Teuchi, is your mouth coated in poison?

"How are you going to deal with these two?"

Izuna watched Tetsuya toy with the two Land of Lightning ninja using genjutsu, unable to quite understand what he was thinking.

Since they had already gotten the information they needed from these two, they could simply kill them. What was the point of keeping them around?

"How? Send them back, of course."

"Send them back?"

At those words, Izuna instinctively asked again.

"You want to send them back as double agents?"

"Exactly. Don't you think that sounds fun?"

Looking at the two Land of Lightning ninja before him, Tetsuya suddenly found them rather endearing.

With these two around, his otherwise dull days should become a little more entertaining.

As he spoke, something suddenly occurred to him, and he looked up at Izuna.

"Right, if we control them with genjutsu, will anyone notice?"

"Heh. Are you underestimating the Uchiha Clan's genjutsu?"

Izuna gave the Uchiha Clan's signature sneer.

"Unless they encounter a ninja well versed in genjutsu, ordinary people won't notice anything wrong with our clan's genjutsu.

And as far as I know, none of those meatheads in Kumogakure specialize in it."

"Really? Then plant a suggestion in these two. Tell them they've uncovered the truth, and that I'm just an ordinary man who couldn't even hurt a fly.

Then have them find opportunities to report to me about whatever that Okai fellow does, along with any developments in the Land of Lightning."

Although Izuna had no idea what Tetsuya was trying to do, he still placed the two under genjutsu, then returned them to the rooftop.

A cold wind blew past, and the two ninja under his genjutsu immediately woke up.

"Let's go. We've finished investigating, so we should head back."

"Right."

Neither suspected a thing. After all, the Sharingan really was an absurdly overpowered existence in the Ninja World.

What was more, the one who had placed them under genjutsu was Uchiha Izuna, the Uchiha's second-in-command during the Warring States era, a Mangekyō wielder known as a ninja without a single weakness.

Life seemed to settle down just like that.

Izuna's genjutsu was extremely reliable. Every so often, those two idiots under his control would send information through various special methods.

Unfortunately, the information was decidedly boring, consisting entirely of trivial details.

When those two fools kept sending useless reports so frequently—such as what color panties Okai had worn that day, or whether Okai had worn underwear at all—Tetsuya grew thoroughly annoyed. What did he need to know any of that for?

Did they think he was an old pervert like Hiruzen Sarutobi or Jiraiya?

Still, since they had sent it, he might as well read it. He was short on entertainment these days anyway, so he treated it like a gossip magazine to pass the time.

Time flew by, and Tetsuya gradually established himself in the Capital City.

He was still working out his plans for opening branch shops and his grand scheme for selling Cup Noodles, though.

During this period, Tetsuya only returned to Konoha a few times.

One visit was for Teuchi's wedding. As his teacher, he had to go back and attend, didn't he?

Teuchi was only a year younger than Tetsuya, but getting married at his age was already considered rather late in the Ninja World, where people generally matured early.

After all, Uchiha Ban and the others had already started killing enemies on the battlefield when they were only a few years old.

On the day of Teuchi's wedding, quite a few people approached Tetsuya, offering to arrange a marriage for him.

After all, Tetsuya was no longer merely the last surviving member of a declining Shinobi Clan. Naturally, the people of Konoha knew that his business was thriving in the Land of Fire's capital city.

As a wealthy civilian, he had naturally caught the eye of quite a few families.

Several would-be matchmakers came to him every day. Left with no other choice, Tetsuya finally went to the Hokage Office and posted a mission, asking Hiruzen Sarutobi to put a stop to these rather overzealous people.

At first, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no desire to get involved. He, too, felt that if Tetsuya married, it would be best for him to marry someone from the village. That way, those bonds would tie him to Konoha.

If Konoha needed anything in the future, they could ask him to lend a helping hand, couldn't they?

But after seeing the mission fee Tetsuya offered...

He decided that, as the Hokage—the leader of the village—he had a duty to help villagers in need resolve their troubles.

Besides, although Tetsuya was quite wealthy now, he still fell far short of Konoha's Shinobi Clans.

After all, Tetsuya was just one man, and he had only been in business for a few years. Konoha's Shinobi Clans had already built up their resources long before the village was founded.

His second return to Konoha came another year later, when Teuchi's son was born.

Looking at the baby in Teuchi's wife's arms, Tetsuya was filled with emotion.

After all, this was a key figure in Konoha's future, an important guiding light along the crown prince's dark path through life, and the man in charge of Konoha's designated safe zone.

The owner of the Ichiraku Ramen Shop, Teuchi Ichiraku.

The man netizens called Ōtsutsuki Ichiraku. Supposedly, the reason Ichiraku always kept his eyes narrowed was that they were the legendary Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan.

But when Tetsuya saw the baby in Teuchi's wife's arms, he knew that this supposed Ōtsutsuki Ichiraku was nothing more than a joke.

"Teacher, this child doesn't have a name yet. Please give him one."

"Huh? You want me to name him?"

Tetsuya was rather surprised. He hadn't expected Teuchi to ask him to name his son.

Teuchi nodded.

"Yes. Neither my wife nor I have any elders left in our families, but fortunately, I still have you, Teacher. So please give our child a name."

"I see."

To be honest, he had originally made Teuchi call him Teacher purely because he thought it was fun. After spending so much time together, their relationship was more like that of friends or brothers.

Still, an elder brother was like a father. After all, neither he nor Teuchi had any family left.

"Then how about Ichiraku? I hope this child will be happy every day of his life, without a care in the world."

"Ichiraku. Yes, that's a wonderful name. Thank you, Teacher."

"Thank you, Teacher."

"Haha! Son, from now on, your name is Ichiraku. I hope you'll be happy every single day."

Seeing how happy Teuchi and his family were, Tetsuya couldn't help feeling moved. It was a beautiful sight.

But a moment later, Tetsuya no longer thought it was quite so beautiful.

"Teacher, you're a year older than me. When are you planning to get married? Is there anyone you like? You've spent several years in the Capital City, so you must know plenty of girls there..."

As Teuchi went on, Tetsuya's face darkened.

"Teuchi, how did I never notice before? Is your mouth coated in poison?!"