Chapter 78
Rinya and Megumi responded immediately and headed out together—clearly off on a date.
Natsuki chuckled. "Aoba-sensei, your cousin sure moves fast."
Aoba shrugged. "That Rinya kid's pretty sharp. When you meet a cute girl like Megumi, you better make a move early—otherwise, you'll have no place to cry later."
"Hehe, yeah, smart move. But what about you, Aoba-sensei? Why didn't you go after Shizune-senpai back then? Don't you think she's cute? Are you crying now with nowhere to go?"
"You little punk! How dare you tease your teacher! Get out and go walk the streets!"
Aoba kicked Natsuki out the door. Truthfully, he did have nowhere to cry. How was he supposed to know Tsunade-sama would take Shizune with her and disappear for years?
Back in their academy class, there were only three really cute girls: Kurenai, Shizune, and Rin. Rin had already sacrificed herself, Kurenai had Asuma pursuing her, and Shizune was MIA. The guys in their generation were really out of luck! And now Natsuki was rubbing salt in the wound—he deserved a beating!
Natsuki slipped into the streets.
He had to admit, this was worthy of being the capital of the strongest nation in the ninja world. The Land of Fire was naturally prosperous thanks to its geography, and the capital where the Daimyō resided was incredibly lively—even at night. Bright lights, laughter, joy. It was as if this ninja world wasn't chaotic at all.
Maybe that's just how the ninja world works:
Ninja villages can fight each other to the death, but no one touches the Daimyōs. That would be crossing a line.
The Daimyōs ruled the countries—they had wealth and power. Ninja villages were just military institutions under their command, and generally followed their orders. Even the so-called Great Ninja Wars were more like strategy games the Daimyōs played with each other.