Chapter 21: 21. Border Scuffle
"We are back!" Shikaku and Kushina return with some firewood.
"Alright, the fire and ingredients are ready. It's time to prepare the dish."
Yuji cleans the fins and tails of the fish. He coats it in batter and places it in the pan. Yuji picks up another fish and chops it into fine pieces. He removes the bones from the fish and places the chopped fish into a mixture of spices, ginger and garlic paste, salt, pepper, and other condiments. Yuji places the mixture aside to marinate them for a few minutes.
He heats some oil in a pain.
"Yuji, what dish are you making?" Choza asks him out of curiosity.
"I will be making a roasted fish and a fried fish."
"That sounds mouthwatering!" Choza gulps his saliva.
"Wait! I will give you something special." Choza takes out a storage scroll from his pocket.
Poof…
He takes out a bottle with red liquid in it from the pile of various food items.
'And here I was wondering, where did he store all those chips?' Yuji wonders to himself.
Till now since their meeting in the training ground, Choza has eaten more than five potato chips packets.
"This is?" Yuji opens the bottle and smells its contents.
"It's a special sauce of my Akimichi clan. My clan isn't only famous for its eating but is also well known for our innovation in gourmet, especially the food for the shinobis." Choza proudly puffs his chest.
"Let me see if I can use it!" Yuji tastes the red dense sauce.
Hmm…
His eyes lit up.
"This is shoyu! It will pair well with the dish I am cooking."
"Shoyu?" Choza and the rest tilt their head in confusion.
Yuji ignores them and continues to prepare the dishes.
Soon, a fine aroma wafts in the air as sizzling sound echoes in the surroundings.
"This smells so good!" Choza licks his lips.
"I can't wait to eat it!" Nawaki and Minato are ready to snatch their share.
"I didn't know he cooks so well." Kushina stares at Yuji with wide eyes.
"Do you want to try my new dish?" He turns to Kushina.
"If this dish tastes good, then I might give it a try." She agrees to his proposal.
Nawaki heaves a sigh of relief.
'Thank God! I am saved.' He silently prays.
Minato was the winner of their previous little contest. As a result, Nawaki became the next test subject for Yuji's next dish. But now Kushina took the bait and replaced him.
Minato turns to Nawaki and smiles and whispers some words.
'Our bet is still in place. After Kushina, you will be next!'
Nawaki's face turns pale.
"Hey, Nawaki! What's the matter? Why are you so pale?" Kushina notices his pale expression.
"Nnn… nothing! The wind is just a bit chilly." Nawaki rubs his hands.
"Hmm… you are right! Winter will arrive soon." Choza nods at them.
"It's done!" Yuji places two dishes in front of them.
Both dishes are glowing with a golden hue.
Gulp…
Choza gulps his saliva.
"The legendary golden glow!"
His hands show a never expected swiftness from his body and quickly place half of the contents on his plate.
"What the…"
The eyes of Minato, Nawaki, and Kushina widen as they are flabbergasted by Choza's agility.
"He looks so slow. But how is he so fast?"
Nawaki and Minato manage to snag the other half of the dishes. Only Shikaku and Kushina are left with empty plates.
"We… we… the dish!" Sadness envelopes Kushina and Shikaku.
Om… nom…
Choza eats the dishes in relish as he remarks.
"Nothing is fair in food and war and this food is war! So good!" He dips a portion of roasted fish into Shoyu and closes his eyes in pleasure.
"Damn fatty!" Kushina and Shikaku's faces turn black.
"Don't worry, we have plenty of fish." Yuji roasts another fish while assuring the two hungry fellows.
'I will save some of them for the kids in the orphanage. Hana likes my fish dishes. She is still a kid, so she should eat something light!' Unbeknownst to Yuji, a slight smile appears on his otherwise emotionless face.
"Huh?!" Yuji stares at the sky from the corner of his eyes.
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Sigh…
Inside the Hokage Office,
Hiruzen stares at the figure of kids eating food at the bank of the river. He slightly salivates at the sight of the kids relishing the taste of the food, but holds back when he recalls the incident a few days ago.
Knock… Knock…
Someone knocks on the door of the Hokage's office.
Swoosh…
He quickly hides the crystal ball in his drawer and regains his serious demeanor.
"Come in!"
Creak…
The door creaks open and a group of Jounins enters the office. Hiruzen notices the tense expression on their face.
"What's the matter? Why do all of you have such a sour face?" Hiruzen turns to the captain of the team.
The captain has dark black eyes with shoulder-length spiky, silver-colored hair tied in a ponytail. Two bangs of hair hang on each side of his forehead protector. He is donning a standard Konoha jounin flak jacket with a pair of black gloves and bandages on his right arm. A holster is tied diagonally to his right shoulder with a blade held in it.
"Sakumo, explain everything to me!" Hiruzen demands an explanation from the silver-haired man.
"Hokage-sama! The shinobis donning the attires of Iwagakure ambushed my patrol squad at the border of the land of Fire. The battle was gruesome. We lost multiple members of my time and managed to capture the enemy shinobis. However, all the captured shinobis committed suicide by ingesting poison. The poison was so powerful that it corroded their body to ashes. So, we weren't able to gather any clue regarding the nature of the attack." Sakumo reports the incident to Hiruzen.
"Currently, another team is holding the forte in the absence of my team. Since it was such an urgent matter involving a border dispute, I thought it was necessary to report it myself."
"Hmm… attacks from the shinobis of Iwagakure…" Hiruzen ponders over the matter.
"Didn't we have multiple scuffles in the past few years?" Hiruzen enquires.
"Sir, we indeed had a few minor scuffles in which both sides lost a few men. However, this time, the situation was a bit different. The enemy shinobis were out for blood and they didn't hesitate to sacrifice their lives to take down our men. We incurred massive losses, but the losses on the enemy's side were much bigger than ours. This is the first time such a thing has happened in many years."
"Hmm…" Hiruzen enters in deep thought.
"Two days ago, I received a similar act of aggression at the border of the Land of wind and the Land of fire. Though the details were different, the nature of the attack was the same."
Hiruzen turns towards Sakumo.
"What do you think of this matter, Sakumo?"
"Hmm…" Sakumo ponders for a while before answering.
"Hokage-sama, I am not sure about my speculation. But I sense a conspiracy in these attacks. Someone might be instigating attacks between different nations to start a war. It might be the act of smaller nations to weaken the five great nations.
I might be wrong and again, it might be an act of revenge from other nations for their loss during the first shinobi war. Although the victory was a tragic one, Konoha still won the first shinobi war in the end." Sakumo relays his thoughts.
"Hmm…" Hiruzen nods at Sakumo's words.
'Indeed, the previous victory was a tragic one. During the First Shinobi War, Konoha lost two of its Hokages in the war. The First Hokage Hashirama Senju and the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju lost their lives in the war.
The losses were so great on each side that all shinobi nations have to call a true to prevent damage to their foundations. After we tallied the losses, Konoha was among the nations with the least losses. Each nation lost its first generation of Kage in the war.'
Hiruzen recalls a secret mission assigned to his team by the Second Hokage. During the First Shinobi War, their team was assigned to infiltrate the camps of the Sunagakure shinobis and create a ruckus to distract them and then make a quick escape.
'It was a dangerous task for their team. But they still somehow made it out. Later, the real motive behind the mission was revealed when the news of the assassination of the First Kazekage was declared.
The Second Hokage Tobirama Senju issued an order to the clan leader of the Kura clan to assassinate the Kazekage. The leader of the Kura clan completed his contract but was later caught in the enemy camp. He was tortured beyond imagination and later executed by the shinobis of the Suna village.
Since then, Sunagakure issued a death warrant for the members of the Kura clan. It was a blemish on their honor to have their founder assassinated in front of the entire world. This move dealt a major blow to the Morales of the Suna shinobi and in the end, they had to retreat after suffering massive losses.
Hiruzen continues to reminisce some memories.
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