After traveling for two days, the three of them finally arrived on the second night at the famous hot spring district of the Land of Hot Water, which bordered the Land of Fire to the southwest.
The streets were filled with passing pedestrians and tourists dressed in yukata and kimono.
The Land of Hot Water relied on its hot springs, renowned throughout the ninja world, to continually develop tourism and boost its economy, thus establishing its own nation amid the Five Great Nations.
Seeing that it was already late, Senya planned to find a restaurant and end the day's journey there.
Jiraiya agreed with Senya's idea, especially since Naruto was with them.
Naruto was already bleary-eyed and swaying on his feet. Though he was excited to have arrived somewhere new and wanted to look around, he had spent the entire journey repeatedly asking Jiraiya about his parents' past exploits.
He had not slept at all during the day's travel, leaving him in poor spirits now.
At this point, Naruto was willing but lacked the strength.
So Jiraiya pulled Naruto toward the inn across from the restaurant, intending to rest there for the night.
Senya looked at the restaurant's huge sign, its orange-yellow illuminated plaque bearing the three bold characters: "Izakaya."
Senya could not help but grumble to himself.
Izakaya... Why are all the taverns in the ninja world called that? Forget it. I should buy some food to take back to the inn first. Naruto's still injured, after all. He needs something good to help him recover.
The moment he stepped into the Izakaya, Senya was about to order from a server when he heard a voice from behind him. That familiar voice made him sigh inwardly.
*The ninja world is too small. What a coincidence. I picked a random