About Food

Kabuto finally snapped back to reality. Feeling the kunai leave his throat, he instinctively reached up, only to feel a faint sting as a trickle of warm blood flowed down.

He touched his neck and looked at Uchiha Gen standing nearby. Genjutsu?

Kabuto instinctively licked the blood off his hand. His dormant heart began to thump, beating faster and faster. His expression turned eerie, and the white light reflecting off his glasses obscured his eyes. He parted his lips as if smiling.

Orochimaru glanced at him and said, "Kabuto, control your emotions. Since he can act independently, arrange an identity for him."

Kabuto snapped out of it. He realized he had indeed been getting a bit carried away lately. At this thought, he immediately reined in his expression, bowed slightly to Orochimaru, and said respectfully, "Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

"By the way, what do you think about having him serve as the lead Jonin for this exam?" Thinking of the expression Sarutobi Hiruzen would have when he saw this Uchiha, Orochimaru wore a mischievous smile. Although it wouldn't be as surprising as the First or Second Hokage, scaring them a little before the main event began would be delightful.

Kabuto lowered his head slightly, the reflection on his lenses making his eyes unreadable. "Whatever you command, Lord Orochimaru." With that, seeing that Orochimaru had nothing else to say, Kabuto signaled for Uchiha Gen to follow. However, after what just happened, he instinctively maintained a "safe distance."

As for the battle, Orochimaru had seen it all. In his eyes, Kabuto had merely bound a rock next to Uchiha Gen and blown it to pieces, while Uchiha Gen had used the Body Flicker Technique to hold a kunai to Kabuto's throat. Another Uchiha skilled in genjutsu? What a pity about those Sharingan; if they were real...

The speed at which Uchiha Gen had placed the kunai against Kabuto's throat hadn't been fast to Orochimaru. If he had wanted to, he could have saved Kabuto without waiting until the last second.

At this thought, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. Kabuto has been getting too arrogant lately. This was just a small warning for him.

On the other side, Uchiha Gen looked at the identity documents Kabuto had given him and touched the human-skin mask Orochimaru had disguised him with. It still lacked any tactile sensation. Since he was an Impure World Reincarnation body and already dead, he couldn't be bothered to feel disgusted. Of course, he had to admire his own adaptability—perhaps it was due to his lack of sensory input?

At this moment, Uchiha Gen's attire consisted of short, spiky black hair and black pupils. This face had no special features; it was completely ordinary, looking like a young, nameless passerby.

He looked at his forehead protector and finally decided to tie it around his left arm. As everyone knew, forehead protectors weren't for protection; they were just accessories.

Now that the threat of being controlled at any moment as an Impure World Reincarnation body could be lifted, Uchiha Gen began to think about how to extract other benefits from Orochimaru before slipping away. After all, he was a famous scientist in the ninja world; it would be even better if he could get his hands on the experimental data for the Impure World Reincarnation, though he knew that was impossible.

Uchiha Gen, originally named Ye Yuan, didn't know how he had arrived here. His last memory before transmigrating was helping a child find his parents. But in this situation... emmm, he hoped that child would meet a good person. As for his personality: a drama queen with a mild case of persecutory delusion.

Name: Uchiha Gen (Ye Yuan) Gender: Male Age: 20 Race: Human Bloodline: Uchiha Mental State: ? Skills: Great Fireball, Phoenix Sage Fire, Majestic Destroyer Flame, Shuriken Jutsu, Genjutsu (?), Body Flicker Technique, Three Body Technique.

Regarding the recent battle—if it could even be called that—Uchiha Gen didn't understand the reason behind it. If he had to ask, it felt like instinct. The system panel had listed his various information, and after knowing these things, Uchiha Gen could use them naturally just by thinking about it. There was no awkwardness; it was like sliding along a fixed track, where any deviation was subconsciously corrected.

The only thing that puzzled him was the Impure World Reincarnation. Wasn't it the soul that was reincarnated? Why was he an Uchiha when he was summoned? Did this count as a soul-transmigration within a soul? What happened to the original soul?

Sensing someone approaching, he set these questions aside. He looked at the three Sound Ninjas—two men and one woman—in front of him and nodded slightly as a greeting. At the same time, a thought stirred: Are these the three? It seems the timeline is the Chunin Exams.

The three looked at Uchiha Gen, disappointed by his plain face. "You're the one Lord Orochimaru sent to lead us?" Zaku Abumi crossed his arms. Although he didn't say it explicitly, it was obvious he was very dissatisfied with Uchiha Gen's arrival, and his words carried a hint of provocation.

The other two shared similar thoughts and did not stop Zaku Abumi.

However, Uchiha Gen chose to ignore them directly. He didn't intend to say much; as long as they didn't provoke him, he had no desire to slap anyone in the face. Bullying kids was something only that guy Orochimaru did often.

If nothing went wrong, there was nothing to say to someone who was already dead and someone who was about to die. They were already miserable enough, so everyone should just be happy. At most, if he were reincarnated later, he'd just say, "Yo, what a coincidence, you kicked the bucket too."

Seeing that Uchiha Gen ignored him completely, Zaku Abumi couldn't do anything. He didn't want to defy Orochimaru's orders.

The other two saw this and temporarily gave up on the idea of testing Uchiha Gen's strength. Originally, Lord Orochimaru was supposed to lead them, but because of this sudden appearance, he had replaced Lord Orochimaru, leaving them with a sour taste in their mouths.

Ignoring their petty thoughts—they were just unlucky kids, and Uchiha Gen was quite tolerant of them—he gave a simple self-introduction: "Jiya, Jonin, skilled in genjutsu, likes..."

He originally wanted to say he liked eating, but it was unnecessary. Besides, in his current state, he couldn't taste anything even if he ate dirt. "Likes to walk around."

The three replied half-heartedly.

"Zaku Abumi."

"Dosu Kinata."

"Kin Tsuchi."

Both sides fell silent. As the oldest in the group, Dosu Kinata felt the atmosphere was a bit stiff and took the initiative to speak: "We have no issues with you, it's just..."

Uchiha Gen interrupted him with a nod. "I know."

"..." Dosu Kinata felt the rest of his sentence stuck in his throat, feeling very annoyed, but then he thought of something and just sighed silently to himself.

The reason Uchiha Gen interrupted Dosu Kinata so rudely was mainly because he was still thinking about things, such as—how to get rid of that "system" thing in his head.

...After a few days of unpleasant company, they finally set off for Konoha. The journey was silent. By the time they reached their destination, Uchiha Gen noticed that the three behind him looked disheveled, yet they were struggling to maintain their composure, not wanting him to notice.

Only then did Uchiha Gen remember that he was an Impure World Reincarnation body and didn't need rest or food, but the three behind him were still alive and required both. However, he expressed no apology for this.

After completing the various procedures and being arranged in the rest area by the Konoha staff, Uchiha Gen watched the three collapse onto the tatami mats to rest and eat. Standing there doing nothing didn't feel right, so he decided to go out for a stroll. After all, this was Naruto, a show he had watched since he was a child; it was impossible not to be curious.

After Uchiha Gen left, Zaku Abumi began to complain, "What was that guy's problem?!"

Dosu Kinata took a deep breath, forcing himself to hold back. After all, they were teammates, even if this guy wasn't very bright. "He meant for you to behave yourself. Zaku, are you questioning Lord Orochimaru's decision?!"

"! No!" Zaku Abumi panicked at the mention of Orochimaru, but he finally seemed to understand and said nothing more... Dosu Kinata put down his bowl and chopsticks, feeling like he was playing the role of an old father.

Kin Tsuchi chose to stay out of it, considering herself the weakest in the team and deciding it was best to just follow the main group.

As an outsider ninja, the moment Uchiha Gen stepped outside, he felt two gazes land upon him.

He turned a blind eye to the Anbu following him; he had no intention of doing anything untoward anyway. As he strolled slowly toward the central district, the trailing Anbu grew somewhat nervous, debating whether they should prevent Uchiha Gen from entering further. However, Uchiha Gen had not committed any outrageous acts thus far, and as the leader of the Five Great Nations, they didn't need to treat a mere Jonin like a major threat.

On the street, Uchiha Gen maintained a polite smile as he stopped a passerby to ask for directions to Ichiraku Ramen. Although he didn't need to eat, he wanted to visit out of a sense of novelty and to maintain his cover.

As for those 100,000 ryo, he already had a plan. Uchiha Gen had no intention of going against the System for the time being. Knowing the plot, earning money was quite easy. Whether he could strike it rich depended on this Chunin Exams; the betting pools set up by wealthy individuals outside were essentially his personal piggy banks.

"Hello, one Ichiraku Ramen to go..."

"Coming right up!"

"This, this, and some grilled meat to go as well..."

"You've got a good eye!"

"And a skewer of dango."

After finishing his stroll, Uchiha Gen returned with his hands full of bags, and the Anbu responsible for monitoring him finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Uchiha Gen looked at the ramen, dango, and skewers in his hands, and suddenly felt a bit teary-eyed. He had tasted a bit of everything, but alas, he couldn't taste a thing. Forget it, he would just bring them to those three unlucky kids.

He pushed the door open and said with a sudden shift from his usual cold demeanor to a warm, enthusiastic tone, "Put down those rice balls, I brought you guys something good!"

Zaku Abumi and Kin Tsuchi exchanged confused glances, unable to figure out what kind of medicine Uchiha Gen was selling in his gourd.

Since they hadn't rested at all during the journey, they had assumed it was a show of force from Uchiha Gen. They had also witnessed his strength from another perspective; the fact that he hadn't even stopped to catch his breath after such a long trek was proof enough of his capabilities.

Dosu Kinata pondered for a moment, looked at the food, and casually picked up a dango to eat. "The taste is not bad."

Uchiha Gen's heart was bleeding, but he kept a relaxed smile on his face. "Of course it is."

Seeing this, Zaku Abumi and Kin Tsuchi also came to the table, knelt down, and began to eat slowly.

Dosu Kinata signaled with his one visible eye, but Uchiha Gen pretended not to see it. There was no special situation; he simply couldn't eat the food himself but wanted to buy it, so he was just having them help him finish it.

However, this maneuver left Dosu Kinata bewildered, and he began to doubt himself. Was he overthinking things? At the same time, he started to wonder if this Jonin was suffering from schizophrenia.

The three of them sat on pins and needles throughout the meal, mainly because Jiya's behavior was so bizarre. He acted like a doting father, refusing to eat himself while constantly asking them how the food tasted and if they liked it. If not for the fact that they served Lord Orochimaru, they would have almost suspected the food was poisoned. The "keep away" attitude Jiya had displayed earlier felt like a complete hallucination.