Chapter 78: Ichiraku Ramen Opens (Part 2)
The Village Hidden in the Mist was quiet in the night.
"No! Is he sick?!" Terumi Mei suddenly sat up in bed. Just a moment ago, she had a dream about Hanekawa, a replay of the memory of him taking her wallet.
"Bastard!" Terumi Mei clenched her fist and punched the quilt. Since she was a child, her talent was exceptional, and she could be called a prodigy. She had never experienced such a miserable defeat. And what she couldn't accept the most was that the person who defeated her was a peer.
Terumi Mei recalled the file she saw on Hanekawa during the day. His specialty was medical ninjutsu, not sword or genjutsu. Yet, she had lost to his swordsmanship. Terumi Mei bit her lower lip, her face flushed with anger. She swore she would get her wallet back!
A new day.
The chirping of an unknown bird came from outside the window. Hanekawa sat up and stretched. He had slept very well last night. After several days of sleeping in a tent, the bed was naturally much better.
"Home is the best." Hanekawa changed his clothes and went to the bathroom to wash up.
"Good morning." Yuhi Kurenai made way for him. Hanekawa didn't stand on ceremony and stood next to her, starting to brush his teeth.
Yuhi Shinku looked on, feeling a stomachache. He held a bowl of ramen and said with a poker face, "Let's eat."
Soon, the three of them were sitting around the table.
"Hanekawa, when is your next mission?" Yuhi Kurenai picked up her chopsticks, and suddenly remembering something, she asked with concern.
"I don't know," Hanekawa shook his head. "Sensei didn't say."
Given what he knew about Tsunade, it would probably be next month. After all, this time had been a week-long delay that seriously affected her gambling. She would probably spend the next few days in the casino.
"Kurenai," Yuhi Shinku couldn't help but say, "your main task now is to study." He didn't want Yuhi Kurenai to go on missions. Of course, the main reason was that he felt she wasn't strong enough.
"I know!" Yuhi Kurenai's cheeks puffed out, and she looked a little unhappy.
"It's okay," Hanekawa comforted her. "After you graduate, there will be plenty of opportunities."
"You're right." Yuhi Kurenai nodded.
Yuhi Shinku was speechless. Are my words completely useless now?
"But... I heard that we'll be assigned to different teams after graduation." Yuhi Kurenai looked worried.
"No problem," Hanekawa said with a smile. "My teacher is Tsunade, so I'll ask her for help then."
"Really?" Yuhi Kurenai's eyes lit up.
"Yes," Hanekawa said with a definite expression.
"That's great!" Yuhi Kurenai said with excitement.
Yuhi Shinku subconsciously glared at Hanekawa. You little brat, you're already thinking so far ahead! But... it was all good for Yuhi Kurenai to be Hanekawa's teammate. After all, his teacher was Tsunade.
After breakfast, Hanekawa and Yuhi Kurenai went to Kosuke Maruboshi's house. There was still an hour before class started, so they couldn't waste time. Hanekawa took out his samurai sword and continued to practice the Konoha-Style: Willow.
"Goodbye, Uncle Kosuke!" The two of them finished their training and went to the Ninja Academy.
"Kurenai," Hanekawa patted her shoulder and asked, "Uncle Kosuke gave you a Water Style training scroll. Can I borrow it?"
"Of course." Yuhi Kurenai handed him the scroll and asked curiously, "Are you going to learn Water Style?" She remembered that Hanekawa's elements were Lightning and Fire, not Water.
"I ran into a Water Style ninja in the Land of Water and had a messy victory, so I want to learn more about it," Hanekawa explained.
"When I learn Water Style, I'll help you beat her!" Yuhi Kurenai said, waving her little fists.
"Okay," Hanekawa smiled and agreed.
When they arrived at the classroom, Asuma Sarutobi greeted them. After all, he had just eaten a feast of yakiniku on Hanekawa's dime yesterday.
"Oh, by the way, Hanekawa, here you go." Yuhi Kurenai went to her desk and took out her class notes.
"Thanks." Hanekawa was stunned for a moment, but he didn't refuse, even though he didn't really need them.
"Damn it!" Asuma Sarutobi suddenly felt a mouthful of dog food and couldn't help but bark.
"Is there a problem?" Yuhi Kurenai looked at him. Asuma Sarutobi covered his face and sat down. It's one against two, I can't win.
Hanekawa returned to his seat and opened the class notes. He could tell that Yuhi Kurenai had put a lot of effort into them; the handwriting was neat, and the notes were very detailed.
"Hanekawa." Rin Nohara's voice rang out.
"What's up?" Hanekawa looked up at the notebook in her hand and asked, "Is there something you don't understand?"
"This is..." Rin Nohara suddenly stopped. She had seen the class notes in front of Hanekawa, and someone had beaten her to it.
"It's nothing." Rin Nohara felt a little disappointed inside, but her expression didn't show it. She shook her head and walked away.
"What's going on?" Hanekawa scratched his head, feeling a bit confused.
The bell rang, signaling the start of class. Eiichiro walked into the classroom, and Obito Uchiha ran in right behind him.
"I'm sorry, Sensei," Obito Uchiha quickly knelt down.
"Go to your seat," Eiichiro shook his head and walked to the podium. "Everyone, take out your textbooks. Today we're going to talk about codes."
Hanekawa put down his class notes and took out a book, but it wasn't a textbook. It was the Water Style training notes. Terumi Mei had dropped a 30% Water Style talent bonus for him, so he couldn't waste it. Moreover, he needed to learn Water Style to synthesize Wood Style.
Footsteps sounded. Hanekawa turned his head and met Eiichiro's eyes. He blinked and continued to read the Water Style training notes as if nothing had happened. Eiichiro was about to say something, but he stopped. You're cuckolding me right in front of my face, huh? Unfortunately, he stared until his eyes hurt, but Hanekawa showed no sign of remorse. Eiichiro had no choice but to give up.
Time flew by, and soon it was the end of the school day. Hanekawa used to train with Asuma Sarutobi, Kakashi Hatake, and Yuhi Kurenai. But because he wanted to learn Konoha-Style: Willow, he temporarily split up from them. Later, Yuhi Kurenai was taken by him to learn Water Style. They were now training in two separate groups. Today was no different.
However, Hanekawa heard an unexpected piece of news from Asuma Sarutobi. Shisui Uchiha had joined their training. He and Kakashi Hatake were having a hot battle every day. This didn't happen in the original story and was a butterfly effect of Hanekawa.
"Hey, kids!" Hanekawa and Yuhi Kurenai were walking down the street when they suddenly heard someone calling out to them. Soon, a man in a white chef's uniform appeared in front of them.
"I'm Teuchi, the chef of Ichiraku Ramen," Teuchi took out two coupons and said, "Next month, our ramen shop will officially open. Everything will be on sale. Welcome, you two."
"Thank you." Hanekawa took the coupons and said, "We'll definitely come." As a fan of the original story, the grand opening of Ichiraku Ramen was something he couldn't miss. And he also wanted to know what the ramen that Naruto Uzumaki never forgot tasted like.
A new week. Hanekawa got up very early today because he wanted to try his hand at Water Style alone. As usual, he changed into his workout clothes and went for a jog on the street.
"Hanekawa!" Toubashi suddenly appeared, grabbed him, and said with excitement, "I finally found you!"
"What's wrong, Uncle Toubashi?" Hanekawa raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did the Village Hidden in the Clouds have new instructions?"
"It's about the new book!" Toubashi said with a pained expression. "Not releasing a new book for so long, how much money have we lost?!"
Hanekawa wanted to complain. Do you even remember that you're a spy? Oh, wait, I'm the same. Never mind then.
Hanekawa was an orphan, and there was nothing for him to be nostalgic about in the Village Hidden in the Clouds. His friends were all in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. As for his identity as a spy, if it was useful now, he would keep it. If it wasn't, he could discard it. With Hanekawa's current identity and status, even if the Village Hidden in the Clouds said he was a spy, the Village Hidden in the Leaves would just think they were slandering him. Of course, if they asked him to be the Raikage, he wouldn't refuse.
"Does your friend have a new book?" Toubashi asked impatiently.
"I'll go back and ask him," Hanekawa said after a moment of thought.
"When will you get back to me?" Toubashi complained. "You haven't been to the bookstore in almost half a year. This time, it can't be that long."
"Tomorrow," Hanekawa's mouth twitched. Why are you acting like a resentful woman?Careful, the Village Hidden in the Leaves is full of guys like you!
"Okay, I'll wait for you," Toubashi said, letting out a sigh of relief.
Hanekawa jogged on, thinking about the new book. Soon, he had an idea. He was going to release his treasured epic masterpiece, Black Beast! He even bought a Celeste figurine in his past life.
Training Ground 3. Hanekawa arrived early, and since it was Sunday, the training ground was empty. He stood in place, took a deep breath, and made hand seals.
Water Style: Wild Water Wave! Chakra quickly gathered in his throat, but... it didn't spray out. Hanekawa coughed violently. He had choked on the water, which also meant his ninjutsu had failed. Hanekawa didn't get discouraged. After a short rest, he continued.
[E-rank Ninjutsu: Water Style: Wild Water Wave.]
[Trigger Condition: Successfully perform this ninjutsu.]
[Effect: This ninjutsu will automatically reach proficient level.]
An hour later, Hanekawa acquired a new term. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and left without lingering. To synthesize Wood Style, Water Style had to reach a jonin level, and there was no use rushing it. He now wanted to learn Konoha-Style: Willow first.
Three months passed, and soon it was April.
At Ichiraku Ramen.
"Wow! So many people!" Yuhi Kurenai exclaimed at the long line.
Hanekawa frowned slightly. There were indeed a lot of people. He glanced over and saw more than thirty people waiting in line.
"Hanekawa!" Kushina Uzumaki shouted with delight.
"Sister Kushina," Hanekawa turned and greeted her. "Minato-senpai."
"That's weird." Minato Namikaze couldn't help but complain, "Why do you call her 'sister' but me 'senpai'?"
"That's because Hanekawa and I are close," Kushina Uzumaki glared at him and said.
Minato Namikaze was forced to retreat. Hanekawa just didn't want to call him "big brother." It would bring up some uncomfortable memories.
"Hanekawa!" Just then, Asuma Sarutobi's voice rang out. Kakashi Hatake, Rin Nohara, and Obito Uchiha were with him.
"Hanekawa! Kakashi!" Might Guy shouted while running on his hands.
"Hanekawa is so popular," Minato Namikaze said with a hint of emotion.
....
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