I became Hokage in Tokyo

Chapter 30-031 North District

Takasaki Tsukiya's izakaya is located in Kita Ward, Tokyo.

It wasn't far from Jinguji High School in Bunkyo Ward, less than a ten-minute walk. Takasaki went home first to prepare, and as agreed, Uchiha Naruto was to arrive before 5:30.

After leaving Bunkyo Ward and heading to Kita Ward, it wasn't long before I noticed that Kita Ward was much more desolate.

If we apply the urban planning common in Western novels to Tokyo, then Chiyoda Ward, Chuo Ward, and Minato Ward, located in the heart of the city, are undoubtedly aristocratic districts where only the wealthy and powerful could reside; Bunkyo Ward, a culturally rich and safe educational area, is considered part of the city; Nakano Ward, where the Uchiha residence is located, is the lower city; and to put it more bluntly, Kita Ward, Adachi Ward, and Arakawa Ward are Tokyo's "slums".

The following districts are at the bottom of the discrimination chain, which can be summarized as having poor transportation, poor public security, and poor economy.

The North Ward is only slightly ahead of the last-placed Adachi Ward, struggling between second and third place.

Naruto Uchiha arrived at the door of an izakaya on the second floor. The izakaya was not officially open yet, and the blue coarse cloth curtain outside the door was still hanging. Naruto Uchiha looked up at the sign, which read "Takasaki Izakaya". After confirming that it was the right place, he lifted the curtain and went inside.

The interior of Takasaki Izakaya is decorated in a simple and natural style. The bar separates the cooking area from the dining area, and behind it are square tables. Guests can see at a glance how the chef prepares the ingredients. It is a typical izakaya layout. The walls are also covered with handwritten menus that are very characteristic of izakayas.

What's different is that there are several water tanks in the cooking area, but they are mostly empty.

Uchiha Naruto glanced over and saw Takasaki Tsuki wiping the chair with a rag.

Hearing the sound and seeing someone enter, Takasaki was about to bow and say "Welcome," but upon recognizing Uchiha Naruto, she happily exclaimed:

"Uchiha-kun, you've arrived at the store, ten minutes earlier than the agreed time."

"Since this is your first time working here, you should naturally put your heart into it. Is there anything I can help you with?" Uchiha Naruto rolled up his sleeves, ready to help with the cleaning.

"No, no need!"

Takasaki Tsuki, somewhat flustered, clutched the rag and stammered as a girl carrying a huge shopping bag entered the izakaya.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

Naruto Uchiha stepped aside to let the girl walk inside with difficulty, carrying her shopping bags. Naruto glanced inside and saw that the bags were full of vegetables and meat purchased from the supermarket.

The girl went to the counter at the food area, took a bag of lively baby octopuses from her shopping bag, and threw them into the water tank. Only then did she have a moment to spare. After looking at Uchiha Naruto for a while, she looked at Takasaki Tsuki suspiciously and said:

"Sister, is this the helper you found? This pretty boy doesn't seem very reliable."

"Anne, how could you talk to Uchiha like that?" Takasaki Tsuki apologized to Uchiha Naruto. "I'm sorry, this is my sister, Takasaki An. She's always been so straightforward; she didn't mean any harm."

Takasaki An looks almost exactly like Takasaki Tsuki, and they are about the same age, except that her eyes are slightly upturned, and her temperament is different from the well-behaved and cute Takasaki Tsuki, with a bit of a delinquent girl feel.

"You were only a few minutes before I was born, so don't always act like an older sister. I was against you opening a business in the first place. Wouldn't it have been better to wait until Dad is discharged from the hospital before opening the shop? Then don't hire anyone," Takasaki An said with a cold snort.

"apricot!"

Uncharacteristically, Takasaki Tsuki frowned and reprimanded sharply: "The doctor said that even if Dad recovers well, he won't be able to be discharged from the hospital until next month at the earliest. Are we just going to sit around and eat our meager savings until then? What if Dad doesn't recover that quickly? Even if it's just the two of us daughters, we'll have to keep this shop going."

Takasaki An muttered a few words under her breath, but didn't argue back.

"Sorry, Uchiha-kun, I'm sorry you had to see this."

Takasaki Tsuki bowed to Uchiha Naruto, then took small steps forward, opened the shopping bag, and checked the ingredients inside.

After taking out the cabbage, onions, beef, pork, and other ingredients, Takasaki Tsuki rummaged through the bag a few more times and asked Takasaki An:

"Didn't I tell you to buy some live fish? Have you forgotten? How could you be so careless? Our Takasaki Izakaya specializes in sashimi, and many regulars come specifically for that..."

"That was when Dad was a chef!"

Finally finding an opportunity to refute, Takasaki An loudly and confidently declared:

"You said the helper you hired has excellent knife skills, but who knows if you're telling the truth? If you just hire someone with fancy skills, wouldn't that be a waste of the fish? Live fish aren't cheap, and we can't keep them until tomorrow. Wouldn't that be a complete waste of money?"

After glancing at Uchiha Naruto, Takasaki An continued:

"Looking back now, I was quite prescient."

"apricot!"

Takasaki's face flushed red, and just as she was about to say something, there was a knock on the door.

"Is anyone from Takasaki Izakaya here? I'm from Kirin Beer Company. Our refrigerated truck is already at the door, could you come over?"

"Coming right away!"

Takasaki Tsuki greeted the person at the door, then bowed repeatedly to Uchiha Naruto, saying:

"Uchiha-kun, could you and my sister clean these ingredients and do some simple processing first, then I'll cook them. Anzu will tell you how. Also, Anzu, don't argue with Uchiha-kun, or we might not be able to open the shop on time."

After saying that, Takasaki Tsuki hurriedly ran towards the shop entrance.

"Tch! Come with me."

Takasaki An clicked her tongue and then led the way to the front desk.

Although Takasaki An had a sour face and looked a little unhappy, she still quickly tied on her apron and then picked and washed the vegetables.

"Although my older sister is talkative, she's not the type to be fooled by pretty boys' sweet talk. Since she asked you to come over, she must have some skills, right? Can you carve onions?"

Takasaki An soaked the vegetables in water, wiped her hands on her apron, and took out a bag of onions.

"Please leave it to me."

Naruto Uchiha picked up an onion, and with his other hand, he deftly used a knife to carve patterns on it. In the blink of an eye, he had finished.

Seemingly still not satisfied, Naruto Uchiha picked up another onion and spun the knife around rapidly, almost like a show-off.

With a few quick cuts, two onion flowers were placed together, one already in full bloom, the other still a bud.

Takasaki An was a little stunned. Although onion carving is not difficult, it was still an eye-opener for her to complete it in such a short time and with such pleasing movements as Uchiha Naruto.

But Takasaki An would never admit it.

"So-so, it's just onions, they're easy to cut. After that, I'll cut the chicken, pork, and beef into pieces."

Naruto Uchiha placed the whole chicken on the cutting board, and with a swift turn of the knife, the skin, flesh, and tendons separated. His movements were fluid and effortless. The sound of the knife striking the cutting board was crisp and rhythmic, without any pause.

Although he was simply processing ingredients, Naruto Uchiha performed as if he were on stage, his knife skills were highly entertaining.

The ingredients, which were originally estimated to take half an hour to process, were finished by Uchiha Naruto in less than five minutes!

Takasaki Yue took the ingredients and processed them into semi-finished products, finally opening for business before six o'clock.

(End of this chapter)