"Are we supposed to sit here for an entire hour?"
"Of course not." Shin-chan dusted the dirt from his hands. "While the broth is simmering, we can make the noodles."
The first step in making noodles was grinding the roots of Rock-Powder Grass into flour.
Shin-chan found a flat stone to use as a work surface and a round stone to serve as a rolling pin.
Gamahiro enthusiastically volunteered to grind the roots.
Then he stuffed them into his mouth and started chewing.
"You're not supposed to grind them with your mouth!"
"You should've said that earlier!" Gamahiro spat out the thoroughly chewed roots, leaving behind a sticky lump. "Can we still use this?"
Shin-chan stared at the mysterious blob covered in toad saliva and shook his head.
The two pounded the roots with stones for ages before finally producing a pile of grayish-white powder.
"Next comes the most important part." Shin-chan added some water, plunged both hands into the powder, and began kneading. "You have to knead with your whole body. Work your chakra—no, your feelings into the dough."
"Feelings?"
"Teuchi said ramen tastes good because you knead your feelings into the dough." Shin-chan pressed and folded it repeatedly. "I don't really understand what that means, but it sounds impressive."
Gamahiro watched in fascination and copied Shin-chan, sticking his front legs into another pile of powder.
"I want to knead too!"
"Wash your paws first."
"A toad's paws are naturally clean!"
"You were grabbing Fat-Tails with those paws earlier."
Gamahiro guiltily pulled them back and rinsed them in a nearby puddle.
After kneading for a while, Shin-chan stopped and stared at the grayish-white lump in front of him.
"It looks too dry."
Several cracks had appeared across the surface of the dough.
"Just add some water."
Gamahiro immediately scooped up a handful of warm water from the hot spring and dumped all of it in.
"That's too much..."
"You should've said that earlier!"
Gamahiro stared at the basin, which had already turned into watery sludge, his cheeks puffing up.
"It's fine." Shin-chan grabbed another handful of Rock-Powder Grass flour and sprinkled it in. "If there's too much water, add flour. If there's too much flour, add water. That's the ultimate secret of Nohara Style Pastry Arts."
"Wasn't it called Nohara Style Ninjutsu Theory earlier?"
"That's a different branch."
Shin-chan continued stirring the ever-growing bowl of batter with both hands.
Gamahiro stared at the mysterious substance inside the basin. It had changed from pale gray to dark gray and expanded to three times its original size.
Finally, he couldn't hold back anymore.
"Are you sure this can still become noodles?"
"Of course." Shin-chan pulled both hands out of the goo, stretching long sticky strands behind them. "Look at that stretchiness. It means the gluten has formed."
"What's gluten?"
"The soul of noodles."
Gamahiro looked down at the batter that was still dripping back into the basin.
He felt that this particular soul might already have left its body.
For the next hour, Shin-chan and Gamahiro went through countless cycles of "too much water, add flour" and "too much flour, add water."
By the time the dough had swollen to six times its original size, Shin-chan stared at the enormous lump, which was now bigger than his head.
"We might have made a little too much."
"Not 'a little.' Way too much!"
"It's fine." Shin-chan dusted the flour from his hands. "If we have extra dough, we can make other things. Noodles, dumplings..."
Unfortunately, an even bigger problem was waiting for them.
When Shin-chan tried to roll the dough flat and cut it into noodles, he discovered that it simply refused to stay rolled out.
No matter how much force he used, the dough bounced right back like an enormous lump of rubber.
"This elasticity..." Shin-chan frowned. "It's stronger than I expected."
"So the noodle plan failed?"
"It hasn't failed yet." Shin-chan put down the knife. "We've merely encountered a technical difficulty."
Just then, the stone pot began bubbling loudly.
Gamahiro ran over and looked inside.
"The soup! The soup is almost boiling dry!"
Shin-chan rushed over.
More than half the water in the pot had already evaporated.
"Add water!"
Without hesitation, Gamahiro scooped up a ladleful from the nearby hot spring and poured it in.
A huge cloud of white steam burst upward.
"Can we... still drink this broth?" Gamahiro cautiously leaned closer and sniffed. "It smells a little like sulfur."
But the real disaster came afterward.
When Shin-chan threw the Fat-Tail bugs into the pot to boil, an indescribable smell spread across the entire makeshift kitchen.
It smelled neither like meat nor insects.
It was more like boiling dirty socks together with badly over-fermented miso.
Gamahiro covered his nose and retreated several steps.
"That smell is wrong, isn't it?! Fried Fat-Tail doesn't smell anything like this!"
"Boiling and frying are different." Shin-chan stared at the Fat-Tails rolling around in the pot. "Like boiled eggs and fried eggs. They're completely different things."
"But this smell is way too..."
"Layered."
Gamahiro stared at him with an expression that clearly said, You're lying through your teeth.
Shin-chan looked back at the "dough," then at the thick liquid bubbling in the pot, which had long since lost its original color.
Finally, he sighed.
"Let's change our approach."
"What approach?"
"We stop making it."
Gamahiro's cheeks instantly deflated.
"You're giving up?"
"It's not giving up." Shin-chan raised one finger. "It's a strategic pivot."
"A strategic pivot?"
"We can't make ramen for now, but we can make something else." Shin-chan pointed at the extremely elastic dough. "This stuff may not work as noodles, but it has another amazing use."
"What use?"
Shin-chan didn't answer.
Instead, he tore off a small piece of dough, rolled it into a ball, and slammed it against the ground.
The dough ball bounced upward.
Then fell.
Then bounced again.
And again.
Gamahiro's eyes followed the ball up and down, his mouth opening wider and wider.
"Th-This is..."
"Mount Myōboku Special Super-Bouncy Dough Ball." Shin-chan wore the proud expression of a great inventor. "You can't eat it, but you can play with it."
Gamahiro caught the bouncing dough ball with his front legs and cautiously squeezed it.
The ball bounced twice between his paws before suddenly shooting away with a whoosh.
It struck another small toad squarely in the forehead.
"Ow!" The little toad clutched its head. "What was that?!"
"Sorry!"
Gamahiro hurried over to apologize.
The little toad looked down at the dough ball that had rolled onto the ground and poked it with one paw.
The ball bounced up again.
"This thing... is pretty fun."
The little toad poked it again.
"It's way more fun than the rocks I usually play with. Can I have one?"
"Of course."
Shin-chan tore another large piece from the enormous mass of dough.
"Everyone gets one."
The news spread far faster than expected.
In less than half an hour, a large crowd of toads had gathered around the temporary "kitchen" Shin-chan and Gamahiro had built.
"I heard the Child of Prophecy is handing out balls that bounce all over the place!"
"I heard those balls can bounce higher than the hot-spring steam!"
"No, no! I heard that when the ball bounces into the sky, it turns into a bowl of ramen!"