Just as Shisui left, another person stepped out from the crowd.
This person wore a simple grey kimono and a bamboo hat, looking like an ordinary old man out for a stroll.
However, his back was ramrod straight, and his gait was steady and composed—an aura that no ordinary person could possess.
He removed his bamboo hat, revealing a face known to everyone in Konoha.
Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Third Hokage.
The customers in line fell silent for a moment before an explosion of gasps erupted.
“Lord Sandaime!”
“Why is Lord Sandaime here?”
“Does Lord Sandaime want to eat Krabby Patties too?”
Linbei stood behind the counter.
His smile didn’t waver, but his nerves were stretched to the breaking point.
The Third Hokage had come in person.
He hadn’t sent an Anbu to buy them; he had come himself.
What did this mean?
It meant he was already on the Third Hokage’s radar.
Not because the Krabby Patties were good, but because he was an Uchiha.
An Uchiha orphan setting up a stall in the shopping district and becoming the center of attention—in the eyes of the Third Hokage, this wasn’t just a kid selling snacks.
This was “the Uchiha Clan expanding their influence in the heart of Konoha.”
The old fox.
Linbei cursed inwardly, but his expression immediately shifted to one of pleasant surprise and adoration.
“Lord Sandaime!
What are you doing here?” His voice rose half an octave, his eyes went wide, and his mouth hung slightly open, perfectly portraying a child suddenly seeing a legendary figure.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at his expression and smiled.
It was a kind, gentle smile, like a grandfather doting on his grandson.
“What?
Am I not welcome here, little Linbei?”
Little Linbei.
The moment those two words left the Third Hokage’s mouth, Linbei’s pupils contracted slightly.
He knew his name.
Not “that kid with the stall,” not “that Uchiha orphan,” but “little Linbei.”
This meant the Third Hokage’s Anbu had monitored him two years ago, and the record of that surveillance had been remembered by the Third Hokage.
An ordinary Uchiha orphan wasn’t worth the Hokage remembering their name—unless the Third Hokage had been watching every single Uchiha child from the very beginning.
Linbei’s smile remained unchanged, but his internal alertness jumped up two levels.
“How could that be, Lord Sandaime!” His voice became even more enthusiastic.
“I was just worried you were too busy with important matters.
Do you want a delicious Krabby Patty?”
“Let this old man try one,” the Third Hokage said with a chuckle.
The young men in the Anbu have been talking my ear off about them.
I have to taste for myself what could make them drool so much.”
The surrounding customers laughed at this.
The Third Hokage coming to eat a Krabby Patty and joking about the Anbu—this “man of the people” style was exactly why Hiruzen Sarutobi was held in such high regard by the villagers.
Linbei laughed along, then turned to Spongebob and shouted at a volume the whole crowd could hear:
“Spongebob, did you hear that?
Our great Lord Sandaime wants to eat your delicious Krabby Patty!”
Spongebob poked his head out from behind the counter.
The moment he saw the Third Hokage, his two round eyes went as wide as eggs.
“Lord Sandaime!
It’s Lord Sandaime!” Spongebob’s voice was high enough to pierce eardrums.
“Lord Sandaime wants to eat the Krabby Patty I made!
He’s a VIP!
A V-I-P!
I have to make it extra, extra delicious!
Better than ‘especially’ delicious!”
He began to spin frantically behind the counter.
The spatula whistled in his hands, and the flames on the griddle leaped high.
Buns popped out of the toaster, patties flipped through the air, and lettuce and tomatoes traced perfect arcs in the sky.
The Third Hokage stood to the side, watching the yellow square work, his eyes flickering slightly.
Another strange summoned beast.
Two years ago, the Anbu reported that this child had summoned a cat.
Now there was a yellow square as well.
This child…
what exactly was his background?
His gaze shifted from Spongebob to the cat perched on the roof.
The cat was squinting at him.
It wasn’t the look an ordinary cat gave a human—vague, curious, or indifferent.
This cat’s gaze was…
lucid.
Like a sapient being scrutinizing another sapient being.
The Third Hokage’s heart stirred slightly.
“Lord Sandaime!
Please, enjoy!”
Spongebob’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
A Krabby Patty appeared on the counter.
It was different from the standard or special versions—the bun was dusted with a layer of golden crumbs, the edges of the patty were perfectly charred and crisp, and the sauce glowed like amber under the lights.
The entire burger emitted an irresistible aroma.
The Third Hokage looked down at the Krabby Patty, picked it up, and took a bite.
He chewed twice. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Then he chewed twice more.
Then his expression changed.
It wasn’t an exaggerated change, but a subtle, almost imperceptible one—his brow smoothed, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood on a Konoha street in front of an orange food cart, eating a Krabby Patty made by an eight-year-old.
And the expression on his face was one of genuine satisfaction.
“Delicious,” the Third Hokage said.
His voice wasn’t loud, but it was sincere.
Seeing the Third Hokage’s expression, the surrounding customers grew even more frenzied.
If even Lord Sandaime said it was good, how delicious must it be?
“I want two more!”
“Me too!”
“Boss, how much longer until my number is called?”
While dealing with the customers’ demands, Linbei kept a close watch on the Third Hokage out of the corner of his eye.
The Third Hokage wasn’t in a hurry to leave.
He stood by the stall, slowly finishing the entire Krabby Patty, then licked the sauce from his fingers—an action that would have seemed uncouth for anyone else, but from the Third Hokage, it carried a charming “unpretentious old man” vibe.
“Little Linbei,” the Third Hokage said, wiping his fingers and looking down at him.
“This Krabby Patty of yours is indeed delicious.”
“Thank you for the praise, Lord Sandaime!” Linbei replied with eyes curved in a smile.
The Third Hokage smiled, put on his bamboo hat, and turned into the crowd.
His back looked like that of an ordinary old man, his steps slow and composed, no different from when he arrived.
But Linbei knew that the Third Hokage hadn’t come just for a Krabby Patty.
He had come to “look.”
To see what this Uchiha orphan looked like, to see what was special about his summoned beasts, and to see what he was doing.
An Uchiha orphan whose name was remembered by the Third Hokage.
Linbei knew exactly what that implied.
“Keep selling Krabby Patties,” Linbei told himself.
“Business as usual.
It’s not time to panic yet.”
He took a deep breath, turned to the waiting line of customers, and put his smile back on.
“Next!
How many would you like?”
“Five!”
“You got it!
Spongebob, five Krabby Patties!”
“Coming—right—up—!”
In front of the little food cart, the line continued to grow.
In the shopping district, the sun was shining brightly.
No one noticed that on the roof across the street, an Anbu wearing an animal mask was crouched, his eyes never leaving the orange food cart for a second.
Nor did anyone notice that at the mouth of an alley in another direction, Shisui stood in the shadows holding two Krabby Patties, looking toward where the Third Hokage had departed with a pensive expression.