Haku didn't know where he found two bowls, and served a bowl each to Kimimaro and Rengoku.
"Rengoku… sama, this is for you."
Haku wasn't used to the identity shift yet, and still didn't know how to address Rengoku.
Thinking of how Rengoku was still an elder of the Uchiha clan, he called him "sama."
Rengoku, in terms of status and age, could indeed bear it, and didn't object.
Even though he was a clone, he could still eat food.
Without declining, he took the bowl and began pouring it into his mouth.
Though it was a bit dry, since it had changed from meat soup to meat porridge, it could still be drunk directly.
In such an icy world, a bowl of meat porridge was already a great happiness.
The cooked rice flowers and dried vegetables in the bowl mixed with the aroma of oil and fat, also tasted excellent.
After Rengoku quickly finished this bowl, he stopped Haku, who was about to serve more.
"I already ate, you two eat instead."
Kimimaro slowly drank the meat porridge while curiously looking at Rengoku.
"Rengoku-sama, isn't your side also the Land of Water?"
Rengoku nodded, "My clan is in the Leaf Village of the Land of Fire."
To Kimimaro, the Leaf Village of the Land of Fire was still rather unfamiliar.
Haku, however, had heard of the name and asked curiously, "Is it over by the sea?"
Rengoku nodded, "That's right, we still have to take a ship across the sea."
"Your bodies are too weak. Rest a bit before setting out."
"Have you finished eating? I'll take you to rest."
Kimimaro and Haku finished off the remaining meat porridge.
Most of it was eaten by Kimimaro alone, Haku only had two bowls.
After the three finished eating, Rengoku took them toward the city.
When he came earlier, Rengoku had already noticed that there were inns in the city.
Even though the Land of Water was chaotic, inside the city it was still relatively stable.
Rengoku brought Kimimaro and Haku to a small inn.
He used a genjutsu to control the innkeeper.
Why control the innkeeper? Because Rengoku had no money on him.
The controlled innkeeper thought he'd received a generous tip and very eagerly led the three into a room, then told a servant to prepare bathwater.
"You two clean up first, I'll go buy some things."
After arranging things, Rengoku headed to a clothing store.
Kimimaro and Haku had been wandering outside for a long time, wearing thin clothes with nothing to change into.
On the way back, he had already memorized the sizes of the two, so he bought everything at once.
———
Inside the room, Kimimaro and Haku were each soaking in a bath barrel.
There was a partition between them as they talked.
"Haku, what do you think of Rengoku-sama?", Kimimaro soaked in the water, enjoying the comfort, and asked toward Haku.
Haku's voice was soft, seeming also relaxed by the hot water, "I can feel, Rengoku-sama sincerely wants to take us away from here."
"Then that's good," Kimimaro was relieved and began cleaning himself.
When the two came out wearing bathrobes, Rengoku had already returned with two large bags.
"These are for you, try them on to see if they fit," Rengoku dumped the first bag on the bed, it was all kinds of clothing.
The other bag contained socks and shoes and such.
Both Kimimaro and Haku looked delighted. One had always been imprisoned, the other had always been wandering.
It had been many years since they had new clothes.
The two quickly changed into the clothes. Though they were the same age, their body types were very different.
Kimimaro already had a teenager's build, while Haku was skinny and small, almost like a child.
His height was also a head shorter than Kimimaro.
After all, even though Kimimaro had been imprisoned, at least he was fed; Haku had been wandering for years.
After putting on the clothes Rengoku bought, Haku also wore the outer coat that Kimimaro had bought for him.
After the two wore thick clothes, they looked at each other and smiled.
Rengoku helped tidy up their clothes a bit, feeling gratified in his heart.
These two not only had strong abilities, but their backgrounds were also a microcosm of the great tragedies of the shinobi world.
He'd start from these two, bringing all of them under his banner.
Kimimaro had red lips and white teeth, with a round and cute face; Haku looked small and delicate, a bit frail.
With warm clothes and full bellies, smiles appeared on both their faces.
Rengoku planned to first settle things with Kumogakure, then come back to take them along.
For now, let the two children rest.
"Do you know how to read?"
Kimimaro shook his head, while Haku timidly said, "A little."
Rengoku nodded slightly, "To understand the world, you must first learn to read."
"It's too late today. I'll teach you characters tomorrow."
"These days we'll be staying here. Once Haku's body recovers a bit, we'll leave."
"I'm in the next room. If anything happens, just call me."
"Got it, Rengoku-sama."
After giving instructions, Rengoku entered the next room.
This clone body replicated from Yagura Karatachi had no chakra issues. So there was no need to hide in shadows to conserve energy.
Rengoku also left behind a shadow clone, "I'll leave these two kids to you."
The shadow clone rolled its eyes, "You didn't leave me any money. You want me to freeload?"
Rengoku chuckled awkwardly, "… It's fine. We made so much for Yagura, freeloading a bit is no big deal."
The shadow clone nodded, "Then I'll wait here for you to return."
After giving instructions, Rengoku waved his hand and jumped out the window.
———
In the night, his body quickly merged into the shadows on the ground.
He began rapidly stealthing toward the harbor.
When Rengoku was nearly there, he emerged from the ground shadow and used Transformation Jutsu to turn into Yagura.
After transforming, his chakra surged out suddenly.
Soon, there was a responding surge of Yagura's chakra from afar.
Rengoku locked onto the position and quickly moved to converge.
When he arrived, Yagura gave Rengoku a questioning look.
Rengoku nodded, indicating that all was fine.
There were four people present: Yagura, Terumi Mei, Ken and Ao.
Rengoku looked left and right, there was no boat. He didn't know how Yagura planned to get across.
Yagura beckoned, "One more person, come back now."
Saying so, he tapped the ground with his hand, forming a mirror on the surface.
Rengoku stood on the mirror and slowly sank down.
He hid inside Yagura's shadow and began observing.
Ao pulled out a storage scroll, and after releasing the seal, a speedboat-like vessel appeared.
The hull wasn't big and had a streamlined design, but where the motor should've been, it was empty, only a seat was there.
After everyone got on board, Terumi Mei jumped to that seat.
Then she placed her hand into the water.
"Water Style, Water Fang!"
A swirling vortex appeared behind the hull.
The speedboat started moving, though not too fast at first.
Once it got a distance from the shore, Terumi Mei gave a reminder, "Alright, Ao."
Ao took off his eyepatch and activated the Byakugan to observe for distant obstacles.
Terumi Mei increased her chakra output, the vortex behind the boat spun faster and faster, the speedboat's speed also rose rapidly.
Until a massive wave burst behind the boa, the speed felt like it was taking flight, with a huge gust of wind crashing forward.
Yagura stood with arms folded, steady on the speedboat.
The chakra cloak on him completely blocked the fierce wind.
Across the sea surface, only a white line could be seen shooting forward.
Hidden in the shadow, Rengoku couldn't help but marvel, 'Ninjutsu used as propulsion, this speed is comparable to the motorboats I have ridden before.'
'No wonder Yagura said we can arrive in three days.'
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