It was another sunny morning. After finishing their morning training, the three Hyuga siblings returned to their rooms, changed, and headed to the dining room for breakfast.
After breakfast, Kamizuki and Hinata were about to set off. But when Hanabi heard that her older brother and sister were going to the hot springs without planning to take her along, the little girl wasn't having it.
She clung to Kamizuki, rolling around and acting cute as she insisted on going with them.
In the end, Kamizuki couldn't withstand the little girl's pestering and agreed to bring Hanabi along.
After reminding Hanabi that she had to listen to her older sister Hinata at the hot springs, or she wouldn't be coming along on their next outing, the three of them headed out together.
As soon as they left the house, the clingy little Hanabi insisted that Kamizuki carry her.
Kamizuki was the one who spoiled Hanabi the most at home, so she liked her second older brother best. Whenever she got the chance, she loved to be a little demanding with him.
Kamizuki knew his mischievous yet adorable little sister well. He could say that he'd trained her to be this way himself, so he had no complaints and agreed to carry little Hanabi to the meeting place.
Kamizuki carried Hanabi, who hugged Adou, while Hinata walked beside them. The three siblings chatted and laughed all the way to the meeting place they'd arranged with everyone the day before: Konoha's main gate.
As soon as they reached Konoha's main gate, they saw a fiery-red figure standing by the entrance, waiting alone.
That fiery-red figure was Mai Shiranui, the one who had proposed this hot spring trip.
For some reason, after Kamizuki introduced Hinata as his twin sister to Mai Shiranui at the barbecue restaurant last night, he'd felt that Mai Shiranui was going out of her way to win Hinata over. It wouldn't be long before the two of them became very close.
Kamizuki and Hinata walked over and greeted Mai Shiranui, then introduced her to their cute, adorable little sister Hanabi.
Mai Shiranui and the two sisters hit it off at once, chatting like long-lost sisters.
They didn't have to wait long before the others who'd made plans the night before arrived one after another.
The first to arrive were the "Little Ino-Shika-Cho" trio: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Akimichi Choji.
Next came Inuzuka Kiba with Akamaru, and Shino Aburame, wearing a cloak.
Last to arrive was Sakura Mangetsu, who showed up late.
Once everyone had gathered, they all left through Konoha's main gate.
Arima was the oldest hot spring resort in the Land of Fire, a facility built by Buddhist monks for healing and relaxation.
The water at Arima Hot Spring was rich in minerals. Its iron-rich spring water had an iron salt concentration roughly twice that of seawater. The resort had the rust-red "Gold Spring" and the colorless, transparent carbonated "Silver Spring."
The kids chatted and laughed all the way to Arima Hot Spring. Once they arrived, they were captivated by the surroundings. The resort nestled in the rolling Arima Mountain, with mist from the hot springs drifting all around.
Everyone went into their respective changing rooms, took off their clothes, wrapped themselves in bathrobes, and clattered out in wooden sandals.
There was no mixed bathing here, much to Kamizuki's disappointment. The boys and girls were split into two groups. The boys shared one hot spring pool, while the girls' pool was on the other side of a fence.
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