Regarding the business partnership with Aunt Ichiraku, Naruto completely grasped the initiative.
The top-secret recipe and the seasonings to elevate the fresh flavor of the broth were provided by Naruto, while the storefront, wear and tear, ingredients, and labor were not his responsibility at all.
Moreover, before reaching the partnership, Naruto had solemnly stated his conditions.
That was the agreement to follow his decisions; otherwise, the partnership would be interrupted at any time.
In order to guard the Konoha First Flavor-Enhancement title, Aunt Ichiraku agreed to Naruto's conditions with almost no hesitation.
After getting ready, Aunt Ichiraku locked up the shop, and then the group of four-two adults and two children-accompanied each other and hurried toward the scheduled location.
There were quite a few pedestrians on the street, and upon seeing Naruto walking alongside the proprietress of Ichiraku Ramen, they also furrowed their brows one by one.
Naruto did not want any trouble to arise, so he just walked with his head down.
Naruto could endure it, but Sasuke, who was a genius girl of the Uchiha Clan, could not tolerate this kind of disdain and cold stares.
Immediately, she stepped forward two steps, a pair of scarlet Sharingan slowly emerging as she stared coldly at the crowd.
"Get lost!"
Sasuke uttered a single icy word before Naruto pulled her back into the group.
"Sasuke, today's match is very important to us. Don't cause complications and endure it for now."
Seeing Sasuke actually stand up for him in public, Naruto felt a slight warmth in his heart.
"Hmph, I'm letting them off easy."
The more she understood Naruto's life, the less Sasuke could tolerate others subjecting Naruto to cold violence.
Before the two knew each other, let alone Naruto being bullied by the villagers, even if he died Sasuke wouldn't spare him a second glance.
However, after a brief understanding, she discovered that her life trajectory was more or less very similar to Naruto's, which also caused her attitude toward Naruto to gradually change.
"Sigh..."
Aunt Ichiraku naturally knew what kind of treatment Naruto suffered in Konoha, but there were some things she could not say.
"Perhaps it will be fine once you grow up."
"Come on, Naruto! You will definitely realize your dream and become the Hokage." After Ayame turned into a boy, she was very brave and sunny.
"Become the Hokage, huh?" Hearing Ayame's words, Naruto let out a self-deprecating laugh and thought, Not even a dog would do it.
Soon, the group left the bustling district of Konoha and hurried toward the designated match location by Clearwater River.
However, just as the group was about to reach the agreed-upon spot, four sharp gazes suddenly fell upon Naruto.
[Ding, prompting the host: perceived monitoring gazes from the Konoha ANBU and Root!]
Hearing the system prompt, Naruto let out a cold smile.
"As expected, did my excessive intimacy with Sasuke cause the Third Hokage and Danzo to heighten their vigilance?"
Seeing Naruto's expression change slightly, Sasuke also asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing, I'm just a bit nervous seeing so many culinary masters later."
"Hmph..." Hearing these words, Sasuke gave Naruto a massive eye-roll, her look seeming to say: Go ahead and finish pretending, see if I believe you.
At this time, Naruto walked in small steps to Aunt Ichiraku's side and whispered, "Auntie, the situation has temporarily changed. Later in the duel, I can only assist you, and the production of the Delicious Ramen is entirely up to you."
Don't think of Ichiraku as just an insignificant figure in Konoha; she was, after all, a woman who had witnessed the Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage.
She knew a thing or two about the village's affairs. Hearing Naruto deliberately lower his voice, she also nodded nonchalantly, "Assisting is fine too. If I make any steps wrong at that time, you can also guide me at any time."
"Yeah, that's no problem."
Naruto never expected Aunt Ichiraku to be so understanding, even knowing that his lowered voice carried profound meaning.
"Right, Hongle is one of us." Walking with his head down, Naruto quietly passed the message to Aunt Ichiraku. "He has already taken me as his master."
"What? He actually made a move so fast?"
Hearing that Hongle had already become Naruto's disciple, Aunt Ichiraku was obviously anxious, "Then what... what about me?"
"That's easy to discuss. As long as you keep in mind and obey the rules of our partnership, you can obtain all my recipes."
In fact, the more passionate a person was about a certain professional field, the easier it was to cooperate with them.
Like Madara sketching a perfect world for Obito, like Orochimaru's beloved pursuit of eternal life research, like Yahiko and Nagato's aspiration for true peace, and so on...
As long as one grasped these people's wishes and the meaning of their lives, and then revealed one's own trump cards, they could easily turn enemies into friends.
"Alright, Master. If you have any instructions, just mention them at any time; I will definitely obey."
Seeing Aunt Ichiraku's attitude, Naruto pondered a little and then said, "Well, from now on, just say publicly that I'm your little apprentice."
"Master, wouldn't that be no good?" Ichiraku was a bit bewildered. Relying solely on the peerless ramen from earlier, Naruto was the most respectable culinary master in this world in her mind. She never imagined that she would actually have to claim publicly to be her master's master...
"No matter who asks, the answer is just this one." Naruto lowered his head. "I'll tell Hongle the same thing on his side."
"Alright, Master... uh."
Naruto smiled bitterly, "Just keep calling me by my name in front of people."
After a round of whispered murmurs, the group crossed a stretch of woods and arrived at the culinary match site.
Looking around, right now there were about fifty rough-looking men gathered by the Clearwater River.
Each and every one of them had well-developed arm muscles and broad shoulders; if not for the temporary stoves already set up by the river, the Konoha High Command might have thought these people were gathering secretly to do some unspeakable business.
"Right, the ANBU and Root are monitoring again. Could it be because of this gathering of culinary masters?"
Naruto turned this possibility over in his mind.
The group paced forward and immediately saw a bald-headed middle-aged man surrounded by numerous rough-looking men.
Wasn't that Hongle?
Having left the Land of Fire for many years and traveled across famous mountains and great rivers, finally obtaining the top-secret ramen recipe, Hongle was currently a hot commodity in the eyes of Konoha ramen chefs.
And Hongle was also thoroughly enjoying this honor, on one hand exchanging pleasantries with accompanying masters while on the other greeting his three disciples to speed up setting up the stoves and other utensils.
However, the moment Naruto appeared in Hongle's field of vision, the smugness on his face immediately vanished, replaced by awe, worship, and yearning.
"Hmph, Ichiraku, I thought you wouldn't dare to come?"
At this moment, Hongle did not yet know that Ichiraku had joined Naruto's partnership, and naturally he had to follow the script Naruto gave him.
Upon hearing this, Ichiraku looked at Hongle as well, instantly recalling something, and confidently said, "Hongle, use whatever tricks you have."
Both of them were prominent figures in Konoha's catering industry, and the other culinary masters were anxious to taste both of their top-secret recipes. Seeing the two lock horns the moment they met, they hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
Unintentionally, Naruto nodded toward Hongle, and Hongle knew when to quit; with a huff, he returned to his temporary workstation to prepare to show off his formidable skills.
With the arrival of Ichiraku's participating personnel, the momentum in the arena also underwent a subtle change.
Ayame put down her cooking utensils, selected a spot, and began to bustle about.
Sasuke had heard from Naruto more than once that this duel was very important to the two of them, so she did not dare to be careless and helped Ayame pick up stone after stone.
At this moment, Naruto took off the canvas bag on his back, handed it to Ichiraku, and said in a low voice, "Auntie, your secret recipe."
Ichiraku was indeed someone who had seen the world. Hearing Naruto say this, she instantly comprehended what was going on, naturally taking the canvas bag and slinging it over her arm as if afraid someone would snatch it away from her.
As the temporary stoves on both sides were set up, the countdown to the duel also began.
Huu huu huu...
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Before you continue