Chapter 220: Scenery Shinobi

Naruto's conclusion stunned both travelers.

"How did you reach that answer?" Boruto asked.

He had briefly believed his father possessed remarkable insight as a child. The hope vanished.

Naruto crossed his arms. "You came here to acknowledge the family connection. Fine. I accept you as my younger brother."

Responsibility filled his chest. An unexpected relative had appeared, and Naruto was already prepared to act like the elder brother he had never been.

He imagined showing Boruto the apartment, introducing him to Iruka, and demanding that Hiruzen explain why no one had mentioned him. Becoming responsible for someone younger also made Naruto feel older and more respected at once.

"I am not your younger brother. I only happen to look like you."

Boruto almost said more before remembering that the truth was forbidden. Calling his own father an older brother felt wrong enough without encouraging it.

Sasuke supported the denial. "We are tourists visiting Konoha. We were discussing places to see. The resemblance is coincidence."

Naruto examined Boruto again, then looked at Sasuke.

"You feel familiar too. Like my companion."

The word moved adult Sasuke more than he allowed his face to show. At this age, Naruto already thought of young Sasuke as a companion even while complaining about him to strangers.

Sasuke remembered how long he had pretended the bond did not matter. Hearing Naruto acknowledge it before betrayal, pursuit, and war made the simple word heavier than any praise.

"No," Naruto amended. "That guy is arrogant and impossible. You seem gentler. I must be imagining it."

Boruto changed the subject before another guess struck closer.

"Could you show us Konoha? We need a guide."

Naruto hesitated. "I have to train for the Chūnin Exams."

Sasuke had moved ahead of him, and Sakura was training under Tonbo. Naruto could not afford to spend the remaining days sightseeing.

Jiraiya had promised to help with the summoning, but the perverted hermit disappeared whenever Naruto thought a lesson was about to become serious. Every hour before the finals appeared valuable while his rivals continued training elsewhere.

"Guide us first," Boruto said, "and I will spar with you afterward."

The opportunity to fight a strange new shinobi caught Naruto at once.

"Where is your forehead protector?"

He showed his own proudly while searching both travelers.

"We are scenery shinobi," Sasuke said. "We do not belong to one great village. We travel to experience and record landscapes, so we carry no exclusive forehead protector."

Boruto nodded and expanded the cover with knowledge from future books.

Scenery shinobi existed by Boruto's time, which made the lie easier to sustain. They inherited skills from scouts and cartographers but sold records of places rather than military positions. The profession was rare in this era, not impossible.

"We have seen the Wind Breath Valley, overseas islands filled with summoning beasts, and the hot springs of the Land of Hot Water."

He had not visited all of them, but Naruto did not know that.

"I've been to the Land of Waves," Naruto said. "The scenery there is different. But scenery shinobi is a strange job."

"It is one of several newer paths," Boruto explained. "Some shinobi grew tired of careers built only around spying and assassination. They used chakra for other purposes and became scenery shinobi, gourmet shinobi, gem shinobi, and more."

In Boruto's era, Tonbo had compiled and promoted those small professions through the Technology Development Bureau. Work once dismissed as peculiar village customs became recognized categories, though conflict still prevented them from replacing traditional shinobi work.

The directory included villages like the culinary settlement whose chakra controlled heat and the mineral specialists who focused techniques through gemstones. Boruto had learned the material for an Academy examination and was pleased to discover that it finally impressed his father.

Naruto turned around once as if the idea might look clearer from another angle.

"You know a lot."

He stored the terms for later. Telling Sakura about obscure shinobi professions might make her admire his knowledge.

Naruto already pictured the conversation. He would mention gourmet shinobi casually, wait for Sakura to ask how he knew, and explain that travelers from across the world had sought him out as their Konoha guide.

"We are not mainly combat shinobi," Boruto said, "but I am strong enough to train with you."

"Then we have a deal. I show you Konoha, and you spar with me."

Naruto had begun to suspect that Jiraiya spent more time peeping than teaching. A second partner might be useful even if Boruto failed to match Sasuke.

He also wanted proof that the scenery-shinobi claim contained strength. If Boruto fought poorly, Naruto would lose only an afternoon. If he fought well, Naruto gained a partner unlike anyone preparing in Konoha.

Boruto smiled. Sasuke had told him that his own younger self could not defeat Naruto at the same age. The chance to fight his father legitimately sounded entertaining.

"We begin with the Hokage Rock," Naruto said. "It has the best view in the village."

He walked ahead with both hands behind his head. Boruto and Sasuke followed because remaining near Naruto also served their search for Urashiki.

Sasuke sensed the hidden ANBU keeping watch.

He finally understood part of the attention Naruto had endured as a child. The Nine-Tails made him both precious and frightening to Konoha. Two unknown shinobi approaching him would naturally tighten that surveillance.

The hidden guards had not shown themselves, yet their chakra shifted whenever Boruto moved closer to Naruto. In the future Sasuke would have approved the caution. In the present it endangered their cover and could force questions before Urashiki appeared.

Beneath his cloak, Sasuke formed a seal.

He used a genjutsu learned from Tonbo years later, one designed to reduce vigilance without making the target feel a clear change.

The technique did not erase the ANBU's observations. It softened the urgency attached to them. Suspicious facts began to feel like matters that could wait for confirmation rather than reasons to seize the travelers immediately.

On the roof above, an ANBU captain frowned.

"Something feels different."

"What is it?" his subordinate asked.

The captain searched the sensation and found no reason for it. "Nothing. Have we identified the strangers?"

"They claim to be scenery shinobi. They have asked about public sites rather than Naruto's movements, so they do not appear to be hunting the Nine-Tails. There is one issue."

"What?"

"They ate at Ichiraku and ran without paying."

The captain stared at him.

Below, Naruto led the two supposed travelers toward his favorite view, unaware that adult Sasuke had already used a future genjutsu upon his guards.