"Whoa, you can really eat! You ate more than ten bowls all by yourself..."
Kimimaro looked up. A little blond kid. Hm? Why does he feel a bit familiar? He looked like the blond kid from their time travel to Roran.
That orange jumpsuit he seemed to wear year-round was too easy to recognize. Kimimaro felt a flicker of apprehension and glanced at his teacher. Seeing Nagi-sensei remain silent, he understood that he needed to keep a low profile in an enemy village. He ignored Naruto and went back to chowing down.
Naruto didn't mind being ignored. It was how people had treated him his whole life. Whether they knew him or not, they almost always regarded him with disgust.
"Old man, add extra green onions for me! And more broth, too!"
"You got it! No problem!"
Teuchi smiled. Every time Naruto came in, he always gave him a much larger portion than anyone else. Naruto had a huge appetite, and this was one of the few small kindnesses in his life.
The only other person was Iruka, with whom he would form a bond after graduation. Those two were the first people to truly enter his heart like family.
Soon, the specially-made, super-sized, extra-large ramen was served. Naruto was already salivating, drool practically pooling on the floor.
"Time to dig in!"
He grabbed his chopsticks and began slurping the noodles into his mouth at lightning speed, the searing heat doing nothing to slow him down. In no time, he had polished off the entire bowl, not leaving a single drop of broth. The broth was made from bones simmered for hours, perfect for the nutritional needs of his growing body.
He didn't know anything about nutrition, but instinct always drove him to drink every last drop of the soup. Besides, the broth at Ichiraku Ramen was in a class of its own.
"Ah, all done! I'm so full, so full~"
Though he claimed to be full, his eyes secretly darted toward Kimimaro, an envious look he couldn't hide. The staring made Kimimaro a little uncomfortable.
But without a nod from Uchiha Nagi, he wouldn't dare interact with Naruto.
Tap.
Uchiha Nagi lightly tapped his fingers on the table. Kimimaro understood instantly.
"Burp~ Sensei, I think I'm full. I can't eat anymore," Kimimaro said.
"Is that so? Then let's pay and go," Uchiha Nagi said with a smile, tossing a large-denomination bill to Teuchi.
"Keep the change as a tip."
"Thank you, valued customer! Please come again!" Teuchi called out cheerfully.
Uchiha Nagi nodded and led Kimimaro and Yukihime out of Ichiraku Ramen.
"Huh? They're leaving without finishing? What a waste! That's awful! If it were me, I'd get it to go even if I couldn't finish it..." Naruto grumbled indignantly.
Teuchi just smiled. Naruto was still too young to understand the world, but he saw what was happening.
"Naruto, that customer still had two bowls of ramen they hadn't been served yet. I'll just give them to you."
"Ah, really? You promise, old man? That's great! Today's my lucky day! I found money on my way here, and now I get free ramen at the ramen shop! Hahahaha..." Naruto was overjoyed. He always was a king when it came to luck; in the future, he'd even hit the jackpot on a slot machine.
Naruto comfortably plopped down in the seat Kimimaro had just vacated, holding his chopsticks and eagerly awaiting the ramen.
However, before the ramen even arrived, his mind suddenly went blank. Strange images seemed to flash before his eyes.
In an oasis in the middle of a desert, there was a tall blond man, zipping back and forth. The kid who was a little older than him was there too. [Uchiha Nagi was in disguise.]
Finally, he saw himself standing with his arms outstretched in front of a girl, shouting and cursing at the tall blond man and the Konoha ninja leading the team.
"Naruto? Naruto! Your ramen's here. What are you spacing out for?" Teuchi called.
"Oh, oh! Sorry, old man! Time to eat!" Naruto shook his head, trying to clear the strange images that had suddenly flooded his brain. He started digging in. Ramen was far more important than some weird curiosities...
After leaving Ichiraku Ramen, Uchiha Nagi headed to a ninja tool shop to buy some supplies, especially storage scrolls.
Storage scrolls came in various sizes and had different shelf lives. Just like appliances, some high-quality scrolls could last for several years, while cheaper ones were only good for a few months.
Every storage scroll was made from the hide of a beast that possessed chakra. Only these special hides could serve as the medium for storage scrolls. Even if Uchiha Nagi knew how to make them, he wouldn't be able to find the right materials in the Demon Slayer world.
After buying the storage scrolls, he bought a batch of explosive tags. How could a ninja fight without explosive tags? Since it wasn't wartime, the price of explosive tags wasn't high, and the ninja world was far from peaceful. Traveling merchants often needed to restock these consumable weapons.
So when Nagi bought a large quantity of them, the shopkeeper, far from being suspicious, was delighted. He even waived the odd change and gave him a coupon for a five percent discount on his next purchase...
Afterward, Uchiha Nagi and the other two found an inn to stay in. The reason Konoha was so open was tied to its economy. Merchants from all over the ninja world could trade and buy goods from other countries here. Coupled with the Land of Fire's own fertile lands and abundant produce, it made the other countries green with envy.
This was also why, in every Great Ninja War, the surrounding villages always ganged up on Konoha.
If everyone was poor together, it would be one thing. But Konoha was filthy rich. It would be strange if they weren't jealous.
At the inn, they could occasionally hear the hurried footsteps of ninja running and leaping across the rooftops. But the people here were used to it. Don't think for a second that Konoha's security was all that tight. If it were, the envoys from the Land of Lightning would never have been able to secretly abduct Hinata.
And Hayate Gekko wouldn't have been killed in a fight with Baki on a rooftop, only to be discovered the next day. To put it bluntly, after so many years of peace, Konoha had long since let down its guard.
The other ninja villages were much the same. Orochimaru easily infiltrated the Land of Lightning, disguised himself as a doctor, and released the Eight-Tails.
It was only after Sasuke had fought Killer Bee that the Land of Lightning even realized their jinchuriki was under attack.
And finally, there was Kabuto, who went around digging up graves, desecrating the tombs of the Kage in every village without anyone noticing. Peace had lasted too long. It wasn't just Konoha; every hidden village was the same.
That night, Uchiha Nagi frowned, contemplating whether he should infiltrate the Hokage's office to steal something. There was something there that held a great attraction for him: the Scroll of Seals, containing the ninjutsu left behind by generations of Hokage and jonin.
The jutsu contained in the Scroll of Seals was simply too tempting. And right now, Konoha's old guard was old, and the strong had left. There were no real powerhouses to hold down the fort.
It was just a lineup of jonin. If Gai dared to open the Gate of Death, or even the Seventh Gate, he might be able to suppress him. But would he?
Uchiha Nagi knew the unique characteristics of the Eight Gates very well. Ten minutes of open gates, and all he had to do was use the Flying Thunder God to escape. Once the time was up and Gai entered his weakened state, he could just come back and win without a fight...
And if he dared to open the gates again in his weakened state? No problem. He'd just slip away again. The pride of a strong warrior didn't matter much. Winning was all that mattered.
"Ah, forget it. Next time. In a few years. There's no rush..." Uchiha Nagi sighed. Kimimaro didn't know the Flying Thunder God. Teleporting away with someone was completely different from teleporting alone.
And then there was Yukihime. He didn't particularly like or dislike this young lady, but he wouldn't let her just sit there and die for no reason. When Orochimaru attacked Konoha next time, it would be much easier to get his hands on the Scroll of Seals.
Uchiha Nagi calculated the time. Naruto would graduate at twelve, and a few months later, he would participate in the Chunin Exams. The Uchiha clan massacre happened when Sasuke was around six. That meant there were still three or four years. No rush.
In these three or four years, he would consolidate his skills and improve his own strength and physical condition. He was learning more and more ninjutsu, but his physical strength hadn't improved at all. He couldn't even use Sun Breathing as his regular sword style.
And as for his trump card in taijutsu, the Monstrous Strength Fist, he could only use it a few times. It was like looking at a mountain of treasure but being unable to take any of it. It was maddening.
"Three or four years is enough time for me to build up my physical strength. Master one trick, and you can conquer the world..." Uchiha Nagi muttered to himself.
Once he could use the Monstrous Strength Fist as freely as Tsunade, he could defeat the vast majority of opponents. And then there was the strongest technique, Sun Breathing... He sighed. It wasn't good to learn too many techniques without being able to master them.
Outside Konoha, at Training Ground 13, Anko and Kurenai were frowning over a large pile of documents.
They had gotten the records from the ninja at the gate. Everyone who entered Konoha had to register, but Konoha was a city, not a village. So many people came and went every day that it was impossible to remember them all, and searching through the records wasn't easy.
The guards were too lazy to go through it themselves, so they just handed the whole pile of registration forms to Anko. Anko, in turn, had no choice but to drag Kurenai to the training ground to help her search.
First, Kurenai pulled out the records of all the girls who had entered Konoha in the past few days. Then Anko went through them one by one...
The two of them sifted through the documents from day until night, tossing papers all over the ground.
"Maybe we should try again tomorrow? It's getting really late..." Kurenai said.
"No way. I can't sleep until I find that girl. Hey, got it! I think this is her..." Anko said joyfully, holding up a record with a photo of Yukihime attached.
Beautiful girls were relatively rare, so they were easier to identify. Although Uchiha Nagi had applied makeup to Yukihime, she still looked quite youthful and pretty.
"You found her? That's great. Should we notify the Military Police?" Kurenai asked.
The Anbu handled matters outside the village, while the Military Police handled things inside. The Military Police used to be the Uchiha clan's responsibility, but after the massacre, that power was divided among the many smaller, older clans. Although the Military Police was still a job no one wanted, with many clans now sharing the duty, the hatred was also distributed, making things seem more harmonious.
"No, no! What if it's just my imagination? I'd be so embarrassed! Let's just the two of us follow her for a bit. Kurenai-nee, you're not going to refuse to help me, are you?" Anko was too proud to report it officially.
Kurenai thought for a moment. They were inside their own village, and they were both jonin. If a fight broke out, the commotion would attract the attention of others in the village. There wasn't much danger, so she nodded in agreement.
"Alright..."