The subject the Nine-Tails and Minato were discussing inside him was a little too profound for Naruto at the moment, so his attention was focused entirely on the source of that strange noise just now—
A batch of rather peculiar-looking yet formidable puppets kept rattling around the caravan.
Standing in front of those puppets was a group of children who looked about six or seven years old.
Every one of them looked full of swagger, their noses in the air like proud little soldiers.
And whether they had come up with it themselves or simply wanted to look more imposing, they had all positioned their puppets behind them in strange poses that gave them quite a presence.
To Naruto, even their expressions and postures perfectly matched his memories of the clan represented by the fan-shaped Insignia on their clothes.
After all, as far as Naruto remembered, Sasuke had been just as full of himself as a kid.
"Taro, the only caravans that come here are ours. Don't you get tired of inspecting us every time?"
Sara stepped forward and greeted the children with a smile.
"Oh! Auntie Sara, you're with the caravan? Did you bring us anything fun this time?"
Seeing Sara approach, the children beside Taro, who had been diligently holding their poses, immediately broke character and crowded around her like ordinary kids.
"Hey, hey, you guys... honestly, you have no sense of responsibility. Only someone who takes his duties seriously, like me, gets head pats from Izumi!"
Watching his friends abandon their ramshackle puppets to gather around Sara, Taro Uchiha could only let out a long sigh.
"Well, they're all just four- or five-year-old brats. What can you do?"
"Aren't you one too?"
"Hmph, I'm seven and a half this year, the oldest of our generation... huh? Who