Ichiraku Ramen

Konoha at night, its Kurenai lanterns looked like pairs of sleepy eyes.

Ye Tian, having just broken through to the Qi Refining Fourth Level, dragged his body—so frail it seemed ready to fall apart at any moment—toward Ichiraku Ramen.

He felt the few coins in his pocket—the hard-earned pay he had scraped together from cat-catching missions, just enough to buy a ticket to carbohydrate heaven.

"Although the Qi Refining Fourth Level is still far from Grain Avoidance, this body is so depleted even rats would cry at the sight of it. I need something high-calorie."

When he lifted the noren curtain, the rich aroma of bone broth embraced him like an enthusiastic shut-in.

"Welcome!" Teuchi's booming voice was as loud as ever.

Inside, Iruka was fretting over the coins in his wallet, while Naruto beside him lay sprawled over the counter like a puddle of mud, half-dead as he muttered:

"That damned white-haired dead-fish eyes... using such a filthy taijutsu... Thousand Years of Death... my ass..."

Ye Tian found an empty seat two spots away from Naruto, his face as white as a freshly painted wall.

"Cough, cough... Good evening, Iruka-sensei. Uzumaki."

"Ah, Ye Tian." Iruka looked worried. "You look awful. You still came out for a late-night meal?"

Naruto suddenly lifted his head, half a noodle still hanging from his face. "Ye Tian! Listen to me! That Kakashi-sensei is a complete demon! He actually stabbed me with his fingers..."

"Ahem, I get it. It was a test." Ye Tian Dan-interrupted Naruto's complaint and turned to Teuchi.

"Uncle, one large bowl of tonkotsu. But no noodles."

The strainer in Teuchi's hand clattered into the pot. "No noodles? Then are you just drinking plain broth?"

"Let me finish." Ye Tian raised a pale finger and gestured. "Use the old stock that's been simmering for twelve hours. No noodles—replace them with ten soft-boiled eggs. Cook them for three minutes, with set whites and runny yolks. Finally, pile on the chopped scallions. No MSG."

The ramen shop instantly fell so quiet that a pin dropping would have been audible.

Naruto's mouth fell open, and his jaw nearly crashed into his noodle bowl. "Ten eggs? Ye Tian, are you trying to nourish yourself into a hen?"

Iruka also tried to dissuade him. "Ye Tian, eating like that will send your cholesterol through the roof. With your body..."

"You don't understand."

Ye Tian put on an air of enlightened superiority and slowly washed his chopsticks.

"Noodles are the essence of the five grains. They may keep you full, but they easily produce dampness and phlegm, obstructing my already impaired meridians. Bone broth is the essence of beasts and is best for nourishing marrow. Eggs are the source of supreme yang and can replenish vital essence. Scallions are pungent and open the orifices. This is called Root-Nourishing Essence-Building Soup, the life-saving medicine for someone as weak as me."

After Ye Tian rattled off that mystical theory, Teuchi was completely confused, but the terms sounded so advanced that he instinctively felt they were impressive.

"Coming right up! One Root-Nourishing Essence-Building Soup!"

Before long, a bowl piled with soft-boiled eggs like a pyramid was served. Bright green scallions covered the milky-white broth, and the fragrance drilled straight into his nostrils.

Ye Tian took a sip of the soup and felt the warmth slide down his throat, turning into threads of spiritual energy that nourished the meridians he had just broken through.

"Ah..."

He began dealing with the eggs at an unhurried pace. Every runny yolk that flowed down his throat made the spiritual energy within him a little more active.

Naruto watched until he kept swallowing saliva, and even the chashu in his hand suddenly seemed unappetizing.

"Hey, Big Brother Ye Tian." Naruto leaned closer, his eyes sparkling. "Um... Kakashi-sensei said my Chakra control is like a pile of crap. I want to focus, but my head is always a mess. Do you have a way to fix it?"

Ye Tian swallowed the last bite of egg and looked at the blond boy before him.

To his senses, Naruto was like a high-voltage electrical box with a short circuit. The Nine-Tails' violent Chakra was constantly battering his nerves. It would have been strange if his mind were not a mess.

"Naruto, this is fire poison attacking your heart." Ye Tian made it up on the spot, but his tone was exceptionally grave.

"Your temperament is like fire, and there's also a wicked fire running rampant inside you. If you don't suppress it, you'll spend your whole life as a dead last who crashes into everything."

"Fire poison? It's that serious?!" Naruto clutched his head in fright. "Then what should I do? I still want to become Hokage!"

"For the sake of us being in the same class, I'll teach you a secret family mantra for a sleeping divine art."

Ye Tian cleared his throat, quietly gathering a thread of Divine Sense at his fingertips and letting his voice resonate directly within Naruto's mind. It was actually just the Clear Mind Mantra, a beginner cultivation-world technique specifically meant to calm inner fire.

"Let your heart be clear as ice; though heaven collapses, remain unshaken. Amid endless change, stay steadfast; let spirit rejoice and breath grow still..."

The sixteen characters carried a strange rhythm, like a basin of ice water poured over Naruto's restless spiritual world.

Within his mental space, the Nine-Tails, which had been planning to come out and cause some trouble, suddenly felt a vast, chilly presence descend upon it. It involuntarily yawned, rested its head on its paws, and fell soundly asleep.

In reality, Naruto's whole body froze.

Ten seconds later, he abruptly opened his eyes. His previously unfocused pupils had become clearer than ever.

"So... so amazing! My head suddenly feels so refreshed! All those messy distracting thoughts are gone!"

Naruto excitedly hugged Ye Tian and shook him wildly. "Big Brother Ye Tian! You're practically a god!"

"Cough, cough... Let go... I'm falling apart..." Ye Tian rolled his eyes theatrically, pretending to be weak from overtaxing his Divine Sense. "This mantra takes a huge toll on the mind. I... can't hold on..."

"Sorry, sorry!" Naruto hurriedly released him, looking at Ye Tian as though he were his reborn parent.

"From now on, if anyone calls you a sickly weakling, I'll shove a shuriken up his ass!"

Iruka, watching from the side, was dumbfounded. He could sense that, in that instant, Naruto's usually restless Chakra had become extraordinarily docile.

"Just how many more surprises does this child Ye Tian have?"

"Alright, everyone go home."

Ye Tian paid, then slowly shuffled out of Ichiraku Ramen beneath Naruto's worshipful gaze.

Only after reaching the darkness did the smile at the corner of his mouth fully bloom.

"The seed has been planted. With this Clear Mind Mantra, Naruto will be my best shield."

He looked up at the moon, his gaze turning deep.

"Next comes tomorrow's C-rank mission. Ebisu, I hope you'll take me somewhere rich in spiritual energy. Don't make this trip a waste."