Nara Kazuki had always thought kids in the ninja world grew up too fast.
Take Kakashi, for instance—he was already on the battlefield as a child.
Sure, in his previous life there were also war-torn regions where child soldiers existed, but Kakashi's physique and combat capabilities were way beyond those kids. The guy could probably run hundreds of kilometers without breaking a sweat. Ridiculous.
After parting ways with the cheerful Uchiha Shisui and little Itachi, Kazuki decided to head to the Hokage Tower to see Minato Namikaze. He also hoped to trade the steam train blueprints he'd acquired from the Land of Snow for some kind of reward.
But as he approached the tower, he noticed several shinobi rushing in. They seemed tense. Among them, he even caught sight of Danzo.
"Well, that settles it. No way I'm seeing the Fourth Hokage today," Kazuki muttered and promptly turned around. Something big was obviously going down—enough to warrant the presence of the Elders' Council. That meant Minato was busy handling more important affairs than trains.
"Though… I don't remember anything major happening around this point in time," Kazuki murmured.
He tried to recall the canon timeline. After Minato's death, the story glossed over a lot of events. But if he had to guess, the most important event around now was probably the attempted kidnapping of Hinata by Kumogakure's ninja. Everything else was relatively minor.
Kazuki shrugged it off. It wasn't like he needed an answer today. There was no rush.
On the way back to the Nara compound, he passed by the familiar Three-Colored Dango stall and bought two skewers out of habit.
But this time, Uchiha Itachi wasn't there—no companion to silently judge the heretics with. A pity.
"Dango, huh? Mind sparing one for me?" came a familiar voice.
Kazuki turned around.
"C-... Mai? What are you doing here?" he blinked at the sight of Yamanaka Mai, his former team leader. He hadn't expected to run into her in the village. Last he'd heard, she'd borrowed money from him and set off to 'make her fortune.'
Kazuki had done business himself in the Land of Snow, and he knew damn well making money wasn't easy. Trade convoys were painfully slow. If you had to cross the sea? Forget it—months lost to weather and logistics.
He'd figured it'd be a year before seeing her again.
"Came back to do business," Mai said, pointing into the distance.
Kazuki followed her gaze and—
"…That many people are buying your stuff? Looks like you really might get rich," Kazuki grinned. The line of people was impressive. Business had to be booming.
Mai bit into her dango and chewed slowly before answering.
"Actually, those are all members of the trade caravan."
Kazuki blinked.
He took another look. Now that she mentioned it, yeah… the people weren't really customers. They were moving crates and supplies, not browsing. There was a busy air to it, but it felt more like chaos than commerce.
"That many crew members? Isn't your labor cost a bit too high?" Kazuki asked.
Mai sighed. "Yeah. Which means I might take a loss."
Kazuki fell silent. Thunderstruck.
"You're not about to go bankrupt, are you?" he asked, unable to hide his disbelief. If she weren't an old teammate, he might've asked if she was auditioning for Xi Hongshi's Most Financially Illiterate CEO.
Actually, those comedy billionaires still made money.
"At the very least, I've lost all profit," Mai said flatly.
So this was a charity expedition?
"…Wait, you're not even mad at me?" she said, surprised. "I figured you'd grab me by the collar and demand to know if I came back just to waste your money."
Kazuki glanced at her.
Okay, credit where it's due—Yamanaka Mai still had a keen sense for reading people. Practically like she lived in his head.
"What's there to be mad about? You borrowed money. Worst case, the Yamanaka clan repays it. I'm not worried." He waved it off.
After all, the Yamanaka weren't about to tarnish their name over a little debt.
Mai gave him a narrowed look but eventually nodded. She knew he was right. If she defaulted, the clan would absolutely step in.
Kazuki glanced again at the caravan.
"All the workers are civilians?" he asked.
Mai was silent for a second, then nodded.
Kazuki winced.
He'd thought his old squad leader was clever. Apparently not that clever. Still, he had a pretty good idea what she was trying to do.
She was trying to uplift ordinary people. Give the non-shinobi of this world a shot.
Noble, sure.
But Kazuki also knew—it was like pouring water on a wildfire. Completely futile.
Still, he smiled.
"Keep at it."
Mai blinked.
Kazuki had a plan. One he didn't have the time to carry out himself. But someone like Mai? Compassionate toward civilians. Competent enough to survive. She'd make a good pawn. Or rather—a partner.
But first, she had to fail. Only then would she be receptive to what he really wanted to show her.
Only when the dream shattered would the truth take root.
Then maybe… just maybe… she could help him execute a plan that right now, seemed utterly impossible.
Mai said nothing.
She just took another tired bite of her dango.
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New translation : Naruto : I Got "Return by Death" Kind Of Cheat
New story translated ! This one is interesting, give it a try !