As daylight brightened and dimmed, the festivities began in Konoha.
The ninjas, usually dressed in plain clothes, had changed into splendid outfits. They formed a dazzling crowd as they headed southeast.
A road newly built with Wood Release stood silently on the horizon, guiding them onward.
Rikusei, Naori, and Mao brought up the rear of the procession, strolling leisurely toward the auction.
Their tickets already had their seat numbers printed on them. They were in the first three rows, and the Tailed Beasts hadn't been transported over yet, so there was no need to hurry.
They even had time to stop by the Dango Shop. The newly introduced Flower Dango and Soy Sauce Dango had earned all three of them rave reviews.
As they sat relaxing in the shop and watched the bustling crowd, Rikusei spotted a furtive figure lurking around the street corner. He stood up and hauled him over.
It was Kagami Uchiha.
The boy, now the focus of all three of their attention, rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and avoided their gazes.
Naori wiped the corner of her mouth and gestured for him to sit. Then she asked curiously, "At this hour, shouldn't you be training with Baru and the others? Why were you sneaking around following us?"
She'd done it on purpose.
Kagami saw the hidden amusement in Naori's dark eyes. He sat down and sighed. "I wanted to see it too."
"Mm, wasn't your ticket for tomorrow?"
Mao mumbled through a mouthful of dango.
"But!" Kagami suddenly raised his voice, then noticed the people around them staring. He hurriedly sat down and lowered his voice. "This is the very first auction! It'd be such a shame to miss it."
"You mostly just wanted to show off, didn't you?"
Rikusei placed his skewer on