The blond brat had brazenly declared that their ramen tasted awful, then claimed that this bowl posed a serious risk and had no business being served.
The four men led by Hongle immediately darkened, exploding with anger.
Hongle's eye twitched, fury practically spilling out of his gaze.
Aunt Ichiraku and Ayame were too stunned to react.
They had tasted Hongle's ramen themselves. Its texture was impeccable, and it truly deserved the title of the best ramen. Why would Naruto, a devoted ramen enthusiast, judge it like that?
"Damn it, brat! What nonsense are you spouting?"
"Brat, do you even know what ramen is? Do you understand its essence?"
Seeing his apprentices on the verge of lashing out, Hongle snorted and raised a hand to stop them. "Quiet."
Silence fell, and everyone turned to the supremely confident Naruto.
Even Sasuke did the same. Objectively speaking, Ichiraku Ramen was good, but its noodles really couldn't compare to Hongle Ramen's springy texture. He couldn't understand why Naruto would say that.
"Brat, as a temporary judge, you're entitled to your opinion. Tell me what risks and shortcomings my ramen has."
Hongle remained fairly restrained through the first part, but as he finished, even the temperature inside the shop seemed to drop.
"But... if you can't, you'll have to face my wrath!"
Naruto smiled faintly. "You want me to explain the risks and shortcomings of your ramen?"
"That's right!" Hongle replied hostilely.
"I'm just afraid you won't be able to handle the consequences," Naruto said, still brimming with confidence.
"Are you messing with me, brat?!"
Seeing Hongle about to explode, Naruto shrugged. "I can tell you, but I can see you genuinely love cooking. If... and I mean if, you could never cook again for the rest of your life, could you handle that?"
Naruto spoke lightly, but to the cooks present, his words hit like an atomic bomb.
Yet Naruto received no Shock Points. Clearly, given his age and lack of standing, Hongle and the others found his words laughable.
To refine his ramen-making skills, Hongle had left the Land of Fire and traveled through mountains and along rivers, visiting masters and humbly seeking their guidance. It was no exaggeration to call cooking his life.
Hongle started at those words and stared wide-eyed at Naruto, though it was more anger than shock.
But when he saw Naruto's unwavering gaze, Hongle deflated. He didn't dare gamble with the profession he loved.
"I can't accept those consequences. I simply can't."
Seeing Hongle's bluster rapidly fade, Sasuke, Aunt Ichiraku, Ayame, and even Hongle's apprentices were astonished.
"Master, he's trying to scare you!"
"Exactly, Master! He's just a brat who knows nothing about ramen!"
"I know nothing about ramen? It's no exaggeration to say that ramen might be your life, but it's part of mine too. Aunt Ichiraku can vouch for that," Naruto said with a smile.
"I stake my honor as a cook on it." Aunt Ichiraku nodded, putting her reputation on the line without hesitation.
Hongle's expression finally changed, but he desperately wanted to know what risks his ramen posed.
Ultimately, he chose a compromise. He turned to the Ichiraku family and his apprentices. "Please step outside for a moment. If this brat can convince me, I'll stop competing for the title of Konoha's finest flavor."
"Master!"
"You can't agree to that, Master! Isn't winning the title of Konoha's finest ramen flavor your dream?"
Naruto remained perfectly composed, smiling without a word.
Watching him, Sasuke found himself quietly drawn to his mysteriousness. Aunt Ichiraku and Ayame, meanwhile, were utterly bewildered.
"Out," Hongle repeated, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"Yes, Master!"
The two women from Ichiraku looked at Naruto worriedly. They feared he wouldn't be able to give Hongle a satisfactory answer. If that happened, Aunt Ichiraku couldn't guarantee Hongle wouldn't attack him.
After all, Naruto had just described some very serious consequences.
"Aunt Ichiraku, Sasuke, wait outside for a bit. We'll have an answer soon."
Everyone nodded. All they could do now was trust Naruto.
Sasuke hadn't actually wanted to leave, but they had already made their agreement. He was Naruto's follower for the next three months. He couldn't go back on his word on the very first day, could he? Wouldn't that disgrace the Uchiha Clan?
Once everyone left, only Naruto and the rugged, bald man remained in the ramen shop.
"No one else is here now, brat. Can you tell me?" Seeing Naruto's unwavering gaze and complete lack of fear, Hongle began to wonder.
"Don't panic, mister. I'm saving you here."
Naruto planted one hand on the counter and vaulted into the kitchen, then strolled toward the pot of thick, black liquid Hongle's apprentices had been boiling earlier.
"Y-you! What are you doing? That's my secret recipe!" Seeing Naruto approach the formula he had worked so hard to obtain, Hongle warned him sharply.
"A secret recipe? Looks more like a secret poison to me."
[Ding! Received 30 Shock Points from a Konoha villager!]
"W-what nonsense are you talking about?" Hongle stared at Naruto, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Without explaining, Naruto picked up the pot of settled alkaline solution and poured off the liquid. He cleaned the black alkali ore residue from the bottom, then returned the liquid to the pot and boiled it over high heat.
Hongle watched Naruto work. The only reason he didn't immediately stop him was his absolute confidence that the boy knew nothing about the liquid's properties or purpose.
Time ticked by, and just as Hongle's patience was about to run out...
Naruto snapped his fingers. "Now take another look at your so-called secret recipe."
The large pot of alkaline solution had boiled down, leaving numerous white, snowflake-like crystals around the thick liquid at the bottom. They looked exquisite.
"This..."
Hongle's mind went blank. He had learned how to use the alkali ore from a certain master, but neither he nor that master knew of any other uses.
He hadn't expected more of the alkali stone's properties to be discovered by sheer chance today.
"So what? What does this have to do with my ramen having risks or shortcomings?" Hongle asked with a frown.
After being crushed, boiled, settled, and further refined, the alkali stone had indeed produced snowflake-like crystals. Naruto's confidence soared, and he scoffed at Hongle's continued resistance.
"Pick some up and taste it. Then you'll know whether I'm saving you."
Hongle had tremendous faith in his mysterious alkali stone. To prove that Naruto's supposed risks didn't exist, he snorted, carefully pinched up some of the crystals from the bottom of the pot, and put them in his mouth to savor them.
They burned on contact, accompanied by an odd taste that irritated his taste buds. Hongle assumed it was merely because the substance had been concentrated.
He chewed smugly, staring at Naruto as though to say, You ignorant brat.
But less than three seconds after Hongle tilted his head back and swallowed the concentrated, crude alkali...
His expression abruptly changed. Both hands clamped around his throat as he stared at Naruto in disbelief, hoarse whimpers escaping his mouth.
[Ding! Received 100 Shock Points from a Konoha villager!]
Naruto didn't want things getting out of hand. After all, he was helping Ichiraku retain the title of Konoha's finest flavor for the money.
"Drink plenty of this."
Naruto had already filled a basin with cold water in preparation. Seeing Hongle's face twist with pain and terror, he quickly spoke up.
The corrosive burning in his mouth, across his tongue, and down his esophagus nearly made Hongle wet himself with fright. These were clearly symptoms of poisoning!
Without another word, he picked up the basin and gulped down the cold water.
Naruto gave him a warm smile. "Drink plenty. This stuff dissolves in water. If you die of poisoning, don't blame me."
After hearing that, how could Hongle dare doubt Naruto any longer?
He raised the large basin and guzzled the water, his belly visibly swelling.
By the time Hongle finished the basin of cold water, he was so drained that he collapsed onto the floor.
"M-my mouth... my sense of taste..."
The searing burn in his mouth subsided, but his gums, tongue, and throat still felt as though they were being torn apart. For the moment, Hongle couldn't taste anything at all.
A cook's sense of taste was his life. Losing it was as good as killing Hongle.
"Ah... I can't taste anything!"
The grown man in his thirties or forties broke down over his temporary loss of taste, sobbing with tears and snot streaming down his face.
Seeing just how deeply Hongle cared about cooking, Naruto nodded slightly.
"Don't worry. The corrosion in your mouth has temporarily affected your sense of taste. You'll be fine in less than three minutes."
Those words gave Hongle a lifeline. He looked at the seven-year-old boy with pleading reverence, then scrambled onto his knees before Naruto and pressed his forehead firmly to the floor.
"Poison... I'm a cook, yet I served my customers food made with poison! I don't deserve to be a cook!"
Though his sense of taste would return, Hongle knew that if Naruto spread word of this incident, he would have no place left in Konoha. He would spend the rest of his life barely scraping by, burdened with guilt.
At the sight, Naruto flashed the sunny smile of a cunning schemer.
"Relax. It's no big deal."
Before you continue