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[—NTLS—]
Chapter Fifty One: A Memory to Ramenber
Sun raised his staff high. "I, SUN WUKONG, CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL, NARUTO UZUMAKI!"
The blond face palmed.
I guess not everything can go so smoothly.
Naruto started down Sun with an unimpressed glare, crossing his arms. He quickly looked around to see if there was anyone around, and thankfully, there wasn't anyone to witness the bizarre sequence, or else the blond would have been wallowing in embarrassment right about now.
"What do you think you're doing?" Naruto asked, sighing.
Sun raised his arms into a fighting pose. "We must battle once more! I won't let a fluke taint my fighting record! Get ready."
"No."
"Good, the fight will—wait, what?"
"I don't want to fight you, right now. That's not why I summoned you at all. In any case, if you want to train we can do that later."
Sun looked confused as if any reason for summoning him other than to fight didn't make any sense. And that was exactly what he asked a minute later. Naruto didn't reveal too much, simply asking Wukong to follow him.
"We…aren't going to fight?" Sun repeated, his eyes raised as he lowered his staff.
Naruto smiled widely. "Come, I'll show you something."
"Hmph, I don't want to."
"How about a deal, then? If you don't like what I show you then I'll fight you right here and now. If you do like it, I gain nothing. The latter is the inevitable outcome anyways."
Sun smirked. "You might as well start warming up right now!"
"Sure, sure," Naruto said, laughing. "I want to hear this same thing once you're done with the food!"
"Food," the monkey repeated warily. "Hmm…"
[Ding!]
[New Quest: "Royal Treatment" Created]
[Quest Details: Impress Sun Wukong with your offerings of food.]
Quest Rewards: Exp. 900, Title: "?"]
Failure: Ruin your future relationship with the monkey tribe.
[Does Player Accept The Quest?]
[Yes/No]
Naruto grinned.
I got this…
[—NTLS—]
Naruto waited patiently for his bowl of ramen.
The choice of restaurant to visit was fixed from the very beginning. There was no other place that served the same quality of food as Ichiraku's, though that was mostly Naruto's bias talking. If he was being completely honest with himself, there were places that were more expensive and used a higher tier of ingredients in their food, but Naruto had never tried them. Thus, Ichiraku's it is. Furthermore, the nostalgia and connection Naruto has with the owner played a big part—more than he was willing to admit.
The food was delicious, however, and he was confident that Wukong would be rightfully pleased with what he was being offered.
Teuchi greeted the blond from behind the counter as he waited for the ramen to cook, the timing and precision of the cooking process now muscle memory for the man. "How's my number one customer doing?"
Naruto smiled widely. "Same old, same old! Life's pretty busy for a Chuunin!"
He still hasn't gone on any Chuunin mission, though he thankfully omitted that. Either Chuunin missions were rarer than he thought, or something else was brewing in the background that he didn't know about. Naruto had a suspicious feeling that it was the latter but didn't dwell too long on that thought.
Teuchi raised an eyebrow at Naruto's hairy companion. "And who might this be?"
Naruto opened his mouth but was interrupted by the subject in question.
"I'm Sun Wukong, nice to meet you!" Sun greeted with a lopsided smile, his eyes glinting.
"Pleasure to meet you as well! I hope you enjoy our food! Let's see…do you happen to know Enma by any chance?"
Sun looked surprised. "Yes, I do. He trained me for a short while. How do you know him?"
"He used to come here with the Lord Hokage in tow every once in a while…haven't seen him in a while, though. I liked to think he loved our ramen, unfortunately, he was quite the expressionless fellow. Hard to gauge what he thought, hehe."
Naruto nodded in understanding. Monkey King Enma was certainly a tough nut to crack. Sun also seemed to agree—the hardness in his eyes during the conversation seemed to indicate that there was more to the story, however.
Teuchi smiled, shaking his head. "Anyways, here you go! Two fresh bowls of miso ramen! Extra pork as always!"
Naruto gratefully accepted the bowl of heaven on earth with the greatest care, bringing his chopsticks up with haste as he eyed down the beatific assortment of noodles, soup, and pork which was laid attractively across the top layer. He took the first bite of noodles, nearly moaning with pleasure at how delicious the taste was.
Sun looked skeptically at the food before him. Well, it certainly looks interesting. What's with those…stringy things? He grabbed onto one of them with his chopsticks. "What is this?"
"Noodles," Naruto answered with his mouth full of food. He slurped down the vessels of flavor before pointing at Sun's bowl with his chopsticks. "Eat it."
The monkey looked back at his food. Well, it probably won't taste too bad. He brought the noodles to his mouth and sucked them upwards. It slipped past his teeth and into his throat without any hindrance. What the?!
Naruto eyed the monkey with blatant curiosity, even stopping his chewing to see what the monkey's reaction would be.
Sun closed his eyes and put his chopsticks down. I have to control myself, I have to control myself, I have to control myself, I have—FUCK IT! He proceeded to relentlessly attack the bowl of food with his chopsticks, not sparing even a single glance towards anyone around him as he ruthlessly took in the truly divine food in front of him. HOW? HOW CAN FOOD BE THIS GOOD? Sun thought bewilderedly.
Naruto just watched smugly from the corner of his eyes. "Is it good~"
Sun didn't respond; instead, he grabbed the bowl of ramen with his bare hands and emptied the broth into his wide mouth. He slammed the bowl down with a feral look in his eyes. He looked towards the ramen vendor with unrestrained hunger.
"Another."
Naruto suddenly felt chills across his spine.
He may have made a massive mistake.
Did I just create a ramen addict?
[Ding!]
[Quest: "Royal Treatment" Completed!]
[Rewards: Exp. 900, Title: "?"]
Which title did I get?
[New Title: "A Chef To Ramenber" Achieved!]
[Title: "A Chef To Ramenbar" allows the user to create ramen with any ingredient in his disposal regardless of origin with a 50% increase in taste.]
I can finally accomplish my goal of becoming a ramen chef with this. Naruto thought gleefully. Culinary world, here I come!
They ordered many more bowls of ramen, and neither of them was satisfied with the meager amount that was placed in each bowl (meager for their rather large appetites, anyway). The dent in his wallet wasn't too large of one, mostly due to Ichiraku's comparatively low prices compared to their competitors.
After finishing with the food, he decided to go for a tour around Konoha to show the monkey around.
"So, how was the food?" Naruto asked, rubbing his full stomach.
Sun tried to keep his face passive. "Adequate."
He failed.
Naruto laughed. "So I believe I won the bet?"
"I'll allow you to have the victory this once, but this isn't over just so soon, trust me!" Sun exclaimed with a pyrrhic pose. "I'll show you just how good our food is as well. Old Lady Chizuki can cook up a mean feast!"
Naruto imagined what they would be cooking in the trees. He assumed there would be some bird dishes, some unique fruits, and other stuff. Some of the fruits he had seen in the forest looked almost alien-like with how bright they were, but that was to be expected with such a different environment.
"Where do we go now?" Sun asked curiously.
Naruto grinned as he remembered his next destination. He had challenged Ino and the rest of Team Ten to a one-on-three fight. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji against just him alone. The fight would commence in an hour, meaning he likely needed to start traversing right now if he wanted to get there on time.
"I have another bet to win."
"You make a lot of those, don't you?"
Naruto shrugged. "I win most of them."
[—NTLS—]
Naruto was wearing a loose-fitting white T-shirt with the red Uzumaki clan symbol on the back and black shinobi-grade pants. He decided to dress lightly to the event, showing both his casualness as well as a smudge of arrogance during the fight. If he was being completely honest, it was mostly a method to fuck with the team before him mentally before the match even started.
In contrast, Team Ten were dressed in their regular uniforms, each of them housing a unique utility belt around their waists that seemed to contain a varied assortment of goods. By goods, he meant weapons whose sole purpose was to help the user in defeating the enemy.
Ino called out from the opposite side of the field. "You're gonna regret this, Naruto!"
"I wouldn't regret whooping your ass for anything!" Naruto quickly replied with a grin.
Choji chuckled loudly. "I wouldn't be too confident if I were you. We haven't just been lazing around since the Chuunin Exams, you know? Seeing you and Shikamaru become Chuunin only made me—no, made us work harder than ever before."
"I'm not denying that," Naruto said, shaking his head. "Let's see if your work was enough to beat me, however."
He was putting on a bit of an act. To beat someone, you first need to have the mindset. Whenever you started viewing your opponent as someone unbeatable or too strong to even reach, that was when all hopes of winning were thrown out of the window. Naruto needed to present himself as someone superior, or above this fight entirely.
Shikamaru remained silent. His hand was on his chin as he stared at the ground without blinking even once.
What the hell is he looking at? Naruto thought with a frown. He shook his head and got back to easing the knots in his body.
Sun watched from the sidelines as his summoner stretched his arms downwards and jogged in place. For some reason, he felt like the blond would win. And if he was being completely honest, he wanted Naruto to win. His summoner was supposed to be the greatest! That was the minimum requirement to be allowed the privilege of summoning Sun Wukong!
"Do you guys wanna start or what?" Naruto asked the trio before him.
It's time.
Then suddenly, the three of them disappeared.
Naruto immediately went on alert. Genjutsu? Which one of them can use that? Shikamaru doesn't have such fine chakra control, or at least I don't think so. Choji definitely doesn't. That only leaves Ino. Impressive…was that what she was working on during the break? I see….
Poof!
Smoke exploded out from the clearing. They were clearly placed beforehand, meaning Team Ten had rigged the battlefield before he had arrived. Was that what Shikamaru was staring at before? That's what I get for allowing them to choose the area of battle without any fight. At least they didn't rig it with explosions…. That would have been highly illegal considering they were using a ground that a bunch of other shinobi also utilized, but the thought was amusing regardless.
Equip title "Inventor!"
[Title: "Inventor" increases chakra and MP efficiency by 35% when using skills and techniques invented by the user as well as giving a 5% boost to all other stats.]
Naruto extended his chakra outward.
[Skill: All-Seeing Eye is active!]
From below!
Naruto leaped upward as he sensed a large presence of chakra surge from beneath him. A giant, inflated fist pushed through the ground, breaking upward through the soil and grass entirely. He had narrowly escaped the punch, merely mostly thanks to his skill.
"Wind Release: Maximum Gale!" Naruto intoned loudly as he was in midair.
The jutsu was a relatively new one he had learned. Something he had learned after realizing the need for a jutsu that summoned strong winds without the expenditure of great amounts of chakra. The smoke went away with a small amount of resistance, leading to an open clearing and a similar situation to the start of the match. Except this time there was a large hole in the middle of the field.
Naruto merely pointed to the hole. "I'm not paying for that."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "We're Chuunin, Naruto. Any damages made during practice are paid for."
"Oh…oh," Naruto said with an open mouth. It slowly morphed into a smirk. "You probably shouldn't have told me that."
Ino glared at Shikamaru. "Really?"
"It's the least he can know after we already rigged the ground," Shikamaru said with a shrug.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, that's right—"
His voice was interrupted by another bulging fist, thicker than the trunks of two large trees put together that had a surprisingly large amount of speed. Instead of blocking it, Naruto wanted to face it head-on. So, of course, he decided to do the best thing possible.
Punch back as hard as he could.
Coating his fist with chakra, Naruto met the enlarged fist in the middle of its trajectory toward himself. The shockwave of force lanced through his hand and into his shoulder, sending ripples of pain through his entire body. He was launched back several meters as he clutched his right arm in pain, surprised at how strong Choji really was.
He was then bombarded with a flowery scent that made his eyes drowsy and body relax.
Genjutsu! His mind screamed, but his body didn't pay attention.
A tendril of shadow sneaked from below and took quick control over Naruto, paralyzing him in place.
Naruto stood still as the trio walked forward towards him.
Ino had her hands on her hips, a smug smile on her face. "That was it? I thought you would give us more of a challenge! Looks like we've improved a lot, huh?" She looked at him for approval. Not that Naruto could actually respond right now.
Choji looked happy for other reasons. "I'm going to enjoy emptying your wallet, hehe."
Suddenly, Naruto disappeared into a puff of smoke.
Deactivate Iron Clones.
"Over here."
The trio looked behind them, where the real Naruto stood. He looked different, with proper shinobi attire and the Chuunin vest along with it. Naruto rested against a thick crimson pole that refused to budge, casually leaning against the wood that was attached to the ground.
He clapped politely.
"Great job on defeating my clone. Now, if you fight like that against the real thing…this will end quickly. If you want even a small chance of winning, I need you to come at me like you're going to kill."
Ino gulped. "H-how long have you been there?"
Naruto grinned. "Do you really want to know that? Shouldn't you be asking more important questions?"
"Like what?"
"How much longer are you going to stay here? And to that, I answer…" He broke off, aiming the staff at each of them. "Not for much longer."
[—-end—-]
Yo!
My Pa tre on is back online for those who want to read THREE chapters or THREE WEEKS ahead (chapters 51, 52, 53) and support my endeavor to become an author. So if you can't wait for the next update—check out:
P a treon . com (slash) PaladinKaladin
Question of the day directly this time: another character study of sorts
What's your opinion on Orochimaru as a villain? Or how he was just left alone in Boruto? (I also feel bad for Yamato who has to chaperone over this guy for the rest of his life)
That's it for today. I have tests again in a week so update timing might change by an hour or two next week, but that's it.
Make sure to follow, review, and favorite to keep up with next week's chapter and support the story!
Chapter 52 is releasing on Tuesday, 21st of January. Around 2 PM Washington DC time.
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