Senju Tobirama quickly finished the noodles in his bowl.
This kid's cooking really wasn't bad. Even a simple, shabby-looking bowl of noodles could taste that good in his hands.
Without realizing it, he had slurped everything down in just a few mouthfuls.
Thinking that one needed a full stomach to have the strength for experiments, he decided to have the boy make him another bowl.
This little portion—who could it possibly fill?
He hadn't eaten enough at noon, and now he absolutely couldn't let himself go hungry. Later, he still had experiments to do.
Senju Tobirama carried the empty bowl over to Renya.
"Kid, that wasn't enough noodles. I'm still hungry."
After a whole afternoon without food, there was no way one bowl would be enough for him.
—At least two bowls.
"I'll make you another one." Renya took the empty bowl and headed toward the kitchen.
At first, he had thought Tobirama might be dissatisfied with the noodles, especially since there were hardly any ingredients left in the house, and time was short. Tonight's dinner was rather perfunctory.
But unexpectedly, Tobirama not only finished the noodles, he even wanted another serving.
This old man wasn't picky about food—he was really easy to take care of.
As long as he got three meals a day, everything else required no fuss at all.
Renya went to the kitchen and started kneading dough. This time, he planned to make enough for two people.
Since he had hardly eaten anything at the barbecue shop that afternoon, he would cook a bowl for himself as well.
In the end, he carried two bowls of noodles to the dining table, where Senju Tobirama was already seated, waiting.
"Here's your noodles." Renya placed one bowl in front of him, then began eating his own.
Flour was running out, so the noodles weren't plentiful.
Renya had put most of them in Tobirama's bowl, leaving only a small portion for himself.
Just enough to take the edge off his hunger—if he was still hungry later, he could eat sweets.
After all, today he had bought three whole bags of sweets.
"Kid, don't tell me we've run out of flour at home?" Tobirama frowned when he saw the meager strands in Renya's bowl.
When had their household become this destitute?
Even cooking noodles required splitting them into a large portion and a small one?
As far as he remembered, he wasn't just the Hokage of the village—he was also the head of the clan.
There was no way he lacked money to afford food.
And Renya's mission pay over the years must have been at least ten million ryō.
For people of their standing to be reduced to this? Who would believe it if they heard?
Tobirama felt a moment of unreality, as though he were dreaming.
"We've been on the battlefield all this time. How could there be fresh ingredients at home?" Renya slurped a noodle. "The lunch food was already eaten long ago."
He had thought of buying groceries in the afternoon, but ended up forgetting while wandering the streets with Hiruzen and the others.
The only thing left in the house besides condiments was a small bag of flour.
Just enough for two bowls of noodles…
That was why his bowl had only a half portion, while the rest sat in the old man's bowl across the table.
"I'll go buy ingredients tomorrow morning," Tobirama said softly.
Usually, grocery shopping was his responsibility—he bought, and the kid cooked.
This time, it really was his oversight.
He had been too focused on returning to the office to handle documents and had forgotten something as important as buying food, which was why there was nothing in the house to cook with.
"Slurp—"
Renya sucked up the last noodle from his bowl and set down his chopsticks.
"I'm done."
He picked up his bowl, intending to wash it in the kitchen.
"Wait..."
Just then, Tobirama stopped him.
Under Renya's puzzled gaze, Tobirama picked up half the noodles from his own bowl and placed them into Renya's.
Renya's pupils shrank. His eyes flickered with shock, bewilderment, disbelief, and a swirl of other emotions.
What on earth was this old man doing?!
Did he realize Renya hadn't eaten enough and was giving him noodles?
Renya stared blankly at the extra half bowl that had appeared in front of him, momentarily at a loss.
"I already had one bowl. I can't finish this one, so I'm giving you some." Tobirama's expression remained calm, as if he had done nothing unusual.
Seeing Renya still frozen without reacting, he reminded him, "Don't just stand there—the noodles will clump."
Hearing this, Renya finally snapped out of his daze.
"Oh… got it."
He lowered his head, slurping the noodles, not daring to look Tobirama in the eyes.
The old man was acting way too strangely today.
When something is out of the ordinary… something suspicious must be going on!
Tobirama saw the boy's flustered reaction and couldn't help but smile faintly before continuing to finish his own half bowl of noodles.
Though not full, being sixty percent full was enough.
...
After dinner, Renya carried the dishes to the kitchen to wash them.
At this time, Tobirama left the house and went to the marketplace to buy several bottles of milk.
This was preparation he needed before starting his experiment.
He only had to mix in a single drop of a specially made sleeping drug, and the boy would sleep like the dead—and by the next day, he wouldn't remember anything.
This absolutely could not be known to Renya!
Especially now that Renya was older and harder to trick than when he was a child. He had to make absolutely sure nothing went wrong.
Tobirama dripped three drops of the drug into the milk.
After all, it had been a long time since the last experiment—who knew if one drop would be enough?
To be safe, it was better to add a little more.
...
At the Senju residence.
"Old man, where did you go?"
Renya asked curiously when he saw Tobirama return with several bags.
"I went to the marketplace to buy food for tomorrow," Tobirama replied. "And I also bought two bottles of milk for you to drink before bed."
He pulled two bottles of milk from the bag and set them on the living room table.
Renya nodded, took the groceries, and put them in the kitchen.
At last, the old man had bought some ingredients.
Otherwise, tomorrow morning they might not even have noodles to eat.
When Renya came back out of the kitchen, he saw a glass of milk already on the table.
There was no need to guess—Tobirama had poured it for him.
Drinking milk before bed was an old family tradition.
Ever since he had been adopted, Renya had almost always had a glass of milk at night.
For the past two years on the battlefield, he hadn't had the chance—and he really had missed it.
Without hesitation, Renya downed the glass in one go.
Yes… that familiar taste.
How pleasant it was to drink milk before bed!
...
Late at night, in Renya's room.
Tobirama looked at the unconscious Renya and nodded with satisfaction.
"The drug works well."
Tonight, he could finally conduct proper research again!
Ever since Renya had gone to the Lightning Country battlefield, the experimental data had gone unupdated.
Thinking this, he carefully picked up the sleeping boy and slipped out of the house under the cover of night.
Leaping swiftly across the rooftops of the clan compound with Renya in his arms, Tobirama failed to notice the two pairs of eyes secretly watching him.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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