Foodie Anko

Three days later.

Deep within the Forest of Death.

A campfire crackled loudly, its flames illuminating two soot-smudged faces.

Guy sat cross-legged on the ground, his expression indescribably complicated.

As he looked at the thing skewered over the fire, the corner of his mouth twitched again and again.

A centipede.

A giant centipede.

Over three meters long.

Its reddish-brown shell had been roasted until it gleamed.

Its countless legs had been plucked off and tossed aside.

Yet the two rows of remaining leg sockets still made his scalp tingle.

"Are you sure..."

Guy spoke with difficulty.

"This thing is edible?"

Anko crouched on the other side of the fire, attentively turning the enormous centipede.

Hearing Guy's question, she did not even raise her head.

"Relax."

Her tone was utterly casual.

"I used to eat centipedes all the time. They're delicious."

"This one's just a little bigger. The markings are pretty much the same, so it's fine!"

Guy looked at her skeptically.

Then at the centipede.

The markings were similar?

Thinking back on the past three days, the doubts on Guy's lips turned into hesitation.

At noon on the first day, Guy had caught a wild rabbit.

He had still been figuring out how to skin it.

Anko had already cleaned the rabbit and put it over the fire.

The roasted rabbit was crisp on the outside and tender within. Guy had nearly chewed up the bones too.

That night, Anko caught three fish from the river.

Guy thought they would have an ordinary meal of grilled fish.

Instead, Anko pulled out a handful of unknown leaves and stuffed them into the fishes' bellies.

Then she covered the fish in mud, shaping it into a ball, and tossed it into the fire.

Guy had been completely dumbfounded.

"Th-This will work?"

Anko rolled her eyes.

"Just wait and eat."

Half an hour later, she cracked open the mud.

The scales peeled away along with the clay, revealing tender white fish.

That aroma—

Even now, Guy swallowed at the memory.

On the second day, Anko raided a bird's nest and took out six eggs.

Guy thought they would be roasted bird eggs, or perhaps normal boiled eggs.

Instead, Anko somehow found a handful of wild vegetables and mashed them up.

Then she found a smooth stone.

She mixed the vegetables with the egg liquid and used the stone as a pan.

What came out was a golden-yellow...

Egg pancake.

Yes, egg pancake.

Guy had been utterly shocked.

What kind of miracle girl was she?

She was clearly just an eight-year-old girl, so how were her wilderness survival skills even more maxed out than his?

When Anko heard that question, her expression had grown unusually awkward.

"I... I used to sneak out to play alone a lot. Then I'd play until I got hungry, and when I was hungry, I had to figure something out."

She paused, then added quietly.

"Besides, no one at home cared what I did."

Guy did not ask any more questions.

But he remembered that expression.

So for the past three days, he had been responsible for hunting and keeping watch.

Anko had been responsible for finding ingredients and cooking.

They worked together with the tacit understanding of partners who had known each other for years.

They had eaten nearly everything edible in the forest.

No, not everything. Not snakes.

Over the past three days, Anko had eaten anything.

Grasshoppers, scorpions, centipedes—she refused nothing.

Except snakes.

Even if it was a harmless snake as thin as a little finger, she would not even glance at it.

When Guy asked why, she could not explain it herself.

"I just don't like eating them. Seeing one kills my appetite."

That was what Anko had said.

In the original story, Mitaraishi Anko's teacher had been Orochimaru.

Anko had not met him yet.

But perhaps this was fate.

She was destined to meet that man.

But that was a matter for the future.

The only issue was—

"Are you really sure this centipede is okay?"

Guy glanced once more at the three-meter-long monster bug, oil constantly bubbling from its leg sockets.

He could not help confirming it again.

Anko finally raised her head and glared at him.

"You've asked that eight times already!"

"Because I'm seriously doubtful!"

"What's there to doubt?"

Anko pointed at the centipede and began explaining:

"Look at the markings. Reddish-brown stripes—this is a standard edible centipede. The poisonous kind is blackish-purple, and its markings are different too."

Guy froze for a moment.

"You actually studied this?"

Anko proudly raised her chin.

"Of course! What haven't I eaten?"

She began counting on her fingers.

"Grasshoppers, cicadas, dragonflies, silkworm pupae, bee pupae, ant eggs, bamboo worms, scorpions, centipedes..."

Guy's scalp went numb just listening.

"Stop, stop, stop. I believe you, okay?"

Anko gave a mischievous grin and pulled out a kunai.

She sliced off a golden, oil-dripping section of meat from the enormous centipede and handed it to Guy.

"Try it!"

Guy accepted it and stared at the chunk of meat.

The shell was roasted crisp, while the meat inside was tender and white, still steaming.

It smelled—

Honestly, it really smelled pretty good.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and took a bite.

"Crunch."

The shell burst apart in his mouth.

Then came the soft, tender meat, carrying a faint roasted fragrance and... an indescribable wild flavor.

Guy chewed twice, and his eyes lit up.

"How is it? How is it?" Anko leaned closer.

Guy said nothing and took another bite.

Chew.

Swallow.

Then he looked up.

"Delicious!"

Anko smiled so brightly that her eyes curved into crescents.

"I told you!"

Guy took another bite and spoke indistinctly as he chewed.

"Crunchy, tastes like chicken, and it's got at least a dozen times the protein of beef!"

Anko blinked.

"Tastes like chicken? It doesn't."

Guy coughed dryly and did not respond.

That was close. He had nearly exposed himself.

The two sat around the fire, taking one piece after another, and gnawed the three-meter-long giant bug completely clean.

After finishing the last piece, Guy licked his fingers, still wanting more.

"Is there any left?"

Anko rolled her eyes.

"A centipede over three meters long, and you ate two-thirds of it by yourself. You're still asking if there's more?"

Guy scratched his head and gave an embarrassed smile.

"Hehe, it was too good. I couldn't stop myself."

Anko curled her lip.

"Alright, alright. We'll find more tomorrow. There's plenty of good food in this forest."

As she spoke, she stood and stretched her limbs.

"But I need to get some sleep first. You take watch tonight."

Guy nodded, then added several pieces of firewood to the campfire.

The firelight flickered across his face.

It had been three days.

They had covered roughly half the journey.

In another two or three days, they would reach the Central Tower.

Yet aside from Anko, they had not encountered anyone else these past few days.

"I wonder how Kurenai and the others are doing."

Just as Guy was thinking that—

Boom!

A thunderous explosion erupted in the distance.

Guy abruptly sprang to his feet.

Anko poked her head out of the tree hollow, her hair a complete mess.

"What happened?!"

Guy did not answer. He stared toward the source of the sound.

That explosion—

No wild beast could have caused it.

It had been man-made.

"Someone's fighting!"

The two exchanged a glance.

"Let's go!"

Guy grabbed the large cleaver from the ground.

Anko snatched up her ninja tool pouch.

One after the other, the two figures quickly vanished into the night...