“Grrr…” Just as Naruto was happily laughing, his stomach suddenly betrayed him with a loud growl.
Sakura glanced at him.
“Come on.
Today’s meal is on me.” She stood up and picked up her oil-paper umbrella.
“Let’s celebrate the fact that the three of us became friends!” The Haruno family wasn’t one of Konoha’s wealthy major clans, but Sakura’s parents did own a shop, so their financial situation was still fairly comfortable.
And because Sakura had always been something of a shut-in in her previous life, she had barely spent any of the allowance she received.
Treating Naruto and Ino to a meal was therefore easily within her means.
Meanwhile, inside the Hokage’s office, the Third Hokage sat smoking his pipe while watching the three children through a crystal ball.
“Minato… I’m sorry.” Seeing Naruto cheerfully introducing himself to Sakura and Ino, the Third Hokage couldn’t help sighing.
The wrinkles on his face seemed to deepen.
“But at least Naruto has made some friends now.” A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Hiashi’s daughter…” He paused.
“No.” “Inoichi’s daughter.” “And that girl named Sakura Haruno.” Inside the Hokage’s office, the Third Hokage smoked his pipe while watching the scene of Naruto, Sakura, and Ino through a crystal ball.
The moment he saw Naruto happily introducing himself, the Third Hokage couldn’t help sighing.
The wrinkles on his forehead seemed to deepen.
“But Naruto has made some friends now.” The Third Hokage smiled faintly.
“Hiashi’s daughter—” He paused.
“—no, Inoichi’s daughter, and that girl named Sakura Haruno.
He’s quite popular with girls, just like you were, Minato.” Thinking back to the little “sun” who had once been so popular at the Ninja Academy, the Third Hokage felt an indescribably complicated mixture of emotions.
Minato Namikaze had been Jiraiya’s student, which made him the Third Hokage’s grand-disciple in a sense.
Yet in the end, the Third Hokage had failed to protect his grand-disciple.
He hadn’t even been able to properly protect Minato’s only child.
Sakura could vaguely sense that she was being watched by the Third Hokage.
She wasn’t surprised.
As the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki, Naruto naturally had plenty of people assigned to monitor him.
Any contact Naruto had with other people would undoubtedly be reported.
Sakura also knew about the Third Hokage’s crystal ball, which could supposedly monitor Konoha.
That faint sensation of being watched was probably coming from it.
Ichiraku Ramen.
As one of the most frequently appearing establishments in Naruto, Ichiraku had also been the subject of countless jokes among fans.
Teuchi, the owner with his perpetually narrowed eyes, had especially become the subject of the famous fan joke about “Ōtsutsuki Teuchi.” According to the legendary fan theory, Ōtsutsuki Teuchi was actually the true mastermind behind the entire Naruto world.
With his supreme Ramen Release, supposedly rivaling the Sage of Six Paths’ Yin–Yang Release, he ordinarily disguised himself as a ramen-shop owner and stayed beside the protagonist.
His mission?
To feed Naruto ramen infused with chakra and secretly assist him in his training.
Whenever Konoha faced a major crisis, Teuchi would supposedly intervene from behind the scenes and save the village from destruction.
Ahem.
Everything above was merely the wild imagination of bored Naruto fans.
In reality, Teuchi was simply a ramen-shop owner.
As for how an ordinary civilian somehow survived disasters such as Orochimaru’s Konoha Crush and Pain’s Almighty Push without a scratch… Well, perhaps the only reasonable explanation was that Ichiraku Ramen had secretly invested in the Naruto production studio.
“Ichikaru—er, Uncle Teuchi!
I’m back again!” The moment Naruto entered the shop, he happily called out.
Uncle Teuchi and Ayame were among the very few people in Konoha who didn’t dislike him.
Naruto loved coming to Ichiraku Ramen.
Unfortunately, although ramen wasn’t particularly expensive, Naruto’s primary source of income was his orphan’s allowance.
There was no way he could afford to eat there every day.
He could only occasionally treat himself.
That was why Naruto was especially happy whenever he got to eat at Ichiraku.
“Huh?
Uncle Teuchi, what happened to your hand?!” The three of them had barely stepped inside when they saw that Teuchi’s left hand was completely wrapped in bandages.
“Dad wanted to create a brand-new ramen flavor, but he accidentally cut his own hand while chopping vegetables!” Ayame looked at Teuchi with a reproachful expression.
“Seriously!
You’re already an old man, yet you still had to show off and chop vegetables at top speed.
And now you’ve injured yourself!” “Ah… well…” Teuchi looked embarrassed.
“I happened to chat with Guy from the village yesterday, and I got a little carried away by his youthful spirit!” After being infected by Guy’s passionate slogans about youth, Teuchi had decided to chop vegetables at his maximum speed.
The result?
He accidentally cut his hand.
“Your hand is injured?
Then does that mean there’s no ramen to eat?!” Naruto instantly looked dejected.
“Sorry, Naruto.
If you want ramen, you’ll have to wait until my wound heals.” Teuchi sounded apologetic.
“Uncle Teuchi, could I borrow your kitchen for a while?” Sakura placed her oil-paper umbrella beside the door and turned toward him.
Apart from Ichiraku Ramen, one of Konoha’s other famous foods was barbecue.
Ichiraku was affordable enough.
Barbecue, however, was something Sakura genuinely couldn’t afford right now.
“Huh?
Little girl, you know how to make ramen?” Teuchi stared at Sakura in surprise.
A four-year-old child didn’t exactly look like someone who knew her way around a kitchen.
“A little!” Sakura smiled.
In her previous life, she had lived alone for a long time.
And as a dedicated foodie, she had not only tasted countless delicious dishes but had also memorized the recipes and cooking methods for quite a few of them.
If it came to food, Sakura had absolute confidence in the cuisine she knew.
She was certain that Chinese cuisine could go toe-to-toe with the cuisines of the entire world.
Teuchi deliberately found a child-sized chef’s uniform for Sakura and gave her a chef’s hat.
Once dressed, Sakura suddenly looked like a professional little chef.
When it came to ramen, the most famous variety in her previous life was naturally hand-pulled noodles.
Although Sakura didn’t know the complete traditional preparation process, she could still make ordinary hand-pulled noodles.
She pressed and kneaded the ball of dough repeatedly with her tiny hands.
Once it was smooth, she grabbed both ends and pulled it outward.
Then she slapped the dough against the counter before stretching it again.
Her movements flowed smoothly, as though she were creating a work of art.
The noodles gradually took shape in Sakura’s hands.
With the assistance of the Power Stone, she didn’t find the physical effort particularly difficult.
The only real problem was the length of her arms.
With a four-year-old’s body, her arms could only stretch so far.
As a result, she couldn’t make enough noodles in a single batch to fill an entire bowl.
“Here.
I’ll make a little first and let you taste it.
If you like it, I’ll make more!” A bowl of ramen was placed in front of everyone.
Sakura exhaled and used the Reality Stone to gently levitate herself back down to the floor.
With a four-year-old’s body, even the cooking counter was taller than she was.
She had no choice but to use the Reality Stone to realize her idea of making herself float.
As for how the Third Hokage and the others would interpret it… She could simply blame it on a kekkei genkai.
The shinobi world was enormous.
Who could say there wasn’t some unknown bloodline ability that allowed its user to float?
“Ah… okay…” Teuchi was still somewhat stunned by Sakura’s series of operations.
He subconsciously picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a strand of noodles, and placed it in his mouth.
His eyes immediately lit up.
The noodles were springy and chewy, with an entirely different texture from what he was accustomed to.
Although Sakura had used ingredients from Ichiraku, her preparation method had produced a completely different flavor.
Ichiraku did serve ramen, but what they called ramen was actually closer to the instant noodles Sakura had known in her previous life.
It wasn’t the same kind of hand-pulled noodles found in Chinese cuisine.
Teuchi had spent his entire life making ramen.
He could swear that he had never tasted anything like this before.
“How is it?
How is it?!” Naruto stared at Teuchi with drool practically dripping from his mouth.
Even just looking at the bowl made him want to eat it.
And after smelling the aroma filling the air, he felt even hungrier.
“It’s delicious!” Teuchi’s narrowed eyes practically opened wide.
“This tastes completely different from any ramen I’ve ever had!” He stared intensely at Sakura.
“Little girl, you’ve created an entirely new kind of ramen!” “You have incredible talent.
Why don’t you learn how to make ramen from me?” “No.” Sakura immediately shook her head.
“I like eating good food, but I don’t want to become a professional chef.
It’s too exhausting!” “Is that so?
What a shame!” Teuchi’s heart practically bled.
What a fantastic culinary talent!
And now she was slipping away right before his eyes.
It hurt.
“However, although I don’t want to become a professional chef, I’d be happy to discuss food and cooking with you in my spare time.” Sakura’s next words immediately revived Teuchi’s spirits.
“Really?!” As someone who had devoted his entire life to pursuing great food, Teuchi was incredibly excited.
“Of course.” Sakura nodded.
“I happen to know many kinds of food that are completely different from what we eat now.
We can work together.” “As for our goal…” “One day, I want our restaurant to have branches throughout the entire shinobi world!” Sakura spoke with heroic determination.
She knew the recipes.
Teuchi had the skill to recreate them.
Her parents and Ayame could manage the business, while Teuchi could research different dishes, train apprentices, and develop new chefs.
One day, she would spread the cuisine of her previous life throughout the entire world.
“Good!” Teuchi’s eyes shone brightly.
“One day, our cuisine will spread throughout the entire shinobi world!” “We will be the people who change the shinobi world!” “I mean…” Ino awkwardly covered her forehead.
“Weren’t we supposed to be here to eat?
Why did this suddenly turn into a passionate declaration about changing the world?”