Seeing Naruto agree so readily, Aunt Ichiraku was secretly touched.
She decided to give Naruto a few extra ramen vouchers once this was over.
"Thank you both so much."
"Hehe... Aunt Ichiraku, Brother Ayame, don't worry too much. I'm rooting for you!"
Naruto's confidence in her helped rekindle Aunt Ichiraku's fighting spirit.
"Yes, I'll study the noodles' springiness tonight and see if I can extend how long the finished ramen can sit before tomorrow's final."
"I'll help you, Mother," Ayame said.
Then Aunt Ichiraku looked apologetically at Naruto. "Little Naruto, Ichiraku Ramen might have to close for half the day tomorrow."
Naruto could only nod helplessly.
After saying goodbye to the Ichiraku family, Naruto headed back with Sasuke.
It was past nine at night in Konoha, and there were hardly any pedestrians on the streets, making the blond boy and the seemingly twin-tailed girl walking side by side especially conspicuous.
"So... your partnership with Ichiraku fell through?" Sasuke asked in confusion.
Naruto shook his head. "No. With Hongle showing up out of nowhere, it looks like we'll have to wait until after tomorrow night's showdown to discuss it."
"Oh." They were nearly at the intersection, so Sasuke gave a brief reply and walked with his head lowered.
"It's so dark out. Won't you be scared of ghosts walking home alone?" Naruto asked with a mischievous grin.
"Hmph, why would I be afraid of something like that?" Sasuke pouted and huffed.
"Want me to walk you home, then?"
"No. I can manage."
Sasuke's prickly pride made him unwilling to let Naruto escort him back to the Uchiha Clan Compound, no matter what.
But after taking just two steps, he stopped.
"Something else?" Naruto asked with a smile, thinking Sasuke had gotten scared.
"Naruto... remember what you promised me."
Naruto thought for a moment. "Hmm... if you're really in a hurry, come to my place at four thirty tomorrow morning. We can train together."
Sasuke resumed walking without agreeing right away. "Let me think about it."
"See you."
Naruto still had things to take care of tonight, and he understood what Sasuke's reluctance to agree meant.
A ninja's personal training methods were highly confidential.
After all, they concerned every trump card a ninja possessed. He and Sasuke were merely partners for now, not yet at the point where they could entrust their backs to each other.
Besides, the Uchiha massacre had always haunted Sasuke, so it was only natural for him to deliberately avoid relationships unrelated to revenge.
Taking all that into account, Naruto said nothing more and turned toward home.
At the chilly, deserted intersection, the two figures gradually disappeared in opposite directions.
Sasuke kept pondering how to handle his relationship with Naruto.
Meanwhile, Naruto's mind was filled with plans to use Hongle as cover, concealing his behind-the-scenes maneuvering from the eyes and ears of Konoha High Command.
Yes, Hongle's appearance tonight had disrupted his original plans to some extent.
But Naruto wasn't angry. If anything, he was pleasantly surprised.
Why?
First of all, the Naruto World had no seasonings like MSG, Chicken Bouillon, or thirteen-spice powder, yet he could obtain them through the system at very little cost.
Although he had already abandoned the possibility of becoming Konoha's restaurant supplier in favor of opening a small barbecue stall, plenty of risks remained.
After all, he was Konoha's jinchūriki and was constantly under Konoha High Command's surveillance.
If the ANBU or Root noticed anything unusual along the way, they would certainly report it to the Third and Danzo.
If Konoha High Command took an interest, they could simply send a secret-technique expert from the Yamanaka Clan to examine Hongle's memories and those of the others, exposing his secret.
Then Naruto would be forced to lay his cards on the table with Konoha.
And that wasn't all.
He might also be locked away completely, or Danzo could use Shisui's Sharingan ability to alter his will.
Considering all these possibilities, Naruto had decided tonight not to bring out his various seasonings and crush Hongle. Instead, he watched Hongle easily defeat Aunt Ichiraku and prepared to play the long game, winning Hongle over so the entire plan would look more plausible.
In fact, civilians could freely enter and leave Konoha except during wartime.
Of course, the reason ninja in the original story rarely got to leave the village was that they knew too many of their hidden village's secrets.
These restrictions were especially pronounced for chunin and jonin.
The ANBU of the Five Great Nations pursuing the members of the Akatsuki were a case in point.
A civilian like Hongle leaving the village might not attract the attention of Konoha's intelligence department at all.
After all, without sufficient strength, he had no access to the village's secrets.
Leaving the Land of Fire to travel through famous mountains and rivers in pursuit of his culinary career, finding a renowned master after years of wandering, learning the latest cooking techniques, and bringing back a unique, mysterious mineral...
When Naruto learned Hongle's backstory, he felt as though someone had handed him a pillow just as he was getting sleepy.
Naruto knew that if his plan succeeded, he could perfectly divert Konoha High Command's attention for a while.
As he sorted through his thoughts, he found himself back at his front door before he knew it.
Pushing the door open, Naruto instinctively said, "I'm home."
The entire house was silent and lifeless.
His life had been so difficult before that there hadn't been any spare food at home. Even the mice had starved to death.
Naruto smiled bitterly. I really don't like this kind of loneliness.
He took off his shoes and headed for the bathroom.
After a quick wash, Naruto returned to the bedroom with his hair still dripping.
"Strange. Did the ANBU and Root watchers all take the day off just because the Third came to deliver my allowance today?"
He closed his eyes and carefully sensed his surroundings. Indeed, no one was watching him.
Although he couldn't figure out why, Naruto had plenty to prepare tonight and didn't dwell on it. He sat cross-legged on the bed and formed the hand seal for molding chakra.
Whether anyone was watching or not, this posture would make them think Naruto was diligently molding chakra.
In reality, he was doing nothing of the sort. His attention was on the system panel.
[Golden Shovel System panel] Host: Naruto Uzumaki. Negative points: 6949. Shock points: 7830. Silver taels: 5910. Talent: Visual Insight LV1. Genin taijutsu. Intermediate Throwing Techniques. [Lucky money search function]
Seeing that his shock points had overtaken his negative points, Naruto smiled wryly.
"Is this the power of taking a stroll down the street in a mask?"
He opened the lucky money search function and, after a moment's thought, entered Master-Level Ramen Technique and Master-Level Barbecue Technique.
He clicked search, and to his surprise, both actually came up.
But one look at the exchange prices darkened his face.
[Master-Level Ramen Technique] Exchange cost: 2000 silver taels. [Master-Level Barbecue Technique] Exchange cost: 3500 silver taels.
He checked his balance again. He had only 5910 silver taels.
"Damn, if that sunny old Third hadn't given me 1000 silver taels today, I wouldn't even be able to afford both skills!"
Though it pained him, Naruto said nothing more and exchanged for them directly.
[Ding. Spend 5500 silver taels to obtain Master-Level Ramen Technique and Master-Level Barbecue Technique?]
"Yes."
[Ding. Exchange successful. Technique infusion countdown: 3, 2, 1!]
As the countdown ended, a flood of memories and insights appeared out of nowhere and poured into his mind.
Just three minutes later, Naruto opened his eyes again with a smile.
"With these two techniques, how could I possibly have trouble earning silver taels?"
But checking his remaining balance made him wince.
"Only 410 silver taels left?"
That was only enough to cover one day's normal expenses.
"I need to find a way to make some money."
Naruto frowned in thought.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he entered Master-Level Chess Skill into the lucky money search bar.
The previous two exchanges had both required silver taels, so Naruto hadn't held out any hope this time. But when the search result appeared, he smiled.
[Master-Level Chess Skill] (Includes insights into various board games from both your previous and current lives.) Exchange cost: 1000 shock points.
"Exchange!" Naruto said immediately.
[Ding. Exchange successful. Infusion countdown: 3, 2, 1.]
A moment later, Naruto opened his eyes again, now brimming with the wisdom of an armchair strategist.
Search: Hokage Shogi.
[Hokage Shogi]: (Portable, foldable board game.) Exchange cost: 300 silver taels.
Looking at his balance, then at the required silver taels, Naruto cursed. "System, you know I'm short on silver taels! Why does every item I search for require them?"
[Ding. Low-end everyday items require a randomly selected payment type. Jonin-level items have a high probability of requiring three payment types or two payment types.]
"Fine."
Naruto nodded at the system's explanation. Hadn't the True Rinnegan he'd searched for earlier required all three payment types?
[Ding. Spend 300 silver taels to obtain Hokage Shogi?]
"Yes, exchange."
[Ding. Exchange successful. The item has appeared in the system space. Please check it yourself, host.]
With a turn of his hand, he took out the Hokage Shogi set and unfolded its plastic-sheet-like board.
Now that Naruto possessed master-level shogi skills, he devised more than a dozen endgame positions in just half an hour of study.
Once he was done, Naruto packed up the shogi pieces, folded the board, and stuffed everything into the Canvas Bag.
"Shikamaru... I hear your family's pretty rich."
Naruto lay down, a sunny smile curling his lips.
"I wonder how much pocket money-pfft, I mean, how much skill you have at your age?"
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