The owner stood at the door, muttering to himself, "Compared to you paying for everything, my half-price discount is nothing! But why can't I stop smiling?"
After the three of them entered the private room, the dishes were all served in a short while. Torifu then poured a few plates of meat onto the grill. The meat sizzled as it touched the hot plate. Although the meat wasn't cooked yet, Minato was already drooling a little.
Torifu smiled when he saw Minato. "Don't rush, it will be ready in a moment. Have some desserts first."
Minato nodded and picked up a small cake. Torifu had ordered it specially for Minato, thinking he had probably never had one before.
"How is it? Is it good?"
"It's delicious! I've never had this before!"
Amado already knew what Torifu was going to say next. It would be something about working hard to get pocket money. After all, that was how it was for him when he was a child. Back then, his monthly allowance was only enough for him to go to the barbecue restaurant three or four times. He craved it so much that now he would come whenever he had the chance.
"In the future, if you want to eat, just tell me. You can come anytime you want!"
Minato's eyes lit up. "Really, Nii-san?"
"Of course. I never lie."
Minato ate his cake and cheered, "Long live Nii-san!" He looked very innocent.
But at this moment, Amado wasn't having it. "Why does he get to come whenever he wants? I only got a fixed allowance when I was a kid?"
Torifu sighed. "Alas, I saw my failed teaching method in you. I know I was hard on you when you were a child, so I'm making it up to your little brother now."
Amado rolled his eyes so hard he almost looked at the ceiling. Not a single word from this man's mouth was true! But to be honest, even though Amado's pocket money wasn't as unlimited as Minato's, it was still a lot. Back then, the monthly living expenses for a regular shinobi family were only one or two hundred thousand Ryo. Amado's monthly allowance was almost the same as theirs, so he didn't actually resent Torifu. He was just joking.
"Now you're a big shot. Are you still coming to me for pocket money? Aren't you embarrassed?"
"Hmph, that's a different story."
Seeing Torifu and Amado arguing, Minato got a little anxious. "Nii-san, Amado Nii-san, don't fight. I'll just be like Amado Amado when he was little..."
Torifu patted Minato's head. "Silly boy, we're just kidding. How could we possibly argue over a few hundred thousand Ryo? Just eat without worry."
Amado also nodded. "I'm not going to be jealous of you. We're just having fun."
Minato felt relieved after hearing them say that. He didn't want his arrival to cause a fight in this wonderful family. It would give him a sense of guilt, making him think he had ruined everything.
Torifu picked up a piece of meat and put it in Minato's bowl. "Try it and see how it tastes."
"It's delicious!"
Torifu smiled. "Eat more. In the afternoon, I'll put you through some physical training and chakra practice."
"Come to think of it, you only have a few days of peace left. Once you can cultivate chakra, you'll go to the academy."
Minato chewed on the meat slice. He was still very much looking forward to going to school. After all, he had never had any friends. He was sure he would be able to make some good friends at school!
After some more small talk, the meat was basically all cooked. The three of them began to eat seriously. After a whirlwind of eating, the plates of meat on the table were all empty, with only a few bits of meat remaining on the grill.
"Are you all full?"
Amado and Minato both nodded. They were very full and couldn't eat another bite.
"Then let's go."
Torifu took three hundred thousand Ryo cash bills from his ring and handed them to the owner who came to greet them. "Three hundred thousand Ryo. You can send the rest of the change to the Kumotsuru Clan grounds."
The owner looked at Torifu. "Are you really paying for everything?"
Torifu smiled. "Of course. Once the words are out of my mouth, I can't break my promise."
He then pointed to Minato. "I have to set a good example for the little one."
The owner laughed heartily. "Hahahaha, okay, I won't be losing money either way."
He then took the three hundred thousand Ryo from Torifu. It was not a small sum, and he would have to deposit it into the bank later.
"Are you satisfied with the new items?"
Torifu savored the taste. "It's alright. I don't feel much of a difference from the old ones."
The owner nodded. "Alright then. I'll work on improving it."
After chatting with the owner for a while, Torifu took Amado and Minato home. He had treated Minato to a good meal today, so he would have to focus on training him hard in the afternoon. After all, every piece of meat he ate had to be put to good use!
He remembered when he first came with Naori, she said they ate a lot because they had to train very intensely at night. They had been eating like this for more than ten years, almost twenty years now. The two of them had also gone from being ordinary friends to a couple. It was truly destiny.
Naori should have already left. It would be a while before he saw her again. It had only been two days since they last saw each other, and he already missed her dearly.
After returning home, Minato went to his room to take a nap. Children at this age tended to like sleeping. But Torifu had never had this habit. Unless he was extremely, extremely tired, Torifu never took a nap.
With nothing to do, he decided to create a training plan for his two disciples. Mana had already learned to release some simple ninjutsu, so she didn't need to learn how to cultivate chakra. She just needed to continue improving her strength step by step. That process would be the longest. As for the butterflies he promised Mana, he would have to wait until Kakuzu contacted him.
"Torifu, what are you doing?" Snowflake fluttered over to him.
Torifu gently stroked Snowflake's feathers, which were very smooth. "I'm making a training plan for my two disciples. I'm almost done."
Snowflake nodded. "The little crane babies seem to be hatching soon. It should be in the next few days."
Torifu's eyes lit up at this news. This was great news. A few more little lives would be added to the family. He would pick the most talented one to form a contract with Minato, and let the others grow up naturally. After all, the entire airspace of the Hidden Leaf Village was their territory. They could fly wherever they wanted.
"You've been working hard these past few days, too. I don't know how to make any nutritional supplements, so how about I give you a hundred thousand Ryo to go eat out?"
Snowflake looked at Torifu as if he were an idiot. "Do you even hear what you're saying? What kind of crazy talk is this?"
Torifu scratched his head. "I just wanted you to have some better food to nourish yourself, after all, you were very busy with them."
Snowflake flapped her wings. "Just get out of my sight. I'm leaving. Go be crazy by yourself!"
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Chapter End!
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T/N: 🎉The Patreon is at chapter 314 as of this moment. Join me and bring me a couple steps closer to my goal.