Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

The warmth of the soup caused the slices of meat to curl slightly, giving them an enticing milky white color, like they were half-cooked.

He put the sliced ​​sashimi, which had been rinsed in the broth, into his mouth.

The soup is rich and flavorful, the meat is sweet and fresh, and the flavors are slightly pungent with wasabi and sea salt.

The three flavors blended and exploded perfectly in his mouth.

Yagura comfortably squinted his eyes.

[Feeding...]

Isona's voice rang out again, "These two together... seem quite delicious..."

Yagura smiled, ignored it, and picked up another piece.

He turned around and walked towards the girl who was still standing there, stunned, because he had given her a perfect score.

Mei Terumi felt a little nervous as she watched him approach.

Yagura handed the bowl he was holding to her.

"Try it."

His voice was no longer that of a pretentious elder, but that of an ordinary companion.

Mei Terumi hesitated for a moment, then took the bowl and, imitating him, used her chopsticks to pick up a piece of sashimi that had been rinsed in the soup and put it in her mouth.

Her emerald green eyes lit up instantly.

Yagura looked at her, then at the Hidden Mist Village members who had completely integrated with the Konoha ninjas, and finally, his gaze fell on the Hokage in the distance, who was watching all this with a smile, like a pillar of strength.

He suddenly spoke, as if addressing Mei Terumi, but also as if speaking to himself: "Perhaps... we could also open a food street like this in the village."

Mei Terumi looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with a light of hope.

This suggestion resonated clearly amidst the noisy background noise of the banquet.

"Food street?"

Mei Terumi repeated the word, her emerald green eyes reflecting Yagura's unprecedentedly relaxed face.

She pondered these three words, feeling both a sense of novelty and a sense of entitlement.

Yes, why not?

If one flavor can bring harmony between ninjas from two villages, then what can a street that gathers countless flavors bring?

Before she could think it through, a silver-white head approached from the side, carrying a strong smell of barbecue sauce.

"I heard that! The food street?!"

Hozuki Shio's eyes shone like two purple light bulbs, and with half an octopus leg stuffed in her mouth, she spoke indistinctly, "I agree! I'm the first to agree! It must be built! Build it now!"

She excitedly waved the skewer in her hand, almost poking her subordinate who was reporting to the new Fourth Mizukage, Hozuki Kaigetsu, in the face.

The Hidden Mist ninja instinctively leaned back, narrowly avoiding the attack, and looked at Hozuki Shio with a gaze that was hard to describe.

Hozuki Kaigetsu frowned, grabbed his sister's head which was practically about to take flight with excitement, ground his shark-like teeth, and scolded in a low voice, "Quiet down! What kind of behavior is this!"

"But bro! It's the food street!"

Hozuki Shio broke free from her brother's hand, swallowed the octopus leg in a few bites, and moved between Yagura and Terumi Mei, her eyes shining. "How about we renovate that abandoned commercial street next to the main street? We'll call it... we'll call it Kirigakure's Number One Rice Street!"

"I've already thought of the signature dishes! The first one will be a franchise of Akimichi BBQ! Then there'll be a sashimi shop, and Mei Terumi, your soup restaurant is a must, and..."

She started planning, counting on her fingers as if reciting a familiar story, spitting as she spoke, her expression fervent, as if she could already see the bustling street filled with people and the aroma of food filling the air.

Mei Terumi was amused by her pathetic appearance and shook her head helplessly.

Yagura was also somewhat amused and exasperated. He hadn't expected that his newly conceived idea would be materialized to such an extent by this "King of Dried Rice".

However, when Hozuki Kaigetsu heard the words "renovation" and "commercial street," his previously impatient expression changed.

He nudged his subordinate, who was writing furiously beside him, signaling him to stop taking notes.

His light purple eyes swept over his sister, past Mei Terumi and Yagura, and landed on the distant silhouette.

Their focus is clearly on a completely different wavelength from Hozuki Shio's.

delicacy?

No.

What he saw was urban planning, commercial circulation, the effect of crowd gathering, tax revenue, employment opportunities, and... a completely new economic engine that could revitalize this lifeless village.

The moment the idea popped into his head, it grew wildly in his mind.

Why is Konoha so wealthy?

Hokage Avenue!

That commercial axis, which runs through the entire village of Konoha and was personally supervised by Lord Danzo, is the heart of Konoha. Every pulse of it pumps vitality and wealth into the entire village.

Their Hidden Mist Village also needs such a heart!

"no."

Hozuki Kaigetsu suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but unusually resolute.

Hozuki Shio, who was engrossed in her culinary fantasies, suddenly stopped and turned around in dissatisfaction: "Huh? Why not? Bro, are you crazy? This is a fantastic opportunity!"

"I'm not saying building a food street is wrong,"

Hozuki Kaigetsu stood up, walked to the railing, leaned on it with both hands, and looked out over the entire harbor. "What I'm saying is, the place you chose is no good."