"Do you remember me?"
The man stopped in front of him, his expression sincere and hopeful. "My name is Ishida. You came by my stall a few days ago!"
"Ishida?"
Hyuga Kiyonari frowned and tried to recall, fragments of images gradually surfacing in his mind.
"Oh—right. You're the guy who sold wild game."
"Yes, yes!" Ishida nodded excitedly. "That's me! You stopped at my stall and talked with me for quite a while. I even gave you a wild pheasant."
At that moment, Hinata noticed what was happening. She quickly set down the hairpin in her hand and came out of the accessories shop.
"Kiyonari, did something happen?"
"Nothing," Kiyonari shook his head. "Just ran into someone I know. You two keep shopping."
Ino followed right behind and dragged the two of them closer. "Let us hear too!"
Ishida was clearly lost in his memories and didn't notice Ino and the others approaching. His voice was full of feeling. "It's all thanks to your guidance! I have a goal now—I'm full of drive. Feels like I've got endless energy!"
Kiyonari waved it off. "I was just chatting."
"No, no, no!" Ishida shook his head vigorously. "To you it might've been casual talk, but to me—it completely changed my life!"
"Changed your life?" Ino couldn't help jumping in, gossip sparkling in her eyes. "That sounds amazing. What happened?"
Ishida turned to the girls and gave a small bow. "These must be my benefactor's friends, right?"
Kiyonari nodded and introduced himself properly. "My name is Hyuga Kiyonari. You don't have to call me 'benefactor.'"
Benefactor? Calling him that without even knowing his name—what exactly did Kiyonari do?
Ino shot him an even more curious look.
"Got it, Benefactor Kiyonari!" Ishida said—basically meaning "I understand," while changing nothing.
He took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts, and began.
"Before I met you, I was just an ordinary guy who'd just moved to Konoha, selling wild game. Business was terrible—day after day. When I couldn't figure out why, you told me the reason: for ninja, hunting is easy. So it's better to sell things Konoha doesn't have."
"Like some of the trendy new stuff that's popular in the Fire Capital but rare in Konoha. If I brought those things back to sell, maybe they'd become popular."
Ino's eyes lit up sharply. "Wait—don't tell me you mean those fashion magazines?!"
"Exactly." Ishida nodded.
Ino got so excited she nearly jumped. "It really was you guys! I knew it! Konoha never had those magazines before. Then suddenly a shop appeared selling them, and the selection was huge! So it was you!"
"Sounds like you're a loyal customer, miss?"
"Of course! I read all the 'Fashion of the Nations' issues your shop had. I heard there's new stock today?"
Ishida bowed deeply. "Thank you so much for your support! Since you're my benefactor's friends, I'll decide—each of you gets a full set of the new releases for free."
"No, no, no." Ino waved her hands repeatedly. "Just save me four sets, boss. I'll pay."
"Uh… alright." Ishida wasn't sure what their relationship was, so he agreed and continued his story.
"After talking with you that day, I went home and couldn't sleep all night. Early the next morning, I immediately went to find a few old friends. They're like me—small-time merchants, living on a tight budget."
"I told them exactly what you said. Everyone got fired up. In the end, we decided to gamble! We'd go to the Fire Capital together and see what new things existed there that Konoha didn't have!"
"And then?" Sakura leaned forward, engrossed, and couldn't help asking.
"And then…" Ishida's face filled with wonder. "We scraped together some capital, got on a carriage, and after two days of jolting along the road, we finally reached the capital. I'd never seen streets so wide and straight—buildings so tall and grand—shops lined up one after another, selling all kinds of things. We were country folk; our eyes were spinning. Everything looked new and amazing."
"The first thing I noticed was that the bookstores in the capital were packed. So I went in and saw people crowding around all kinds of magazines. I heard they were about fashion, art, literature… I didn't understand any of it, but people were buying like crazy."
"So I made a snap decision and suggested we spend all the money we had left to buy a huge batch of magazines to bring back!"
Ishida recalled, "My friends were nervous—they were afraid if we couldn't sell them, our capital would be stuck. But I insisted we try! I believed you were right. Even if they sold slowly, people would buy some just for the novelty."
"And then you succeeded!" Sakura clapped excitedly. "That's like something out of a storybook!"
"Yes—we succeeded!" Ishida beamed. "We came back to Konoha, picked a good spot on the main street, rented a small stall, and laid the magazines out. At first, hardly anyone noticed. But soon, a few girls were drawn in by the beautiful covers. They opened them, and their eyes lit right up."
Ishida laughed loudly, admiration overflowing. "For us to get here today—it's all thanks to you. You absolutely have to let us repay you."
"And then?" Ino's curiosity was fully hooked.
Ishida's voice rose with excitement. "The moment we got money, I had one friend rush back to the capital without stopping to buy a second shipment! This time we were bolder—we bought more, and we picked a richer variety!"
"Last night," he added, voice excited and a little mysterious, "my friend finally came back with the second batch! And… he brought back a huge piece of good news!"
"What?" Sakura demanded eagerly.
Ishida didn't answer directly. He pointed behind him at the building still under renovation. "That… is a movie theater!"
"A movie theater?" Ino tilted her head, totally confused. "What's that?"
Sakura looked blank too. "I've never heard of it…"
Hinata looked to Kiyonari. Kiyonari also shook his head slightly.
Seeing their confusion, Ishida laughed. "I knew you wouldn't know. Honestly, I'm confused too. I only know it's something that can turn a novel's story into moving pictures, and then show it to everyone!"
"Turn a story… into moving pictures?"
Ino suddenly understood. She'd visited her father's workplace before—there was a machine there that could display distant images on a screen, called a monitor. She just hadn't expected such a thing could be used to make a "film."
"I don't really understand the exact method," Ishida scratched his head embarrassedly. "I just know there's a machine called a 'camera' that records actors performing. Then another machine called a 'projector' throws those images onto a huge white screen. The audience sits below and watches the whole story come alive!"
"That sounds… incredible," Hinata murmured, her eyes full of curiosity.
Hearing that, Hyuga Kiyonari narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the unfinished building.
Movies… actors…
He remembered now.
~~~
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