24. Otsutsuki Ichiraku

Chapter 24: Otsutsuki Ichiraku

"Did you bring enough money?"

Itachi nervously squeezed his little wallet. This time, he had brought all the pocket money he had saved up, around five thousand ryō. He had no idea whether it would be enough.

Even those five thousand ryō had been painstakingly saved from his daily allowance. Although he came from a major clan and did not need to spend money in many places, his allowance was actually nowhere near as generous as people imagined. The Uchiha family rules were strict, and he also needed to buy extra things like kunai from time to time. Those were the real expense!

So the term "rich second-generation" had nothing to do with him. He was not from the Akimichi clan...

"Mm, it should... be enough."

"Great. Now that you've said that, I can relax. I can eat a lot!"

Looking at Aoba's sparkling eyes, Itachi suddenly felt like running away. If the money turned out to be insufficient and he got detained, he would bring disgrace upon the Uchiha clan. Being confined to his room would be getting off lightly!

Still, he gritted his teeth and nodded, putting on an expression of someone ready to face death.

Meanwhile, Aoba, who had secretly taken everything in, began to snicker. Who could have imagined that Itachi God, who would one day be so arrogantly cool and invincible, had been this cute as a child—and had even worried that his wallet might not be enough to pay the bill?

Aoba dared to guarantee that if he recorded this scene, he could definitely extort a huge sum from Itachi in the future.

Of course, doing that would simply be cutting off his own path. He had better be careful not to lose his life!

It was the same dango shop as the other day. The moment they entered, the proprietress spotted the pair of pretty boys, and her eyes immediately lit up.

"What would you two little guests like to eat?"

"Please leave out the 'little,' Auntie! And bring us fifty more skewers of three-colored dango. He's paying!"

Aoba was the sort who held grudges. He had clearly remembered the "humiliation" he had suffered here last time, so he no longer called her big sister. He directly called her auntie, even deliberately dragging out the sound.

Sure enough, the proprietress's smile stiffened the moment she was called auntie. She grunted unhappily and went to get to work, muttering, "Kids these days really aren't cute at all."

Hmph! I'm not petty enough to argue with a money-grubbing auntie like you.

After coolly flicking his hair, the two of them found a small table in the corner and sat down.

At this point, Itachi seemed to still be calculating the price of fifty skewers of three-colored dango. Fifty times eight was four hundred ryō. Thankfully, thankfully.

Aoba could clearly see the relief on Itachi's face. He was probably rejoicing that he would not have to stay behind to wash dishes.

Then Aoba immediately gave a wicked grin and said casually, "Let's have fifty skewers of dango to whet our appetites first. How about we go eat ramen later? I heard there's a famous ramen shop called Ichiraku. I haven't been there before."

Those fifty skewers of three-colored dango were only... to whet their appetites?

Itachi was visibly startled and began worrying again about whether he would have enough money to pay.

It was not that he was worried about the money itself. He was afraid of losing face if it turned out to be insufficient!

Aoba saw through him but said nothing, secretly laughing to himself. He was not so shameless as to fleece one fat sheep to the fullest. He simply thought teasing the future Itachi God was amusing. After all, it would be difficult to see Itachi make an expression like this again in the future.

The fifty skewers of dango did not keep them waiting long. They were soon served, but unlike last time, despite ordering fifty skewers, they received no complimentary items.

Hmph. One star!

I'm never patronizing this place again!

"Let's eat!"

After pressing his palms together and shouting, Aoba immediately attacked from both sides, stuffing his mouth full of three-colored dango in an instant.

He had expended far too much energy, and he had not eaten breakfast either. By now, he was so hungry his stomach was practically stuck to his back, so naturally, he did not hold back.

Itachi, meanwhile, was startled by how much more exaggerated Aoba's eating style was compared to last time, and he hurriedly joined the great food-snatching campaign.

Five minutes later, the fifty skewers of dango had been swept clean by the two of them!

Itachi now began to believe that the dango really had only been to whet Aoba's appetite...

"Boss, another fifty skewers!"

Itachi began to feel somewhat uneasy...

After the second fifty skewers had also been completely annihilated, Itachi, already full, clutched his wallet and asked, "A-another fifty skewers?"

"Another fifty my ass! Let's go and find another place!"

After eating a full hundred skewers without receiving so much as a freebie, Aoba decided that he would never give this shop his money again. Hmph!

The total came to eight hundred ryō, roughly half a month of Aoba's living expenses. What extravagance~

"Where... are we going now?"

"To Ichiraku Ramen, of course. I've been here so long and still haven't gone there. Oh, right, do you know where it is?"

Itachi nodded somewhat blankly. "We're really going? You're not full yet?"

"What kind of thing is that to say? If I don't eat at least three huge bowls later, I'll perform a handstand while taking a dump for you! Let's go!"

Thus, under Itachi's bewildered gaze, the two of them charged into Ichiraku Ramen.

There was no one there at this time, so the two of them had the whole shop to themselves.

"Welcome! What would you two like?" The moment they entered, Teuchi greeted them with his trademark squinting smile.

That was right, this was the place!

Aoba looked up at the price list hanging on the wall.

Regular ramen: 60 ryō. Special ramen: 70 ryō. Vegetable ramen: 65 ryō. Pork-cutlet ramen: 60 ryō. Special chashu ramen: 75 ryō. Egg ramen: 65 ryō. Soy-sauce ramen: 90 ryō. Rice: 15 ryō, and so on.

Having made up his mind, Aoba immediately ordered, "I want one bowl of special ramen, one bowl of pork-cutlet ramen, and one bowl of special chashu ramen with extra chashu. What about you?"

Itachi, thoroughly shocked, asked instinctively, "Are you eating all of those yourself?"

"Don't worry. Since I ordered them, I can definitely finish them. Wasting food is shameful, right, Uncle?"

Teuchi still wore that same smiling expression, but after Aoba finished speaking, he gave him a thumbs-up, seemingly in complete agreement.

It was just a shame that his daughter was not there, which left Aoba feeling somewhat disappointed. After all, she was quite pretty.

"Then... I'll have a bowl of vegetable ramen."

"Coming right up! Four bowls of ramen in total. Please wait!"

Once they had finished ordering, Teuchi seemed to transform into a completely different person. With the bearing of a grandmaster, he began preparing the noodles.

No wonder people in his previous life had often said that the owner of Ichiraku Ramen was actually the final big BOSS. The joke about Otsutsuki Ichiraku had even spread far and wide.

Aoba just did not know when the Big Eater Ramen Competition had begun.

He still remembered that Hinata would later win the championship with the astonishing score of forty-six bowls, leaving behind the legend of the "Big Eater Queen"!

The people Hinata defeated to take second and third place were Choji Akimichi and Choza Akimichi, respectively...

What a damn embarrassment for the Akimichi clan!

If anyone dared say in the future that the Akimichi clan members were the biggest eaters, Aoba would slap them without hesitation!

Therefore, in the Hokage World, Aoba's appetite was utterly insignificant. At best, he was only at little-brother level.

P.S. I took a look at the books released at the same time as mine, and almost all of them update once a day. I'm waiting for the editor to come back to work, yet I'm foolishly updating twice every day and still getting mocked for my short chapters. I can't tolerate that! I wonder whether my contract status can be changed today. If it can, everyone, remember to reward me with enough money for a packet of pickled vegetables and let me know. Also, I glanced at the new-book rankings on the homepage. After running naked for ten days, I've actually made it into the top thirty, and I've even climbed to fourth place on the category new-book rankings. Not bad, not bad~ Could everyone put in a little more effort and help Old Faceless climb the rankings? Please cast more recommendation votes. Those who have not collected or invested in the book, remember to do so, and if you have book lists, please add it to them as well. For the sake of Old Faceless never becoming a one-update beast, sorry for the trouble~

Also, I made a few minor changes to the repentance-writing scenes in the previous two chapters. They do not affect anything, so there is no need to go back and reread them. Here, I would like to thank Mo Wen Biehou for pointing it out.