The next day, inside the Uchiha Hotpot restaurant.
The Red-Hot Habanero Kushina Uzumaki, and the future Golden Flash Minato Namikaze, were both nervously looking at the former Konoha Troublemaker—Shen Uchiha.
"Could you two please calm down a bit? This is already the seventy-third letter Nishino has sent me," Shen said with a twitching mouth, accusing them of repeatedly harassing their homeroom teacher.
Kushina frowned and said, "Big Brother Shen, he's just a bad person! He actually claimed Kamen Riders were just for kids. I was only joking with him!"
"Mmhm, Kushina's absolutely right," Minato seriously nodded in agreement.
"Why did you pour that ink that doesn't wash off for a month on Nishino's face this time? Don't you know he had a date coming up soon?"
"It wasn't me! It was Minato—he accidentally splashed it on his face!" Kushina puffed her cheeks indignantly and shoved the blame onto the little blonde kid beside her.
Minato helplessly sighed—he couldn't avoid taking the fall now. "That's exactly what happened, Senpai. I was just too clumsy."
"Yeah yeah, do you think I don't know how things go here? Kushina, if you keep being naughty like this, Uncle Shūya might deduct your allowance," Shen knew all too well that Minato had become the newest designated bystander—voluntarily shouldering blame out of nowhere again.
Kushina sweetly smiled, "But I still have you, Big Brother Shen! You'd never let Card Rider Kushina starve, right?"
Shen covered his face with his hand, deeply regretting the moment years ago when he idly handed her such an absurd book.
The Red-Hot Habanero—Konoha's Second Generation Troublemaker—actually believed that if her inner conviction was strong enough, she could overcome any obstacle.
Putting that much faith into making trouble and shifting blame made people wonder about her real intentions.
Anyway, there was no way in hell Shen would ever admit that it was his influence that corrupted her.
Would the second young master of the Uchiha clan really stoop to messing with five-year-old Kushina?
To avoid making headlines, he silently placed the blame on Minato—who hadn't stopped Kushina from acting up.
"Ugh, my head," Shen muttered, thinking that in a few more years, he'd probably end up just like that other guy called the Headache-Inducing Monster.
Back in the Hokage office, the Third Hokage happily held his crystal ball.
"Just this feeling—you're finally getting what's coming to you, you little brat!" In a particularly good mood, he put the crystal ball aside and began working on his daily paperwork.
"Oh? Only thirty more kilometers left to finish laying the tracks? Then we'll be completed before year-end." An update report on the construction project further improved the Third Hokage's already excellent mood.
Originally, the rail line between Konoha and Sunagakure was supposed to have been finished last year, but along the way, they ran dangerously low on iron ore.
The Third Kazekage immediately volunteered to take personal responsibility for resolving the issue, assuring Konoha there would be no delays in construction.
Then came over half a year of relentless effort—finally enabling the Kazekage to gather all the necessary iron ore himself.
Although the project was delayed by just over a month, when they reached River Country, that massive iron ore deposit suddenly vanished under mysterious circumstances.
At that time, the furious Third Kazekage swore to bury this despicable thief in the desert until he dried up beneath the scorching sands.
This iron deposit had taken him nearly half a year of hard work sifting through sand before he finally located it.
As for who the real culprit was, nobody has figured it out even now.
Suddenly appearing inside a certain underground chamber was another iron deposit, making people inevitably suspect whether all of this was merely a setup orchestrated by that white-haired old gentleman—the strongest among the weary souls stuck in this world—for both Sunagakure and Konoha.
In the end, the Third Kazekage, together with his newly accepted disciple Rasa, painfully sifted through sand once again for over three months to avoid wasting too much manpower and time.
Originally, the Third Hokage had suspected the troublemaker, but upon deeper reflection, even though that person could be quite mischievous, he wouldn't stoop to such acts in this case.
Moreover, according to past experience, if it truly had been Konoha's troublemaker pulling this stunt, there would've been some personal gain involved—it simply didn't fit the logic of high-tier prank logic.
Recalling that incident again gave the Third Hokage another headache.
"Old man Hokage, how can you accuse someone without evidence! You wanna bet I'll tear down the Hokage Tower right now?"
When Shen said those words back then, he already knew the real perpetrator must've been someone else.
The Uchiha are an extremely proud clan; aside from that one guy everyone jokingly calls "Piao Rou," none of them would ever stoop to hiding the truth behind lies.
"So then, who is the real culprit?" The thoroughly baffled Third Hokage listed this event as one of the Shinobi World's Top Ten Greatest Mysteries—and it earned a top spot among them.
Inside Uchiha Hotpot, after severely reprimanding Kushina and Minato—the red-haired and golden-haired troublemakers—Shen's headache finally began to ease.
Gurgle.
Kushina gently patted her little belly, pitifully staring at the ingredients on the table. "Big Brother Shen, I know I was wrong. Can we start eating now?"
"Not yet. We're still waiting for someone." Shen replied, ignoring her pleading look.
Minato, ever the honest type, voiced out a guess: "Could it be your senior's girlfriend?"
"Achoo!" Shen suddenly sneezed loudly.
Just as he stood up to ask the manager to turn up the AC, the sight of a white-robed figure walking in made him instinctively flinch.
"Nope, she's only a good friend of mine. Never crossed my mind otherwise." Denying immediately, Shen's face clearly displayed the character for "cowardice."
Then he took a deep breath and steeled himself before greeting his friend with a bright smile and a wave. "Nayou, over here!"
Kushina and Minato turned around. A girl dressed in white kimono slowly walked toward their direction.
"Is this big bro Shen's teammate? She looks like a block of ice."
"She gives off such intense pressure. When I grow stronger in the future, I hope I can be as approachable as Senior is."
Unaware of what the two were thinking, Nayou calmly approached Shen and looked down at him.
"As if I don't know what kind of game you're playing." While silently pondering, Nayou casually pulled out a chair and "gently" dropped into it.
"Oh, I get it now," he said, slapping his forehead as he suddenly remembered the dining etiquette rules.
"Ahem, Nayou..."
"Boss, switch to Devil Hell Spicy Broth," Nayou completely ignored his explanation.
"No problem," the hotpot restaurant owner replied reluctantly before dragging himself toward the kitchen to prepare ingredients.
Shen felt regretful. He regretted why he had overlooked something so basic—pulling out a chair for a lady.
"That's not right. She never cared about this before. Does this mean Nayou?" In the precocious Naruto world, he believed the girl wanted him to treat her like an adult woman.
When Minato heard what kind of soup base it was, he almost passed out on the spot.
Originally, he had hoped to tag along with Shen for a free meal, finally escaping the torment of Devil Hell Spicy Broth.
"Who knew your senior's best friend could be so terrifying," he thought. Expecting his stomach to enjoy a holiday today, he decided he could never accept free meals again.
After years of mooching meals off Shen, Minato instantly realized just how true the saying "there's no such thing as a free lunch" really was.
As for Kushina, the hotpot lover, she naturally laughed out loud while excitedly chatting with Nayou about just how much she adored this soup base.
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