Ryoko rolled his eyes at them and said, "Of course. It's not like you haven't seen how big my appetite is."
"If it weren't for the fact that cooking alone is such a hassle, would I even need the two of you?"
"Stop talking so much, it's almost dark. Get to work already."
Seeing this, The two Uchiha brothers felt reluctant in their hearts, but they still braced themselves and started working.
After all, the Uchiha Clan kept their word.
To be honest, they hadn't done much manual labor at home, so they just stood before the ingredients staring blankly.
Ryoko couldn't bear to watch and had to assign them tasks and missions one by one.
Under Ryoko's direction, Tekka swung an axe to chop wood and start the fire, while Inaho picked vegetables and washed rice on the side.
Ryoko stood by the stove and watched. Although their work wasn't very refined, it was just barely enough to get by.
"Forget it, I'll make do with them. It's better than working alone."
He rolled up his sleeves and took charge of the ladle himself. Before long, a steaming pot of stew was ready.
A rich aroma wafted from the pot, making one's mouth water uncontrollably.
"Gurgle—"
A clear sound of swallowing came from nearby.
Uchiha Tekka and Inaho were staring longingly at the pot of stew, their stomachs growling betrayingly.
Having worked for so long, they were already famished. Smelling such an enticing aroma now, they couldn't bring themselves to move.
"Alright, alright, I know you're hungry." Ryoko waved his hand at them, his tone casual. "The work is done, you can go home and eat now."
Tekka's eyes lit up at the words, and he reached for a bowl, but his movements suddenly froze in the next moment.
He turned his head in disbelief and said in surprise, "You're letting us... go home to eat? You're not letting us eat here?"
He had thought that after working so hard for so long, he would at least get a taste of the dinner he had helped prepare.
Although this pot of stew looked ordinary, it smelled incredibly fragrant. Moreover, since they had personally helped make it, it held a different kind of significance.
Ryoko said matter-of-factly, "Of course you're going back to your own homes to eat. This is my dinner. Hurry back, or your families will get worried."
Tekka was so angry that his fists were clenched, and fire almost spat from his eyes. "Dammit, you stingy glutton! Who wants to eat your food anyway!"
Inaho chimed in from the side, saying sourly, "That's right! We don't care about your pot of stew. We have a sumptuous feast waiting for us at home!"
Despite saying that, the two of them looked back with every step as they left, their resentful gazes looking like those of wronged young wives.
Once they were far away, Ryoko immediately served himself a large bowl and began to feast contentedly.
As he ate, he sighed with satisfaction, "This is the taste of home. It's a hundred times better than the food in the Island Nation."
The food in the Island Nation was always the same few things; eating it was just a way to survive.
But the delicacies from his hometown in his previous life were different; eating them brought a full sense of happiness.
Saying that, he served another large bucket of rice and began to wolf it down with the pot of stew.
After leaving Ryoko's house, the two brothers walked down the darkening street, feeling more and more aggrieved the more they thought about it.
"That detestable Akimichi Ryoko, he wouldn't even let us have a single bite!" Tekka kicked a stone by the roadside, feeling indignant.
Inaho also agreed with a long face, "Wasn't it just throwing vegetables into a pot to stew? Any cook in our Uchiha family is better than him."
"Exactly! Let's go home for a feast. Our clan's cuisine is much more refined than the Akimichi Clan's!"
Though they spoke tough, their hearts were still lingering on that fragrant pot of stew.
Even after returning home, facing the dinner their mother had carefully prepared, they found it tasteless. Their minds were filled with the delicacy they had personally helped make.
The next morning, the two Uchiha youths walked into the campus listlessly, sporting dark circles under their eyes.
When their gazes fell upon Akimichi Ryoko, they were instantly filled with an unshakeable resentment.
"It's all his fault... I was tossing and turning all night thinking about that pot of food, I didn't sleep well at all." Tekka, who was in the same class, glared at Ryoko, who was napping on his desk, and complained in a low voice.
Akimichi Chen Dong, who was sitting next to Ryoko, felt uneasy being stared at by those resentful eyes and hurriedly nudged Ryoko.
"Hey, what did you do to the Uchihas again? Uchiha Tekka's eyes are practically spitting fire at you."
Ryoko lifted his head lazily, glanced over, and said indifferently, "Who knows? Maybe he's just frustrated because he lost to me in a challenge again yesterday."
At this moment, his mind was entirely focused on reminiscing about the stew from last night that had awakened his taste buds.
The delicacies of his previous life were eight hundred times better than the food in the Island Nation.
Compared to that, the food he had eaten over the past few years was practically tasteless. He made up his mind to recreate more delicacies from his previous life.
"Right, I'm still missing some fresh meat..." Ryoko had a sudden flash of inspiration. "Why not go hunting in the forest? I happen to have two ready-made helpers. The Uchiha's shurikenjutsu is perfect for setting traps."
His gaze fell upon the resentfully fuming Uchiha Tekka, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
Meanwhile, the two brothers, completely unaware that they were being targeted again, were still distracted by the stew they hadn't tasted yesterday.
As soon as the afternoon school bell rang, the students in the class filed out, running towards home.
Ryoko, however, walked slowly out of the school with his hands behind his back, followed by the two dissatisfied-looking Uchihas.
However, his direction was different from usual; he wasn't heading towards the Akimichi Clan compound.
Tekka stopped alertly. "Hey, this doesn't look like the way to your house? Where are you taking us?"
Ryoko waved his hand with a look of composure. "Relax, I'm just taking you to prepare some ingredients. You're Uchihas, how would I dare to do anything to you? Besides, we're inside Konoha Village."
This explanation immediately awakened the pride in their bones.
That's right, they were members of Konoha's top Noble Clan. What could possibly happen to them in the village?
"But this isn't the direction of the Commercial Street either," Inaho looked around. "Where exactly are you going to find ingredients?"
Ryoko grinned. "To the forest next to the Naka River to hunt, and then to the river to catch fish."
"These are all gifts from nature. They don't cost a single cent."
The two of them stopped immediately, their faces full of reluctance.
"We only promised to help you cook, we didn't say we'd go hunting with you!" Tekka protested with his arms crossed.
Inaho also shook his head firmly. "This is basically treating us like servants. You won't even treat us to a meal, and you want us to do so much work?"
Ryoko was prepared and sighed theatrically, "I'm doing this to help you with special training. Hunting and fishing in the wild are great ways to exercise your survival skills. Once you become Official Ninjas and encounter a lack of supplies, you'll be able to be self-sufficient."
He lowered his voice and acted mysterious. "Do you know why you always lose to me? It's because I've always been tempering myself in this way."
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