Naruto didn't even bother looking back at that black-hearted merchant's expression.
Judging by his tone, he definitely made a tidy profit.
However, he wasn't good at bargaining anyway, and fortunately everything was proceeding according to his expectations.
He had taken a total of 11 kunai and 20 shuriken from Sasuke.
After selling most of them, there was still 1 kunai and 10 shuriken left in the canvas bag.
Projectile-throwing techniques were also very important for ninjas, otherwise Naruto wouldn't have kept those ninja tools.
Twenty thousand silver taels were in hand, and at this moment Naruto was still 60 shock points away from activating the Golden Shovel Wishful Search Function.
Yet he wasn't panicked.
After all, today he had already caused too many unexpected incidents for the Anbu, the Root, and even the Third Hokage. If he kept going, it was very likely to arouse the Third's suspicion.
He definitely didn't want his memories to be rummaged through by the Yamanaka clan members using secret techniques in the Konoha Interrogation Room.
Dragging his canvas bag, Naruto walked in the direction of home, successfully canceling the Transformation Technique while passing through a small alley along the way.
After all, being close to home meant he could harvest another wave of negative emotion points on the side-why not?
However, just as he emerged from a street corner, an older woman's voice called out to him.
"Oh, Naruto!"
Turning his head to look, Naruto was so startled by the woman's appearance that he staggered.
This person wore neat white clothes and a chef's hat, and her build was slightly plump-wasn't that Aunt Ichiraku?
"Ichiraku... Aunt?"
Seeing Naruto's exhausted and gloomy look, Aunt Ichiraku said, "We're about to close up, and there's still a ball of dough left in the shop. How about I treat you to ramen at a forty percent discount?"
Not taking advantage of a bargain didn't fit his personality.
Besides, although he had eaten a grilled fish just a moment ago, that could only be called a side dish and fundamentally couldn't solve his hunger.
"Really? Then thank you so much, Aunt Ichiraku!"
Ichiraku Ramen was, after all, the original Naruto's obsession.
As a transmigrator, even though he had eaten and seen all sorts of culinary delicacies, at this moment he still had to put on an expression of having never seen the world, looking thrilled and excited.
Thus, Naruto dragged his canvas bag and rushed into the Ichiraku Ramen shop.
Approaching closing time, the shop was completely empty, and even Ayame had gotten off work early.
"Oh, Naruto, wait a moment; the ramen will be right out."
"Got it, Aunt Ichiraku."
After saying that, Naruto tentatively asked, "Auntie, where's Brother Ayame?"
Busy kneading the dough, Ichiraku laughed upon hearing the question and said, "He went home early. Things have been rather busy lately, you see."
Sure enough, Naruto's deduction was correct: most people in the shinobi world seemed to have had their genders reversed.
Naruto sat on the stool, propping his chin with his arm as his mind ran wild with imagination.
If his shinobi world had all genders reversed...
Then what would a female Orochimaru be like? ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
Hello everyone, I'm Shinobi World Science Sis.
What would a male Tsunade be like? ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
After the ultimate pervert Jiraiya turned into a woman... she wouldn't go to the male hot spring bathhouse every day to gather material, would she? ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
Absolute perfection.
Thinking of this, Naruto gave a start and immediately thought of even more.
What about Madara-chan after being feminized? ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
Hashirama, why have you failed me?
First, ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
Second... ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
Wait...
A bolt of lightning struck his brain, making Naruto's skull ache.
Minato Namikaze turned into a chick, and Kushina turned into a boy?
Dad became mom? ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
Mom became dad?
No, if it were really like that, the Nine-Tails' Rebellion wouldn't have happened.
Uh... I can't imagine this anymore. If this keeps up, I'm going to have a mental breakdown.
Naruto smiled bitterly, yet deep down he was looking forward immensely to the day he would meet them.
"According to the development of the original plot, the first ones I'll probably meet are the feminized Zabuza Momochi and Haku, right?"
Haku.
Thinking of this, a smile couldn't help but well up at the corner of Naruto's mouth.
"The crossdressing bigwig Haku from the original work really turned into a chick this time... I'm truly looking forward to meeting her in the future."
Amidst the collision of his thoughts, a wave of fragrant aroma entered his nasal cavity.
Looking up, he saw that the special-priced ramen was out of the pot now, and Aunt Ichiraku was picking a few fish-tofu-and-chashu-like items out from a neighboring pot to garnish it with. Just like that, a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen was complete.
Naruto stared in a daze.
Where was the cilantro? Where was the sesame oil? Where was the chili oil and scented vinegar?
None of them were there.
"The ramen is ready, little Naruto."
Aunt Ichiraku served the ramen and looked at Naruto with a confident expression, saying, "This is a supreme secret recipe I've recently researched. The flavor is several times that of ordinary ramen."
Having watched hundreds of episodes of Naruto where Ichiraku Ramen was hyped up as divine by the protagonist, he also wanted to take the opportunity to properly savor it.
The noodle soup was crystal clear yet emanated waves of fragrance, and the noodles were round and full of elasticity, looking very chewy at a glance.
Picking up a mouthful with chopsticks and placing it into his mouth to chew carefully, Naruto suddenly widened his eyes in disbelief.
Seeing Naruto's expression, Aunt Ichiraku revealed a benevolent and confident smile as she said, "Alright, little Naruto, eat slowly. I'm going to clean up."
"Uh... Right, right."
Forcing a smile, forcing himself to chew, and then swallowing with difficulty.
Was this damn thing the legendary Ichiraku Ramen?
There was only a faint salty taste and a rich mushroom broth; the rest... was beyond words.
Naruto was deeply disappointed; the gap between fantasy and reality was simply too huge.
However, he quickly figured it out.
The dietary culture of the shinobi world was actually quite mediocre.
Among the meager food-related passages in the original work, at most there was only ramen and barbecue. Moreover, their cooking methods were extremely monotonous, completely incomparable to the various cooking methods of modern Longxia-stir-frying, quick-frying, roasting, deep-frying, braising, stewing in soy sauce, steaming, smoking, marinating, mixing, scaling, simmering, stewing, braising in liquid, and baking.
And the cooking methods of ordinary families were even more direct: boiling all kinds of greens in boiled water and then eating them dipped in sauce.
It would be a miracle if that tasted good.
While pretending to eat with great relish, Naruto asked around with feigned curiosity.
"Such delicious ramen-Auntie, you must sell at least 500 bowls a day, right? Otherwise, it wouldn't live up to this supreme flavor!"
Hearing Naruto's words, Aunt Ichiraku chuckled and said, "More or less, five large buckets of noodles a day. One bucket holds 100 bowls, and sometimes that's still not enough."
Naruto had already tried to estimate on the higher side, yet he hadn't expected that Ichiraku really could sell 500 bowls of ramen a day, leaving him sighing with emotion.
Actually, his previous words had already touched upon Aunt Ichiraku's business secrets.
He knew that the only reason Aunt Ichiraku told him her sales volume was entirely because he was a seven-year-old child; he couldn't ask any more than that.
Quickly finishing the ramen, Naruto took 90 silver taels out of his frog wallet.
"Auntie, you take such good care of me, so you don't need to give me a discount this time. I'll come back another day when I'm short on funds."
Before Aunt Ichiraku could say anything, Naruto directly laid down the 90 taels, turned around, and dashed out of the shop.
"Naruto..."
Looking at the 90 taels on the table, Aunt Ichiraku muttered, "How is the Third subsidizing Naruto again? The Third really is such a benevolent soul."
Naruto heard Aunt Ichiraku's words.
Yet he sneered at them.
The Third's subsidy? Bah...
What kind of subsidy was that? That was clearly the savings his own father had left behind for him.
Before becoming the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze was known as Konoha's Yellow Flash, and the border missions he executed were at least S-Rank. Although he didn't know how much the mission rewards were, accumulated over the years, it was definitely a massive fortune.
Because his mother was Konoha's Jinchūriki, even though she couldn't go out to execute missions, Kushina wasn't someone who spent money recklessly either; plus, being a princess of the Uzumaki Clan herself, there was no need to guess how her little treasury looked-it certainly wouldn't require Minato to support her.
Yet after they died, apart from inheriting his parents' house, he hadn't received anything else at all.
What about the massive savings his parents had accumulated?
Naruto paced as he walked home, and the Third's benevolent smile involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
Third Hokage... you really are so radiant. Holding onto the massive savings of my mom and dad, the allowance you give me every month isn't even enough to buy two bowls of ramen a day, yet you make sure the whole of Konoha knows about it. You really are a benevolent soul.
Before you continue