CH_134

Outside the Land of Fire, most places were quite backward. That "backwardness," of course, was relative to the Land of Fire.

Tōji didn't wander around as soon as he arrived in the Land of Seas. Instead, he went straight to the "Inoshishi" house, following the information the Anbu had given him.

Tōji roughly estimated that the entire island of Jirō had fewer than a hundred residents.

It wasn't far from the Land of Water now—this was the closest small nation to the Land of Water in the entire shinobi world, even though there was still half a day's boat ride between them.

Since the real Inoshishi had had little contact with others, no civilian had witnessed the deaths of the family of three… Whether they'd been killed by shinobi from some village was anyone's guess.

And since the Land of Seas was currently under Konoha's control, most of its residents had "voluntarily" reduced their social visits.

So for now, Tōji's disguise as Inoshishi wouldn't be discovered.

Tōji couldn't be bothered with the details—he assumed other Konoha operatives were handling those.

His only job was to play the role of a lone teenage fisherman.

The scroll Tōji had received from the Anbu also contained a very practical sealing technique—one that sealed his chakra signature to hide his true strength.

Tōji had already applied this seal to himself before leaving the Land of Fire. As long as he didn't undo it, he'd be only slightly stronger than an average boy—nowhere near genin level.

On his second day on Jirō Island, Tōji got up early and fixed up the slightly run-down front yard.

He also cleaned up the small vegetable patch that had been neglected for so long it was overgrown with weeds. 『I'll grow my own vegetables from now on—less need to go out shopping. Perfect!』

After a morning's work, he ate some dry rations he'd brought along for lunch.

After lunch, he took a three-hour nap, just like any ordinary child would.

When the sun wasn't so harsh, Tōji "found" a small wooden boat by the shore and went fishing…

Tōji figured the boat had belonged to the Inoshishi family. After all, the houses on Jirō Island were quite spread out, and the Inoshishi home had no neighbors on either side. So it was reasonable to assume this little boat was left behind by them.

Though over ninety percent of Tōji's chakra was sealed, his shinobi-level taijutsu foundation remained—and he'd learned various outdoor survival skills at the Academy. Catching a couple of fish for dinner was no challenge at all.

Thus passed his first full day as a spy. No one had come looking for him, and no one had visited his house…

『If only every day could be like this!』 Tōji was quite satisfied with his current life.

As the sun set, Tōji finished his grilled fish and dragged a large piece of driftwood to the shore—he planned to lie on it every night in front of his house, listening to the waves, feeling the sea breeze, gazing at the stars, and humming the pop songs from his past life.

On his first night in the Land of Seas, he wasn't yet used to sleeping outdoors.

When it was time, he went back inside, took out a piece of paper, and wrote down—

"Buy a puppy to guard the house"

"Buy a few chicks to raise"

"Make myself a lounge chair"

"Add a window for stargazing"

"Fix up the small boat"

"Plant some sunflowers in the front yard"

After writing that last line, he crossed it out… No one else had flowers—if he planted them, it wouldn't be low-key enough.

『That's all I can think of for now!』 Tōji put down his pen with satisfaction—this was the fruit of his evening's daydreaming.

Whether he'd be living in the Land of Seas for a few months or ten years, Tōji planned to carefully map out his "secluded" life.

He also knew that the Land of Seas wouldn't stay peaceful forever. In two or three years, Orochimaru would make a trip here…

『I wonder when Konoha's forces will pull out of the Land of Seas…』