Chapter 75

"Thank you!" I tossed the money onto the counter, then stepped out onto the street, feeling satisfied, and leisurely made my way towards the clan district.

After another night shift at the hospital, which turned out to be surprisingly busy this time, I decided to take a walk early in the morning along the deserted streets. To my surprise, I stumbled upon a remarkably familiar little eatery. It served ramen. And its name was Ichiraku Ramen.

Naturally, it would be sacrilege not to stop by! To my surprise, behind the counter was not only a young-looking Teuchi but also a young woman who bore a striking resemblance to his unborn daughter. Another surprise based on my existing knowledge.

However, I didn't dwell on it too much and treated myself to a hearty breakfast of five servings of ramen with various toppings and a portion of miso soup with crackers. It was then that I understood Naruto's obsession with this food — compared to our ration packets, the taste was simply divine!

Of course, you wouldn't eat there constantly, but if you remembered the conditions of Naruto's childhood, there wouldn't be any other choice. Plus, it was cheap compared to other eateries in the village center where I had to eat. Definitely worth visiting more often and showing Choji the place, he's always ready to try out a new establishment.

Yawning widely, I rubbed my sticky eyes and glanced at the sign on the building to my right — Imashiba Hot Springs. Well, why not? I'll relax in the hot water, warm up nicely, and then off to bed, to sleep until the next morning.

Weekends should be arranged more often, but when there's a war looming and you clearly understand that the safety of your own skin depends on your own abilities, you just forget about it.

Considering the relative safety of my past life in this regard, this fact is quite alarming and serves as a good incentive. But lately, I've been thinking more and more about my true age.

The reason is quite simple — if for the first three or four years I felt like an old man in a child's body and often behaved accordingly, though not very differently from lazy and brilliant peers from the clan, then the further I went, the more my psyche adapted to the body I had. And, upon careful consideration, this started after the memories of my past life began to fade.

The experience and knowledge didn't disappear anywhere, but there arose a very strong desire to break out of the established "behavior pattern" that I set for myself at the very beginning. The episode with the future Sannin speaks for itself. Although, I haven't had this much fun in a long time! I don't think I'll be able to resist the urge to prank someone in the future, especially with hormones starting to wake up.

Shaking my head, I got rid of the overly profound thoughts for early morning and realized that I had been staring blankly at a small sign that read "Shinobi only" for several minutes, located just below the name of the springs, as well as a note "Monday, Thursday, Saturday — combined days". And today is Thursday.

But who cares what I didn't see there? I have nothing to be ashamed of — monstrous physical exertion and exhausting battles with opponents superior in all parameters did their job, practically getting rid of the fat layers that every child has, leaving mostly muscles.

In my opinion, there were even too many muscles for a shinobi who doesn't prefer taijutsu, but a short conversation with Setsura reassured me — when the period of accelerated growth begins, excess muscle mass will only be beneficial.

Entering the hot springs, I threw some money to the sleepy guy and, grabbing the ready-made bathing set consisting of a small wooden tub, a towel, a sheet, and washing accessories, I went further into the dressing room.

I had been to such places only once before in my past life, although not in Japan, but I was familiar with the procedure, so after all my clothes were in the locker, I didn't rush straight to the steaming spring, but leisurely headed to the row of washing places, where I sat down on a stool and, after a couple of rinses, began to lather up.

There are only about a dozen such establishments throughout Konoha, and only two of them are exclusively for shinobi. Quite a few, considering the total population, but for one place, a fairly decent number of underground springs come out.

The question arises immediately — did the Senju brothers choose such a place to found the village? Or did they manage to artificially create such places? Considering the mastery of Suiton by the younger brother and Doton by the elder — this thought may not be so far from the truth.

After all, ninja value comfort and various amenities of civilization much more, not least because of the danger and nervousness of their profession, not to mention the percentage of those who live to old age. Few know, but various entertainment and recreational establishments in Konoha belong not to wealthy merchants, as ordinary residents think, but to clans, except for their usual activities.

The Nara clan, in addition to producing medicines and breeding deer, also has a decent income from various dining establishments. The Akimichi clan, in addition to their restaurants and pills, also engage in alcohol trading. This hot spring, like several others of the best ones, belongs to the Senju clan. And so on.

Of course, the village is large and trade thrives in it, so even clans cannot subjugate everything, but about thirty-five percent of Konohagakure no Sato's business belongs to clans, another twenty percent — to the village budget, about ten percent — to retired shinobi or hereditary families, and all the rest is left to the simple people.

You can find anything in the remote corners of the clan library! Including last year's financial summaries intended for the village council. The Hokage may be the sole ruler of the military village, but he cannot cover all directions at once, otherwise there would have been no council at all.