Chapter 12 What a Delicious Grilled Fish...Why Don’t You Eat It?!

When Sasuke and Itachi returned home, Fugaku was already waiting at the door.

He stood with his hands behind his back, staring at his two sons with a stern expression.

It's clear that he's been waiting for a while.

Sasuke slowly woke up on Itachi's back. Seeing his father's serious face, he instinctively retracted his head.

It wasn't that he was worried about getting scolded for fighting with Naruto, but that he lost to an unknown guy... so he was afraid of being scolded by his father.

The stinging on his face was a constant reminder that he'd been beaten pretty badly today.

'If Father knew...'

'He'd definitely be disappointed in me, right?'

"Hmph! So you do know how to come home!"

Fugaku looked coldly at Sasuke, who was pretending to sleep, and said unhappily.

Hiruzen had already filled him in on what happened earlier.

He wasn't surprised that Sasuke lost to the Kyubi's Jinchuriki.

And it wasn't something he'd be mad about.

The real issue was...

Given how tense the current relationship between the Uchiha Clan and the village was, an Uchiha making contact with the Kyubi's Jinchuriki at a time like this, even if it wasn't intentional, would definitely raise some red flags for Hiruzen.

The fact that Hiruzen sent someone to notify Fugaku about it today already carried a hint of warning.

Itachi saw his father's appearance, turned his head to look at Sasuke on his back, smiled, and then said to Fugaku, "Father, Sasuke has awakened his Sharingan."

"Hmph!"

When Fugaku heard this, he still snorted coldly, but the expression on his face eased a lot.

Though, deep down, it's his eldest son that caused him even more concern.

The boy had no idea what kind of consequences his actions could lead to.

"F-Father..."

"I didn't lose! That guy used a very strange technique and suddenly appeared behind me..."

"Otherwise, I..."

"It's a Space-Time Ninjutsu."

Itachi added in time, as if to say that Sasuke's loss wasn't entirely his fault.

When he found Sasuke earlier, he had already seen the two of them forming the Seal of Confrontation.

When he first saw the door panel conjured up out of thin air by Naruto, he guessed that he had some kind of Summoning-type Kekkei Genkai, or maybe... a Space-Time-related Kekkei Genkai.

It was not until Naruto activated that purple cocoon and disappeared on the spot that Itachi was sure that he must have a Space-Time-related Kekkei Genkai.

When Fugaku heard the words 'Space-Time Ninjutsu', he fell into deep thought.

'The Kyubi's Jinchuriki can use Space-Time Ninjutsu'!?'

'How old is he… six?'

'He was probably just starting to learn how to refine Chakra, wasn't he?'

'Are these two kids trying to fool me?!'

While he was still shocked, he immediately thought of the Yondaime Hokage, who had great mastery in Space-Time Ninjutsu. In that light, it didn't seem so outrageous anymore.

'It was probably some sort of inherited Kekkei Genkai from Yondaime.'

Meanwhile, Sasuke was confused as he listened to his brother's words.

'What is Space-Time Ninjutsu??'

'I've never heard of it...'

'Damn it!'

'Why is that guy so strong!'

Sasuke touched his bruised cheek, but thinking of his newly awakened Sharingan, he felt somewhat proud.

'Just you wait!'

'I'll beat that guy with these eyes of mine!'

"Itachi, come with me."

"Sasuke, go to the living room and kneel for an hour. You are not allowed to eat before the time is up!"

After giving the two brothers instructions, Fugaku left with Itachi.

Sasuke glanced at his brother, then walked dejectedly to the living room, already replaying the fight in his mind.

Now that he thought about it, he'd totally let his guard down...

'That guy's Taijutsu is garbage and he is full of openings. If I had another chance, I will definitely pin him to the ground and beat him!'

…

Crackle-

By the river, the burning wood continued to make sounds.

An old man and a young boy sat by a small campfire.

"Grandpa, you can eat now."

Naruto, sitting on a rock, handed over a charred fish to Hiruzen.

He was really feeling helpless.

Hiruzen insisted that he hadn't seen Naruto for a long time and insisted on staying by the river to eat his grilled fish.

'We just met last week!'

So Naruto simply grilled the fish until it was charred.

'Come on!'

'Let's hurt each other!'

Hiruzen's mouth twitched as he looked at the blackened fish and he couldn't help but gulped.

He glanced at the black thing in Naruto's hand and was seriously wondering if it was edible.

But looking at Naruto, who had a black face and was eating happily, Hiruzen fell silent.

"Grandpa, you're not going to eat?"

"Didn't you just say you wanted to try my cooking?"

"What a delicious grilled fish! Grandpa, why don't you eat it?"

Naruto looked at Sandaime with wide, hopeful eyes, like not eating would crush the six-year-old's fragile little heart.

"Cough…"

"Well, Naruto, I just remembered I've got something to take care of."

"I need to head back first."

Hiruzen suddenly got up, put his hands behind his back, and walked at a speed that didn't seem like that of a man in his seventies.

His speed is even faster than that of an 18-year-old boy.

Hiruzen was really worried that he'd end up with a stomachache after eating the grilled fish.

He felt that Naruto was really just using his insane constitution to mess around!

Once Hiruzen was gone, Naruto immediately tossed the grilled fish aside.

"Pleh, pleh, pleh!"

"He finally left."

If Hiruzen had stayed any longer, Naruto really would've had to force himself to eat that burnt mess, and he also had a hungry fox waiting to be fed.

Naruto pulled out some magical dragon meat and set it on the grill.

He brushed it with oil and sprinkled on some seasoning.

There's no sign of the clumsy look in the way he grilled the fish just now.

It took Naruto about twenty minutes to finally eat the delicious roast meat he had been craving for.

Even though he hadn't used much Chakra in today's fight, he figured he deserved a good reward.

Once he finished, Naruto threw out a portal, stepped through it and returned home. As soon as he arrived, his consciousness entered the sealed space to feed the fox.

"Hey, brat."

"You've got some issues with the old man, don't you..."

Kurama grinned and said meaningfully.

After years of observing Naruto, it is not difficult for Kurama to see that Naruto really didn't like Hiruzen.

Even though Naruto put on a good act, Kurama could feel the disgust in his heart.

"How about this... do you want me to help you..."

"Gulp…"

Naruto threw a piece of meat straight into the fox's throat, effectively silencing him.

The temptation of delicious food interrupted Kurama's thoughts.

The moment Kurama opened his mouth, Naruto knew what he was going to say.

It's nothing more than he and the fox working together to destroy the Konoha Village.

But Naruto was pretty satisfied with the current situation. He wasn't stupid enough to pull a defection stunt.

Even if he is the Kyubi's Jinchuriki, it won't work!

What, did Kurama really think that Guy's kick wouldn't kill him?

Besides, what he needed most right now was time to grow, not to start some war.

Besides, there is a wife in the village waiting for him to marry.

After feeding Kurama by hand for a while, Naruto felt his arms started getting sore again.

So he decided to bring out the automation modules and started building a fully automatic barbecue setup next to the cage.

Naruto knew that it wasn't enough to just make one, so he also made a giant barbecue grill so that Kurama could grill himself.

He also dug out a pool-sized pit to store the ingredients.

After doing all that, Naruto turned and said to Kurama.

"Alright, Big Fox, everything's set up."

"If you're hungry, grill it yourself."

"If you don't want to, just press the button at the door and the conveyor belt will automatically deliver the meat to you."

Naruto patted the automated assembly line beside him and spoke seriously.

For Kurama, grilling meat and pressing buttons was easy. He just needed to summon a Chakra hand to do it.

"I understand."

Kurama raised his head proudly, though his eyes kept darting toward the mountain of ingredients.

After seeing Naruto grilling meat every day, he had always wanted to try it, but unfortunately, he had never had the chance before.

But now, Naruto not only made 'Ninja Tools' that sent food straight into his mouth, he even built a barbecue grill big enough for his size. It seriously impressed Kurama.

"Gulp…"

After swallowing several hundred pieces of grilled meat, Kurama, perhaps feeling a little guilty, gave Naruto a reminder.

"Brat, get to bed early."

"I will supervise your training tomorrow."

Naruto's lips curled up when he heard that.

'Heh, tsundere fox.'