Honestly, the food in the Hidden Leaf Village was pretty decent—Kazuki quite liked it. But when out on missions, a shinobi's diet became bland real quick.
Which, to be fair, made sense. Out in the wild, who had time to slow-cook pork belly or caramelize sugar for stir-fry? Not to mention, smoke and fire would easily reveal your position and spell death in hostile territory.
"Want some snake? I'll grill it in a bit," Kazuki asked, dangling the little white snake in his hand.
Shisui shook his head. He couldn't stomach that kind of thing and had brought his own rations.
Kazuki didn't press him. He pointed his finger, and a small flame sparked to life at the tip—perfect for grilling.
As the snake's skin curled and sizzled, Kazuki watched it carefully, pulling out a pouch of cumin and chili powder from his pocket.
Shisui twitched slightly. Still holding his sushi, he stood up and glanced at it. Suddenly, his cold rice rolls seemed a lot less appetizing compared to the steaming, spicy snake meat roasting below.
Before long, the snake was devoured and honored Kazuki's gut with its sacrifice.
He leapt back up into the tree and resumed monitoring his assigned area, using the downtime to keep grinding his ninjutsu. When his shift ended, the day had passed without incident. Seemed like another calm one.
Once the handover was done, Kazuki spotted Shisui approaching with an awkward look and a flushed face.
"What's up, White Crow?" Kazuki asked curiously.
"Sorry, Captain. About that guy earlier... our clan has already handled it. That idiot won't pull that kind of stunt again!" Shisui bowed in embarrassment. He had just wrapped up his shift and was about to head home with Itachi when one of his elders—with a stiff expression and an offering in hand—insisted he deliver it to Kazuki as an apology.
Only then did Shisui realize what had happened earlier. Now he just wanted to drag that idiot Uchiha to scrub toilets for a month.
"No worries. You've got a big clan—it happens," Kazuki replied with a chuckle, though just remembering that creep from the Big Bird Bar gave him goosebumps.
Sure, the Uchiha downfall was largely due to Danzo's shadowy machinations and Hiruzen's silent consent, but the clan's internal rot hadn't helped either. The chaos within made their collapse feel almost inevitable.
Kazuki accepted the apology gift and returned to his room. He planned to get back to training and grind more progress on his jutsu list. He had seven days of this guard duty, which made it a good time to farm up proficiency and boost his power.
He was especially curious what effect he'd get once his Rasengan reached max proficiency for the first time.
Before he knew it, the sun had set. As moonlight bathed his room, Kazuki found himself thinking again about Toneri Ōtsutsuki. Earlier that day, he'd idly wondered if that guy would show up to spy on Hinata.
He couldn't recall exactly when that happened in the timeline—but hey, he could still go check things out.
So, with that thought, Kazuki grabbed some ryo and stepped out into the night.
The Hidden Leaf's nightlife was surprisingly vibrant. Even though it was late, the streets were well-lit, especially around taverns and... certain establishments. Those storefronts bustled with activity.
Under the dim pink glow of lanterns, girls in exotic outfits stood along the sidewalks, flashing seductive smiles and calling out to passersby. Young men blushed and hurried past, while more familiar clientele walked up laughing and got pulled inside.
It was clear what kind of business these places offered. The scene reminded Kazuki of those "off-the-record" videos he'd seen back in his previous life—places like Okubo Park. This district? It was straight-up a shinobi red-light district.
Kazuki found it... oddly fascinating.
He never claimed to be some saintly monk immune to temptation. Quite the opposite—he was curious about how adult entertainment looked in a world like this. With that in mind, he used the Transformation Jutsu, turned himself into a tall, handsome man, and strolled in.
If you're living in the shinobi world, might as well explore all of it—including the seedy corners.
He barely reached the entrance before one of the girls enthusiastically approached him, a cloud of sickly-sweet perfume hitting his nose—
—and then came the "paid viewing content" segment.
"…Boring. And pricey," Kazuki muttered, squatting at a food stall, munching a dango skewer. He chewed slowly, unimpressed.
The whole experience had been underwhelming.
Because of the usual conservative outfits in the shinobi world, the most daring costume available was a nurse outfit—and even that was outrageously expensive. Kazuki had ordered just a fruit juice and got charged 88 ryo.
Clearly, this was a rich man's game.
Still, Kazuki couldn't help but think—wasn't this industry... kind of lame?
What if he modernized it a little? Brought in new ideas, more creative scenarios? Could be profitable. But then again... if he went down that path, the name "Nara Kazuki" would be immortalized in the annals of shinobi adult entertainment.
He hesitated.
Uncle Suzaku wanted him to become a respectable man—not this kind of "success story."
"Sigh... if only Jiraiya was around," Kazuki said aloud. If the Toad Sage were here, Kazuki could've passed the idea to him and just waited for the royalties to roll in. After all, Jiraiya didn't just collect "research" in hot springs—he was a connoisseur of pleasure houses too.
And now that Jiraiya was raking in royalties from his books? He was probably living the good life.
Kazuki felt a tinge of envy.
That was the dream—a strong shinobi with enough cash and freedom to do whatever he wanted. But in this cursed world, if you didn't have power, you couldn't even enjoy a cup of tea in peace.
Sure, he could have stayed lowkey and lived quietly until Naruto grew up. But Minato hadn't died, Kushina was still alive—the original plot was already off the rails. Which meant Kazuki had to get stronger. Fast.
Swallowing the last of his dango, Kazuki made up his mind. He'd swing by the Hyūga clan's district and take a quick look. If nothing seemed suspicious, he'd just head home.
After all, this whole thing had been a spur-of-the-moment decision.