Morning Market

Fifteen minutes after walking down from Mount Hakodate, they reached the shore, where a huge ship was moored. It was the largest vessel in the history of the Land of Waves, the Tinetta Maru. After more than a hundred years in service, its aging hull had made it unfit for sailing, so the Land of Waves had retired it. Now, it was moored here as a tourist attraction.

The largest morning market in the Land of Waves was held atop the old ship. It was also known as the Tinetta Maru Morning Market. Countless vendors ran all kinds of stalls on the abandoned vessel.

Some sold all sorts of knickknacks, while others offered local specialties from Hakodate. But most sold Hakodate's signature snacks.

Ishikari cuisine, salt ramen, octopus hot pot, and all kinds of delicious food.

After coming down from Mount Hakodate, Sakura Mangetsu had been eager to visit the morning market aboard the Tinetta Maru.

So as soon as she had finished paying her respects to the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves, she clamored to go shopping at the market. Genma, an old hand at this sort of thing, knew that women were born with a fearsome capacity for shopping. So he made an excuse and slipped away. There was no way he was accompanying a young girl on a shopping trip!

Kamizuki wanted to escape, too. He was a single guy from the twenty-first century who had never gone shopping with a girl, but he'd seen more than enough of it on TV. Just thinking about what happened when you went shopping with a girl—ending up as a miserable pack mule—made him decide to use the "I need to pee" excuse to make his escape.

When Sakura Mangetsu saw Genma run off, she couldn't cling to him shamelessly. After all, he was their team leader.

But one look at Kamizuki's face told Sakura Mangetsu he wanted to escape, too, so she wasn't about to let this free labor get away.

In the end, Kamizuki's bathroom break ploy failed, and Sakura Mangetsu dragged him along shopping with her.

Taichi, that... girly guy, was technically a cross-dresser, but his enthusiasm for shopping was every bit as strong as Mangetsu's—the real girl. (Wait, did she really count as a girl? Never mind. Moving on...)

All three of them were visiting the Land of Fire for the first time. When they boarded the Tinetta Maru, they were like country bumpkins, marveling at everything they saw.

Kato Taichi, the cross-dresser, bought a bunch of handicrafts from the Land of Waves. They were all cute and adorable little things, like dolls and stuffed toys.

Sakura Mangetsu was a tomboy. She loved browsing, but wasn't all that interested in buying anything, so she usually just looked around without picking up a thing. Eventually, she spotted a katana called Moonlight Night in a shop specializing in samurai swords. After haggling with the owner, Sakura Mangetsu finally bought it.

As for our classmate Kamizuki, he wasn't interested in handicrafts or samurai swords. He only cared about food.

Kamizuki went with Taichi and Mangetsu to a restaurant specializing in Ishikari Cuisine. He'd never heard of "Ishikari cuisine" before and was curious, so he wanted to try it and see what it was.

As soon as Kamizuki entered the restaurant, he saw a beautiful figure from behind. His first impression was that the owner had to be a stunning beauty.

The moment he saw her, Kamizuki blurted out, "Hey, beauty! One Ishikari Hot Pot, please!"

Only after he'd spoken did the beautiful figure—the restaurant owner—finally turn around.

The owner's beauty frightened Kamizuki so badly that he fell flat on his butt.

Staring at the owner's face, Kamizuki thought, Good grief! Did you have to scare me like that? Owner, do you really deserve the two words "beautiful lady" I just called you? You're even scarier-looking than Feng Jie! And the worst part is, why was your back so beautiful? Damn it! You really are a back-view killer!

Mangetsu and Taichi had heard Kamizuki call her beautiful and followed his gaze. They'd also thought the figure from behind must belong to a beauty. But when she turned around, they were startled by a face even scarier than Feng Jie's.

Yet less than thirty seconds later, they both looked at Kamizuki sprawled on the floor, remembered what he'd just said, and burst out laughing.

The owner seemed used to being laughed at. She showed no sign of displeasure, merely giving the three fools a cool glance before going to prepare the Ishikari Hot Pot.

A little while later, the owner brought out a steaming pot of Ishikari Hot Pot.

Ishikari Hot Pot was a regional specialty of the Land of Waves. It was a dish that made use of every part of the salmon that swam upstream to spawn, from head to tail.

Kamizuki tried some. The owner of the restaurant really was frightening to look at, but her cooking was delicious.

The three of them took half an hour to finish every last bite of the hot pot. After paying the bill, they returned to the inn.

At two o'clock that afternoon, the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves had set out as their departure time for the Land of Tea. Amid farewells from a crowd of officials and townspeople, the Feudal Lord's entourage left Hakodate City, the capital of the Land of Waves.

Sitting in his carriage, the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves recalled his encounter with the Konoha ninja that morning.

When the Feudal Lord had first seen the ninja from Konoha assigned to protect him, he'd thought Konoha was rather unreliable. Why had they sent such young boys? These kids hadn't even grown a whisker yet. Could they really keep him safe?

The Feudal Lord voiced his doubts to Genma, who answered with utmost seriousness.

Genma replied, "As ninja, our first priority is the mission. We give you our lives as a guarantee."

Although the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves still wasn't entirely reassured after hearing Genma's words, he had no other choice. So he remained somewhat uneasy in the carriage.

Genma Team guarded the carriage in a cross formation, while some of the guards from the Daimyo Mansion led the way in front and others protected the rear.

The Feudal Lord traveled along the same road Genma and the others had taken on their way here. But this time, since they were accompanying the Feudal Lord, the group took the entire afternoon to travel from Hakodate City to the docks by the sea. There, they boarded the large ship the officials of the Land of Waves had prepared in advance.