As Huang Bai had said, Sage Jutsu training is indeed very slow, but Tetsuya doesn't mind.
He spends his days selling noodles and his nights practicing Sage Jutsu. Huang Bai would typically show up every seven or eight days to check on Tetsuya's practice and ensure there were no issues.
However, the number of ninjas coming to eat noodles in the village began to decrease, indicating that the situation was becoming more serious.
Nevertheless, Jiraiya and his friends would still come over to eat ramen from time to time.
Over time, they got to know each other quite well.
"Boss, boss! The usual, please!"
Jiraiya rushed into the ramen shop excitedly.
"Oh, it's Jiraiya."
Tetsuya smiled as he saw Jiraiya.
"Boss, I'd like some cold noodles."
Tsunade walked in behind Jiraiya, followed closely by Orochimaru.
"Boss, any new flavors today?"
"Haha, you're in luck today. We have the latest style: flame fried noodles. Would you like to try it?"
"Oh? Flame fried noodles?"
Orochimaru's interest was piqued by this.
"That sounds interesting. I'll have one."
"Just a moment, your noodles will be ready soon."
Tetsuya smiled, opened the kitchen door curtain, and went in to work.
Jiraiya and his friends sat in their familiar seats and looked around curiously.
"Hey, Orochimaru, have you noticed that the boss's shop has become a lot quieter?"
"Idiot Jiraiya."
Before Orochimaru could answer, Tsunade spoke up.
"The boss's shop usually serves ninjas, but recently all the village ninjas have been sent out on missions, so business has naturally slowed down."
"I see."
Jiraiya said with some longing.
"Ninja, I really want to graduate and become an official ninja soon."
Tsunade pouted.
"Forget it, Jiraiya, you fool. Even if you become a ninja, you'll probably mess up the mission."
Orochimaru, who had been silent until now, smiled and spoke.
"I think Jiraiya will definitely become a very good ninja in the future."
"Hahaha, Tsunade, did you hear that? Even Orochimaru admits my excellence. I will definitely become an excellent ninja."
"You three, your ramen is here."
Tetsuya came over with three portions of noodles on a tray.
One portion of the signature tonkotsu, one portion of cold noodles, and one portion of flame fried noodles.
Orochimaru's eyes lit up when he saw the steaming, red-dyed fried noodles. He smelled a special aroma—spicy, to be precise.
"Is this flame fried noodles? Just smelling this aroma makes me feel like my heart is on fire."
"Try it quickly, but the taste is still being adjusted. I hope that after eating it, Orochimaru, you can give some suggestions."
"I'll try my best."
Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru's fried noodles.
"It's a new flavor of fried noodles again. Orochimaru, you really like trying different new things."
Orochimaru replied with a smile.
"Don't you think it's interesting to explore new and unknown things? There are still many unknown things in this world waiting for us to explore and discover."
Jiraiya seemed to ponder this, but it was clear he wasn't fond of overthinking.
"Really? Well, I think known things are more interesting."
Tetsuya, who was sitting nearby, observed the two of them.
"Ah, from this, we can see that Orochimaru and Jiraiya have different future paths. One is obsessed with pursuing the illusory child of prophecy, while the other is going further and further on the path of science."
But these are matters for the future. Now, the three of them are still very good friends.
"Princess Tsunade, can I ask you something?"
Tetsuya suddenly asked Tsunade.
"Boss, you can just call me Tsunade. What do you want to ask?"
Tsunade was curious. She didn't know why Tetsuya suddenly asked her a question.
Tetsuya cleared his throat and spoke in a low voice.
"It's like this: there have been a lot of rumors in the village recently, saying that Hokage-sama is not in good health and that someone outside is planning to start a war against our Fire Nation. I'm just a little worried about Hokage-sama's situation. How is Hokage-sama doing recently?"
As the war approaches, various rumors are spreading.
In the past, they were only circulated in other countries.
However, recently, the news that Senju Hashirama is weak and on the verge of death has even spread to the Land of Fire and Konoha, where Senju Hashirama resides.
In the village, people were in panic for a while. The most crucial point was that the First Hokage did not come out to clarify the rumors, and even his younger brother, the Second Hokage Tobirama, did not stand up and say anything.
Tsunade fell silent for a moment, and Orochimaru and Jiraiya also stopped eating noodles and looked over.
"Well, if it's inconvenient to say, just pretend I never asked."
He only asked out of curiosity, and he had pretty much guessed the situation anyway.
The current situation of Senju Hashirama is likely being kept secret. After all, the other countries are now ready to make a move. Once the death of Senju Hashirama is confirmed, a war will definitely break out.
By that time, the Fire Nation will most likely be attacked from multiple sides.
"There's nothing inconvenient to say."
Tsunade sighed.
"In fact, I haven't seen my grandfather for a long time. I wanted to go find him before, but I was stopped by my second grandfather and grandmother. They said that my grandfather was at a critical moment and couldn't be disturbed."
"Is that so? I hope that Hokage-sama can succeed. The ninja world can maintain peace only because of Hokage-sama."
It can be said that the peace in the ninja world during this period was maintained entirely by Hashirama's tyrannical strength. After all, there were many ambitious people in this era.
Another day passed, and Tetsuya returned home, sighing as he looked at his dwindling income.
"It looks like Senju Hashirama is gone. War is about to break out. Although the war may not reach Konoha, we still need to have the strength to protect ourselves."
Looking at the more than 19,000 yen he had saved up in the past ten days, he kept a portion as reserve funds.
"Gouzi, come out. I need to recharge my account."
[Oh my, isn't this my dear master? How much do you want to recharge this time?]
"As usual, the maximum amount of card pool draws is ten."
[No problem, my dearest master.]
"Haha, I think money is your master."
[Look at what you said. Without you, where would the money come from?]
As they were talking, the money in Tetsuya's hand vanished, directly recharging it into coupons.
Tetsuya didn't even look at the number of points and started the lottery directly.
"Gouzi, let's start. The highest prize pool, give me a draw, ten consecutive draws, a draw that will bring miracles!"
[Okay, the three-level prize pool ten-draw series starts!]
A huge jackpot turntable appeared in front of Tetsuya and began to spin.