"..."
Shikamaru listened to the stranger narrating the story from The Art of Seduction, his expression twisting into awkwardness.
He glanced around and saw the other hot spring guests listening with rapt attention, nodding solemnly at the "historical facts," which made him even more uncomfortable.
If the story were purely fictional, that would be one thing.
But his father had personally told him that the stories inside were based on real events!
This left Shikamaru with no excuse to argue against the absurdity.
He could only take advantage of everyone being engrossed in the story to sneak into the hot spring pool and soak, hoping to become invisible.
As for the half-finished game of shogi? In this situation, was there anyone still thinking about moving pawns?
Shikamaru sank into the hot spring, closing his eyes to find some peace.
The only drawback was that the serene atmosphere was polluted by the dramatic reading of Tobirama Senju's "trauma."
Splash.
Not far from Shikamaru, two people entered the water. These two were clearly excited by the storytelling and whispered to each other.
As they talked, they drifted onto topics that made Shikamaru shudder.
"That man in the sauna earlier... that sexy beard of his got me all worked up."
"Yeah, it's a shame though. He was just teasing us by sitting there and didn't deliver."
"Such a pity. A waste of prime material."
Shikamaru: "..."
Shikamaru could only pray to every deity he knew that these two weren't talking about Asuma!
...
A while later, Asuma walked in.
Having worked up a good sweat in the sauna, Asuma planned to rinse off at the shower area before relaxing in the main bath.
While Asuma was sitting on a stool showering, the two men next to Shikamaru exchanged hungry glances and walked over with their tools.
"Hello, sir. We're service staff here to help you scrub your back. Complimentary for VIPs."
"Oh? There's such a service? That's great. Thank you."
Asuma, who was happily washing his hair with his eyes closed, agreed without a second thought.
The two burly men began wiping Asuma's body with towels.
As they wiped, the towels were discarded, and their hands took over.
"Hmm?"
Asuma suddenly frowned, pausing his hair washing.
"Why is the body wash here... hot?"
The two men behind Asuma immediately stiffened and grew tense.
"I didn't expect your establishment to be so thoughtful! Did you pre-soak the body wash in the hot spring to prevent it from shocking customers' skin?"
"Ah, yes, yes, yes!"
"Exactly! You guessed right, customer! You're really sharp!"
Hearing that Asuma had conveniently rationalized the situation for them, the two sighed in relief and continued enthusiastically applying the "body wash" to Asuma.
Shikamaru witnessed this scene from the safety of the steam but dared not step forward.
'Don't blame me, Asuma-sensei.'
Shikamaru's heart was torn with conflict.
He was afraid that if he went over now, those two might decide he was a 'buy one, get one free' special.
Shikamaru reasoned that given Asuma's strength as a Guardian Shinobi, those two civilians wouldn't be capable of forcing anything anyway.
There shouldn't be any groundbreaking developments... probably.
Deciding self-preservation was the better part of valor, Shikamaru climbed out of the hot spring, dried himself in record time, put on his clothes, and prepared to report the "unorthodox service" to the hot spring owner.
...
Meanwhile.
Jiraiya and the others had already arrived in the Land of Hot Water.
During their journey, Jiraiya took out photos of their target—Team Asuma—and introduced them to Boruto.
While making the introductions, Jiraiya carefully observed Boruto's eyes and micro-expressions.
The way Boruto looked at Asuma in the photo was similar to when he first met Jiraiya—both carried a sense of unfamiliarity and first acquaintance.
The fact that Boruto, as Naruto's son, didn't recognize either Jiraiya or Asuma almost certainly meant they would die in battle not long in the future.
Jiraiya felt no fear or regret about death; instead, he continued to ponder the tactical implications.
For instance, if Makoto from the future hadn't appeared, would Orochimaru's "Konoha Crush" plan have killed his teacher?
If that were the case, then that Otsutsuki's goal might not be to eliminate the combat power around Naruto, but to ensure that those destined to die would return to their original fate.
Thinking this, Jiraiya grew somewhat concerned.
He and Asuma were the targets, but besides them, there might be others in Konoha who were also on the hit list.
If this were true, he must have the messenger toad notify Konoha to take precautions.
Reluctantly, Jiraiya found another excuse to introduce other people to Boruto and took out new photos to test his theory.
As he showed photo after photo, Jiraiya breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Boruto was very familiar with almost all these people.
The only troublesome thing was that Boruto had already met some of them in this timeline, making it impossible to confirm if he knew them from the future or just recently.
"Hmm?"
When Jiraiya held the last photo, he again saw that unfamiliarity in Boruto's eyes.
Jiraiya's expression tightened as he quickly looked at the person Boruto had failed to recognize...
'It seems Anko died in the future too.' (T.T)
Jiraiya hadn't expected that even Orochimaru's former student would be gone.
But since Orochimaru currently held no hostility toward the village, and Anko had long severed ties with him, Jiraiya felt it necessary to remind the village regardless.
He summoned a messenger toad and instructed it to have Konoha keep a close eye on Anko to prevent any surprise attacks.
....
The group arrived at the hot spring inn entrance, planning to rest here for the night before starting to search for Team Asuma's traces.
But just as they reached the entrance, they saw Shikamaru stumbling out, preparing to seek help from the owner.
"Great! It's Jiraiya-sama! Please go save Asuma-sensei!"
Seeing Jiraiya appear, Shikamaru abandoned his plan to find the owner and urgently sought the Sannin's help instead.
"What?! You've already encountered the enemy?"
Jiraiya was shocked and immediately rolled up his sleeves, his eyes lighting up as he turned toward the women's bath.
"I'll handle this!"
"Uh, it's not enemies, and Jiraiya-sama, you're going the wrong way. It's the men's bath."
Shikamaru quickly grabbed Jiraiya's arm, dragging him back from paradise.
"Not enemies? Then what is it? Did he pass out from enjoying the hot spring too much?"
Jiraiya stopped helplessly and turned back to ask.
"There are two people pretending to be hot spring staff, helping Asuma-sensei apply shower gel and bathe, but they're actually... taking advantage of him..."
"...Do you realize what you're saying, Shikamaru?"
Jiraiya fell silent for a moment after hearing this.
Taking advantage of Asuma? A bearded, chain-smoking shinobi?
What kind of nonsense is this? Unless... they are kunoichi spies using seduction techniques!
"It's true, Jiraiya-sama! I overheard those two talking while I was in the hot spring. They've had their eyes on Asuma-sensei for a long time!" Shikamaru explained anxiously.
"Don't worry, I believe you."
Jiraiya patted Shikamaru's shoulder with a solemn, self-sacrificing expression.
"Alright then, Shikamaru, you wait here with the kids. I'll go in and handle the situation. Don't come in until I return. This requires... a Sannin's touch."
"Understood." Shikamaru nodded, relieved.
"Hehe."
Jiraiya paid the entrance fee, lifted the curtain, and walked in rubbing his hands together, his mind filled with images of beautiful female assassins.
'Two people pretending to be staff? Could they be the legendary "Honey Trap" specialists?'
Entering the open-air hot spring area, Jiraiya struck a heroic pose and shouted through the thick steam.
"Everyone inside, stop right there! Let go of Asuma! If you want a piece of someone, come at me instead!!!"