"What? You are Asuma Sarutobi? The son of the Konoha Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, the noble young master of the Sarutobi Clan?!"
Lord Jiraiya's shout startled the two enthusiastic customers who were scrubbing Asuma's back.
For them, this was no different from accidentally meeting a famous noble young lady, making it even more exciting.
"That's right, I am Asuma, but keep it low-key. I brought my squad here to carry out a mission."
Hearing the sounds of "adoration and admiration" behind him, Asuma couldn't help but feel a little pleased.
He was pleased because, out of those three titles, one finally belonged to him personally, and not just derived from his father or his clan.
"That voice just now sounded familiar—is that Lord Jiraiya?"
Asuma called out, asking the figure on the other side of the mist.
"You two beasts, let go of Asuma! Come at me if you dare! Heh heh!"
Jiraiya heard the voice, looked at the two graceful figures in the mist, tore off his towel, and pounced directly.
"Huh?"
Asuma turned his head.
Under his horrified gaze, Jiraiya, naked like a toad, pounced on the two "employees" who had been scrubbing him, dragging both of them into the hot spring pool.
All Asuma heard was Jiraiya's cry: "Ehehe, Yi haha, Ahahaha—Aaaaaaaah!!!!"
A bizarre transition from lewd laughter to agonizing screams.
The two people attacked by Jiraiya were not angry; after climbing out of the hot spring pool, they wiped the water from their faces and looked at Jiraiya in surprise: "Is Your Excellency the legendary Sannin, Lord Jiraiya?"
For them, Jiraiya was equivalent to Rai Aru from the first volume of Icha Icha Paradise, a sect elder with profound cultivation and a cold personality.
Jiraiya was like Madeline from Nadia's Treasure.
What these two hadn't expected was that Jiraiya actually shared the same hobby as them.
"Lord Jiraiya, since you put it that way, we couldn't possibly refuse."
"Lord Jiraiya, I want a hot dog."
"Ah—Rasengan!"
Jiraiya, utterly terrified, used the Rasengan on the hot spring in front of him, and the recoil sent him flying backward, straight out of the hot spring.
With a splat, he landed at the reception desk.
Naruto, Boruto, Konohamaru, and Shikamaru, the four children, stared dumbfounded at the sprawling, embarrassed Jiraiya on the floor.
Jiraiya casually summoned the Mount Myōboku summoning contract scroll, used the scroll to cover his body, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he was embarrassed, at least he saved his dignity.
The Land of Hot Springs was too terrifying! What exactly was going on? He had thought that places like the Land of Hot Springs would have a huge and well-developed adult entertainment industry. Why was it like this?
Looking up now, he saw that this place didn't even have mixed-gender bathing; the bath he had just entered was entirely for men!
If only he had been more careful and looked around before going in.
"Lord Jiraiya, what happened?"
Asuma quickly put on his clothes and ran out after him.
He looked up and saw the four kids standing there.
"It's fine, the results are okay."
Shikamaru relaxed when he saw Asuma run out.
Afterward, at Jiraiya's strong insistence, the group moved to an ordinary inn.
This ordinary inn had average business and was mostly empty.
That was normal, though; people who came to the Land of Hot Springs usually came to enjoy the hot springs. Otherwise, why would they come here?
The prices at the ordinary inn weren't much cheaper either.
But this time, they had an unexpected gain.
Asuma, adhering to the principle of never giving up on a mission until the very last moment, continued trying to gather information about the Jashin cult in the area, and surprisingly, he actually found some here.
The inn owner said that the lunatics of the Jashin cult had already left the Land of Hot Springs many years ago, which was why they had such a hard time getting information now.
However, he had a secret story.
When the Jashin cult lunatic rampaged through the Land of Hot Springs, he constantly asked people if they wanted to join the Jashin cult. Regardless of their answer, the result was a miserable death.
If you encountered him, no one survived, including quite a few shinobi.
"I was just an ordinary clerk at this shop back then. That day, the lunatic carrying a scythe came knocking, killed the owner of the shop, and killed all the clerks downstairs.
I was bringing dinner to a guest room upstairs at the time. When I heard the commotion, I panicked and rushed straight into the guest's room.
Just then, the killer appeared at the doorway, but after giving us a look of disgust, he left.
The guests in that room were two men. Startled by the killer, the two men immediately did... that. The filth on the three of us drove the killer away.
Originally, heterosexual relationships were the mainstream in this country; you couldn't find even one homosexual person out of a hundred.
But ever since that day, people realized that being homosexual could prevent them from being targeted by the killer, and many people started to change..."
The inn owner finished telling Asuma the story of the past with a look of reminiscence.
Asuma returned to his room completely dumbfounded after hearing the story.
—What the hell? Does the Jashin cult killer have a cleanliness fetish? Then why did his father, Hiruzen Sarutobi, say that the enemy might collect his hemorrhoid blood to use for their rituals?
"Huh? What are you all doing?"
Asuma noticed that the people in the room were not eating the food on the table or resting; they were sitting in a circle, seemingly waiting for him.
"Waaah! Uncle Asuma, Grandpa is dead!"
Konohamaru burst into tears and threw himself into Asuma's arms.
"What?!"
Asuma's pupils contracted in shock, and he looked at Jiraiya in disbelief.
"Yes."
Jiraiya nodded heavily.
"Who did it? Did Orochimaru stage another sneak attack? Or did the guys from the Jashin cult use the old man's hemorrhoid blood?"
Asuma found it hard to accept and was extremely confused. The Konoha Crush had been perfectly resolved, so why would something like this happen afterward?
"It's late now, Asuma. Calm down, get some sleep, and I'll tell you the details tomorrow."
"Sigh."
Everyone returned to their respective rooms.
In the Land of Wind desert.
Bai Mo finished telling the others about the Ōtsutsuki and his origins twenty years in the future. It was deep into the night, and it was time to rest.
The desert night was especially cold.
The surroundings were nothing but rocks and sand, with no trees for firewood.
Fortunately, the warm and thoughtful Uchiha Hikari used the eternal black flames of Amaterasu to provide a source of warmth for everyone.
Hmm, the prestige of this Amaterasu had dropped another level.
"Come here! And don't talk too much!"
Temari tsundere-ly pulled Bai Mo over and made him rest his head on her lap.
Meanwhile.
At the Land of Hot Springs inn.
Inside the room.
Boruto was once again clutching his head, grinding his teeth in pain.
[It's been so long, are you still unwilling to accept reality, brat?]
"...The memories of everyone in my mind are getting blurrier and blurrier. Why? Especially Shikadai, I can't even remember what he looks like anymore!"
Boruto clutched his head and questioned Momoshiki in his mind.