Several hours later, Itachi interrupted Arima's training.
"Arima-kun, it's time. Shall we go eat?"
Arima emerged from his trance-like training mode and responded, "Sure, what are we having? Three-color dango?"
As he spoke, he manipulated the Quinque in his hand. It melted like a liquid and slithered back into the briefcase beside him.
Itachi thought seriously for a moment. "Well, if Arima-kun wants to eat something else, that is also fine."
"Alright, don't hesitate. We're having three-color dango!"
After spending this time together, Arima had gained some understanding of this genius youth of the Uchiha Clan.
Although Itachi was peaceful and gentle, he always displayed a trace of inexplicable tsundere behavior when it came to eating three-color dango.
Is it because he's afraid people will gossip about the young master of the dignified Uchiha Clan actually loving sweets?
Regardless of Itachi's inner thoughts, Arima made the decision with an attitude that brooked no refusal.
"Itachi, wait for me a moment. I need to take a bath first."
Having just finished training, Arima was covered in sweat. He didn't want to go eat in such a state, as it would be disrespectful to the food.
Without another word, he stripped off his clothes in front of Itachi and jumped directly into the lake next to the training ground.
"Itachi, the lake water is very refreshing. Do you want to come down and soak for a bit?"
Facing Arima's invitation, Itachi's eyebrow twitched slightly.
"I'll pass."
He was, after all, the son of the Uchiha Clan Leader. If others found out he was swimming naked in the wild, he would likely bring shame to his father's face.
Speaking of which, Arima used to be of noble birth too. I didn't expect him to be so informal.
Though only a noble from a small country, a noble was still a noble.
Itachi had once visited the capital of the Land of Fire with his father and knew deeply what kind of lives the nobles there led.
A noble family of only five or six people often had hundreds of servants in their mansion to serve them!
The cost of a single meal could equal a commoner's expenses for an entire year.
Their requirements for etiquette were even more demanding, as if through these so-called rituals, they could distinguish themselves from ordinary people.
Therefore, Itachi felt Arima's uninhibited nature was quite incredible.
Perhaps this is the impact an accident has on a person.
Thinking of the tragedy that occurred in the Hidden Steam Village, Itachi's eyes dimmed slightly.
Carrying such hatred, Arima-kun's heart must be in considerable pain.
Arima didn't know what Itachi was thinking. After cleaning his body, he walked onto the shore naked.
This startled Itachi, who hurried to look away, causing Arima to burst out laughing.
"Itachi, I didn't expect you to be shy?"
After using Fire Style to dry his clothes, Arima finally dressed himself.
He patted Itachi on the shoulder and said, "Let's go. Time for three-color dango."
"Yeah."
Itachi nodded with a slightly unnatural expression, but thinking that he would soon be eating his favorite three-color dango, his mood became involuntarily joyful again.
The two left the Uchiha compound and went to the center of the village, successfully buying the three-color dango Itachi had been longing for.
Seeing Itachi swallow one in a single breath with an expression of enjoyment like a small cat, Arima couldn't help but remark, "It seems you really do love three-color dango, Itachi-kun."
"Hmm?"
Itachi quickly composed his expression and looked at Arima with a questioning gaze.
Arima casually swallowed a skewer of dango and explained, "You only show that kind of blissful expression when you're eating three-color dango."
"Is that so?"
Itachi thought about it and then shook his head gently. "Actually, besides eating three-color dango, there is one more thing that makes me feel even more joyful."
"Oh?"
Arima appeared quite curious. He really wanted to know what else could pique Itachi's interest.
A woman?
Looking at someone like Itachi, he didn't seem the type.
"It's my little brother."
Itachi didn't keep him in suspense; after all, this wasn't something worth hiding.
As an older brother, doting on a younger brother seemed like a matter of course.
"Itachi-kun's little brother?"
Arima seemed a bit surprised.
He had thought that for someone like Itachi, the things that could make him feel joy would be "the glory of the clan" or "peace in the shinobi world"—grand ideals like those.
Itachi nodded slightly, and the slight curl of his lips revealed his current mood.
"His name is Sasuke. If Arima-kun has time to visit my home, I can introduce him to you."
Arima chimed in thoughtfully, "A brother that Itachi-kun cares about so much must be a very cute child."
Itachi didn't refute this; in fact, his favorable impression of Arima increased because of it.
Anyone who praises my brother for being cute is a good person.
However, Itachi's good mood did not last long.
A noisy crowd blocked their path back to the compound.
"What's going on?"
Itachi's brow furrowed slightly. The dense crowd ahead appeared incredibly chaotic, with various noisy arguments and curses constantly coming from the center of the mass.
Due to the crowd blocking the view, Itachi couldn't understand what was happening. He performed a few hand signs, and a crow flew out from his sleeve to observe from the sky.
"My brother died on the battlefield because he ate the Food Pills purchased from your chamber of commerce! You must give us an explanation for this!"
"That's right, the same happened to my younger brother! Your Food Pills have no effect at all! Liars! You are complete liars!"
The arguments and noise below were continuously transmitted to Itachi's mind through the crow. The four characters for "Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce" also appeared before Itachi's eyes.
Through the crow's investigation, he roughly understood the cause of the matter.
It seemed several people had bought Food Pills from the Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce. When used on the battlefield, the pills did not have the intended medicinal effect, leading to those people's deaths.
Therefore, their families had gathered to demand an explanation from the Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce.
"I remember this Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce has been quite popular since it opened, right? And the effect of their Food Pills was supposed to be quite good. I didn't expect something like this to happen."
Arima was now half a Leaf villager himself and had heard rumors about things happening in the village.
The headquarters of this Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce seemed to be in the Land of Wind. Because of its powerful medicinal effects and good cost-performance ratio, it became an instant hit when it opened a branch in the Hidden Leaf. There were often long queues at the door.
Itachi stroked his chin and said with some doubt, "To ensure the safety of the shinobi, the village's control over Food Pills is quite strict. Every day, a certain percentage of Food Pills are taken from major pharmacies for inspection. If any substandard pills are found, the pharmacy's sales are immediately suspended."
"Given the reputation of the Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce, they have absolutely no motive to ruin their own brand."
"As for saying the Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce is following instructions from the Land of Wind to persecute Hidden Leaf shinobi... the targets chosen should be those famous Jonin, right? It wouldn't make sense to target a few ordinary shinobi."
"Or is this simply an accident? Did the Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce act carelessly and fail to check the quality of the medicine?"
"Or perhaps..."
Itachi's eyes narrowed slowly because the crow circling in the air saw someone in the crowd.
An employee of the Bingwu Hall.
Before the Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce opened its branch in the Hidden Leaf, Bingwu Hall and a few other chambers of commerce almost monopolized the entire military supply trade of the Hidden Leaf.
And behind these chambers of commerce were the various great clans of the Hidden Leaf.
Ever since the Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce opened in the village, its powerful medicinal effects had indeed dealt a heavy blow to the other chambers of commerce.
Therefore, from the perspective of industrial competition, the current event could be explained.
However, it was inherently difficult to find evidence for this kind of thing.
After all, who can prove that the Food Pill you used on the battlefield was from the Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce?
Even if you did use their Food Pill, how do you prove you died because of the pill and not because of a tactical error?
Because of this, the two sides were arguing relentlessly.
Just as the crowd of troublemakers became increasingly agitated and prepared to rush into the Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce for a physical "discussion," the Police Force responsible for maintaining order finally arrived.
"Everyone, stop right now!"
A loud roar caused the scene to fall silent instantly.
Seeing the Uchiha Police Force arrive in their green vests, several Uchiha shinobi surrounded the crowd.
Some people showed fear in their eyes, while others wore looks of disdain.
"What is happening here?"
Uchiha Inabi, leading the team, scanned the area with a cold gaze and asked sternly.
The troublemakers immediately explained the reason for the situation.
After listening, Uchiha Inabi's brow also furrowed. This kind of matter, based solely on subjective inference without any evidence, was the hardest to handle.
However, it wasn't just one or two people making a scene, but a large group. If they weren't given an explanation, they likely wouldn't let the matter rest.
Seeing this, Uchiha Inabi could only call for the spokesperson of the Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce.
"Hello, sir. I am the manager of the Hidden Leaf office of the Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce. My name is Tomu."
The manager named Tomu gently pushed his glasses. His face was incredibly calm, showing none of the tension one might expect from being surrounded.
Seeing this, Uchiha Inabi didn't waste words and got straight to the point. "Since people have complained, I hope your Spider Lily Chamber of Commerce can accept an inspection by our Police Force."
Tomu nodded with unexpected decisiveness. "Of course. We are very willing to cooperate with the Police Force's inspection."
This friendly posture was worlds apart from his previous tough stance against the crowd!