Sand

Sanyō carried the meat in her left hand and cradled the flowers in her right, feeling as though her entire head was foggy.

What had we even done this morning? We went to chat with Orochimaru, one of the Three Legendary Sannin, and Orochimaru gave my little brother two ninjutsu.

We bought five pounds of grilled meat.

We looked at several vacant storefronts and asked about their rent.

And we got a whole pile of flowers from the Yamanaka Clan for free.

That was some seriously incredible efficiency!

"Are we going home?" Sanyō asked softly. "Or do we have more activities planned?"

"Our hands are full, so what activities could we possibly do? Let's head back!" Kamiya Keiyun said.

He was holding a pile of flowers in his arms too.

"Um, but I don't understand. Why did we buy so many flowers?" Sanyō asked.

"Trade secret. We can't discuss it out on the street!" Kamiya Keiyun said.

"Alright!" Sanyō nodded. For some reason, a desire called learning suddenly surged within her!

I can't keep being this ignorant. If I never understand anything, I'll only grow farther and farther away from my little brother, let alone be able to help him!

But when she thought of all her social engagements, she was afraid people would gossip if she stopped attending them.

Public opinion in Konoha was terrifying, especially lately. A Jonin had been criticized so badly that he did not even dare go out. She was genuinely a little afraid.

Just like now, as the two of them walked down the street carrying flowers, villagers kept glancing at them. Once they had passed, the villagers immediately began whispering among themselves.

It was so annoying!

"Little brother, aren't you afraid?" Sanyō asked.

"Afraid of what?"

"It's strange for us to walk around carrying flowers!" Sanyō said. "Look at the people around us."

"Why care about them? Their lives will barely intersect with ours in this lifetime, so why bother caring what they think?" Kamiya Keiyun said.

"But they'll talk about us."

"That isn't because they care about you. They're just bored!" Kamiya Keiyun said. "So you don't need to take their comments to heart, unless you're bored too!"

"Um, is that how it works?" Sanyō blinked, not quite understanding.

But was that really how her little brother viewed other people?

No wonder he often did not care about friends or what other people thought of him.

If that's the case, maybe I can cut down on some unnecessary social engagements in the future?

After returning home, Kamiya Keiyun set down the flowers, picked up a wooden bucket, and prepared to head out again.

Sanyō instinctively followed him.

"You don't need to come with me this time. I'm just going to dig up some sand by the river!" Kamiya Keiyun said.

He had only brought Sanyō along that morning because he did not know the way to Snake Uncle's house.

"Ah, okay. Then be careful!" Sanyō said.

"I will!" Kamiya Keiyun waved and left with the small bucket.

Konoha had three rivers, two running vertically and one horizontally, forming an A shape.

The two vertical rivers both originated from a river called the He River. Near Konoha's walls, that river split into a southern and northern branch, so one was called the Naka River and the other the Hokuga River.

The portions of those two rivers within Konoha were not wide, only around five meters across.

The horizontal river, however, was considerably broader. It was called the Yi River. Its widest stretch was nearly forty meters, while even its narrowest point was twelve meters wide.

Naturally, the Yi River's banks had the most sand.

Kamiya Keiyun followed the main road to the Yi River's bank and found quite a few people there.

Adults were fishing, children were playing with sand, and some children were even swimming.

People were swimming in the river. Could anyone still catch fish here?

Kamiya Keiyun did not understand the mindset of fishing enthusiasts either. He went down to the bank, feeling the sand and soil spot by spot. At last, he found a decent location, set down his bucket, and prepared to dig.

"Hey! What are you doing? This spot belongs to us! Did you ask me before playing here?" A group of children saw Kamiya Keiyun's actions and immediately rushed over.

"Hm?" Kamiya Keiyun looked up at the four children. Their clothes were all in the same style, and each had a clan crest on their shoulder. It looked somewhat like the character for "great," or perhaps two fish spears overlapping.

It looked even more like a person raising both arms, with long phantom limbs.

The Sarutobi Clan!

Better not provoke them. After all, the Third Hokage's surname was Sarutobi.

"Alright, I'll find somewhere else!" Kamiya Keiyun picked up his bucket and prepared to leave.

"Huh?" The child at the front was a little stunned. He was just leaving?

This patch of sand naturally did not belong to the Sarutobi Family. He had come to enjoy the thrill of bullying someone. Usually, other children would argue with him a little, then his group of four would teach them a lesson with a righteous beating.

But he had never seen someone back down so directly like Kamiya Keiyun had.

Should he chase after him?

Wouldn't that be a little too much?

"Hey, what's your name? Why haven't I seen you before?" the lead Sarutobi child called out.

"Ah, my name is Passerby A!" Kamiya Keiyun answered. "Because I haven't been here before."

"I see. Passerby A, my name is Sarutobi Asuma. Since you're so obedient, I'll allow you to play here!" the child called out. "You don't have to leave!"

Sigh. Life was not easy, and Keiyun sighed.

This was why he did not like going out. Little brats were hard to deal with. If you played with them, it was childish and a waste of time.

If you did not play with them, they would cling to you.

Snake Uncle was still better.

Kamiya Keiyun suddenly discovered another advantage Snake Uncle had.

Though he was a child, Snake Uncle had never treated him as one. From the moment he entered the house, they had communicated as equals. He could feel Snake Uncle's respect for him.

But everyone else, whether adults or children, only treated him as a kid. No one ever took the things he said or did seriously.

Infusing Chakra into his hands, Kamiya Keiyun quickly shoveled a bucket full of sand. Then he said to Sarutobi Asuma, "How about we play a game?"

"What game?" Asuma asked curiously.

He was very curious about this unfamiliar child, mainly because this child treated him differently from the companions he usually played with.

"Hide-and-seek!" Kamiya Keiyun asked. "Have you played it before?"

"Of course I have! I'm amazing at it. There's never been anyone I couldn't find!" Asuma said proudly.

"Is that so? Then how about you hide and I look for you? You're so good at finding people, but I wonder how good you are at hiding!" Kamiya Keiyun asked.

"I'll definitely make sure you can't find me!" Sarutobi Asuma said seriously. "Shall we begin?"

"Then I'll go count. I'll count to one hundred, and after that, I'll start looking!" Kamiya Keiyun said.

"Okay!" Sarutobi Asuma watched Kamiya Keiyun walk toward a tree and begin counting. He immediately called to his companions, and they scattered to hide.

"Hm, they're far enough away!" Kamiya Keiyun infused Chakra into his ears. His Listen to Sound, Perceive Reason ability was not particularly strong yet, but he could still tell whether someone was near or far!

Since they had already gone far away, why the hell would he keep counting?

Time to run.

Picking up the bucket, Kamiya Keiyun quickly fled.