At this moment, Satoru remained oblivious to the perceptions others had of him.
He hadn't expected that despite not participating in the preliminaries, he would attract so much attention for entirely unrelated reasons.
While everyone else was focused on the matches, Satoru had already set up a small stall in the corner. With the help of his Fire Release technique, he successfully lit a fire.
"Fire Release: ramen cooks quickly," Satoru declared proudly.
Naruto stood nearby, staring in disbelief at the bustling scene. "Uh, are you sure this is okay?"
"Of course," Satoru replied confidently. "I've set up a barrier around us. No one will notice."
Sasuke, who was watching from the side, raised an eyebrow. "You mean the rune papers with all the words written wrong?"
Around the stall, dozens of yellow tags were haphazardly stuck, each inscribed with the word "barrier" in a childishly scrawled script. The notes swayed in the rising smoke, creating a surreal and comical image.
Sasuke's patience was wearing thin, and a vein twitched on his forehead. Sometimes, I wish I'd been born two years earlier so I could have been his older brother and taught him some discipline.
(Satoru, however, would have disagreed: "Impossible! Not even Itachi could control my boundless energy, let alone Sasuke. Especially not this sweet, naive kid.")
When Sasuke pointed out the issue, Satoru gasped dramatically. "They're all wrong? Impossible! I traded an entire month of Ah Shui's expenses for these! That priest swindled a devout believer like me?"
Sasuke twitched. "Is that really the issue here?" he muttered, though inwardly, he couldn't help but pity whoever "Ah Shui" was. Imagine working so hard only to have your wages spent on nonsense like this.
Naruto sighed, leaning against the stall. "You're unbelievable."
"Where's the honorific?" Satoru asked, feigning shock. "You used to address me so respectfully, and now you don't? How disappointing."
Naruto groaned, while Shikamaru, observing from a distance, facepalmed. "What in the world are they doing?"
The smell of ramen wafted through the air, catching the attention of Akimichi Choji. He clutched his stomach. "I'm starving, Shikamaru. Do you think he'd share?"
Shikamaru sighed deeply. "Why am I surrounded by so many unreliable people?"
Even from afar, the rising smoke and aroma were impossible to ignore. Tenten hesitated. "Shouldn't someone stop them?"
Lee, however, was inspired. "This is another form of training! To eat ramen under the scrutiny of examiners and the Hokage—it must be a trial of willpower and courage!"
Neji stared at him blankly. "Seriously?"
Meanwhile, the examiners had indeed noticed Satoru's antics but weren't sure how to proceed. The Third Hokage himself shook his head. "As long as it doesn't disrupt the matches, let it be."
Back at the stall, Naruto hesitated as he stared at the steaming ramen. "Can humans actually eat this?" he asked, dubious.
Satoru appeared contemplative but eventually reassured them. "Of course! It's my first time cooking, but it's based on a recipe. How bad could it be?"
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged wary glances but decided to trust him. With Satoru beaming, they each took a bowl.
"It looks fine," Naruto said, grabbing his chopsticks. "Here I go!"
Moments later, disaster struck.
"Ugh! What is this?" Naruto choked, dropping his chopsticks as his face contorted in horror. Sasuke, though silent, had the same reaction.
Satoru blinked, staring at the empty salt bag on the table. "Wait, this… isn't salt. It's sugar?" He glanced at the other spice bags and muttered, "Oh no… everything's wrong."
Chaos ensued.
Even Choji, who rarely complained about food, groaned. "What kind of devil's concoction is this?"
Rock Lee nearly toppled over, only to be saved by a shaky Neji. Even Gaara's team wasn't spared. Kankuro, struggling to stay conscious, thought, Has Konoha discovered our plans and poisoned us in advance?
By now, the examiners were also bewildered. "Could this be an attack by the Sweet Ninja Village?" someone whispered.
The Third Hokage dismissed the idea with a wave. "No one would dare something so absurd in Konoha."
Satoru, oblivious to the havoc he'd caused, scratched his head, staring at the pot. "Where did I go wrong?"