"Business is slow. What should I do?"
Tetsuya sat cross-legged on his bed, looking over his earnings from the past few days.
He used to earn at least two thousand a day, but over the past three days, he had only made a little over three thousand in total.
That was less than a single day's earnings at his peak.
"Sigh! I need another way to make money. At least until there are more Ninjas in Konoha, my income probably won't improve much."
If he didn't find a way to increase his income, it would affect his card draws. If he drew cards less often, he would grow stronger more slowly.
How could he accept that? He still wasn't strong enough to roam the Shinobi World unchallenged.
But after thinking it over, there didn't seem to be any other way to make money. Surely he couldn't actually take on missions himself.
That wouldn't work. He wasn't a Ninja, so he couldn't take missions even if he wanted to.
"Sigh! Forget it. I'll just take my time. Time is the one thing I have plenty of, anyway."
Thinking it over, he put the money away and lay down on the bed. Tetsuya crossed his legs.
"Tsk, no, this won't do. I can't keep drifting along like this. Maybe I should branch out into something else?"
But aside from making ramen, what else could he do?
Tetsuya sank into thought, and as he pondered, he drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning, Tetsuya got up and headed to the shop. Quite a few Ninjas chose to have ramen at his shop for breakfast.
"Whew! Boss, one Tonkotsu Ramen."
"Sakuya, long time no see! You're still alive!"
Seeing that familiar white hair, Tetsuya felt both pleasantly surprised and a little startled.
After all, the war was over, and he had already seen plenty of familiar Ninjas around the village. Sakuya was the only one he hadn't seen.
He had instinctively assumed Sakuya had fallen on the battlefield.
Sakuya, who had long since become quite familiar with Tetsuya, smiled.
"What, were you really hoping I wouldn't make it back?"
"Of course not. I'm still counting on you to spend more money here."
"One Tonkotsu Ramen, right? I'll get it ready."
"Hurry up. Seriously, I've been craving your ramen for ages. You have no idea what I've been living on."
"Just a moment. I'll be as quick as I can."
Tetsuya called back, then went into the kitchen and got to work.
Before long, he came out carrying a steaming bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen.
"Here's your Tonkotsu Ramen. Enjoy. It's fresh off the stove, so it's a little hot."
"It's fine, it's fine. What kind of Ninja would I be if I were afraid of a little heat?"
Sakuya paid no attention to the piping-hot noodles and dug in, taking big mouthfuls.
Tetsuya sat down nearby and asked curiously.
"What happened to you, exactly? What did you go through? You look like a starving ghost reborn."
"Ah, don't even get me started."
Sakuya waved a hand and took several more bites before answering.
"I was out on a mission. The war might be over, but we can't let border security slip in the slightest. I took a team out to patrol the border.
"You have no idea how awful the conditions were. It was either Soldier Pills or a stew made from whatever dry rations we had."
"Were things really that rough? Wasn't there any wild game? With your skills, catching a rabbit or a fish should have been easy."
"Don't get me started. Even if we caught something, we had no seasonings. How good do you think it tastes just roasted plain?"
Tetsuya smiled at Sakuya's words.
"You're right. Plain roasted meat has its own flavor, but I couldn't stand eating it all the time either."
"Whew!"
After taking a big gulp of hot broth, Sakuya sighed.
"If only I could have some of your ramen while I was out on missions. That would be wonderful."
"Haha, dream on. I can't exactly deliver takeout to you while you're on a mission."
"Hahaha, true."
Sakuya slurped up another big mouthful of noodles.
"It's a shame you're not a Ninja. If you were, even if you were only a Genin, I'd find a way to get you onto my team."
"Let's not. I'm not cut out to be a Ninja."
"Ah, I was just saying. With cooking skills like yours, becoming a Ninja would be a waste."
Once Sakuya had eaten and drunk his fill, he let out a long breath.
"That really hit the spot. It's been so long since I've had anything this good."
Tetsuya spoke as he cleared the table.
"Now that you're back, you won't be heading out again for a while, right? While you're off duty, just come by whenever you feel like eating."
"You're right. I need to come by a few more times over the next few days. Once I'm out on another mission, I won't be able to have any."
After Sakuya left, Tetsuya sat behind the counter and began thinking.
"Oh, right! Couldn't I look into making instant noodles? If I made instant noodles or Cup Noodles, wouldn't they sell like crazy?"
Although Naruto often ate cup noodles in the original story, Konoha didn't have those kinds of instant foods yet.
So couldn't he do something with that? Develop Instant Ramen in a cup?
He felt there would be a strong market for it. After all, Ninjas didn't eat well when they went out on missions.
If he really managed to make Cup Noodles, sales might be surprisingly good.
Tetsuya immediately put the idea into action, turning and walking into the kitchen to figure out how to make instant noodles.
With ninjutsu to help him, making instant noodles really wouldn't be that difficult.
The only thing he needed to watch out for was how to make them convenient while still preserving their original flavor.
Over the following days, Tetsuya had his Shadow Clone help make ramen and serve the customers.
Meanwhile, he stayed in the kitchen, researching Cup Noodles.
"Boss Chiba, I, Lord Jiraiya, am back again!"
A familiar voice rang out.
Tetsuya stopped what he was doing.
Although he usually left most of the work of serving customers to his Shadow Clone, he still chose to attend to certain special people himself.
"Welcome, Lord Hiruzen Sarutobi."
Coming out of the kitchen, Tetsuya saw someone whose presence surprised him a little.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Second Hokage's student and bodyguard, the future Third Hokage, and the teacher of Jiraiya and his two teammates.
Although he was nominally only the Second Hokage's bodyguard, Hiruzen Sarutobi also helped Tobirama handle various other matters, so he held a fairly high position in Konoha.
Hiruzen Sarutobi greeted him with a friendly smile.
"Hello, Boss Chiba. Jiraiya and the others told me your ramen is quite delicious, so I came over. I hope I'm not troubling you."
"Not at all. Your visit is an honor for our little shop, Lord Hiruzen Sarutobi."
That was what Tetsuya said, but inwardly, he had begun to entertain other suspicions.
Why is he here? Is he here on someone's behalf? Tobirama's?
Has someone noticed something? I shouldn't have given anything away, should I?
There's nothing wrong with the Chakra seal, and my Shadow Clone hasn't had much contact with anyone either.
Could he really just be here for ramen?
Before you continue