Dusk, like a veil, quietly descended, and the misty steam, carrying the unique sulfurous scent of the hot spring, drifted in the air.
Renye and Hashirama, dressed in the kimonos provided by the hot spring inn, slowly walked out of the bath, their wooden clogs clacking softly.
In Hashirama’s arms, a mottled stray cat was curled into a fluffy ball, purring contentedly, occasionally rubbing its head against his large palm.
“Little Renye, what do you think we should name this cat?”
Clearly, he had decided to adopt this wild cat…
Though Renye didn't understand Uncle Hashirama's decision, he still helped brainstorm names.
“This cat is a Tanuki Flower cat, so let’s just call it Tanuki Flower.”
“Hahaha, that’s a good name. From now on, you’ll be called Tanuki Flower.” Hashirama happily rubbed the Tanuki Flower in his arms.
Tanuki Flower instinctively licked Hashirama’s palm, seemingly pleased with the name.
“Uncle Hashirama, you want to adopt this ugly cat?” Renye frowned, displeased. “This cat is hideous; let’s just get rid of it.”
“Meow meow meow~” Tanuki Flower seemed to understand, meowing indignantly at Renye.
“Oh? You dead cat, you understand?” Renye raised an eyebrow.
In the Ninja World, ordinary stray cats never understood human speech; only summoning beasts possessed the intelligence to communicate with people.
And for this stray cat in front of him to understand human speech was quite surprising…
“Meow meow meow~” Tanuki Flower gave Renye an annoyed look, its eyes seeming to say, “Otherwise? Human.”
“Hahaha, I knew Tanuki Flower was smart.” Hashirama gently stroked Tanuki Flower’s head, and the latter immediately narrowed its eyes in comfort.
“What a cunning, ugly cat,” Renye muttered softly.
He had no interest in such an ugly pet.
The two left the hot spring inn and came out onto the street.
Under the eaves of the shops lining the street, dozens of vermilion lanterns glowed.
Men and women in kimonos strolled leisurely along the street.
The vendors on both sides of the street enthusiastically called out their wares, and amidst the rising and falling cries, the rich aroma of roasted chestnuts, the sweet scent of grilled taiyaki, and the mellow fragrance of sake mingled together, wafting directly to their noses.
Renye instinctively swallowed, he was indeed a bit hungry.
He had been traveling these past few days and hadn’t eaten anything good.
“Little Renye, are you hungry?” Hashirama said with a smile, “Come on, I’ll take you to eat.”
He led them to an izakaya, where the three gilded characters “Yuhi Pavilion” on the wooden sign swayed gently in the wind.
“The proprietress of the hot spring inn said that their specialty grilled taiyaki ramen tastes good. I heard the broth is a secret recipe, a hundred years old.”
Hashirama swallowed, then led Renye inside.
Upon entering the shop, the warm steam carrying the rich aroma of bone broth wafted over them, making both of them involuntarily swallow.
It must be said, this century-old shop seemed to have something special.
The interior was laid with tatami mats, and candlelight cast the shadows of the diners onto the paper sliding doors, from which hushed conversations could be heard.
The proprietress, wearing an apron, greeted them enthusiastically, “Gentlemen, please follow me.”
The two sat down at a low table by the window, and Tanuki Flower, placed in a bamboo basket lined with a thick fleece blanket, immediately curled into a ball and began to doze.
Hashirama took the menu, his fingertip resting on the signature dish, “Two bowls of taiyaki ramen, and one hot spring egg.”
Before long, steaming hot ramen was brought to the table.
The bowl contained fragrant grilled taiyaki, soft-boiled eggs coated in amber broth, and neatly arranged green onions and tender sliced pork.
Hashirama picked up a piece of fish, gently blew on it to cool it, and fed it to Tanuki Flower, who had returned to his lap. The little one eagerly stuck out its tongue, its whiskers covered in broth.
“Uncle Hashirama, this fellow seems to have taken a liking to you,” Renye scooped up a spoonful of broth, “It’s just a shame this cat is so…”
His words were interrupted by Tanuki Flower’s sudden meow.
The little one had, at some point, climbed onto the table, staring eagerly at the sliced pork in Renye’s bowl.
Renye: “…”
Hashirama smiled and tore his own sliced pork into small pieces, “Tanuki Flower, look here.”
Hearing this, Tanuki Flower waddled over, turning around, and began to eat the sliced pork Hashirama fed it.
After eating its fill, it returned to the bamboo basket to doze.
Renye was a bit speechless, “This fellow is truly ugly and lazy.”
… … … …
After dinner, the two left the izakaya.
Tanuki Flower, in Hashirama’s arms, had woken up at some point and was now clinging to his collar, curiously observing the lanterns along the street.
A mix of charred and sweet aromas drifted from afar, making Hashirama’s eyes light up.
Not far away, in front of a dango shop, the owner was skewering sticky rice dumplings coated in sugar glaze onto bamboo sticks.
“Little Renye, would you like some dessert after dinner?” Hashirama looked at Renye, “I think the three-color dango from that shop is quite good.”
Hashirama said, then stepped forward, not giving Renye a chance to speak.
Renye looked at Hashirama’s eager back and sighed softly, “Only children like sweets.”
Having lived two lives, he prided himself on being past the age of loving sweets.
Just then, two skewers adorned with cherry-blossom pink, amber, and white dango were offered to him.
“Who said only children like sweets?” Hashirama wiggled the skewers, the sugar glaze sparkling under the lanterns.
He blinked and thrust a skewer of dango into Renye’s hand, “Just try it, the owner of this shop used to make desserts for the Daimyo.”
Tanuki Flower also joined in the fun, extending its pink tongue to reach for the nearest dango, which Hashirama playfully dodged with a laugh.
Under Hashirama’s expectant gaze, Renye reluctantly bit into a cherry-blossom pink dango.
The soft, sticky rice melted between his teeth, and the sweet and sour fruit jam mingled with the mellow richness of honey.
Renye immediately narrowed his eyes in comfort; the taste was unexpectedly good.
“Little Renye, is it delicious?” Hashirama said happily.
Hearing this, Renye realized he had lost his composure just now.
He turned his head away, blushing, and lightly coughed, “It’s… it’s alright.”
“If it’s good, eat more.” Hashirama, ignoring Tanuki Flower’s exasperated meows, offered the dango in his hand to Renye.
Renye instinctively took the dango, staring blankly at the dango in his hand, wondering what he was doing.
Seeing this, Tanuki Flower meowed even more fiercely, as if saying:
“Human, you’ve changed!”
Hashirama’s lips curved into a slight smile when he saw Renye didn’t refuse.
This reminded him of the time he spent with Madara.
Madara, like little Renye, was very resistant to eating sweets at first.
Eventually, Madara couldn't stand his pleading and reluctantly ate one dango.
As for whether the dango was delicious, Madara never gave a definite answer.
Seeing Renye's reaction just now, he finally knew the answer.
Because Madara's reaction at the time was exactly like Renye's…
“Meow meow meow~”
Tanuki Flower suddenly jumped down, circling Renye’s wooden clogs.
“You ugly cat are truly gluttonous.”
Renye bent down and fed Tanuki Flower a dango.
“Meow~” Tanuki Flower swallowed the dango whole, its eyes full of expectation, clearly wanting more.
As soon as it looked up, it realized Renye only had two bamboo skewers left.
Tanuki Flower: “Meow meow meow!!!”
