"Miko! Miko!" A well-preserved, elegant middle-aged woman was calling out a name as she moved along the street, occasionally gesturing while asking nearby pedestrians. "Sir, have you seen a little girl about this tall, with brown hair?"
"Don't bother me, I'm still looking for my son!" The man she stopped seemed to be searching for his own child as well. In a foul mood, he shoved the woman aside and began shouting to the crowd himself. "Taya! You little brat, get out here right now! I'm seriously angry!"
Not far away, a couple wearing local Land of Hot Water clothing were loudly arguing in front of a takoyaki stall, drawing plenty of attention.
"My child disappeared right here!" "That's impossible, I didn't do anything!" The stall owner looked wronged as he raised his voice in defense. "Bullshit! Both my kids were standing right next to me, and in the blink of an eye they just vanished!"
The man grew more agitated with each word, nearly pressing his face against the stall owner's by the end. Beside him, his wife kept wiping away tears. Before the tense atmosphere could escalate further, several Yugakure ninja surrounded the scene. Whatever method they used, they managed to calm things down. The temporarily disrupted fireworks festival quickly returned to its lively state, the air once again filled with joy.
Snap. With the paper scoop tearing apart, the goldfish scooping contest finally came to an end. Ruri won first place among the four through sheer strength. With a mysterious smile on her face, Ruri looked down at the others and said proudly, "You still have a long way to go!"
This was her victory declaration. Obito collapsed as if struck in the knee by an arrow, hands weakly supporting the ground in a perfect "Orz" pose. "Did I… lose?"
The final rankings were clear: first place went to Ruri, second to Mitsuki, third to Kakashi, and fourth to Obito.
"It was just a game, Obito," Mitsuki said casually as he helped him up. "By the way, you're in charge of carrying everything we buy later."
Kakashi sighed lightly. He had barely put in any effort, yet he still caught more goldfish than Obito. He really had no idea where this idiot got the confidence to call himself the Goldfish Scooping Sage.
"Boss, please settle the bill for the four of us," Kakashi requested.
"Huh?" The elderly stall owner looked at Kakashi in confusion. "Didn't you receive the booklet at the village entrance?"
"The booklet?" Kakashi shook his head. "No. Is it required?"
"Well, not really for adults, but the booklet is specially handed out to children like you." As he spoke, the old man took out a black stamp from behind him. "Children who have the booklet can get stamps at every stall and play for free."
Kakashi looked at Mitsuki with some hesitation. Mitsuki glanced at the stamp in the old man's hand. "We'll ask about the booklet later. For now, just charge us as adults without a booklet."
"Th-this…" The stall owner seemed troubled.
At that moment, a squint-eyed Yugakure ninja on patrol passed by. He walked over and asked the stall owner, "What's going on here?"
The old man quickly replied, "These kids didn't receive the booklet."
Obito grew annoyed and shouted, "So what if we didn't get one? We're not refusing to pay!"
The squint-eyed ninja just smiled gently, clearly unconcerned by Obito's attitude. "Don't be angry, kid. This old gentleman just wants you to enjoy yourselves. The booklet is a new addition to this festival, so it's normal that some children missed it. I still have extras here, so you can use these."
As he spoke, he pulled out several palm-sized scrolls from behind him and handed one to Obito. After being overwhelmed by the ninja's gentle words, Obito felt he had made a big deal out of nothing. He unrolled the scroll. There was only a single vertical line at the top with blank squares below it, meant for stamps.
"You should all come and get your own booklets too," the squint-eyed ninja said as he extended a scroll toward Mitsuki.
Just then, a beautiful, elegant woman in a kimono approached from the side and grabbed the ninja's arm, her eyes brimming with tears. "Ninja-sama, my daughter is missing. Could you help me find her?"
Being interrupted while handing out booklets, the ninja frowned slightly, but immediately softened his tone to comfort her. "Ma'am, your child might just be playing somewhere and got separated for a bit."
"That's impossible. Miko is always well-behaved. She would never run off like that…"
"All right. I'll take you to the captain in charge of security patrols. Describe your daughter's appearance to him, and we'll dispatch ninja to search."
The woman could only nod. After dealing with the interruption, the squint-eyed ninja handed the remaining three booklets to Mitsuki and the others, then left with the woman.
Watching them leave, Mitsuki discreetly formed several hand seals and used Shadow Manipulation to control a Flying Thunder God formula he had planted on the sole of that Yugakure ninja's shoe.
"That Yugakure ninja seemed like a decent guy," Obito said as he rubbed his nose, then walked toward the stall owner. "Alright, now we have the booklets. We can stamp them, right?"
"Haha, of course," the old man said, handing the stamp to Obito. Seeing his puzzled look, he explained, "To make it more memorable, we let the kids stamp it themselves."
Obito took the stamp and laughed loudly. "Haha, you guys really know how to have fun."
Just as he was about to press the stamp down, Mitsuki suddenly snatched it away with lightning speed. Obito's vision blurred. When he realized the stamp was gone, he wasn't angry; he just chuckled. "What's this, Mitsuki? You've got a childish side too? Fine, you can stamp first. But the next one has to be me."
Kakashi sensed something off. Mitsuki must have noticed something.
"This little customer," the old stall owner said as he rubbed his hands and moved closer, "this stamp isn't very sturdy. You kids shouldn't snatch it back and forth."
Mitsuki ignored him and shot Ruri a look. Ruri immediately understood. The black in her eyes rapidly faded, replaced by a pair of scarlet Mangekyo Sharingan. Without any intention of holding back, Ruri opened with a Mangekyo-level genjutsu. The old stall owner was instantly caught, his eyes going blank as he stood frozen in place.
Obito was completely confused. Why were they suddenly attacking an ordinary person? "Mitsuki? Skipping out on the bill like this… isn't that wrong?"
"Idiot!"