Sai, who had spent the entire night crying beneath the blankets, woke up and sat upright blankly, staring at the faintly brightening sky. Even now, he found it hard to believe that his father, who had spoiled him beyond measure since childhood, had mercilessly slapped him in front of outsiders.
"Your Highness, would you like to attend the upcoming meeting with Lord Hokage?"
The servant knelt on the wooden floor, glanced sidelong at the already-awake man, and asked with his head lowered.
Sai came back to himself, turning his face as he said, "Tell Father that I want to take a look around Konoha by myself."
His request received the daimyo's approval, while Konoha also proposed dispatching guards.
"Guards? I don't think that'll be necessary."
Dressed in casual clothes, Sai curled his lips at the Konoha ninja before him. "I trust in the strength of the strongest ninja village, Konoha."
The Konoha ninja standing alone in place received the answer he had expected.
With a helpless sigh, he thought that nobles who could never understand one another were truly tiresome. He pulled a mask from inside his collar and put it on, then suddenly vanished from where he stood to follow the distant figure.
Holding a folding fan, Sai strolled leisurely through Konoha's streets. It was his first time visiting a village where ninja gathered, and everything around him felt so novel that he could not help comparing it to Daimyo City.
The neatly planned streets and rows of buildings in vastly different styles were an eye-opener.
Though Daimyo City had once been planned, after hundreds of years its streets had long become a chaotic mess. Nor was it easy to clear away the redundant roads. Although he had lived within the Tenshukaku for many years, he still knew of