboshi Kosuke walked behind the carriage and overheard the conversation between the two children in front of him.

One is too loose, the other too tight.

He shook his head and said nothing.

The road ahead is still long.

I don't know if it was the Konoha Forehead Protector that worked, or if the road was just naturally smooth, or if I was just lucky.

Nothing happened along the way.

There were no bandits, no masked men suddenly jumping out from the roadside, and not even a suspicious figure was seen.

As the carriage rolled over a small hill, the scenery suddenly changed.

In the distance, wisps of white smoke rose from the ground, dispersing into a thin mist under the sunlight, and a faint smell of sulfur wafted in the air.

We've arrived in the Land of Hot Water.

Upon entering the town, the merchant breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, and bowed repeatedly to the four people. "Thank you all for your hard work. Have a safe journey, thanks to you all."

"It's just part of the job." Maruboshi Kosuke waved his hand. "Our mission is over."

After the merchant had walked away, Shin-chan turned to Maruboshi Kosuke, "Uncle, the C-Rank Mission was so easy!"

Maruboshi Kosuke looked down at him.

"We walked the whole way and found nothing, and the mission was completed," Shin-chan said. "So, C-Rank Mission is just walking?"

Maruboshi Kosuke was silent for two seconds. "This time we were just lucky."

Shin-chan didn't seem to understand, but he nodded anyway.

"Let's go." Maruboshi Kosuke started walking into the town. "Since we're here, let's try the hot springs in the Land of Hot Water."

The streets were packed with people, and colorful lanterns and flags hung on both sides of the road.

The most peculiar thing is that everyone is wearing a mask.

Cat masks and dog masks are everywhere.

Moreover, the people wearing cat masks and the people wearing dog masks each gathered in their own groups, separated by an invisible line, and neither of them moved towards the other.

Shin-chan tilted his head back, his mouth agape. "Wow, so many cats and Doggy!"

"The Inu-Neko Festival." Maruboshi Kosuke's voice held a hint of surprise. "I didn't expect to run into it."

Shin-chan immediately turned his head. "Dog and Cat Festival? What's that?"

"It's a festival for people who like dogs or cats," said Maruboshi Kosuke. "They wear cat or dog masks, and it's very lively."

Before he could finish speaking, a young man wearing a dog mask rushed over from the side and nearly bumped into Shin-chan.

He held up a small flag with a picture of a majestic dog on it and the words "Long Live the Dog Party" written below. As he ran, he shouted, "The Dog God is the true messenger! The Dog Party will prevail!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a girl wearing a cat mask across from him raised up a sign with a picture of a cat on it, not to be outdone.

"What nonsense! Lord Cat God was the first to discover the hot spring; the Cat Faction is the true line!"

The two stood face to face, their eyes behind the masks practically spitting fire.

Uchiha Toru stood next to Shin-chan, watching the masked people arguing around them, and frowned. "Mr. Kosuke, these people—"

"It's nothing," Maruboshi Kosuke waved his hand. "It's just a holiday. They've been arguing about it for years. They won't actually fight."

Shin-chan, however, paid no attention; he was already drawn to a roadside stall selling masks.

The stall was filled with masks; the left row was all cats, and the right row was all dogs.

Shin-chan stood in front of the stall, looking left and then right, his expression more serious than when he was learning Ninjutsu.

The stall owner, a round-faced old man, looked at him with a smile, "Little friend, want to buy a mask? Are you a cat person or a dog person?"

Shin-chan looked up and answered very seriously, "I'm Shiro- san."

The stall owner paused for a moment, then asked, "What's Shiro Pie'?"

Shin-chan picked up Shiro, who was standing at his feet, and held him up to the stall owner. "That's Shiro!"

The stall owner looked at Shin-chan, then at Shiro: "Shiro is nice too, you can choose whichever you want."