Chapter 811

I am not sure why he was asked to protect Shukaku, but since the topic came up, he made it his goal to improve himself so no one would harm Shukaku—though he still kept sneaking snacks until he couldn't anymore!

"Your Sand Village isn't completely devoid of good food—I think this looks great; let's buy some to carry along, so we can cook them when we're hungry on the road."

On the second day after settling in the Sand Village, Naruto dragged Lin Cheng out shopping, accompanied by Iramaro, and their target—unsurprisingly—was nothing but various foods.

"I never thought it tasted good before; I wouldn't recommend buying too much."

Iramaro watched, and without caring whether it tasted good or not, immediately pulled out money and bought a huge basket of Lin Cheng—then stopped mid-sentence, unwilling to say more.

On the rest of this journey, whenever Naruto spotted something and claimed it should be tasty, Lin Cheng would always buy large quantities outright.

After wandering this market street for a full morning, when the vendors looked at Iramaro again, they all felt he was a god of wealth.

Previously, they might have sold only a few baskets of dried goods in a year—now they were all bought up; as for fresh vegetables, the two didn't buy much.

"You bought so much—if it doesn't taste good, you'll be seriously out of pocket!"

After returning to their lodging, Iramaro couldn't help but start talking again about the things they'd bought.

These were all common dried goods in the Land of Wind, but because no one had ever figured out how to make them taste good, most were only eaten by poor families who couldn't afford fresh vegetables, used merely as side dishes for rice.

Although fresh vegetables were expensive, most villagers could still afford them—just ate less of them—so these dried goods sold terribly.

"Tonight, I'm preparing a special feast for you!"

Lin Cheng walked into the kitchen and took out portions of the dried goods to soak.

Some he recognized; others were truly unfamiliar—but that didn't stop him from figuring out the best ways to cook them.

After shooing out Naruto, who wanted to help, Lin Cheng had Kakashi chop up the seasonings, then began preparing the ingredients.

By evening, Shikamaru and Tobirama returned from official talks with the Sand Village; as soon as they stepped through the door, they smelled the rich aroma.

"What are you cooking? It smells amazing!"

Tobirama walked to the kitchen door, tapped Naruto and Iramaro on the head as they leaned against the doorway peering inside—these two jinchūriki were absurdly fast when it came to fighting over food—two little gluttons!

"Uncle Tobirama, stop hitting people on the head! If my hairstyle gets messed up, Lin Cheng might spend time fixing my hair instead of cooking."

Naruto turned and glared at Tobirama; during another scramble for food, he'd lost his earlier sense of distance toward this legendary Second Hokage, and his address had subtly changed without notice.

"Let Sasuke braid your hair too—I think Sasuke's hairstyle is cuter than yours!" Tobirama shot him a look, but didn't strike the little girl's head again.

Still, when he was trying to sting someone, he never held back.

"Impossible! Mine's cuter! My face is cuter than Sasuke's! Uncle Tobirama, what kind of eyes do you have? You're definitely old and going blind."

Naruto left the kitchen door and walked over to Sasuke, who was reading on the sofa, poking her high ponytail—yet still felt her own twin tails were cuter.

Though her hair was still just a bit too short.

"Brat, who are you calling old? My body is frozen at twenty—how dare you say I'm old? You're just a child who doesn't understand; this age of mine is the most perfect state!"

Being called old had never bothered Tobirama before—he often called himself an old man.

But ever since Naruto—somehow learned—that old people shouldn't eat too much, and started stealing his food, Tobirama had refused to admit he was an old man ever since.

"Can you two find somewhere else to argue? I can't read with you two bickering like this."

Sasuke looked up at the two with clear annoyance.

He was studying Uchiha historical records, yet these two wouldn't stop quarreling beside him.

How had a Second Hokage, who'd lived for so many years, become Naruto's target for arguments? It was truly strange.

"The Uchiha are born with it—this guy can't be reincarnated." Tobirama had always disliked the Uchiha; though he now had no issue with Sasuke, those Sharingan eyes staring at him made him nearly utter those words.

He didn't finish, but Sasuke already knew what he meant.

"Lin Cheng, can you ask that one to reincarnate an Uchiha from the same era as our Tobirama-sama? He's too bored—he needs someone from his own time to talk to!"

Sasuke put down the book, walked to the kitchen door, and made this request of Lin Cheng.