Chapter 83: Land of the Hot Water

"I didn't expect to find such a place…" Masahiko was lying comfortably in the hot spring.

After leaving Konoha, Masahiko went all the way north and reached a country called the land of hot water.

Naturally, in order to facilitate travel in the world of shinobi, Masahiko made some adjusts to his look. Now he's disguised as a tan-colored young man in his early-twenty. Well, he would have looked like a normal person if he didn't choose that blond hair, but no one really is paying attention to him.

"This is not a country… This place is a paradise…" Masahiko shifted his position inside the hot spring a little bit and then narrowed his eyes comfortably.

It's been half a month since the passing of Hashirama. The news has reached the entire world, with everyone feeling like that this was the calm before the storm.

But a day ago, when Masahiko reached this country, he was surprised to find that the villagers here weren't as nervous as the others. Instead, tourists were having fun everywhere, and traders were doing their business peacefully as if it was a true paradise.

And like the namesake of this country, hot springs were everywhere. Masahiko has been inside the water ever since then and started to feel that his exhaustion has finally disappeared.

"So next, how about I go to the Land of Lightning?" Masahiko moved again, then mumbled to himself.

That's right, Masahiko's ultimate goal was to travel to the Land of Lightning. In fact, his whole new look was for the sake of this trip. Most of the people there have this kind of complexion, and he felt that he will get warmer greeting this way.

The reason why he chose this golden hair, was also related to the purpose behind his trip to the Land of Lightning, he wanted to learn their secret Ninjutsu, The Lightning Chakra Mode. He believes that having this golden hair, while releasing the Chakra Mode, will grant him the experience of becoming a Super Saiyan.

Masahiko's Taijutsu is relatively weak, even though he learned the eight-gate, he doesn't have any matching technique that he can use with it. He could naturally use the Front Lotus and the Reverse Lotus, but these two techniques are not particularly useful. He has been trying to develop the Morning Peacock and Daytime Tiger, but he couldn't achieve any progress yet. His talent for Taijutsu wasn't that good, always waiting embarrassedly for Kenichiro to come up with something new… This time he was eager to learn the Lightning Chakra Mode. He was hoping that this will be his bypass to make some fast progress in Taijutsu.

"I don't really know how many stages the Lightning Chakra Mode thave… If there are four stages, my hair color won't be suitable…" Masahiko muttered to himself, in fact, becoming a Super Saiyan was more important to him.

Masahiko chose to travel to the Land of Lightning for one more essential purpose too.

Two major events occur in Masahiko's memory when he remembers the First Shinobi World War. The first is the death of the second Mizukage and second Tsuchikage. The second one took place during the alliance ceremony between Konohagakure and Kumogakure, when Kinkaku Force killed the second Raikage, then pursued Tobirama and his six disciples. This event has ended with Tobirama getting killed.

Therefore, Masahiko's main priority is to save Tobirama this time, so he plans to go to Kumogakure and mix himself in the Cloud Village, or even with the Kinkaku Force, and put an end to them…

"Last time I couldn't save Hashirama. It was all because of the intervention of the Black Zetsu. If Madara is really dead now… I'll have a chance…"

"Let's do this…" Masahiko took a deep breath and then stepped out of the bath. He then got dressed up and prepared to depart.

Masahiko had a scroll in his bag with the Jar sealing artifact, the one that Mito has sealed the Kyuubi's Yang Chakra in it.

"If I have the chance, I'll also be able to complete the missing part from the Kyuubi's Chakra…" Masahiko knew that the Kyuubi's Chakra was incomplete. Thinking about it, the missing part should be in the Gold and Silver brothers' bodies.

"It will be troublesome to do things recklessly…"

"So, the first step is to think of a way to get mixed in Kumogakure…" Now the Shinobi world is on edge. The five major villages are preparing for the war that is about to erupt. So entering a hidden village will be quite hard.

Of course, Masahiko could easily sneak in, but what comes afterward will be challenging…

After thinking for a while, Masahiko still couldn't find a good way, "Let's get out first…"

"Sir, please come back again!" Masahiko left the hot spring under the warm farewell of the owner.

Walking aimlessly on the streets, he strolled for hours looking for an answer, but not much he gained. Except for hot springs, hotels, and restaurants, there was nothing in this land.

"It's just a tourist town after all… eh?" Almost giving up, Masahiko suddenly saw an unfamiliar building in the distance.

He took a closer look, "Guards Recruitment Office?"

He scratched his head and walked in.

Inside, there were several tables displayed, and behind one of them sat a fierce-looking middle-aged man, with a long knife in his arm, and a long scar across his face.

"Came to apply? Samurai or ninja?" Scarface said.

Masahiko looked around and saw that there was no third person inside. He said: "What is this place?"

Scarface said, "An outsider, huh?"

He later explained to Masahiko the origin of the so-called "Guard Recruitment Office."

It turned out that the Land of Hot Water has many merchants, and they dealt a lot with Kumogakure. The road was very dangerous for them to take, so they needed guards to protect themselves.

In the past, most merchants entrusted Konoha with the escort missions, but in recent years, the relationship between the major villages went south, and Konoha started to turn off these missions, so the "Guard Recruitment Office" got established.

After listening for the explanation, Masahiko got secretly delighted; he finally found a way to get into Kumogakure. As for what he will do after he gets inside, he left that stuff for later.

"Are there any requirements for joining the guard's rank?" Masahiko asked.

"I need to record your information," Scarface said faintly. "You must be a ninja… What's the origin and name?"

Masahiko hesitated, "My name is Masa… Masajuro, I'm a wandering samurai from the Land of Iron." Since the Land of Iron is still on civil war, a lot of their samurais were wandering the world searching.

(T/N: Masa*Juro: it's common to find "Juro" at the end of Samurai's names.)

Scarface squinted and straighten his sitting posture, "Masajuro? What a strange name?"

Masahiko secretly pouted…

"And…" Scarface continued, "So what is your level, Samurai?"

Masahiko drip a cold sweat, "What do you mean?" Masahiko then thought to himself, "Did they even mentioned something about their ranks in the Original Anime?"

Scarface's face turned red, "Of course, why I'm even asking? Judging by your cheap armor, you must be low-level."

Masahiko shook his head, "No, I'm high-level samurai…"

Scarface unsheathes his blade, "Enough of this already… Tell me mister high-level samurai, how come you don't have your Katana?"

Masahiko got embarrassed, "Ah now that you've mentioned it, I must have left it in the hot spring… I'll go get it!" Masahiko then instantly disappeared without a sound.

Scarface leaned his back on the chair then, and murmured to himself, "He's sure so fast, is he really a high-level samurai?"