After seeing that wonderful thing, Ye Feng felt as though a cat kept scratching at his heart. He wanted to go home immediately, but he could not leave the Ninja Academy without a reason. Besides, he was currently at the center of attention, and leaving for no reason could easily draw unwanted scrutiny. He could only endure the wait until school ended.
He could not even concentrate on training, but that also let him notice two gazes that kept drifting toward him, seemingly casually. Following his instincts, Ye Feng looked over and saw Kakashi Hatake and Hyuga Kong glancing at him from time to time, their eyes burning with eagerness. If Ye Feng had not known their personalities, he would have thought they were attracted to men.
Time passed so slowly. Ye Feng finally made it through the morning classes.
Asuma Sarutobi, Inuzuka Clan Fengyu, Kurenai Yuhi, Rin Nohara, and Obito Uchiha-the Big Eaters Five-gathered around him. Obito led the teasing. "None of us brought lunch. If we aren't satisfied with today's food, you'd better watch out."
"I didn't bring much food today, only enough for five people. How about Obito goes without? What do you think?" The other four instantly sold Obito out.
"Sure, sure! There isn't even enough for us, and Obito eats the most."
Obito's face immediately fell. "We're supposed to be on the same side! You can't do this to me."
"All right, all right. I'll stop teasing you. I brought plenty of extra food today. There's enough for all of you." Seeing Obito's expression, he stopped teasing him.
When he opened the enormous lunchbox, the aroma of sizzling chilies immediately wafted out. They promptly served themselves rice and set about wiping out the army of delicacies before them.
Obito, who charged ahead of everyone else, immediately set his sights on the chili chicken. He popped a piece into his mouth, and his face turned bright red from the heat a second later. Only after hurriedly shoveling down several mouthfuls of rice did he feel a little better.
"Ye Feng, are you trying to kill someone? You made it so spicy it could burn someone to death!" Obito's reaction frightened the others, and they gave Ye Feng unfriendly looks.
Ye Feng ignored Obito's words and asked, "Does it taste good?"
Obito actually savored the lingering flavor for a moment. Delicious! He immediately picked up some more and put it in his bowl.
The others exchanged glances, then joined the scramble without hesitation. The heat had everyone rocking back and forth and panting, but they still could not curb their craving for more.
Watching them eat, their classmates grew curious about what exactly they were having. Quite a few bold, thick-skinned students came over to sample Ye Feng's food, and he turned no one away. Before long, more than a dozen people were rocking back and forth and panting in unison. It was quite a sight.
Sichuan cuisine naturally whetted the appetite. Ye Feng and the Big Eaters Five had already eaten most of the food meant for seven or eight people, leaving only a little for everyone else. The other classmates who had tasted Ye Feng's cooking all wanted more, wishing he had made more and resenting how much the others had eaten. They jokingly blamed one another, while the rest chimed in.
Ye Feng watched the scene with a cheerful smile. Harmony, humor, joy-how wonderful!
"Uchiha Yefeng, I challenge you." Just then, a voice rang out.
Only upon hearing someone challenge him did Ye Feng turn his head. He saw Hyuga Kong staring at him with burning eyes.
The classroom abruptly fell silent, then filled with whispers.
"Ye Feng defeated the fourth-year top student, and someone still dares challenge him?"
"You don't know? The Hyuga Clan takes the most pride in its taijutsu, which is called the best in Konoha. Ye Feng defeated Uchiha Shinichi with taijutsu alone. He's specifically here to pit his taijutsu against Ye Feng's."
Ye Feng thought, These boys who consider themselves geniuses really do have energy to spare. He glanced at Kakashi Hatake practicing with shuriken outside the window, and an idea came to him.
"Can you beat Kakashi Hatake?"
"We haven't fought."
"Go find Kakashi Hatake. If you can't even beat him, don't bother coming to me," Ye Feng told Hyuga Kong with utter arrogance.
"Fine. Just you wait." With that, he went out to find Kakashi Hatake. Ye Feng inwardly marveled at what a simple kid he was.
The Big Eaters Five also asked Ye Feng in surprise, "Have you fought Kakashi? Are you stronger than Kakashi Hatake?"
"I haven't fought him, so how would I know?"
"Then why did you send Hyuga Kong to find Kakashi?"
"If he doesn't go find Kakashi, he'll keep challenging me. I'm not interested in playing with him."
"You're so mean, Ye Feng," the Big Eaters Five said, nodding together.
Sure enough, through the upstairs window, they saw Hyuga Kong running toward Kakashi Hatake.
"Come on, come on. The show's about to start." A crowd of spectators leaned against the windows to watch.
"Kakashi Hatake, I challenge you."
"No time." As concise and dismissive as ever, Kakashi continued practicing his shuriken throws.
Hyuga Kong felt insulted. Uchiha Yefeng looked down on him and had sent him to fight Kakashi Hatake, saying he would only qualify to fight him after beating Kakashi.
Even Kakashi Hatake was acting as though he did not exist.
The more Hyuga Kong thought about it, the angrier he became. He attacked Kakashi Hatake directly, shouting furiously, "You don't get to decide whether we fight!"
Sensing Hyuga Kong's attack, Kakashi Hatake dodged aside. "I'm not interested in children's matches."
Who knew those words would provoke Hyuga Kong even further? Kakashi actually treated him like a weak little child. That was simply intolerable.
He immediately activated his Byakugan. His feet seemed fitted with launchers, sending a blast of air across the ground as he rushed toward Kakashi Hatake.
Kakashi's eyes instantly widened in surprise at Hyuga Kong's speed, but his hands were quick, instantly flinging four shuriken. Hyuga Kong did not change direction. His Byakugan had already seen the shuriken's trajectories clearly. His left hand darted about, catching all of Kakashi's shuriken before hurling them to either side of him to cut off his escape routes. Closing in himself, he thrust two fingers toward a Tenketsu near Kakashi's collarbone, aiming to cut off the chakra flow there.
With a clang, Hyuga Kong's two fingers struck the flat of Kakashi's short blade. Kakashi immediately drew the blade across toward Hyuga Kong's abdomen, forcing him to dodge backward with a backflip. Kakashi Hatake immediately used the Clone Technique, creating two copies, and all three charged forward, brandishing short blades.
The Clone Technique was likewise ineffective against Hyuga Kong's Byakugan, and he inwardly sneered that Kakashi was nothing special. Ignoring the clones' attacks, he closed in and struck Kakashi's Tenketsu with two fingers.
Hyuga Kong had only just begun to smile when he was dumbfounded. The figure whose Tenketsu he had struck also vanished in a puff of smoke.
"This one's a clone too? The Shadow Clone Technique!"
By the time Hyuga Kong came to his senses, it was too late. Kakashi Hatake's short blade was already at his neck.
Before you continue