Looking at Hanayo, Kabuto, and Itachi rolling the dice again and again, Izumi Uchiha was a little jealous.
She had already seen how close Kabuto and Itachi, as well as how good the atmosphere between Kabuto and Hanayo was. She was the only one who watched silently.
Fortunately, there were only three of them, so the game was relatively fast. Hadn't it been for the tasks, the game might have ended in ten minutes.
After half an hour of torture, they finally had a winner. The first to arrive at the finish line was Hanayo.
Hanayo was very lucky. Every time he threw the dice, it was somewhere between four to six. So even if she didn't clear one of the tasks, she would still win.
Just as Izumi was about to ask for another round, Kabuto suddenly said.
"What do you guys want to eat? You can ask whatever you like, and we'll buy it together."
"I want to eat ramen," Hanayo said after thinking for a while.
"Dango..." Itachi thought for a moment and then said what he wanted. He didn't want to hold back just because he was a little shy to admit what he wanted.
"I'll have ramen too," Izumi said.
"In that case, let's eat Ramen together. On the way, we'll buy Dango for Itachi. We'll also buy some sweets. What do you think?" Kabuto suggested after thinking for a while
He did not think that Dango fell into the category of a main course, so he thought of this plan.
After all, there were already two people who wanted to eat ramen, and he felt that eating ramen was a pretty good idea. That made it three. If everyone went to eat ramen together, it would save them the trouble.
"Sure." Itachi nodded. He didn't care as long as he could eat his Dango.
"Now..." Izumi wanted to play another round of double six. It was too pitiful to die right off the bat. She also wanted to play.
However, as soon as Izumi said something, she noticed that Itachi was chatting with Kabuto. Itachi's expression was very serious, as if they were discussing something important. So Izumi changed her mind.
She actually wanted to ask them to play again since it was still 3:30 now, but after looking at Itachi's serious expression, she was afraid to disturb Itachi.
"Did you say something?" Hanayo heard Izumi suddenly speak, so she asked.
"We rarely have this chance, so can you tell me about your daily life in the Academy." Izumi said with a smile.
"Sure." Hanayo readily agreed.
Izumi at first didn't plan on listening to Hanayo's story at all as it was just an excuse, but when she listened to Hanayo, she felt that her story was very interesting, so she began to listen carefully.
From Hanayo, Izumi learned about Hanayo and Kabuto's first encounter. Hanayo actually considered Kabuto a "bad student" who did not study seriously.
However, what happened later on made Izumi feel envious. For example, when Hanayo helped his bullied classmates, but when she was at a disadvantage because she faced too many people, Kabuto suddenly appeared and resolved the crisis.
Or maybe when they sat under a tree and shared their lunch.
Lastly, the two of them made an agreement. They promised to do missions together when Hanayo became a Shinobi.
"How romantic." Izumi held his hands together with lit eyes.
At this moment, Izumi Uchiha was looking forward to her Academy life. Hanayo and Kabuto did not know each other at first, but they were able to get that far. In other words, she and Itachi could get even closer than them.
While Izumi was listening to Hanayo's story and thinking about her Academy life in the future, Kabuto and Itachi were also busy discussing a one-hand seal.
The essence of hand seal was to concentrate the Chakra, so if you are skilled enough, you could try to simplify the hand seals you make.
"Since we can reduce the number of hand seals, or skipped the hand seals altogether, then it should be possible to make hand seals with one hand."
This method might not be suitable for ordinary people, but for him and Itachi, it was definitely worth a try.
Kabuto came up with this idea because he held the gift from Hanayo with one hand, causing him to be unable to put on his forehead protector properly and needed Hanayo's help because of that.
At that time, Kabuto thought that if he could make hand seals with one hand, then he could hold the gift with one hand, and then make a hand seal to use Shadow Clone Technique to help him put on the forehead protector.
On top of that this one-hand seal would be handy in battle.
In close combat, you could block the opponent's attack with one hand and used the other hand to make hand seals, catching the opponent off guard.
"You did tell me about this idea before. Have you made any progress?" Itachi asked.
Kabuto nodded. He quickly made a hand seal with one hand.
Poof!
A white smoke flashed and a clone of Kabuto appeared beside him.
"I am not that used to it yet. I can only use the most Ninjutsu like Clone Technique and Transformation Technique." Kabuto explained.
This was not a Shadow Clone that could, but a Clone Technique.
"It's more than impressive," Itachi praised.
Then, Kabuto began to talk about the key points of the one-hand hand seal.
Lastly, Kabuto shared some of his insights and experiences during his training.
When the sun was about to set and the red clouds appeared in the sky, the four of them realized that it was getting late. It was time to eat.
Because it was closer to the sweet house, the four of them first went to buy some sweets.
"Where should we eat ramen?" Hanayo asked.
They all were too engrossed in their conversation that they had not decided which ramen shop to go to.
"Let's go to Ichiraku Ramen. That place makes pretty good ramen, and it's pretty cheap." Kabuto suggested.
There were a few times when Nagasawa was too busy and could not be bothered to cook, so he brought Kabuto to Ichiraku Ramen a few times.
Kabuto felt that the Ramen there tasted pretty good. His favorite was Pork Miso Char Siu Ramen. It was very delicious, and he couldn't help have a second every time he ate there.
"That one? I heard it's very delicious. It's quite popular." Izumi said about the rumors he heard about Ichiraku Ramen.
"Yes, I have been there several times. It's really good. I like it very much." Kabuto nodded.
After discussing for a while, the four of them decided to go to Ichiraku Ramen.
When they arrived at Ichiraku Ramen, they noticed that there were quite a lot of people, so they had to get in line.
However, they were all very patient, and they all quietly lined up.
Once it was their turn, Kabuto immediately ordered his favorite Pork Miso Char Siu Ramen because they had been here a few times, while the others ordered after browsing through the menu.
Hanayo picked up the noodles with her chopsticks and blew with her small mouth. A large amount of white smoke and fragrance went into Hanayo's nostril.
When she felt that the noodle was not as hot anymore, Hanayo picked up the noodles and ate it.
After a while, Hanayo took a sip of soup. She would keep the name of this restaurant in mind as the Ramen was really good.
"The Ramen here is really delicious." Izumi praised.
"Yes." Itachi nodded indifferently. Although he did not like it much, the taste was indeed not bad.
"If you like it, we can get together again when we have time in the future." Kabuto, who had just finished eating a piece of roasted meat, said with a smile.
The owner smiled when he heard Kabuto praised their Ramen.
For someone like him who was focused on making the best ramen, this was probably the best reward.