Two days later.
The five members of Team Minato appeared in Konoha Village once again, covered in travel dust.
Once they arrived, Namikaze Minato dismissed the team on the spot. He went to the Hokage building to report the situation, while Mikami Yuu and the others looked at the familiar streets in front of them and felt as if a lifetime had passed.
"It feels like we've been away for a really long time."
Nohara Rin spoke softly, a relaxed smile appearing on her face.
Mikami Yuu nodded too. "It really has been a long time."
After growing used to the barren scenery of the southwestern border, seeing Konoha shaded by greenery again created a very strong contrast.
Then again, that was also one of the root causes of why the Great Ninja Wars kept happening. Compared with Konoha, the living environments of the other four great hidden villages really weren't that great. Iwagakure was still barely acceptable, but the other three had either constant sandstorms, year-round damp gloom, or terrifyingly strong ultraviolet rays…
If Mikami Yuu were the Kage of those villages, he would probably also find a way to target Konoha.
But where one stood decided how one thought. Since he had reincarnated into Konoha, he could only speak from Konoha's standpoint for now. If he became a missing-nin one day, that would be another matter.
"Let's go in and take a look."
At Yuu's words, the group entered the village, immediately feeling the familiar warmth of daily life wash over them. People flowed along the streets. Ninja and civilians alike either hurried along, strolled leisurely, or hawked their wares loudly, creating an atmosphere completely different from the battlefield.
Suddenly,
Obito seemed to notice something and abruptly raised his hand, pointing not far away.
"Huh? Look at that logo. It wasn't there before we left, and so many people are lining up!"
"Hm?"
Yuu looked over and noticed a long line outside a nearby shop. The hanging sign clearly showed a transparent glass bottle with a leaf logo printed on it, with a small note beneath:
"Konoha Raw Cola available today. Limit: 3 bottles."
"'Konoha Raw Cola'? What's that?"
Obito looked confused.
Kakashi was the same.
Only Rin seemed to think of something and suddenly turned to look at Yuu. Back when Yuu had taken the Konoha Raw Cola formula to negotiate with Tsunade, she had been present. Although she hadn't eavesdropped on the details of their conversation, she knew the name.
Could it be…
Was this something Yuu-kun came up with? And it had already taken off in such a short time?
"Huh, isn't that Asuma?"
Rin spotted a familiar figure.
It was Sarutobi Asuma, holding three bottles of cola as he walked out of the Akimichi Beverage Shop. Just as he was about to leave, Obito rushed over and called out to him, making him freeze for a moment.
"Huh? Obito? And Yuu, Kakashi, Rin? What, did Suna surrender?"
"?"
"Ha, just kidding. Long time no see. You guys came back to take the Chūnin Exam, right?"
Asuma said.
"Yeah, yeah."
Obito nodded casually while craning his neck to look at the bottles in Asuma's arms.
"So this is that Konoha Raw Cola? It's a drink? But the color looks really weird. It's all black, like ink. Can this thing really taste good?"
"Heh."
Asuma gave him a look as if he were looking at some idiot and said, "You don't know, do you? This Raw Cola is a new product that only appeared in the past month. I heard the formula was personally adjusted by Lady Tsunade. It tastes sweet, refreshing, and incredibly good. But production is low, so now the whole village is going crazy trying to buy it."
"Really? Give me a bottle to try?"
Obito was half skeptical.
Asuma immediately hugged the cola protectively. "No way. If you want to drink it, go line up and buy your own!"
"Come on, you have three bottles there. Don't be so stingy! I'll pay you later if I have to!" Obito persisted.
Probably because they were indeed more or less friends, and because they hadn't seen each other in several months, Asuma finally agreed to Obito's request. He took out a bottle of cola and handed it over.
"I'm saying this first: only two sips."
"Tch, so stingy!"
Obito curled his lip and opened the bottle cap, about to drink, when he suddenly seemed to remember something and looked toward Rin.
"Rin, you want to try first?"
"No, thank you."
Rin waved her hand and politely declined.
Obito urged her once more, but seeing that Rin really had no intention of tasting it, he finally took a gulp himself. His eyes instantly widened.
"Whoa… what is this taste? It's so weird… but it's really good! It's like something exploded on my tongue! Such a strange feeling!"
"Yuu, Kakashi, you guys try it too!"
Faced with Obito's "kindness,"
Mikami Yuu also took a small sip.
How should he put it…
He actually hadn't drunk this version before.
After handing the original formula to Tsunade, he had left Konoha in a hurry. The later improved formula, mass production, and everything else had all been handled by Mikami Tajima. So Yuu only now learned what "Tsunade-version Raw Cola" tasted like.
He didn't know what Tsunade had added to it, but compared to the original version, the current Raw Cola was a little less sweet, had stronger carbonation, and seemed to have a faint sweet aftertaste after swallowing. Overall, the texture and flavor had improved.
"Looks like Dad has done pretty well during this time…"
All the effort he had spent writing that detailed business plan had not been wasted.
Beside him, Kakashi also took a sip and gave no evaluation. It seemed cola wasn't as attractive to him as Icha Icha Paradise.
After that,
Obito chugged half the bottle by himself and, under Asuma's murderous gaze, reluctantly returned it.
Only then did he remember his main purpose for returning to the village. He directly activated his two-tomoe Sharingan and excitedly pointed at his eyes.
"Hey, Asuma! See this? Sharingan!"
"?!"
"How is it? Shocked, right? Let me tell you, during this time on the front line, we made huge contributions! We even fought Chiyo! Do you know Chiyo? The genius puppet master from Sunagakure, someone even stronger than the Kazekage! I fought her and came out in one piece!"
"…"
Yuu looked at Obito and almost said something, then stopped.
Strictly speaking, if one insisted on saying Obito had fought Chiyo, it could barely count.
Without Namikaze Minato, if the few of them had gone up against Chiyo, their odds of winning would have been extremely small. Even Obito with his two-tomoe Sharingan would have been one-shot material.
"Let's talk business, Asuma. Do you know any insider information about this Chūnin Exam?"
~~~
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