Chapter 129: Land of Hot Water
Hearing Yue Yan's words, Itachi's still-innocent face flushed bright red, and his speech became stuttering.
"Um, she's my girlfriend."
"Oh~~~ A girlfriend, huh."
Listening to Yue Yan deliberately dragging out the words, Itachi realized what was going on and his face turned even redder. This made Shisui, who was standing beside them, roll his eyes in annoyance.
At that time, Shisui and Itachi had just finished their training and were on their way back. They ran into Uchiha Izumi. Since they were going in the same direction, the three of them walked towards the Uchiha Clan's territory together.
At first, they just exchanged a few simple words. When Uchiha Izumi said she had just bought a lot of Three Colouring Pills from the Rasengan Shop, Itachi's eyes lit up immediately. He stared fixedly at the bag of Three Colouring Pills in Izumi's hand.
Seeing this, Izumi, who knew Itachi liked Three Colouring Pills, just gave a gentle smile and shared half of them with Itachi. Then the two of them started chatting and laughing about the pills, completely ignoring Shisui beside them, who was so annoyed that he almost rolled his eyes out.
Well, it was a long journey, but Itachi and Izumi chatted all the way. It was only when they were about to part ways that Izumi noticed Shisui and then took out one Three Colouring Pill and gave it to him.
Shisui looked at the single Three Colouring Pill in his hand, then at the bag in Itachi's hand, which contained at least a dozen of them. Could the differential treatment be any more obvious?
Just as Shisui was mentally complaining, Itachi noticed that he had been looking at the Three Colouring Pills in his hand. Itachi showed an unusual hesitation for a moment, then reached out to take two ryo more Three Colouring Pills for Shisui. But then he thought that two ryo might be too much, so he put one ryo back and only gave Shisui one ryo Three Colouring Pills.
Looking at the single ryo Three Colouring Pills in each of his hands, Shisui opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't. If he didn't have good manners, he probably would have cursed by now.
After Shisui briefly described how the bag of Three Colouring Pills came about, Yue Yan showed a comical smile.
"It seems Itachi really likes that girl named Izumi. She's already his girlfriend."
When Itachi heard the name Izumi, the first thing that popped into his mind was the Three Colouring Pills, and then the face of the girl who gave them to him.
Looking at Itachi's innocent look, Yue Yan smiled. It seems that those comments from his past life were right. To win Itachi over at this age, all you have to do is treat him to a bunch of Three Colouring Pills.
"Ahem, Yue Yan, Itachi is still a kid. Don't make fun of him like this."
Fugaku, who couldn't stand it anymore, gave a light cough and interrupted Yue Yan, who was about to continue teasing his son.
"That's not necessarily true." Yue Yan curled his lips. "I bet Itachi and that girl Izumi will surely end up together."
As he said this, Yue Yan even pretended to tell fortunes by pinching his fingers in a showy way.
"After all, I can also use Senji. There's absolutely no problem for me to call myself an immortal, just like Jiraiya - sensei."
"
"Erm..."
Although the immortal Yue Yan mentioned was different from what Fugaku understood, Fugaku, who didn't know much about the Immortal Mode, actually believed it a bit.
Should he... let Itachi give it a try?
Fugaku considered himself an open - minded parent and wouldn't arrange marriages. If Itachi liked that girl and she was a good match, he wouldn't stop them.
Shaking his head, Fugaku stopped thinking about it. Anyway, Itachi was still young, and thinking too much was useless.
After chatting for a while more, Yue Yan told Shisui that he had a mission tomorrow and then left. After that, Yue Yan went to inform Hayate Gekkō.
The next day at noon, when they gathered, Uchiha Izumi and Koharu Ugatsu, who had learned about the mission, came to see them off together.
Izumi was okay. Since she and Itachi hadn't confirmed their relationship yet, she just told Itachi to be safe and stuffed a bag of Three Colouring Pills into Itachi's arms.
As for Koharu Ugatsu, who had been childhood sweethearts with Hayate Gekkō since childhood, she was much more enthusiastic.
Apart from these two young couples, there were only Yue Yan and Shisui, both rolling their eyes in annoyance, because they were the only two single people present.
By the way, although Xiaolan was also on this mission, it didn't show any reaction to the affectionate displays of the two couples.
Shaking his head and not thinking about it, after saying goodbye, Yue Yan and Xiaolan led the three youngsters away.
Since they were passing through the Land of Hot Water and the mission had a lot of time, Yue Yan planned to experience the local famous hot springs.
Just as Yue Yan and the others stepped into a seemingly prosperous town, they felt something was off.
There were few people walking in the town. The doors and windows of the houses beside were all closed, as if people were afraid of something. Even when there were passers - by, they looked in a hurry. The same was true for the commercial street that should have been bustling.
Although Yue Yan and the others were puzzled, they didn't pay too much attention. They first found an inn with hot springs and checked in.
Yue Yan and Xiaolan shared a room, while Shisui, Itachi, and Hayate shared one.
After getting the room keys, Xiaolan suddenly twitched its nose twice.
Noticing Xiaolan looking at him, Yue Yan shook his head, indicating that they would talk about it when they got back to the room.
When they got to the room, Yue Yan habitually started to check. After finding no Problem, he also called the three youngsters to his room.
"Xiaolan said there was a smell of blood around before. It should be not too far from us."
Hearing this, Shisui and the others frowned.
"Teacher, do you mean there might be a dead person nearby?"
After saying that, Shisui stroked his chin and thought.
After all, since Yue Yan called them over, it must not be a trivial matter. Combining with the recent rumors in the Ninja World, Shisui suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
"Teacher, I heard from Nekobaa, the old lady who sells ninja tools in our Uchiha Clan's territory, that a cult has emerged recently in the Land of Hot Water. They're said to worship an evil god. Could korega be related to this?"
Hearing this, Yue Yan gave Shisui an approving look. This was exactly what he wanted to say.
Since the cult originated in the Land of Hot Water and worshiped an evil god, the only person Yue Yan could think of from the original story was Hidan.
Although Hidan's raw power was just average and even one of the three youngsters could take him down alone, he had an immortal body and a special ability to share injuries once he got the enemy's blood. If they encountered him without enough information, the three youngsters would definitely suffer.
"Although someone has already put a bounty on this cult, that's not our mission. We're just staying here for one night and then leaving. I called you here just to give you a heads - up. Remember, never split up. If you meet someone from that cult, inform me immediately."
After hearing this, Shisui and the other two nodded sensibly and then went back to rest.
At night, after dinner, Yue Yan and the others went to the hot spring in the inn.
It had to be said that after traveling for several days, soaking in the hot spring really made them feel a lot more comfortable.
Yue Yan placed a wet towel on his forehead and leaned back lazily.
"Nice water~~~"
But before Yue Yan and the others could enjoy it for long, a man with a long blade, his face blood - covered and wearing a deranged smile, crashed through the wooden fence and flew into the hot spring.