Instant Cup Noodles

"So you called me over just to show me this thing?"

Sakuya, with his white hair and dead-fish eyes, crouched in front of the table, staring at the white cup alongside Tetsuya.

The cup was sealed with a lid.

"What do you know? Let me tell you, this is absolutely the greatest invention since Konoha was founded."

"Keep bragging. The greatest invention? This little cup? Careful you don't choke on that big talk."

Sakuya curled his lip. He didn't believe for a second that this was the greatest invention.

"What, you don't believe me? The cup isn't the point. It's what's inside. I'll show you right now."

Tetsuya peeled back the lid as he spoke, and Sakuya leaned closer for a look.

He discovered a block of noodles inside. It was just a block of noodles. What was there to brag about?

Then, under Sakuya's watchful gaze, Tetsuya poured some hot water he had prepared into the cup and replaced the lid.

Sakuya kept watching Tetsuya, determined to see just what this guy was up to.

Before long, he caught a familiar aroma.

"This is! This smells like your signature tonkotsu ramen!"

"Heh heh heh, just you watch!"

Once the time was up, Tetsuya opened the lid, stirred the cup noodles with chopsticks, and passed them to Sakuya.

"Ta-da! Chiba Brand Instant Cup Noodles."

"Is this... ramen?"

Sakuya looked at the ramen in the cup with some surprise.

The block of noodles that had been inside the cup had actually turned into ramen!

"Go on, try it. See how it tastes. This cup's on the house."

At Tetsuya's urging, Sakuya picked up the chopsticks and started eating.

The first bite tasted pretty good, seemingly not much different from what he usually ate in the shop.

After a few more bites, however, he realized there was still a slight difference.

One cup wasn't a particularly large serving, roughly equivalent to a medium bowl of ramen at the shop, and the flavor fell a little short.

But it wasn't all that much worse, and the most important thing was how convenient it was.

Just add boiling water, wait a little while, and it was ready to eat.

The cup made it easy to carry, too.

Just imagine: when he went out on missions in the future, he wouldn't have to gnaw on dry compressed rations or tasteless Soldier Pills anymore.

"Well? What do you think?"

"It tastes good, but it still falls a little short of the ramen in your shop."

"Well, of course. Ramen tastes best piping hot, fresh out of the pot."

Tetsuya smiled and continued.

"But these instant cup noodles are all about speed and convenience. Just add hot water and they're ready to eat. If you really have no hot water, you can even eat the noodle block dry, though it'll definitely taste worse that way. With these, you'll be able to enjoy delicious ramen even when you're out on missions."

Sakuya smiled.

"I didn't expect you to actually make ramen I could eat out in the field just because I mentioned it in passing. You really went to a lot of trouble."

"Oh, come on, I didn't make it just for you. I wanted to earn a little more money, too."

Tetsuya laughed as he spoke. He wasn't lying at all. He had been after the money from the moment he started working on this.

"Not bad. This idea really could make money. I think plenty of ninja would be happy to take some cup noodles along when they head out on missions."

"Right? That's what I think, too. I called you over today to hear your thoughts and see if anything needed improving. If there aren't any problems, I'm planning to start mass production."

Hearing that, Sakuya gave it some serious thought.

"I don't think there are any major problems. If I had to name something, it'd be this: is there only one flavor? People will probably get tired of it pretty easily if that's all they eat."

"There's nothing I can do about that for now. I've only developed this one classic flavor so far, but there'll definitely be more new flavors in the future."

"Then I have no other issues."

"Good. I'll get ready for mass production, then. Once the first batch is out, I'll need your help spreading the word. Sorry for the trouble."

"No problem."

With Sakuya's approval, Tetsuya officially began producing the cup noodles.

What, you wanted to know where he got the equipment to produce them? From the damn system's draws, of course.

It had dangled the cup noodle production process as bait while constantly raising the stakes, until it finally drained his wallet dry.

Now it was time to make some money and recover his losses.

He used ninjutsu to excavate a factory beneath the ramen shop and put all the cup noodle production machinery down there.

The machines supplied by the damn system could be powered by sealing his own chakra directly inside them.

The machinery started up, churning out a steady stream of cup noodles.

Chiba Cup Noodles officially went on sale.

Chiba Ramen was already extremely popular among Konoha's ninja, and with Hatake Sakuya helping spread the word, the first batch of cup noodles sold out completely.

It wasn't just ninja who came to buy them. Quite a few curious Konoha villagers joined in, too. After all, Tetsuya hadn't set the price very high for their debut.

"Boss Chiba, the great Jiraiya is here! Got any of those cup noodles left?"

After finishing a grueling day of training, Jiraiya came running over, making a racket.

"Oh, Jiraiya. Sorry, you're too late. They sold out at noon."

"What! They're sold out?"

Jiraiya looked utterly dejected. He had heard that Boss Chiba had released a kind of ramen you could eat just by adding hot water, and he had rushed back as soon as his training ended.

After all, while training at Mount Myōboku, he had nothing to eat but bugs every day, and it was making him miserable.

He had planned to buy plenty of cup noodles to eat while training at Mount Myōboku, so he wouldn't have to eat bugs anymore.

Who would have thought he'd arrive too late? Was he doomed to eat those disgusting bugs?

"Then, boss, could you tell me how you make those cup noodles?"

"You idiot, Jiraiya! You can't just go prying into someone else's trade secrets!"

Another familiar voice rang out. Tsunade walked into the shop and punched Jiraiya in the head.

"Tsunade, why did you hit me?"

"Because you're stupid."

"Don't be so hard on Jiraiya. After all, he's been the dead last since our academy days."

Orochimaru followed Tsunade into the shop.

"Oh, Orochimaru and Tsunade are here, too. Are you here to buy cup noodles as well?"

Orochimaru shook his head.

"No, I'm here for a bowl of ramen."

"I'm here for ramen, too, and to get a serving to take back for my great-uncle to try. He mentioned wanting to taste your ramen, but he's been so busy with work that he can't get away."

"Ah, Lord Second Hokage wants to try my ramen? I'm truly honored. Just a moment, I'll get started right away."