After returning home.
Yu acted as though nothing had happened, but who knew what had possessed him this time? He set up a huge pot!
Bubble, bubble...!
Standing on tiptoe, he stirred the thick soup in the pot with a big ladle as it bubbled away!
He was... cooking poop!
Was this the n+1th collapse of morality, or the n+1th distortion of human nature?
Actually, neither! Everyone had really misunderstood Yu this time!
As it turned out, the Cesspool explosion had left Konoha's sewer system practically paralyzed. Although Konoha had begun emergency repairs, the sheer scale of the work meant they still weren't finished.
This had made life miserable for the Hyuga Clan. Most of them weren't good at conventional release techniques, and all their household water had to be brought in from outside the village, so cooking had become a problem!
What could they do?
Yu came up with the idea of processing poop into delicious dishes.
That would solve the problem of disposing of the leftover fecal waste, and also solve the clan's... ahem, the clan's food problem.
Turning waste into treasure-why not?
Well... it could also count as a tiny bit of compensation for the clansmen caught up in the Cesspool incident!
Hey! No sooner said than done. After gathering ingredients on-site, he dug out the big pot his family used for stewing!
What could he do without water?
Granted, after Yu learned Fire Release, he had mastered Water Release, Earth Release, Lightning Release, Wind Release, and the rest without a teacher!
But Yu still decided to respect the ingredients' natural state!
So he used the water already sitting in the toilet tank...
After boiling the water, the first step was to prepare the soup base!
What he was making was poop curry!
The main ingredient was that little golden mountain piled in the corner!
He used psychic power to drop it into the pot.
He added spices such as star anise, fennel, ginger, and mustard!
He added seasonings such as light soy sauce, soy sauce, cooking wine, and cumin!
Oh, right. To neutralize the smell, Yu deliberately poured in two big bags of white sugar!
Once that was done, Yu began stirring. The pot was too big and the ladle too small, so he simply brought over the poop-stirring stick from the toilet!
As he stirred, the main ingredient dissolved, blending with the spices and seasonings into a pot of thick soup!
Yu's secret soup base was complete!
He added vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and cucumbers!
"Hmm, that's enough nutrients, but it's still missing something substantial!"
Yu fished candies of every flavor from his pocket and dumped them all into the pot!
"Hmm, I forgot to take off the wrappers. Oh well, what's inside is what matters most!"
He put on the lid, boiled it hard over high heat, then simmered it over low heat to let the flavors sink in!
Uh, it looked less like curry and more like a stew... oh well, no need to sweat the details!
Half an hour later, it was ready, steaming hot.
Yu scooped up a ladleful and glanced at little Hanabi, who was sleeping soundly.
"Hanabi's still growing. Should I let her eat first?"
But on second thought, Hanabi was still little, and her digestive system wasn't fully developed. Better not, for now.
"I'll let Big Brother Neji and Dad try it!"
Yu filled Hanabi's little bathing basin to the brim, held it in both hands, and tiptoed out of the room!
Five minutes later, he returned with the basin of poop, leaned his back against the door, and slowly sank onto the tatami!
"Am I... running away from this?"
"Or do I lack confidence in my cooking and can't work up the courage to take the first bite?"
"As a ninja, I must never choose to run away!"
Having made up his mind, he formed hand seals!
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Three shadow clones appeared!
"We can't run away!"
"Right!"
"I come from a land of etiquette. Giving way is a virtue. After you!"
"No, no, after you!"
"You first!"
"You first!!"
"You guys first!!"
"Let's settle it with rock-paper-scissors!!"
"Good idea...!"
The three shadow clones played rock-paper-scissors... all three rounds were ties!
They kept politely deferring to one another, and were about to break into a brawl...
The original spoke up. "Stop fooling around. Do you want to wake Hanabi? All three of you, together!"
"Uh..."
"The original has spoken!"
"Together it is, then!"
"Gulp!"
Each of the three clones scooped up a spoonful and forced himself to eat it!
Poof! Poof! Poof...!
All three clones died at once!
The experience of eating it flooded back to him!
"Bleeergh~~~~!"
Yu sprawled on the tatami and vomited into the basin, pouring forth like a raging river!
"Ha, ha, ha! Not only did the sugar fail to cancel out the poop's original flavor, it mixed with it and turned into the taste of flies! Add the kick of mustard, and it goes straight to your head! Hahaha, this flavor is simply incredible... bleeergh~~~~~!"
After gathering up the scraps and leftovers and pouring them over the flowers in the yard, Yu returned to his room and lay down.
"The poop curry was a failure..."
He wasn't someone who gave up after one failure. He would learn from the experience and try again!
"Right, people like to coat fish in flour before frying it to get rid of the fishy smell. Could I do something similar? Like coating the poop in a layer of dirt? Hey, good idea. I'll try it next time..."
Holding the sleeping little Hanabi in his arms, Yu pulled the light cord!
"Hey, fun is fun, and fooling around is fooling around, but we don't joke about clan massacres..."
Before falling asleep!
Flutter, flutter...!
More than a hundred of Earth Grudge Fear's Bats flew out of the ceiling and scattered to every corner of Konoha beneath the night sky!
"You have to fight for your own opportunities. Whether you can seize this one is up to you... Itachi!"
Konoha was small, yet also vast... once the hundred-plus bats scattered, they vanished from sight in an instant.
In the latter half of the night, a lone little bat flew over the Uchiha Clan compound!
Itachi had stayed awake all night. In the late-autumn midnight chill, he sat on the highest roof in the Uchiha compound, wearing a thin black shirt.
His perpetually active Mangekyō Sharingan shimmered with dazzling crimson light in the cold, clear night!
When the little bat entered his field of vision, Itachi rose, his gaze calm yet fathomless!
He didn't know whether this was a coincidence or an inevitability disguised as one!
But he knew he had to seize this fleeting moment!
"That's a special chakra construct formed from resentment. Judging by the Nara Clan's secret shadow techniques, its underlying principles should lean toward Yin Release transformation. In that case, this approach might work!"
Caw, caw, caw...!
In Itachi's hands, the Crow Hunt Technique, likewise based on Yin Release, formed a black crow that flew into the sky!
The instant the black crow collided with the bat, the crow alone was annihilated!
Both were based on Yin Release, but they were on completely different levels!
But that wasn't the point... the point was that the chakra synchronization had succeeded!
Even though it lasted only an instant, Itachi still traced the connection backward and pinpointed the caster's general location!
Itachi looked east, a hint of surprise in his eyes. "The Hyuga Clan...?"
Whoosh!
He vanished from the rooftop, evaded the watchers stationed outside the clan compound, and raced toward the Hyuga Clan compound!
Yu sensed it too and woke from his sleep.
"That fast? You really are something..."
Whoosh!
Throwing off the covers, he used Divine Movement Step and left the house!
"No matter what, this isn't a suitable place to meet. Let's find somewhere more secluded..."
On his way to the Hyuga compound, Itachi spotted another little bat!
Once again, he sent a crow to crash into it!
He noticed something. "The caster... is moving at high speed?"
After a moment's surprise, the corners of his mouth lifted. "I see. Are you 'inviting' me? I really did find the right person!"
Yu and Itachi were about to meet. What sparks would fly between them?
Before you continue