Half an hour later, the rescued children had eaten their fill, regaining some of their strength. Uchiha Tonan smiled, wiping the residual food off the little girl’s mouth. He then said to the children, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to clean up.”
The children had already lowered their guard against him. They followed him to a bathroom. Although it was said to be a bathroom, it was no smaller than a bathhouse. Tonan, after all, was the North City Guard’s captain, which was considered neither too big nor too small an official in the Fire Capital. Even with a group of children dipping in, the bathing pool didn’t seem crowded.
Since the children were all young, Tonan didn’t separate the boys and the girls. It was unknown how much filth they were contaminated with because the pool turned black as soon as they entered the water.
However, Tonan didn’t mind. In any case, the source of this pool was flowing water. After a while, when he felt they had dipped in enough, he began calling them over individually to personally help wash their bodies.
Looking at the little girl in front of him, he said in distress, “Poor child, you’re so dirty.”
The girl’s mouth shriveled, and her eyes were filled with tears as she weakly said, “Lord…”
Tonan smiled and dotingly flicked her forehead with his finger, “No need to be so formal, call me Oni-san.”
The sudden and unexpected gentleness made the girl, who had been frightened for the past few days, unable to restrain her emotions. She threw herself into Tonan’s arms and sobbed, “Oni-san…”
Tonan smiled and lightly patted her back. He said to the children in the pool, “You all can address me as Oni-san hereafter, and just treat this place like your own.”
“Boo hoo…”
“Oni-san…”
“Oni-san…”
……
After washing the little girl up, he used clean water to rinse her. “Alright, soak in for some more time. This hot spring water is good for the body.”
Tonan put the little girl back into the pool and pulled another little boy out. While washing him, he asked, “What’s your name?”
The little boy raked his brain but couldn’t answer. He shook his head blankly. Tonan smiled faintly and asked, “You can’t remember? It’s alright. I’ll find a sensei in a few days for you all and ask him to name you as well.”
The little boy hesitated for a moment, and then moved his head closer and kissed Tonan’s face, “Thank you, Oni-san…”
Although the little boy was not particularly sensible, he liked the man in front of him, who gave him a deep sense of security. Tonan gently rubbed the little boy’s head, “You’re really a good child.” The water in his hand soaked the little boy’s hair, and his big palm seemed to be able to wrap his entire head.
By now, Sarutobi Shinnosuke was informed about what happened in the morning and he hastily arrived at the North City Guard Residence.
Yoshiwara Ao greeted him and brought him to the living room. He poured a cup of tea and bowed, “Shinnosuke-sama, please drink tea and wait for a while.”
Shinnosuke nodded and looked around, but couldn’t see Tonan, “Has Tonan gone out?”
Ao smiled and put down the teapot. He pointed towards the backyard and answered, “Tonan-sama is bathing the orphans. Do you want me to notify him of your arrival?”
Shinnosuke touched his chin and shook his head, “No need, I’ll find him myself.” He got up and walked towards the backyard. In some aspects, Shinnosuke inherited Sarutobi Hiruzen’s true qualities. Even though he was green in some aspects, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.
While passing by the bathroom window, he stopped and looked in through the gap. He saw Tonan instructing the children while washing their bodies.
Tonan’s movements were very gentle as if he was afraid of hurting the children. Shinnosuke had an understanding smile. After staying at the window for a while, he returned to the living room and sat down, waiting for Tonan while drinking tea, and thinking to himself.
“Even if father hadn’t said anything, from what I just saw, it’s not hard to see that Tonan is different from the other Uchihas. Not only is he kind, but also caring. Perhaps, for ordinary people, this is a good character and a rare virtue. But for ninjas, it’s a fatal flaw, if taken advantage of…”
“But… those who have flaws are easier to control.”
Bathing the children was a big task. Tonan was busy all the way to the afternoon by the time he finally finished up. After bathing them, he led the children to the dormitory prepared for them.
The dormitory was warm. Tonan had instructed the attendants to clean it meticulously so that the homeless children could feel the comfort. After going through so much, they were physically and mentally exhausted.
Finally seeing a warm, livable place, perhaps, because the previous experience was still fresh in their memories, the children didn’t dare cry even though their eyes brimmed with tears.
“Alright, you all wouldn’t have got good rest yesterday. This is your dorm and you all have your beds. If you’re hungry, eat some snacks by the bedside, and rest.”
Under his supervision, the children settled on the beds and looked at him with attachment. Seeing they had finally relaxed, a gentle smile appeared on Tonan’s face.
Tonan had long known that Shinnosuke had come to visit, so after the children were settled, he came to the living room. But the moment he saw Shinnosuke, he pretended to be surprised, “Shinnosuke-senpai, when did you come here?”
As if he was deeply apologetic, he stepped in front of Shinnosuke and bowed before sitting down. “I’m truly sorry for making you wait. I was busy all day long. Why didn’t you ask the attendant to notify me?”
Shinnosuke smiled. He didn’t seem to mind the wait. He looked at Tonan and said, “It’s alright. I heard that you did an amazing job earlier today.”
Tonan smiled and shook his head, “That’s my duty. I’ve accepted this mission, I’ve to do it diligently.”
Shinnosuke had seen Tonan dedicating himself to missions and practicing what he preached in many matters. He valued Tonan even more.
“If such a person became loyal to me in the future…”
With the thought of getting closer to Tonan, Shinnosuke began to chat, “How’re you doing recently…”
……
The two chatted a lot but because Shinnosuke appreciated Tonan, he kept speaking, and Tonan just smiled or nodded along.
However, Shinnosuke was not too familiar with him and couldn’t find common topics. Other than repeatedly expressing concerns, he had nothing to say. Tonan was a little impatient after a while but masked it well.
He shook his head inwardly. He had still not pledged loyalty to Shinnosuke, but Shinnosuke was already behaving so enthusiastic. Shinnosuke hardly realized that trying to get close like this would only make people think he was too anxious and desperate to recruit talent.
Letting anyone think he had no lower limit would just make others lose the sense of reverence. His means of control were unrefined.
Tonan coughed lightly and wanted to change the topic, “The work in the Daimyo Residence must be very boring.”
Shinnosuke paused, not quite understanding Tonan’s intention behind the question. He replied, “That’s not true. I’m guarding First Highness at night, so there’s nothing to do at daytime.”
Tonan helped Shinnosuke refill his cup while asking casually, “Is First Highness easy to get along with?”
Shinnosuke took the teacup and nodded to express his thanks. Without much thought, he said, “First Highness has a very good temperament, it’s just that he’s too honest. Compared to Second Highness, who plays around all day long, he’s much better though.”
Tonan nodded. During this time, he had also learned about the important people in the Fire City through special channels.
“Second Highness must be young… it’s expected he’d like to play around.”
Shinnosuke drank the tea and said, “First Highness is in his twenties, and Second Highness is also sixteen already. I heard that Daimyo is thinking about finding a tutor for the two. Firstly, to teach First Highness about the miscellaneous government affairs and secondly, to properly control Second Highness’s naughty temper. I guess there’ll be news soon.”
“Looking for a tutor? This might be a chance…”
Tonan narrowed his eyes, mentally noting this information, beginning to make calculations in his heart.
“How is Asuma lately? He should be returning soon to take part in the graduation examination.”
When Shinnosuke heard Tonan mention Asuma, he had a worried look and sighed, “He’s hanging around prodigal sons all day long these days. Last time, I caught him smoking secretly. I don’t even know how to explain it to father when we return.”
Tonan smiled faintly and consoled, “He might just be curious, the novelty will pass.”
