The northern part of the Land of Fire, a border town.
Xiaotao, Mayuri, and Amber stood at the town's only crossroads, waiting quietly.
Sitting in the shade of a tree nearby, Hayato Kamihara munched on a watermelon and asked, "Are you sure you don't want to come over and have some?"
"No, I'm waiting for Brother Ao and Brother Sasuke to come back," Xiaotao said.
Hayato Kamihara shrugged.
At Lin Qing's request, he had come ahead of time to protect Xiaotao, Amber, and the others.
Ever since Lin Qing had taken down Orochimaru, too many people had set their sights on him. It was only natural that some of them might approach Xiaotao and the others with all sorts of ulterior motives.
Of the people Lin Qing knew, Hayato Kamihara was one of the few he could trust.
Hayato was an excellent intelligence expert. Fighting wasn't his strong suit, but hiding thirty or so people where no one could find them wasn't all that difficult for him.
However, ever since he'd become the group's temporary babysitter, Hayato Kamihara hadn't had any intimate contact with a pretty young lady in ages.
He spat watermelon seeds in little bursts as he watched the three girls.
Those three had endless energy. They'd received Lin Qing's letter two days ago and roughly calculated that he would arrive today, so they'd come out first thing that morning to wait.
"If you ask me, there's no need to wait. All it takes is a bathtub and a beautiful woman, and Lin Qing and Sasuke will spawn right in front of us."
"A bathtub... and a beautiful woman?" Xiaotao asked, looking confused.
Mayuri covered Xiaotao's ears, puffing out her cheeks slightly as she glared at the unreliable information dealer. "Mr. Kamihara, please don't say things like that