Konoha

After Neji and Xiao Xi passed through the Hyuga Clan compound, the greatest ninja village in the shinobi world unfolded before them like a slowly unrolling painting.

The Nine-Tails Rebellion seemed to have happened ages ago. Konoha had regained its postwar prosperity, and the streets teemed with people, showing no sign that they had once endured chaos.

The barrier at Konoha's main gate rippled constantly as merchant caravans bearing different emblems rolled over the dust on the bluestone pavement.

"Thirty crates of Cloud Village thunder-pattern beast hide from the Land of Lightning!"

"Five carts of hot spring crystals from the Land of Hot Water!"

"Twenty loads of spring tea from the Land of Tea!"

The cries rose and fell one after another. Neji's Byakugan clearly saw chakra flickering across the caravan banners.

The merchant flags of Sand Village from the Land of Wind glimmered with the ocher light unique to red sand, while the merchant flags of Cloud Village from the Land of Lightning crackled faintly.

Lanterns on either side of the main street swayed in the breeze, lending the shops and stalls a lively air of prosperity.

An old woman selling tricolored dango pushed bamboo skewers into specially made rice dumplings, their rising steam carrying a sweet fragrance.

"Make way! B-rank mission supplies!"

Three ninja wearing forehead protectors raced past with a three-meter-long scroll slung over their shoulders. Ice crystals seeping from the scroll's surface left a winding trail across the bluestone pavement.

As Neji stepped aside, he caught sight of the frozen corpse of a Mammoth Beast from Snow Country within the scroll's sealing array.

The gilded signboard of a ninja tool shop on the street corner came into view. The curtains of the century-old establishment were woven from ironwire vines, carrying the weathered feel of passing years.

Shuriken behind the counter were piled to the ceiling, while chakra metal displayed in secret boxes gave off a dark blue sheen. Neji noticed that the Uzumaki Clan crest on one short sword's guard had been deliberately worn away.

"Explosive Tags! Fresh Explosive Tags! Exclusive formula! Ten percent more power!" The one-eyed shopkeeper suddenly rapped on the glass display case, the talismans between his fingers snapping sharply as he flicked them.

Neji sensed that the patterns on those talismans were far more than simple lines. Although he had often drawn talismans in his previous life, he had never felt energy circuits within any talisman he drew.

Under Neji's perception, the Explosive Tags before him were like blazing magma imprisoned beneath an icy pool. So long as there was a key, they would erupt violently.

Neji could not help but grow curious about this miraculous craft. If he could study it, perhaps he could draw talismans for other purposes as well. As a student at a Taoist academy in his previous life, he had drawn no small number of talismans.

"Unfortunately, Explosive Tags are strategic supplies. Only registered ninja can buy them. I'll have to see whether I can secretly get hold of a few someday."

Neji calculated silently.

After turning the corner, Konoha's iconic Hokage Tower came into view.

As Konoha's central hub, the Hokage Tower was bustling with people coming to issue missions or settle payments after completing them.

"A perfectly good political center turned into a mission hall. What a baffling system. Still, that is rather characteristic of the Hokage."

Neji studied the Hokage Tower and mentally critiqued the various systems of the ninja world.

Though such backward systems had nothing to do with him, one could see the whole leopard through a single spot. Extraordinary power had robbed people of the drive to innovate and reform, while ninja who possessed great power themselves had raised administrative efficiency to an unbelievable level.

Two ninja wearing Konoha forehead protectors passed by carrying a broken roof beam. The Water Release chakra lingering in the charred timber made Neji frown.

Following the trail of scattered wood chips, he looked toward Hokage Rock, still under reconstruction. The Third Hokage's stone visage had been gilded amber by the slanting afternoon sunlight, while ninja hurried back and forth around its cracks, making the statue seem alive once more, as though it foretold something.

Four stone faces silently overlooked Konoha Ninja Village, like guardians who had stood watch since ancient times.

Looking at the Hokage of every generation, Neji sighed inwardly. As some of the strongest people of their respective eras, constrained by the limits of their times and understanding, he believed they had already done everything possible for Konoha.

At the very least, Neji knew he did not possess some grand love for Konoha. That was partly because he had transmigrated here and felt little sense of belonging, but it was also a common subconscious tendency among members of great clans: diminish the concept of the village and strengthen the existence of the clan.

"Are bonds really what I want?"

After one final look at Hokage Rock, Neji turned and left.

"Uncle, what kind of meat is this?"

Neji pointed at a rack of ribs hanging behind a butcher's stall, chakra leaking from them, and asked the owner.

The owner set down his boning knife and leaned over the counter. Upon seeing him, he hurriedly said, "So it's the young master of the Hyuga Clan. Heh, that meat you're asking about is from a Thunderhorn Rhino over in Cloud Village. The meat's rather tough and chewy. It's mainly just a novelty. Would you like some, young master?"

"How much?"

"Six hundred ryo per pound, fair for young and old alike. If you take some spare ribs with it, I can knock off another hundred ryo." The owner smiled broadly and made a gesture with his hand.

"Six hundred ryo? That's several times the price of beef!" Neji clicked his tongue inwardly.

But there was no helping it. He still had to eat. The two of them had been wandering around for most of the day, yet they had found very little meat that met his cultivation requirements. Ninja were generally strict with themselves and especially good at restraining their desires. To them, such food only satisfied the appetite and held little value, so there was not much of it on the market. On top of that, these beasts were born capable of cultivating chakra and carried a certain degree of danger, so the prices naturally rose.

"Give me a pound for now. After that, deliver a pound every other day. Sister Xiao Xi, keep an eye on it when the time comes."

"Mm." Xiao Xi nodded in agreement.

"Of course, of course. Rest assured, young master, it'll be absolutely fresh!" The owner grinned, swiftly cut off a rib, and chopped it apart with a series of heavy thuds.

It was not that Neji specifically wanted ribs. Under the Byakugan, the energy within the ribs was the most concentrated. The chakra in the other parts had long since dissipated almost completely.

Suddenly, Neji felt a yearning thought come from the Eight Trigrams Diagram in his sea of consciousness. Following the sensation, he discovered a small marten hanging from the rack at the very back.

Its fur was sleek and smooth, shifting with magnificent patterns from different angles beneath the sunlight. Even though it was dead, the color in its eyes had not faded, making it look like a statue.

"One hundred thousand ryo," the owner said when he saw Neji staring at the marten.

Clearly, the owner also knew it was valuable.

"They say it was caught near some place called a sacred land. Look at that coat, young master. Gorgeous, isn't it? Feel it too—what texture! Ah, it's like the skin of those women in the pleasure house..."

After speaking, he checked Neji's expression again. Seeing no change, he cautiously asked, "What do you think, young master?"

Neji gave him an expressionless look. "I don't want the fur. Just the meat."

The owner's face stiffened, and he seemed to doubt his own ears. Yet after seeing Neji's unquestionable gaze, he gave an awkward smile. "That'll be five thousand ryo."

Though the small marten's value lay in its fur, its body was worth quite a bit as well, so the price was fair.

After telling Xiao Xi to pay, Neji took the skinned marten meat from the owner and hurried home.

"What a strange one. You really can't judge these young noble masters by common sense."

The owner watched Neji's departing back and shook his head. Without anyone seeing how he moved, the boning knife in his hand suddenly vanished.

With a thud, the missing boning knife was embedded in the wooden wall, perfectly steady without the slightest tremor.