What Do You Want to Eat?

After receiving treatment, Kimimaro felt unwell and coughed twice. Realizing he looked rather pathetic, he frowned and forced himself to stop, though the blood spilling from the corner of his mouth already betrayed his physical condition.

Kimimaro felt immense resentment and dissatisfaction toward his own body.

"Kimimaro, if you want to live a little longer, it would be best not to use your abilities anymore," Orochimaru said, sounding concerned, though no emotion could be seen beneath those slit pupils.

Kimimaro did not sense the coldness, but hearing this made him feel as if he were about to be abandoned by Orochimaru. His eyes filled with panic. "Lord Orochimaru, I can still do it! You have no need for useless waste by your side; it is my honor to make a final contribution to you!"

Orochimaru's golden slit pupils stared straight at Kimimaro, lost in thought for a long moment before he said, "In that case, your abilities are temporarily sealed. You are not allowed to use them again without my permission!"

"But..."

"I have no need for disobedient tools," Orochimaru frowned and said coldly.

"Yes!" Kimimaro clenched his fists, then slowly let them go. He walked into the nutrient pod of his own accord. To think his only remaining use was this... what a piece of trash he was!

Orochimaru was not surprised by Kimimaro's choice, though he could only treat him as a one-time consumable now.

By this time, Orochimaru had already changed hideouts many times. He could feel that he was being watched, though he didn't know by whom. After thinking for a long time, the most likely culprit was the Akatsuki. Could it be that the Akatsuki organization was finally going to make a move on him?

But what kind of situation would make the Akatsuki temporarily abandon the Tailed Beasts to hunt him? Orochimaru pondered, beginning to recall the things he had done that might have drawn their attention. Could it be—the Impure World Reincarnation?

On the way to the Hokage building, Might Guy unexpectedly ran into Kakashi and immediately looked teary-eyed with excitement. "Kakashi, long time no see!!" As he spoke, he gave Kakashi a bear hug.

Kakashi wore a dead-fish eye expression, looking as if he had lost the will to live, but he smiled afterward. "Well, well, long time no see, Guy. What have you been up to lately?" The village had been so busy lately that even the genin were occupied, so it was true that he hadn't seen Guy in a while.

Guy regained his composure, let go, and said, "Probably helping with construction or something. There are suddenly a lot of children in the village. As for now, I just got back from investigating some news outside." Guy sighed as he spoke.

"Speaking of which, I haven't had much time to train Rock Lee and the others lately, but I believe in them! Young people should practice self-discipline; that is youth!! Kakashi!" Might Guy seemed to regain his energy, revealing his flashing, pearly white teeth.

"..." Kakashi offered a silent prayer for Neji and the others, then suddenly caught the main point. "Didn't you just say you returned from gathering intelligence? Have you reported it yet?"

Might Guy's expression stiffened. "Right! I have to report the mission first. See you next time, Kakashi!"

Kakashi waved his hand helplessly. He had also just received a mission; it was said that a strange fellow had appeared in the Land of Earth, suspected of possessing the Byakugan of Konoha. He had been assigned to investigate and needed to head to Iwagakure.

Meanwhile, over at Uzumaki Reikawa's side, Reikawa had spent the last few days teaching Naruto the methods and logic for his future training, either through explicit instruction or subtle hints.

As for using the Shadow Clone Technique for training, even if Sasuke knew the method, he couldn't compare to Naruto's terrifying speed of progress. Being able to create two clones for joint training was already his limit.

Furthermore, with the introduction of shadow clone training, Sasuke could clearly feel the improvement in Naruto's strength—it was changing almost day by day, which gave him a strong sense of crisis.

"When can we go out?" Sasuke asked, seeing that Uzumaki Reikawa was finally free.

"No rush." Uzumaki Reikawa was holding a pile of colored clay he'd bought to pass the time, molding something. If they went out now, they would likely be sensed by White Zetsu immediately.

His main body was still at the place where he had robbed Kakuzu and the others, dragging his feet under the guise of investigating the mysterious appearance of the Uzumaki Clan, using this to make arrangements for his previous plans. If he went out now, the only thing waiting for Uzumaki Reikawa would be a brawl with himself.

Sasuke had no way to deal with Uzumaki Reikawa's slacking off. Although he knew Uzumaki Reikawa was very strong, for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to feel any respect for this guy, and even felt he was a bit annoying...

Uzumaki Reikawa looked at the weird lump he had molded, doubted his life for a moment, and suddenly shoved it into Sasuke's hand. "A gift for you!"

After saying that, he flashed away and slipped off...

Sasuke looked at the lump in his hand. If he forced himself to admit it was a little person, he could only identify a head of spiky black hair and a fan crest, but the eyes were practically bulging out, and the mouth was a bright, red sausage mouth...

Sasuke stared at it for a while, then grew irritable. "Uzumaki Reikawa!!!"

Uzumaki Reikawa, completely unaware of this, had scurried over to the side of Naruto, who had just finished training and was lying on the ground resting. Sakura and Karin were there too. For Karin, she had quickly mastered the knowledge of the Ninja Academy and planned to apply for graduation tomorrow to become a Konoha genin.

As for the Kusagakure headband, she had long since thrown it away. In fact, in Kusagakure, aside from chakra refinement, they hadn't taught her anything to prevent her from rebelling. Promoting her to genin was merely because they valued the healing ability she brought—she was essentially a mobile medical kit.

When Karin saw Uzumaki Reikawa, her eyes lit up. She took out a handkerchief to wipe her glasses, put them back on, and confirmed she wasn't seeing things. "!! Big Brother Reikawa, you're back."

"Hm?! Don't you have to go to school today?" Uzumaki Reikawa was a bit surprised to run into Karin at this time.

"Hehe, I've pretty much mastered the school knowledge. The one at school is my clone; I snuck out. But I can become a genin tomorrow!" After saying that, she made a face asking for praise.

Uzumaki Reikawa was amused. To think she was a straight-A student—though that made sense, as she was someone Orochimaru had taken a fancy to. "Really?! Karin, you're amazing!"

Karin's face turned red, and her head felt dizzy.

After speaking, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Karin's smooth arm, and Uzumaki Reikawa immediately understood something. He walked over to Sakura and thanked her sincerely.

Sakura looked flustered and quickly waved her hands. "You don't have to be so polite. After all, we're all comrades, isn't this just helping each other out?"

Uzumaki Reikawa was stunned for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah, comrades. Then it's my treat today. Tell me whatever you want to eat."

Hearing this, Naruto, who had been lying on the ground exhausted, jumped up happily. "Really?! I want a deluxe extra-large Ichiraku Ramen!"

Just as Naruto finished speaking, Sasuke suddenly appeared behind Uzumaki Reikawa out of nowhere and threw several kunai at him.

As for the result, it was obvious: Uzumaki Reikawa didn't even turn his head, simply catching the kunai with a backhand motion. He didn't mind it at all and nodded at Naruto to indicate it was fine.

He put the kunai into his own pouch, having no intention of returning them, and turned to ask Sasuke, "And what do you want to eat?"

"...Stir-fried Uzumaki Reikawa."