Along the way, the one question on Sora's mind was—who had placed a bounty on him?
Among those who held grudges against him, only Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura had the kind of influence to put up a bounty of one hundred million. Was it one of them? Or had they worked together?
Sora was never the kind to take a loss lying down. He would definitely get his revenge.
With that thought, he quietly made up his mind.
After about a day's travel, Sora arrived at a small town not far from the capital.
He checked into a luxurious hot spring inn but didn't immediately head to the baths. Instead, he turned around and left the building.
Stepping out of the inn, he glanced around and spotted a sushi shop.
Feeling a bit hungry, he walked in to grab something to eat.
The food in the ninja world was a lot like that of his past life's island nation. Not exactly to his taste, but there wasn't much he could do.
After all, he was traveling. If he were back home, Kushina's cooking was definitely top-tier.
As he ate, Sora found himself missing her cooking. It hadn't even been a few days since he left home.
Finishing his meal slowly and mindfully, he tossed some money on the counter and strolled out of the sushi shop, making his way into a quiet alley where he used the Transformation Jutsu.
His basic Three Body Techniques were already at the perfected level. Without Kage-level strength, no one could see through his disguise.
Once transformed, he looked into a puddle on the ground and saw a face that looked exactly like the adult version of Naruto Uzumaki. He nodded with satisfaction.
Although Naruto hadn't been born yet, he was Sora's future nephew. Using his face for a bit of trickery felt rather fitting.
Most likely, by the time he returned home, Naruto would already be in Kushina's belly.
That thought made Sora grin. Being the protagonist's uncle… didn't sound too bad.
Leaving the alley, Sora's first stop was the local casino.
He wandered through the noisy gambling hall but didn't spot Tsunade anywhere.
He casually asked a few gambling addicts nearby, but none of them had heard anything about her.
One even grumbled, "If I knew where that fat wallet went, I'd be making bank already. I wouldn't be stuck here."
Realizing Tsunade wasn't here after all, Sora felt a little frustrated.
In the original timeline, Jiraiya had found her in just a week. Yet he'd been out for four days now and hadn't even caught a whisper of her location. Ridiculous.
Leaving the casino, Sora returned to the hot spring inn. In no time, he stripped down and slipped into the steaming waters.
But the moment he entered, his eyes landed on a jealousy-inducing scene that made them go red.
Directly across from him, a middle-aged man with a face full of fat was soaking in the bath.
Behind him, a stunningly beautiful girl knelt, her slender hands gliding over his back in a massage.
"I want that too!" Sora screamed in his heart.
But glancing down at his six-year-old "little newt," he could only give up on that tempting fantasy.
At the same time, he began cursing the man across from him—may he grow a hump, may he never be more than a tadpole, and so on.
By the time Sora finished his bath and got out, the middle-aged man was also preparing to leave.
Due to their earlier interaction, Sora gave him a second look—and that glance revealed something interesting.
As the man got dressed, Sora noticed a forehead protector tucked in the closet. It was from Sunagakure.
That alone wasn't surprising. But the protector had a slash across the village symbol.
This guy was a rogue ninja from the Hidden Sand!
That instantly made Sora more alert.
He had been hoping to find a bounty exchange station to confirm who had placed the bounty on him.
Unfortunately, even though he'd left Konoha several times, he had no clue where the bounty stations were—he couldn't find one even if he wanted to.
Now that he had a ready-made clue in front of him, he didn't mind following it up personally.
…
Not far from where Sora was staying, two men with rogue ninja forehead protectors pushed open the door to a public restroom and slipped inside.
They moved one of the wooden partitions and entered the hidden bounty station within.
This was exactly the kind of place Sora had been looking for—but it had been disguised as a restroom.
Without someone to guide you, it would've been nearly impossible to find.
"Sae, got any juicy new bounties lately?"
The moment they entered, the two men called out to the girl behind the counter.
The girl looked to be no more than seventeen or eighteen. She had no chakra presence—clearly just a civilian.
Still, these two Chūnin-level rogue ninjas spoke to her with complete politeness, without even a hint of arrogance.
Sae smiled sweetly and placed a bounty flyer on the counter. Her voice was soft and gentle. "A hundred million bounty. Juicy enough for you?"
"Sae, you messing with us? We're just Chūnin. There's no way we're going up against one of the Kage of the Five Great Villag—!"
Before they could finish, they glanced at the photo on the flyer. It wasn't some fearsome Kage at all—it was just a six- or seven-year-old kid.
Though confused, both of their eyes immediately lit up.
A hundred million? Just taking this one job would be enough to retire in luxury.
Their excitement raised their voices a little. They asked Sae eagerly, "This is really a six- or seven-year-old kid? That bounty's a full hundred million!"
The moment those words left their mouths, the once noisy bounty station suddenly went dead silent. Everyone turned to look at them.
Realizing they'd spoken too loudly, the two men knew things were about to go bad. Now that everyone else knew, their chances of claiming the bounty had just plummeted.
Just then, Sae replied, "Yes. According to our investigation, the target really is only six years old."
With that, the bounty station exploded into chaos. A six-year-old kid with a one hundred million bounty? The temptation was just too much.
"Sae, give me one of those bounty flyers!"
"Me too!"
"I want one too! That hundred million is mine!"
"Screw that! It's a hundred million—we're all going after it!"
…
Amid the shouting and clamor, more than twenty people left the bounty station, each with a flyer in hand.
Clutching the bounty notices, they were already daydreaming about how they'd live their extravagant lives once they got paid.
As for danger? Please. A six-year-old kid? At most, he'd be a Genin—probably one with zero actual combat experience!