Two days later.
On Dragon Release Village's shopping street, inside a newly opened ramen shop called Dragon's Village.
Lin Ze sat by the window. More than fifty empty bowls were piled in front of him, and the number kept growing.
Kurenai Yuhi sat beside him, taking small bites of the tonkotsu ramen in her bowl. Every so often, she glanced sideways at Lin Ze, her eyes filled with a tender smile.
Across from them, Asuma Sarutobi and Rei Uesugi sat side by side. Asuma had already finished a bowl and was watching the "mountain of bowls" in front of Lin Ze with a cigarette between his lips, clicking his tongue in wonder.
"Say, Lin Ze, your appetite just keeps getting bigger. I remember back in Konoha, you could only manage thirty-odd bowls at most."
Lin Ze swallowed the noodles in his mouth and said calmly:
"That's why I'm the 'God of Shinobi,' while you're just a jōnin."
Behind him, Tagitsuhime stood quietly in a fitted purple cheongsam, her silky hair falling to her waist. A faint, elusive smile touched her eyes as she watched Lin Ze's back.
Asuma chuckled, ignoring Lin Ze's "taunt," and abruptly changed the subject.
"Speaking of which, when are you two getting married?"
He pointed at Lin Ze and Kurenai Yuhi, teasing them.
"You and Kurenai are almost twenty-six now. In the Shinobi World, people your age have kids old enough to be ninja."
"Uncle Shinku brought it up with me a few days ago, too. He said you two have been together for so many years, it's about time you settled things."
Kurenai Yuhi immediately froze, her face flushing red. She lowered her head and stirred the ramen in her bowl with her chopsticks.
Lin Ze also stopped eating.
He turned toward Kurenai Yuhi beside