A gentle monster who emptied his bowl

"I can't do it!"

"I really can't eat another bite!"

Sasuke felt as though he had stuffed a lifetime's worth of noodles into his stomach.

Ichiraku Ramen was delicious.

But no one could handle eating this much of it in one go.

He slumped over the table, giving up the struggle completely.

Uchiha Itachi went down right after him.

An older brother's dignity and pride amounted to lasting one second longer than his little brother.

Kakashi wasn't particularly attached to winning.

While no one was looking, he put down his chopsticks and called it a meal.

Naruto, who had earnestly fought to the very end, finally managed to polish off his noodles before time ran out.

"I'm done!"

He set his bowl and chopsticks on the table, shouting as though he had just overcome a formidable obstacle.

"Ahem."

Uchiha Satoru cleared his throat, then continued.

"Time's up. I'll now announce the winner of this supersized challenge."

"The champion is Shisui Uchiha!"

"First place in the regular eating contest goes to Fujita Inoue."

Before Naruto had even closed his mouth, Uchiha Satoru delivered the results.

You really couldn't judge people by appearances.

No one had expected the smiling, clean-cut Shisui to take the championship.

"Huh?"

"I lost?"

Naruto was a little dazed.

Along with everyone else, he turned to look at Shisui.

Shisui wore a smile, his eyes curved into crescents.

He looked calmly at everyone, the bowl in front of him having been emptied at some point without anyone noticing.

"You're that good?" Sasuke's eyes went wide.

He hadn't noticed a thing!

Even Itachi, who considered Shisui a close friend, raised his eyebrows.

Shisui had really gone all out today.

Kakashi was stunned as well. This guy's stomach had to be a bottomless pit.

Where did all that food go?

Looking at Shisui's slender frame, Kakashi couldn't help wondering.

"Shisui, you're amazing!"

"You're the ultimate champion."

Naruto sidled up to Shisui, brimming with enthusiasm.

Murmurs also rose from the crowd of onlookers.

"The champion this time is actually an Uchiha!"

"There were only five people in the individual competition, and three were Uchiha. It's not that surprising they won."

"But they were competing in the toughest division of the individual competition. Just finishing it was impressive enough."

Perhaps swept up by the excitement of the contest, people weren't quite so venomous when they talked about the Uchiha.

At least plenty of people found this champion likable and were willing to look kindly on him.

With their shared love of Ichiraku Ramen and his good looks helping things along, Shisui won over a small group of people in the blink of an eye.

The others benefited too, each earning a little goodwill.

Although that goodwill and praise were only temporary and might disappear any day now.

At least they had existed, however briefly.

Over at the judges' table.

"Hahaha..."

"I never expected a boy from the Uchiha Clan to win."

The Third Hokage laughed, but his gaze stretched far into the distance.

Was this really just a coincidence?

Or was it a meticulously staged performance?

The villagers' minuscule shift in attitude hadn't escaped the Third Hokage's eyes.

He thought back to what had happened earlier.

When Uchiha Satoru had brought the Ramen Shop Owner along to ask him to judge, he had been genuinely taken aback.

Those two made an unlikely pair, no matter how he looked at it.

Even less had he expected anyone to suddenly come to the Hokage Building and invite him to be a judge.

He didn't mind this sort of thing. In fact, he rather enjoyed joining in the fun.

But there was a reason the Hokage stayed put in the Hokage Building.

It was the safest place.

For someone in the Hokage's seat, assassination attempts were practically routine.

So even he couldn't wander around as he pleased.

Before long, the looks from the people around him had stopped him in his tracks.

But after a little casual conversation, he learned something unexpected: Naruto had actually become close to some Uchiha and had come here with them.

Uchiha Fugaku would be coming here too.

That alone made him decide he had to come and see for himself.

And this was the scene he had witnessed.

Was there still hope of mending the rift between the villagers and the Uchiha?

But this glimmer of hope, this easing of tensions, had come far too late.

The rift between the Uchiha and the village ran too deep to repair.

He could already sense it: the Uchiha harbored resentment toward the village, toward Konoha.

That crackling blaze of ambition was surging ever higher.

Everything had come too late, and none of it addressed the real problem.

The Third Hokage pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at Uchiha Satoru again.

He was only a five-year-old kid.

Perhaps he was overthinking things.