"Teuchi! Good afternoon!" Naruko pulled out a stool and sat down with practiced ease, her voice cheerful. "Two bowls of the super-deluxe limited-edition seafood and chashu ramen, please! Large ones!"
"Oh! Naruko! Welcome, welcome!" Teuchi looked up from behind the counter, wearing his ever-present kindly smile. He greeted them warmly, his smile especially affectionate toward Naruko.
When his gaze passed over Sasuke, it held only the ordinary friendliness of a shopkeeper toward a regular customer. There was nothing unusual about it, much less the depth Sasuke remembered, which seemed capable of seeing straight through his soul.
Steam rose from the hot broth, carrying a rich, enticing aroma.
Before long, two large bowls of noodles in rich, milky-white broth arrived, piled with thick slices of chashu, fresh shrimp, shellfish, and other generous toppings.
Sasuke ate his noodles in small bites while cautiously watching Teuchi's every move out of the corner of his eye.
The man simply bustled about cheerfully, occasionally exchanging a few words with regular customers. He was nothing more than an ordinary ramen shop owner with excellent cooking skills.
It looked like Ichiraku Ramen in this timeline had returned to normal, too.
Sasuke silently breathed a sigh of relief, his taut nerves finally relaxing.
Perhaps that warning only existed at that chaotic point in his original timeline? Or perhaps it really had been nothing more than an all-too-realistic dream?
Whatever the case, the steaming, delicious bowl of Ichiraku Ramen before him was real, as was Naruko across from him, eating with satisfaction written all over her face and beads of sweat on the tip of her nose.
However, his relaxed mood did not last long.
As the warm food filled his stomach, another, more practical and pressing question rose in his mind.
How would he grow stronger from now