Under the swaying shadows of the setting sun,
At the Ichiraku Ramen stand, Ren Uchiha sat on a high stool as if it were a bed of needles, sweating profusely under the weight of several intense stares.
"Eat! Why aren't you eating?"
"The chicken broth is delicious!"
Kushina smiled, using her chopsticks to poke at a narutomaki in her bowl, looking at Ren with a deceptively gentle gaze.
To Ren's right, the pint-sized Yamato stared at him with a look of pure resentment. His stomach let out a thunderous growl, but having been trained with the strict discipline of Root, he could only watch Ren with pleading eyes.
The meaning was clear: 'Eat! Why aren't you eating?!' If the superior didn't touch his chopsticks, how could the subordinate dig in?
But the real pressure came from the young man behind the counter. No one knew if this man, Teuchi—whispered by some to be the conceptual god 'Sage of Six Bowls'—would reveal Mangekyō Sharingans, Rinnegans, or even a Nine-Tomoe Rinne-Sharingan if he ever opened his squinting eyes.
Right now, Teuchi was staring Ren down, his gaze leaking a palpable, burning fighting spirit. With a flick of his wrist, he added another ladle of steaming chicken broth to Ren's bowl.
"Guest... eat. Why are you hesitating?"
"Does the craft of this 'street-side fly joint' not suit your refined palate?"
His tone carried a hint of deep-seated grievance.
Looking at the bowl of ramen—perfect in color, aroma, and taste—Ren felt cold sweat pouring down his face.
Crap! Teuchi heard him call Ichiraku Ramen a "fly joint"! He's pissed! He's definitely pissed! Did he put a grenade in the noodles?!
Under the eager gaze of the crowd, Ren tremblingly raised his chopsticks and took a bite.
"Slurp—"
The firm, springy noodles and the savory broth hit his tongue, sliding down into his stomach. Warmth instantly flooded his limbs. Having not had a proper meal in days, Ren's eyes widened.
"It's... it's amazing!"
Eating a bowl of Ichiraku in the heart of Konoha felt as exhilarating as finding a truly authentic bowl of hand-pulled noodles after a long journey.
Seeing Ren start, the starving Yamato couldn't hold back any longer. He clapped his hands together politely and shouted, "I'm digging in!"
As the two of them inhaled the food like starved ghosts, Teuchi let out a victorious, satisfied smile behind the counter.
Beside them, Kushina watched them eat and chuckled. "By the way, Ren," she asked suddenly, "Mikoto told me that Fugaku is helping you collect sealing jutsu. Are you studying them now?"
"She came to me this morning asking if I'd be willing to sell some Uzumaki sealing techniques to the Uchiha clan."
Ren paused. So Fugaku already knew he needed sealing jutsu and was making moves. However, most sealing techniques found in Konoha were basic—like the One-Line Lamp Array or Three-Direction Seal. To master the Reverse Four Symbols Seal, Ren needed the real deal. Fugaku had realized that the only person to go to was Kushina.
He was touched that Mikoto, despite being heavily pregnant, had gone out to make the request for him. Ren looked at Kushina and nodded. "If I could get the basics of the Four Symbols Seal, it would be a huge help."
Kushina shook her head and lowered her voice. "Technically, I can't do that. The Four Symbols Seal is top-secret—it's a high-level technique used for sealing Tailed Beasts."
"However..."
She pulled a scroll from the pouch on her leg and slid it across the counter to Ren, winking playfully. "You didn't see it, and I don't know about it. If the old man Hiruzen asks, you found it on the street."
"Anyway—I'm off to visit Minato!"
Kushina stood up, gave a cheeky wave, and turned to leave. "Ja ne~!"
Her figure quickly vanished into the orange dusk. Ren looked at the scroll, feeling a surge of warmth in his chest. That is, until his eyes drifted to the spot where Kushina had been sitting.
Ten. Empty. Bowls. Stacked high.
Ren's face went pale. Wait... Big Sis... you said 'Ja ne,' but did you pay for the food?!
Crap! First, he insulted the Sage of Six Bowls to his face, then he showed up broke, and now he was stuck with the bill for a bottomless-pit Jinchūriki.
Ren broke into a cold sweat again and looked up stiffly. Teuchi was staring at him through those squinted eyes, his voice low and dangerous.
"Guest... you wouldn't be thinking of dining and dashing, would you?"
Ren blinked, his eyes slowly drifting to the seven-year-old Yamato who was still happily slurping noodles. He let out a nervous, hollow laugh.
"Do you guys... accept child labor as payment?"
Yamato suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He looked up, tilting his head at Ren in confusion. "???"
Meanwhile, in the Land of Hot Water.
In the capital, Yuyake City, which was currently being rebuilt...
South of the city, in Black-Hand Alley, within the underground black market. A gray-haired old woman, her eyes filled with murderous intent, walked into a funeral parlor that served as a front for the Bounty Station.
She stepped over the shopkeeper—who was sitting on a stool looking half-dead while making paper flowers—and walked into a chilly courtyard lined with coffins.
She stopped at the fourth coffin in the fourth row. Taking a deep breath, she knocked four times on the lid.
A moment later, a bald man in white robes pushed the lid open and sat up, looking at her with hollow eyes. "Valued guest, what do you seek?"
"Kidnapping, extortion, bounties, intelligence, assassination... even if you want to become a noble of this country by tomorrow, as long as you can pay the price, we bounty hunters are at your service."
The old woman closed her eyes and let out a heavy breath.
"I want someone dead!"
The bald man smiled. "No problem. Who is the target?"
The old woman's face contorted with rage, a long-burning thirst for vengeance erupting in her eyes.
"The Konoha Jonin known as 'Shura'—Ren Uchiha!"
"I want all his intelligence publicized. The bounty: 60 million Ryo!"
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