Gluttony Technique

"Golden Gong Whole Fish Banquet!"

"There's even Yellow-Spotted Turtle Hatchling Stew!"

The sight of such a lavish spread made Akimichi Toribo drool all over the place.

Especially the Yellow-Spotted Turtle Hatchling Stew. He had only eaten it once before, at a palace banquet hosted by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. Since it was still fresh in his memory, he recognized the famous dish at once.

And this was the front lines of the battlefield. Being able to eat an ordinary home-cooked meal was already satisfying enough. Faced with such culinary temptation, if he had not been confident in his own strength, he might have thought he had fallen under a genjutsu.

"Please."

Umino Sasuke held out a bowl and chopsticks with both hands, presenting them to his superior. This set was twice as large as the ones they normally used.

Akimichi Toribo did not stand on ceremony. He immediately took them and began wolfing down the food.

"Mmph! Delicious, delicious!"

Akimichi Toribo lavished it with praise. With such fine food before him, he simply could not stop.

"Everyone, dig in."

His mouth was stuffed with food, making his words somewhat unclear, but the way he waved his chopsticks plainly signaled for everyone to start eating. As a gourmand with aspirations, eating alone could never compare to fighting everyone else for food.

"Got it!"

Umino Sasuke had long been unable to wait. Before starting, however, he secretly activated the Infrasonic Radar Technique and specifically found an especially plump piece of turtle rump meat in the pot, placing it into Akimichi Toribo's oversized bowl before finally beginning to eat.

The sight of that rich, fatty chunk of rump meat in his bowl immediately made Akimichi Toribo beam. He silently praised his subordinate for being so considerate, then waved his chopsticks again, signaling the youngsters to hurry up and eat as well.

"Wow! This is so good!"

The Three Youngsters from Tejudo ate with great delight, while the Ninja Hound Akitaru kept wagging his tail, overjoyed beyond measure.

There were no distinctions of rank at the dinner table. The five of them sent their chopsticks flying as they fought over the food.

The Yellow-Spotted Turtle Hatchling Stew in particular was simply too delicious. By the end, Umino Sasuke could no longer restrain himself and kept the Infrasonic Radar Technique active throughout, picking out the tastiest pieces of meat first.

Even so, they still could not out-eat the bottomless-stomached Akimichi Toribo. By the end of the meal, the other four combined had eaten less than he had alone.

"Wow, I'm so full."

Tejudo lay on the grass, rubbing his round belly, swollen like a giant leather ball, utterly content.

"Ah, that felt great! It's been a long time since I've enjoyed myself this much."

Akimichi Toribo patted his stomach, looking thoroughly satisfied.

Tejudo greatly envied Akimichi Toribo's astonishing appetite and asked curiously, "Lord Toribo, did you put a Sealing Scroll in that big belly of yours? You ate so much, but your stomach isn't even more bloated than mine."

Inuzuka Ryo, who was likewise amazed but not surprised, explained, "Lord Toribo is a jonin of the Akimichi Clan, so naturally he eats a lot. This is nothing. Once, I went to Konoha Barbecue Restaurant and saw Lord Torifu eating grilled meat. His appetite was far more terrifying than Lord Toribo's."

"Huh?" Umino Sasuke was filled with uncertainty. Only then did he realize that the Akimichi Clan's enormous appetites were common knowledge, but being able to eat more food than one's own body weight was a little too unbelievable.

"This is...?"

Umino Sasuke's gaze sharpened, and his heart shook. Through the sensory abilities of his Infrasonic Radar Technique, he discovered that some chakra within Akimichi Toribo's body was stimulating certain vagus nerve endings in his intestines, causing large amounts of gastric acid, bile, and digestive enzymes to be secreted. This rapidly digested the food in his stomach and converted it into biological energy.

Then, through the Yang Release Secret Jutsu, that biological energy was stored in the fat within his body.

No wonder he could eat so much. The food was digested and absorbed within such a short time, converted into biological energy, and stored as fat.

"That's truly incredible."

Umino Sasuke was stunned, and his heart began to burn with excitement. This Akimichi Secret Technique was almost similar in principle to the Yin Seal. If he learned it, would it not solve his severe shortage of chakra?

But he quickly calmed down and realized he had been taking things for granted.

Secretly learning this Akimichi Secret Technique would be extremely easy to expose. It was not as simple as borrowing ideas from the Inuzuka Clan's Beast Mimicry Secret Jutsu, where he could muddle through with the Transformation Jutsu even if discovered. Once he cultivated this Akimichi Secret Technique, he would inevitably become covered in fat. One look would reveal that he had stolen someone else's secret technique. There would be no way to hide it.

Stealing a ninja clan's secret techniques was a major taboo. Once exposed, there would be no place for him in Konoha, and he could only become a Rogue Ninja.

Becoming a Rogue Ninja was a path only the strong could take. For an ordinary ninja like him, having the opportunity to serve as a ninja in Konoha was basically like passing the civil service exam. He had a respectable Konoha position, and as long as he did not run into a ninja war, life was quite comfortable. Who would voluntarily become a Rogue Ninja who never knew if he would survive the next day?

If he truly wanted to become a Rogue Ninja, he first had to ask himself whether he could get past Shimura Danzō, the Darkness of the Ninja World.

However, even if he were willing to pay any price and become a Rogue Ninja just to steal this Akimichi Secret Technique, he still could not do it. He currently had no relevant knowledge of Yang Release at all and simply could not understand how the energy from digested food was converted through Yang Release into fat within the body.

Nor did he know how to burn body fat to produce chakra.

"I can't learn the complete Akimichi Secret Technique for now, but I can borrow a thing or two from the Akimichi Clan's Food Digestion Technique."

Umino Sasuke immediately formed a plan. The secrets of the Akimichi Clan's Yang Release were difficult to crack for the time being, but this Food Digestion Technique should be relatively easy to learn and far less likely to expose him. Even if it did, it probably would not be a major problem.

After all, the key to the Akimichi Secret Technique lay in the use of Yang Release: how to convert food energy into fat, how to burn that fat to produce massive amounts of chakra, and how to use the Expansion Jutsu.

As long as he did not touch the Akimichi Clan's fat or the Expansion Jutsu, the risk would be minimal.

"My Shadow Clone can't hold out much longer. I'll head back first. We can get together again when there's time."

Full and satisfied, Akimichi Toribo patted his belly and prepared to leave.

Clearly, he had been unable to resist the temptation of the food and had slipped over by himself, even using a Shadow Clone.

"Lord Toribo, why wait until later? Do you have time tonight?"

Umino Sasuke wore the fawning expression of someone groveling before his superior, his face full of flattery. Yet inwardly, he was somewhat anxious. He had only managed to secretly learn the basics by using the Infrasonic Radar Technique's penetrating perception. He needed to study it further and conduct repeated comparative experiments before he could fully master this Food Digestion Technique. He could not let this fat Akimichi get away.

"Ha, I'm free, I'm free. I couldn't be freer."

Akimichi Toribo was immediately delighted. He silently praised this subordinate for being so thoughtful and socially adept, knowing exactly what his superior liked. He would have to look after him properly in the future. Good subordinates like this were truly hard to come by.