Chapter 144
By the Lakeside, in a Quiet Cabin (VIII)
Haruto Saito, who had been sleeping soundly on the wooden cot, suddenly found his breathing becoming rapid. In the next instant, he snapped his eyes open and sat up abruptly, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead. His wide eyes scanned his surroundings...
Another nightmare!
Haruto blinked twice and let out a long sigh. Then, frowning, he muttered, "Damn it! I've already returned to the village, so why am I still having nightmares?"
After sleeping for another two hours, Haruto glanced outside at the sky, then swiftly got off the cot. He examined the cot, then looked down at himself.
"Could it be because I didn't take off my clothes or shower?" He started speculating wildly—it was almost like some kind of supernatural logic.
He used to have a bit of a cleanliness obsession, but Tsunade had "cured" him of it to a large extent. Later, his experiences in the Land of Rain made him completely disregard issues of cleanliness. The obsession was entirely overcome. So, this time, after returning home, he hadn't even bothered to remove his dusty outer robe before collapsing onto the bed.
"A bath, a clean sleep robe—maybe then I won't have nightmares?" Haruto mumbled as he walked toward the door.
Not long after, inside the bathroom adjacent to the cabin...
"Ahh... this is nice..." Haruto sighed contentedly as he soaked in the wooden tub filled with warm water. When he was out on missions, he always had to bathe in cold water. Compared to that, soaking in warm water felt like an entirely different experience.
After a while in the tub, the already exhausted Haruto began to feel drowsy again. His eyes slowly closed as he drifted into a light sleep.