Since the three great clans of Ino-Shika-Cho, Orochimaru, and even the Hokage himself had arrived one after another, it wasn't just Fugaku whose expression had changed drastically. Not far away, Niiju Sho's face was ashen, as if he had eaten excrement.
Niiju Sho simply refused to believe what he was seeing. He thought he had been caught in a genjutsu!
"Impossible, I must be dreaming. How could the Hokage possibly be here? This is impossible!"
The fruit shop owner next to him sighed, patted his old friend's back, and said, "Sho, face reality. This is all real. Let's go back."
"No! I don't believe it. Even with the clans present, it's only about 50 people, half the number. I haven't lost yet!" Niiju Sho threw off the fruit shop owner's hand, his words laced with a touch of madness.
They weren't betting with you at all. This was just your wishful thinking. The fruit shop owner looked at Niiju Sho with pity. They had known each other for over twenty years. They weren't related by blood, but they were closer than brothers!
He quietly accompanied Niiju Sho, not leaving his side.
"Wait a moment, our Shimura clan has something to say!"
A hoarse, deep voice sounded. Shimura Danzo's figure appeared first on the horizon, followed by a large wave of Shimura clan members! It seemed like they had all turned out!
Shimura Danzo ignored everyone around him. His cold gaze was fixed solely on Sarutobi Hiruzen. He walked slowly to Hiruzen's front. Clad in a gray and white kimono, he stood opposite Hiruzen, who was wearing the Hokage's robe.
System: Kiss him, kiss him!
Lin Yu: Slap! I knew you were no good, you second-hand goods! Beat you to death!
Danzo stared at Hiruzen for a long while and said indifferently, "Hiruzen, you didn't expect me to come, did you!"
A question mark appeared above Sarutobi Hiruzen's head. Of course, I didn't expect you to come. How would I know if you were eating ramen or not? But he still replied, "What? Danzo, do you like ramen too?"
"Hmph! I like ramen? That's right! Today is our Shimura clan's Ramen Day. The entire clan must eat ramen!" Danzo's tone grew increasingly agitated as he saw that Sarutobi Hiruzen showed no sign of "repentance."
"Ramen Day? I had no idea your Shimura clan had such a special festival?" Another question mark appeared above Sarutobi Hiruzen's head. He found Danzo a bit strange today.
"You don't know! Of course, you don't know. You only know about the great clans of Konoha, Nara, Akimichi, Hyuga, even Uchiha. You know them all clearly, but me..." Danzo paused, not continuing.
"But you what?" Sarutobi Hiruzen felt like he was looking at a fake Danzo. Could someone be impersonating him?
"Hmph! You don't need to know. You just need to know that I'm here to eat ramen today! And the demand is high! Be careful, you might not have any to eat later!"
Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen playing dumb like a scoundrel, Danzo decided to ignore him and called out to the Shimura clan members to get in line.
"This is truly strange. I haven't provoked him recently." Sarutobi Hiruzen adjusted his Hokage hat, stopped thinking, and walked with a light smile towards Tsunade and Orochimaru. He wanted to catch up with his disciples!
"Senior Lin Yu, thank you very much just now." Minato Namikaze, after a moment of stunned silence, thanked Lin Yu. He felt that things were changing more rapidly than on the battlefield, with fights turning into invitations. Was this the friendship between men!?
"You were invited by Kushina, and besides, I've wanted to beat up those Uchiha guys for a long time!" Lin Yu said the latter part very softly, not out of fear of Fugaku overhearing, but because Ichiraku Ramen was officially opening. He didn't want to cause any more trouble. He'd deal with it later; the mission was important!
"Lin Yu, we're not late, are we!" Might Guy, Kusakage Gakusei, and Yuuhi Kurenai arrived together. Who knows how they ended up together, bah! They bumped into each other.
"There are so many people outside. We met outside and barely managed to squeeze in. What happened?" Kusakage Gakusei said, pushing up his glasses.
Might Guy, like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, darted his eyes around, muttering, "Nara, Yamanaka, Hyuga... and even Uchiha. Wow, that's one of the Sannin, Orochimaru. And next to him... the Hokage is here too!"
Might Guy looked like a fan meeting a celebrity, extremely excited. Might Duy, carrying on his back, also looked around curiously, as if searching for the proud white-haired guy he'd seen earlier.
As for Yuuhi Kurenai, she maintained her stern expression, but upon seeing the Sannin and the Hokage present, a hint of excitement flickered in her red eyes. This trip was not in vain!
Lin Yu looked around but didn't see Sakumo Hatake. He probably hadn't arrived yet. Forget it, let's eat first!
Lin Yu brought the three of them, Might Guy, Kusakage Gakusei, and Yuuhi Kurenai, to Tsunade's group, distributed the tickets to them, and briefly explained their use.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, holding his number ticket, instinctively made a gesture of smoking. Realizing he hadn't brought his pipe, he stroked his chin whiskers and said, "This way of queuing is truly novel. I think we can consider popularizing it among all businesses in Konoha."
Sarutobi Hiruzen was an old capitalist and immediately saw the advantages of the numbered tickets.
"Of course, no problem. But I came up with this, so shouldn't you, old man... hehe." Lin Yu, with the mindset that even small gains were gains, playfully extorted Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at Lin Yu and said irritably, "Go to the secret vault and pick a B-rank ninjutsu yourself."
"Can it be exchanged for cash?" Lin Yu asked weakly. He knew quite a few ninjutsu now, and there weren't many B-rank ninjutsu that were particularly interesting. If it were A-rank or above, he might consider it!
"How dare you speak to the Hokage like that! Brat!" Tsunade raised her hand and gave him a "qian li zi" (a light flick on the forehead). This brat actually wanted to exchange it for cash. If it could be exchanged for cash, I, Tsunade, wouldn't have to use my hard-earned money at the casino!
"No!" Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Lin Yu with a headache. He remembered the six footprints on his face and his expression darkened. "It seems we can enter the shop. If we don't go soon, I'll have to go back and handle official duties!"
Lin Yu also knew that this was impossible. He led the way, ushering Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others into Ichiraku Ramen. However, Lin Yu felt someone was missing. Where was Mikoto?
At this moment, Mikoto was helplessly handing out numbered tickets. She had been dragged over by Kushina to fill in! Mikoto's beautiful eyes glanced at Lin Yu and the others who had just entered Ichiraku Ramen, and she felt like crying internally: Don't you guys realize someone is missing!?
"Huh? Kushina! Weren't you outside..."
As soon as they entered the shop, Lin Yu found Kushina already holding chopsticks, ready to eat. Then who was handing out numbered tickets outside?
"Hehehe, grumble~" Kushina patted her little belly and said with a pouting face, "I asked Mikoto to help me! Handing out numbered tickets is too tiring. When I get tired, I get hungry, and then I smell the aroma, so I came in early!"
"So... the one outside is Mikoto?"
"Mhm! I'm starting to eat!" With that, Kushina opened her chopsticks and was about to take a bite.
"Wait a minute!"
Lin Yu, at this moment, possessed the powers of Flash, Spider-Man, and Green Bean Man. He transcended the gaps of light and shadow, and in 0.01 seconds, snatched the first bowl of Ichiraku Ramen from Kushina's grasp!