Something's Come Up!

"Grrr—"

Just then, Might Duy's stomach let out a clear, hollow rumble, leaving him instantly embarrassed.

"Hahaha, youth needs food too, after all."

Namikaze Yoru didn't mind at all. He laughed heartily. "I feel like we really hit it off, Senior. How about we have dinner together?"

"Th-this is too much trouble..."

"I've got a coupon for Yakiniku Q!"

After he'd "treated" Nawaki to a big meal last time, the owner had thoughtfully given him a 10% discount coupon for his next visit, since he was such a rare big spender.

Seeing that Might Duy was indeed hungry, Namikaze Yoru took the opportunity to invite him.

Namikaze Yoru knew perfectly well that Might Duy was an unqualified ninja, a true "misfit" in the ninja system.

Without any talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu, and relying solely on Taijutsu, he naturally couldn't find anyone willing to team up with him.

As a ninja who didn't produce anything himself, he couldn't take on high-ranking missions or earn a decent fee without a team. In his daily life, he could only take on ordinary missions with no restrictions, so Might Duy's circumstances were rather tight.

On top of that, his intense Taijutsu training demanded plenty of nutritious food. So Might Duy half-reluctantly followed Namikaze Yoru into the barbecue restaurant.

"Boss, bring us twenty portions of pork and twenty portions of beef to start."

The round, plump owner of Yakiniku Q immediately answered with a beaming smile.

Before long, the table was piled high with plates of meat. As Namikaze Yoru grilled, he chatted casually with Might Duy.

He learned that Might Duy did most of his training in a remote forest. At this point, Might Duy was still rather shy; he hadn't yet reached the point where he could train without caring what anyone thought.

On top of his lack of renown, he was somewhat self-conscious, which was why it had taken Namikaze Yoru so long to find him.

Might Duy was especially surprised that Namikaze Yoru had found the place and trained alongside him all afternoon. After all, even an elite jonin would struggle to keep up with the intensity of his training for long.

That shared hardship greatly improved Might Duy's impression of Namikaze Yoru, and the two even agreed to train together again the next day.

At the dinner table, there was no need to mention Namikaze Yoru, whose appetite had grown considerably since returning from the Land of Whirlpools. As a Taijutsu-oriented ninja, Might Duy also had a hearty appetite.

After their intense training that afternoon, the two devoured the meat on the grill like a whirlwind. It was a truly "savage" sight.

At first, Might Duy had been a little reserved, but as the two talked more, his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Especially when Namikaze Yoru got carried away chatting, he unconsciously started seeing the figure in front of him as Might Guy from his memories.

He even brought out Might Guy's catchphrases from his past life: "Hard work will never betray you," "Hard work can surpass genius," and "Burn, youth!" among others.

For a moment, Might Duy felt as if he'd been struck by lightning. His whole presence changed, as though he'd finally met his kindred spirit. His eyes burned with the fervor of someone willing to die for a friend who understood him.

They all enjoyed the meal. After paying, Namikaze Yoru took his leave under Might Duy's reluctant gaze.

Namikaze Yoru also felt he might have overdone it a little. He was afraid that if they kept talking, Might Duy would drag him out to "burn" through the night.

The next morning.

"378... 379... 380..."

Namikaze Yoru was woken by a strange sound. He opened the window and saw Might Duy sweating in front of his little house, doing squat after squat.

The villagers passing by all glanced over with strange looks, but Might Duy seemed not to care at all.

As soon as he saw Namikaze Yoru appear, Might Duy stopped and shouted excitedly:

"My dear friend! I thought about your words all night after I got home, and I finally understood what you meant! Youth needs to burn like this!"

"Huh?"

"Just like now! The looks people give me make a warm current surge through my chest. This is the power of my youth!"

"..."

Namikaze Yoru was speechless for a moment. As expected of the father of Konoha's Noble Green Beast—just a few casual words from him had somehow opened up all Might Duy's meridians.

And that so-called warm current of his—was he sure it wasn't just his blood rushing to his head and making his face burn with embarrassment?

There was no way Namikaze Yoru could go back to sleep now. He hastily washed up, then hurriedly dragged Might Duy away from his house, where he'd been happily continuing his "training" for all the neighbors to see, and took him to the Training Ground.

From sunrise to sunset, apart from stopping to eat a few rice balls Might Duy had brought along, the two trained for practically the entire day.

By the end, Namikaze Yoru felt as if every muscle in his body was howling.

This time, Might Duy didn't accept Namikaze Yoru's invitation to dinner. After a sincere farewell, he said they'd continue the next day and went off on his own.

Back home, Namikaze Yoru hurriedly stuffed some food into his empty stomach. Even his hands trembled uncontrollably as he washed up.

Days of "burning youth" like this continued for about half a month.

Then, one day at noon, news arrived.

Namikaze Yoru knew that the opportunity he'd been waiting for had finally come.

As the fighting at the front grew even fiercer, there were considerably fewer ninjas left in the village who could move about freely.

Rumors had it that Cloud Village, which had yet to join the war, was growing restless and had been making moves along the border.

The rumors spread further and further through the village, and villagers began to worry about the front lines.

Even as the victor of the First Shinobi World War, Konoha wasn't confident about taking on the Three Great Shinobi Villages head-on. And if Cloud Village joined the war, Mist Village probably wouldn't hesitate to take a big bite out of Konoha either.

The situation remained that way until Cloud Village sent a delegation of ninjas to Konoha. Only then did the Kage Building announce that Cloud Village had come to present a treaty and would join forces with Konoha to bring the current war to an end.

As allies arriving to present a treaty, the Cloud Village envoys received a warm welcome from many villagers.

Quite a few people even felt that the clouds of war hanging over the village would finally disperse after this visit.

Namikaze Yoru wasn't optimistic about it. After all, he knew the Third Shinobi World War would break out before long. If he had to describe the situation, he could only put it in the most awkward way possible:

"The war may end, but it probably won't end."

After saying that, Namikaze Yoru felt as if he'd awakened the wisdom of his past life once more. His scalp tingled a little; perhaps a new ability of his Uzumaki Constitution had awakened.

During this time, dark-skinned ninjas could often be seen on Konoha's streets, seemingly making the most of their visit to enjoy the local customs.

After finishing a day of training with Might Duy, Namikaze Yoru once again went to the Ninja Academy gates and accurately intercepted Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina as they came out.

"Brother Yoru!" they both said.

Ever since Namikaze Yoru returned from a mission, he always showed up at the Ninja Academy gates whenever he wanted ramen.

When Namikaze Minato saw his clansman, he knew Yoru was once again short a dinner companion. He sensibly followed him toward Ichiraku Ramen.

As for Kushina, she had already learned from Uzumaki Mito that the Land of Whirlpools had fallen. Since Namikaze Yoru carried the same aura as Uzumaki Mito, she felt quite close to him.

After accurately intercepting the two, Namikaze Yoru once again took them to Ichiraku Ramen.