A Clash of Rivals!?

Soaking at the inn's hot spring with Tenten, Mirai learns that her companion has hauled in extra gear because Mirai had wrongly assumed her twenty-day posting would wrap in two. Tenten waves off the thanks, since she was headed for a spa break regardless, and the trip lets her try out a rustproof kunai she designed for bathing. When Mirai questions the point of such a thing, Tenten jokes about consulting Guy and Kakashi on armed, undressed women, and Mirai quickly begs her not to, imagining how mortified the two would be.

Delighted that Mirai reads Guy so well, Tenten turns the conversation to him. Mirai calls him fearless, but Tenten confides a hunch that his boldness is a performance, that Guy is more frightened than anyone yet hides it so others stay calm. Mirai decides that, true or not, it only makes him remarkable, though Tenten adds that even he would be powerless before ghosts. They find Guy loitering alone, waiting on Kakashi, and when pressed he piles up excuses; Tenten teases that the reputedly haunted inn has him unwilling to sit by himself, which he flatly denies.

Kakashi comes back from a call with the Seventh Hokage. Mirai fishes for whether the Hokage had a word for her, but Kakashi says only that they covered unrelated business. Free at last, Guy dares Kakashi to a game of ping pong, insisting it was his whole reason for coming. As the pair make for the game room and Mirai moves to tag along, Tenten holds her back, whispering that she has a fun idea in mind.

Tenten brings Mirai supplies at the ryokan and tests a rustproof kunai. The two discuss Guy, with Tenten theorizing his bravery masks deep fear. Guy is caught avoiding being alone in the supposedly haunted inn. Kakashi finishes a call with the Seventh Hokage, then Guy challenges him to ping pong, while Tenten pulls Mirai aside with a plan.

Part of the Konoha Shinden: Steam Ninja Scrolls manga, the chapter leans on character comedy and the long-running Guy and Kakashi rivalry rather than combat. Kakashi's vague reference to the Hokage's call nods to separate ongoing events.