Chapter 36: The Hot Spring Inn
"Yeah, I'm heading to the Land of Rice on a mission. Do you still need to see my travel papers? I have them right here." Tenchi made a move to retrieve the mission scroll.
"No, no, no! That won't be necessary! We know who you are. The papers are irrelevant," the older ninja said, waving his hands dismissively. He clearly wanted Tenchi to leave as quickly as possible.
"So, we're free to go?" Tenchi asked, not bothering to take out the scroll.
"Please, go right ahead." The older ninja was practically bowing, his respect absolute.
"Let's go. We're moving out," Tenchi said, leading his team forward.
Once they were gone, the younger guard turned to his partner. "Brother, why were you so scared of him? Even if he is a Konoha ninja, checking his papers is just procedure."
"Are all you youngsters so ignorant these days?" the older ninja retorted with a look of disdain. "Have you ever heard of the 'Konoha Asura' from the war with Kumo?"
"The Konoha Asura?!" the younger ninja gasped, his face paling. "You mean... that's *the* Uchiha Tenchi? The one who single-handedly killed a hundred Cloud ninja? *That* Asura?"
"Of course. To our enemies, he is the Killing Asura. But to us, he is a protective god, a hero. I recognized him immediately. I'm a huge fan." The older ninja's face shone with pure admiration. "I wish I could be even half as strong as him."
After Tenchi's last battle, the Cloud ninja had indeed given him the title "Asura," a name even the newly appointed Third Raikage, A, had acknowledged. A had become Raikage around the same time Hiruzen Sarutobi had become Hokage.
***
After four days of travel...
"We're now leaving the Land of Fire. Let's find a place to rest up ahead. We've covered a lot of miles, and everyone is tired. I know there's a hot spring inn not far from here. We'll stop there for food and to resupply," Tenchi announced, pointing forward.
"Hot springs! Let's go!" Jiraiya, who was sick of traveling, immediately perked up and shot off ahead.
"This idiot..." Tsunade and Orochimaru muttered in unison, then rushed after him. They were exhausted from the journey. The first part of the trip had been fine with Tenchi chatting, but after he'd gone quiet, the last few days had been unbearably dull.
"Tōka, we're out of the Land of Fire now. It shouldn't be much farther to the Land of Rice," Tenchi said, not rushing off with the others.
"You're right. The hard travel these past few days has made the time pass quickly. We should be able to enter the Land of Rice in another day." Tōka was visibly happier the closer they got to his home.
"Stay alert. Those enemy ninja haven't shown themselves for a while. You need to keep your guard up at all times," Tenchi warned him.
"I will, I will. But what about you?"
"Me?" Tenchi grinned. "Those ninja would be fools to come looking for me. Even if they did, I'm not worried. The worst that happens is a few more of them die. But you... you're different." He gave Tōka a meaningful look.
"This... this won't do! I'm no match for ninja!" Tōka panicked, his face turning pale.
"Hahaha! Relax, I'm here to protect you. I'm just messing with you. You're so easy to scare." Seeing Tōka's flustered expression, Tenchi stopped teasing him and walked toward the inn.
"Heh... heh..." Tōka wiped the cold sweat from his brow and forced a laugh, thinking to himself, *'A joke? Making fun of my life isn't funny at all!'*
Soon, they all arrived at the hot spring inn one by one.
"Hey, there really is a hot spring inn!" Jiraiya exclaimed.
"Hm. So there is," Orochimaru confirmed.
"Well, duh. Didn't Brother Tenchi say so earlier? Huh? It's really just called 'Hot Spring Inn'? The owner has no creativity," Tsunade complained, looking at the plain sign.
"I think it's a good name. A hot spring inn called 'Hot Spring Inn' is straightforward. It's my style. I like it," Tenchi said, walking straight in. He had stumbled upon this place once before after getting lost on his way back from a mission. (The ninja world is vast; getting lost once is perfectly normal).
"Welcome!" the innkeeper greeted them with a bright, professional smile.
"Boss, we need four rooms. And bring us some good food; we're starving." Tenchi handed over a thick stack of money.
"Right away, honored guests! Will you be dining here in the hall, or in your rooms?" The owner's smile widened at the sight of the cash.
"We'll eat here," Tenchi said. He didn't like eating in his room.
"Excellent. Please, have a seat. The food will be ready shortly." The owner hurried off to the kitchen.
The group sat down at a table in the main hall and sipped their tea.
"Brother Tenchi, there are five of us. Why did you only get four rooms?" Jiraiya asked, confused.
"Simple. Tōka gets one room. I get one. Tsunade gets one. And you and Orochimaru share the fourth," Tenchi explained, pointing between Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
"I have no objections," Orochimaru said coolly. He genuinely didn't care about such trivial matters.
"No way! I don't agree!" Jiraiya protested. "Why does everyone else get their own room, and I have to share with Orochimaru? It's not fair!"
***CRACK!***
The teacup in Tenchi's hand shattered. "If you don't like it," he said, his voice low and his eyes narrowing, "you can sleep outside."
"O-Okay, fine! It's fine!" Jiraiya instantly lost his nerve under the direct threat.
After they finished eating, the group went to their rooms, which were all next to each other.
"Tōka, you're in the first room. I'm in the second. Tsunade, you're in the third. Jiraiya, Orochimaru, you're in the fourth," Tenchi directed, handing out the keys. "Alright, you're all free for now."
He then grabbed Tōka and headed for the hot spring baths.
"Ahhh! This is the life! Soaking in a hot spring after days on the road washes all the fatigue away." Tenchi lay naked in the steaming water, a look of pure bliss on his face.
"I don't really want to soak. Why did you bring me here?" Tōka complained. He would have rather just rested in his room.
"I didn't really want to bring you either," Tenchi said, his eyes closed in enjoyment. "But I was afraid you'd get yourself killed in your room."
"W-What? You mean there are enemies here?" Tōka asked, suddenly nervous and looking around.
"I don't know if there are enemies. But it's always better to be safe than sorry."
Hearing this, Tōka didn't argue further. He copied Tenchi and lay back in the water. After about ten minutes, a white-haired boy slipped into the bath.
Jiraiya got into the water carefully, then slowly moved across the pool. He found a spot right next to the wooden wall that separated the men's and women's baths. He stopped there, raised his rear end out of the water, and pressed his face against a gap in the boards to peek through.
Tenchi watched Jiraiya's bare buttocks pointed toward the sky. *'Like teacher, like student. He's exactly the same as Sarutobi.'*
He sank beneath the water's surface and swam silently toward Jiraiya, intending to play a prank. Once he was close, he reached out and delivered a sharp, stinging slap to Jiraiya's exposed backside.
***SMACK!***
"OW! That hurts! Who was that? Who dares to hit the great Jiraiya?!" Jiraiya yelped, spinning around to see who had hit him. The bath wasn't very crowded—just Tōka and three elderly men. Jiraiya scrutinized them but couldn't figure out who the culprit was.
Under the water, Tenchi grinned. *'This idiot can't even see what's right in front of him.'*
"That's weird... Was it my imagination?" The steam from the hot spring made it impossible to see beneath the water's surface. Seeing that no one was paying him any attention, Jiraiya shrugged, turned back around, and resumed his peeping through the gap in the wall.