Night fell. In this ninja world with barely any nighttime entertainment, the streets had long since emptied, leaving only ninja on their routine patrols.
Every household had turned out the lights and gone to bed early. The only entertainment left was making babies.
In the Hokage Office, however, Tobirama, the Second Hokage, was still reviewing documents. After all, every matter in the village, great or small, landed on his desk as Hokage.
Before he fell, he hoped to do more for the village.
Unfortunately, not everyone understood him. So many pairs of eyes watched him, waiting for him to die so they could carve up the power in his hands.
"Granduncle."
A bright, clear voice rang out as Tsunade pushed open the door to the Hokage Office and walked in carrying a food box.
"Oh, little Tsuna. Why did you come to see me instead of getting some rest?"
"Hehe, you said before that you wanted to try the Chiba Clan's ramen too, didn't you? I came to bring you some."
"You brought me ramen? Hahaha."
Hearing that Tsunade was looking out for him, Tobirama laughed.
"Our little Tsunade is growing up. You know how to look after your granduncle now. I only mentioned in passing that I wanted to try their ramen. I never expected you to actually bring me some."
"Of course the younger generation should look after their elders. Granduncle, eat it while it's hot."
Tsunade placed the food box on Tobirama Senju's desk.
"His ramen is really good. I just brought some to Grandma, and she loved it too."
"Oh, you brought Sister-in-law a portion too? You really have grown up, Tsunade."
Tsunade sat obediently beside Tobirama.
"Well, not really. I actually only bought one portion. Boss Chiba gave me the other one. When he heard I wanted to bring some for you to try, he gave me a special deal—buy one, get one free—and told me to take a portion to Grandma too."
Tobirama opened the food box, and the aroma of ramen instantly filled the Hokage Office.
Tobirama nodded approvingly.
"That young man from the Chiba Clan is thoughtful. It seems he still cares about our Senju Clan."
"The Chiba Clan? Is that Mr. Chiba's family?"
Tsunade became interested in the Chiba Clan. She knew that her own Senju Clan was one of the village's great clans, and that many other clans had once been their vassals.
But she really had no recollection of the Chiba Clan.
"Yes, the Chiba Clan. He's the only one left."
"Huh? Really? Granduncle, can you tell me about the Chiba Clan? How did they end up with only one person left?"
"When it comes down to it, we Senju failed the Chiba Clan."
Tobirama sighed and began telling Tsunade about the past.
After hearing the Chiba Clan's story, Tsunade was astonished.
"Every member of the Chiba Clan was a ninja, and they all died for us Senju and for the village! Only Mr. Chiba, who had no talent as a ninja, survived. The one they once called useless ended up being the only person left to carry on the Chiba Clan."
"Yes. The members of the Chiba Clan were all fine people, including that Chiba lad today."
As he spoke, Tobirama tried a mouthful of ramen.
It tasted surprisingly good. Although it was takeout and the noodles had been soaking in the broth for a long time, they were still unexpectedly springy.
The noodles had absorbed the flavor of the broth, making them even more fragrant.
The toppings were prepared just right as well. They enhanced the ramen without overpowering its main flavor.
"Good. That Chiba lad really does have genuine skill. With cooking like this, I'm sure he can live comfortably in the village."
"Of course! Granduncle, you have no idea. Boss Chiba's business is absolutely one of a kind in the village. He's even developed Instant Ramen. You just soak it in hot water and it's ready to eat. It's so convenient."
"Oh, is that so?"
Hearing about Instant Ramen set Tobirama's mind racing. His first thought was whether ninja could use it on missions.
After thinking it over carefully, it did not seem all that useful.
It might come in handy on patrol missions, allowing ninja to have a hot meal when lighting a fire was inconvenient.
Still, for people who disliked cooking over a fire, or simply could not cook, it was certainly a good option.
Naruto: Long live Instant Ramen!
Tsunade told Tobirama about Instant Ramen, then moved on to that idiot Jiraiya, before talking about their training and other things.
The two chatted away, wandering from one topic to another.
Meanwhile, at Chiba Tetsuya's home.
Tetsuya sat on his bed, just about to meditate and connect with the energy of heaven and earth to practice Senjutsu.
[My dear master, have you missed me these past few days?]
Seeing the damn system pop up on its own, Tetsuya could not help sneering.
"Heh. Miss you? Of course I missed you. I missed you to death—why don't you just die already! Last time, you cleaned out my savings and gave me a pile of random, useless junk. And you still have the nerve to show up!"
[Oh, come on, calm down, my dear master. How could I ever scam you? Your luck was just a teensy bit bad, okay?]
"Like hell! Fine, maybe my luck was bad. But why the fuck did you split one set of Cup Noodles production equipment into five parts! What is this, drawing ninja fragments? Why not break the machine into forty pieces, or even a hundred, and make me a High Recruitment Pool to pull from!"
[Oh, come now, calm down, calm down. What else could I do? Was that just one piece of production equipment? What I prepared for you, my dear master, was an entire production line! From making the cups for Cup Noodles to the final sealing, it handles the whole process, doesn't it? Please be understanding. I have it hard too.]
If he could have gotten his hands on that wretched mutt, Tetsuya would have loved to strangle him.
He could not help it. The mutt was simply too obnoxious, especially with that husky face. It made him want to string him up and whip him.
"What do you want this time? I'm telling you now, I have no plans to pull anything for the time being. What I already have will keep me occupied for a while."
[Oh, listen to you. You're my host, my dearest loved one, my most, most, most, most respected master. Can't I come out just to see you?]
"Heh. Keep talking. No matter how fancy you make your bullshit sound today, I'm not topping up to pull anything."
Tetsuya had pretty much figured out how this fellow operated. Whenever he had spare cash, the fellow would pop up and sweet-talk him into all kinds of draws, bleed his wallet dry, then walk away without a care.
[How could you think that of me? Am I that sort of person?]
"You're not a fucking person. You're a dog, and the most unreliable husky at that."
[...]
"Stop beating around the bush. Tell me what you want."
[Well, um, here's the thing, master. Didn't you want to resurrect people before? I've prepared a special reward for you.]
As he spoke, an interface almost identical to Naruto Mobile's High Recruitment Screen appeared before Tetsuya's eyes.
[Here, take a look. What do you think of this?]
"Wait, you actually fucking made a High Recruitment Pool!"
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