Guiding Teacher

After confirming that there were no survivors left in the bandit stronghold, Yuun retrieved all his shuriken. Though they were not worth much, he had grown accustomed to collecting them. At the very least, it ensured he would not be short on ninja tools if something unexpected happened.

After completing the mission, Yuun casually cut off the heads of several particularly vicious-looking bandits, sealed them in a scroll, and brought them back as proof of completion. This group of bandits was poor—at least, that was how Yuun saw it. Otherwise, they would not have become bandits in the first place. After the blaze, even if there had been anything valuable, it was gone now. Having failed to earn any extra money, Yuun hurried back to Konoha overnight. He knew it was an unwise decision, but with people protecting him from behind and his heart genuinely feeling a little miserable, he did not care much. Traveling at full speed, he returned to Konoha before noon, taking only half the time he normally would have.

When he turned in the mission, he learned that he was the first to return. Itachi and Hana, who had been escorting a merchant caravan and hunting beasts, had yet to come back. With a belly full of complaints and no one to vent to, Yuun did not want to trouble Hizashi over such a trivial matter. In his irritation, he ran to the small plaza atop Hokage Rock to practice the Gentle Fist. Didn't the protagonists in novels always practice under circumstances like these and then achieve a breakthrough? With that thought in mind, Yuun stubbornly practiced the Gentle Fist in the wind for an entire afternoon. Unfortunately, let alone a breakthrough or insight, the more he practiced, the more irritated he became. Several times, he could not even perform the Thirty-Two Palms, which he had already mastered. In the end, he had no choice but to give up.

No matter what, after venting through an afternoon of practice, Yuun felt much better. However, he had not had a drop of food or water all day and was rather hungry, so he could only head out to see what might fill his stomach. By chance, Yuun really did find a small shop he had never seen before. It truly was tiny; in his previous life, it would have been no more than a roadside stall—Ichiraku Ramen.

Although this ramen shop had been the favorite place of that protagonist known as the Crown Prince in his previous life, Yuun did not hold much expectation for it. People went where they belonged. Naruto Uzumaki, when all was said and done, had been a poor nobody who could only live on welfare, not even worthy of being called a loser. What good food could a place favored by someone like that possibly have?

Still, having transmigrated into the world of Naruto, how could he not visit Ichiraku Ramen? Even if he knew it would probably be disappointing, he had to try it.

Lifting the cloth curtain, the first thing he saw was a row of counters that also served as dining tables, followed by the younger version of the ramen shop owner.

"Welcome." The owner, who had been making ramen, spotted a customer and called out. "What would you like?"

Yuun did not answer immediately. He looked around. At dusk, the little shop was doing fairly well; besides him, there were four other people eating.

"One seafood ramen." After glancing at the menu, Yuun casually ordered a bowl.

Though the owner was a little curious about Yuun's eyes, he was not overly interested. There were simply too many strange people in Konoha: a white-haired man who wore a mask all day yet could somehow still eat and drink tea normally, a fat man who liked wearing underwear on his head, a pervert obsessed with green bodysuits, dog lovers who carried dogs around all day... Konoha had produced oddballs since ancient times.

Although the shop was small, its ramen portions were quite generous. Perhaps because he had been hungry all day, Yuun thought it tasted alright. Of course, "alright" was all it was. It completely failed to live up to its great reputation.

After finishing his ramen, Yuun paid as usual and left. The owner had no intention of treating him to a free meal or giving him another bowl. Thinking about it, that made sense. It was such a small shop, its prices were already cheap, and business was only average. If the owner gave everyone a free meal, then even if he were some sort of food ninja, he would have gone bankrupt and closed up long ago.

After returning home, Yuun quickly washed up, dried his hair, and collapsed into bed. The two-day, one-night mission had truly exhausted him in both body and mind, not to mention that after returning to the village, he had gone mad and practiced the Gentle Fist for an entire afternoon. Although practicing the Gentle Fist was not as tiring as the Strong Fist, he could not withstand such reckless abuse. Feeling as if every bone in his body had fallen apart, he quickly drifted into dreamland. He slept until well into the morning, even missing his routine morning training.

"I've really let myself go." Yuun lay on the table in frustration. Hana, who had returned overnight, had ruthlessly mocked him for oversleeping.

"Yuun, how did your mission go?" Itachi was the last of the three to return. It was not that he had been slow; his mission had been to escort a merchant caravan, so he could only move along with it. Returning in two days was already fast enough to surprise Yuun. Deducting Itachi's return journey, the caravan had actually traveled for only one day. Was that a joke? How far could a merchant caravan possibly travel in a single day? It probably could not even circle Konoha three times.

"It's already complete." Yuun could not suppress his curiosity. "How did you get back so quickly? I remember your mission was supposed to last seven days."

"The caravan was robbed, so I could only return first with a letter from the client." Itachi's expression was grave. "Given the special circumstances, the client was willing to count the mission as completed."

"Robbed? Could it have been ninja?" Yuun found it hard to believe. He had been followed by four Hyuga Clan members who were at least Chunin, and Itachi was surely no exception. Although he had not awakened the Sharingan yet, as the clan head's son, his status was probably no lower than Yuun's. Would Konoha simply ignore a force equivalent to at least four Chunin appearing so close to the village?

"No, they were only ordinary bandits." Seeing Yuun's disbelief, Itachi frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "Things aren't as you think. Since the village did not pursue the matter, don't concern yourself with it."

"Alright." Yuun shrugged. Honestly, if the person involved had not been Itachi, he would not have cared. He casually changed the subject. "Who do you think our guiding teacher will be?"

"I heard he's the head of the Aburame Clan's current generation." Itachi thought for a moment. "He seems to be a rather famous insect controller."

"Insects?" Hana, who had been quietly listening to Yuun and Itachi talk, could not help crying out. "You don't mean he can control cockroaches and rats or something, right? Don't tell me he's some disgusting old man?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not some disgusting old man." Before Yuun or Itachi could answer, a somewhat muffled male voice came from beside them. The three abruptly turned their heads in unison, only to see a man wearing dark glasses, a high-collared trench coat, and a large jar on his back. "And rats aren't insects..."

"May I ask who you are?" Itachi was the first to speak.

"If I'm not mistaken, then I am your guiding teacher." The man in dark glasses spoke in a muffled voice. "I'm Shibi Aburame, twenty-six years old, and not a disgusting old man."

"I'm done for. He's holding a grudge..." Hana wailed softly.