The door to the bachelor's apartment was opened, and Naruto Uzumaki's daily routine of shouting could be heard.
Because there are always one or two days every month, there will be an old man waiting for him in the house and responding kindly. That is also the time when he is happiest.
However, today, there was a very different excitement and enthusiasm in Naruto's voice than usual, as if he hoped that this "home" where he had lived for several years could welcome rare guests with the same mood.
"Please come in."
After Naruto entered the door, he gently tugged on Giyuu's sleeve.
A yellow wall full of traces of time caught the latter's eyes.
He looked around and found that the layout of Naruto's house was very simple.
A small bed, a wardrobe, and a low coffee table are located at one end of the room, next to the huge glass window.
At the other end of the room is the extremely simple "kitchen": cabinets, sink, dining table, kettle and refrigerator. There is not even a thing that can be called a stove, so it is impossible to cook too complicated food.
Taking one last look at the cup noodles with chopsticks on the dining table, Giyuu roughly figured out the cause of Naruto's malnutrition.
"Oops! I forgot to clean it up this morning!"
Naruto caught Giyuu's gaze and quickly awkwardly climbed up on the stool to put away the cup noodles he had eaten.
But because he was too anxious, his body actually fell to the side along with the chair, letting out a strange scream.
He was actually used to throwing things on the ground at home, but he just didn't want to embarrass himself in front of his new peers.
But this time, Yiyong's body appeared beside him in time, holding the chair that was about to tip over with one hand, but the noodle cup fell to the ground.
To Yiyong's expectation, the noodle cup was already empty, and there was no remaining soup spilled out.
Naruto actually drank all the soup which had little nutritional value.
"Eh?"
Naruto's eyes widened, as if he hadn't recovered from what happened just now, "You're so fast."
From the two or three meters distance from the door to the dining table, Giyuu could reach him in an instant, which made Naruto very curious, "Are you a student of the ninja school?"
"I'm just in good health."
Giyu directly helped Naruto down like a toy, placed him firmly on the ground, and then said seriously: "If you eat well, you can do it."
"But I had a good meal."
Naruto raised his fingers and said, "Besides Cup Noodles, I drink a carton of milk every day. If it's Sunday, I drink two cartons."
Then he grinned and emphasized: "Except for occasional diarrhea, I have never had any other diseases. Grandpa said that my body is naturally better than most people."
[There is no problem if you are in good health, but...]
"Have loose bowels?"
Giyuu's eyes scanned Uzumaki Naruto's body, focusing on Naruto's abdomen.
Transparent World once again discovered a ball of red energy stagnant there.
Last time Giyuu didn't know that it was a type of chakra, but after careful observation this time, he discovered that this dark red chakra seemed to be restricted, as if it was locked in Naruto's body, but it was not
It is the real cause of diarrhea in the latter.
It has limited interference with Naruto's body, and can even help Naruto recover from his injuries...
【Gotta go deeper.】
Giyuu took a deep breath and focused all his attention on the operation of [Transparent World], trying to get through the obstructive mass of chakra and carefully observe the condition of Naruto's internal organs.
A pair of orange-red eyes in Naruto's body suddenly opened, and he took a step back warily, and then felt annoyed at his own flinching.
"You didn't use any Chakara-related means, but you almost saw me?"
Kyuubi frowned and muttered: "Didn't I hear that brat say his surname is Uchiha? What's going on..."
But thanks to its sudden retreat, the space occupied by the dark red mass of Chakara in Giyuu's vision suddenly shrank, allowing him to finally see through Naruto's digestive system.
He could see that Naruto's beneficial intestinal bacteria were being attacked by harmful foreign substances, but the former could rely on Naruto's physique to multiply rapidly and fight back.
The two were going back and forth, as if his entire digestive system was being treated as a battlefield.
However, it is still a small fight for now. When Naruto takes a rest, this "battlefield" will become completely lively, and diarrhea will naturally occur.
"Your stomach usually feels very uncomfortable. It often makes noises and is a little bloated, right?"
Yiyong asked.
"Why!"
Naruto was a little frightened by his penetrating eyes, but he was amazed by the other person's words, "How do you know?"
Yiyong continued: "You often get up in the middle of the night because you have diarrhea."
Naruto nodded crazily like a chicken pecking at rice, his eyes filled with the words "You are so awesome", "That's right! Are you the same as me?"
"No, there is something wrong with the food you eat, which is why you have diarrhea."
Yiyong opened the refrigerator door, took out the milk, glanced at the production date on it, and then placed it on the cabinet nearby.
Then he checked one box after another and took out all the milk in the refrigerator.
"This milk has expired for more than two months."
He pointed to the number on the milk carton and told Naruto: "If the milk is left for too long, a lot of harmful things to the body will appear in it, such as bacteria."
"But there's nothing wrong with the taste when I drink it, right?"
Naruto scratched his head and expressed confusion, "What are bacteria? Is it something bad? Why does it make me have diarrhea?"
Yiyong thought for a while.
He didn't understand these new terms at first, but when he was looking up what "genes" were, he had some superficial understanding of things like bacteria.
But how to explain it to Naruto so that he can understand it?
He couldn't help but think of the metaphor the Butterfly Ninja used to explain his injuries when he was treating Tanjiro and others.
After all, the boy with the pig headband couldn't understand any of the slightly more complicated vocabulary, unless the metaphor you used was very vivid...
[If it were a butterfly ninja or a weasel, how would it be explained? 】
Giyuu looked across the window and saw Konoha Village covered in snow, and suddenly had an idea.
He pointed at Naruto's belly and slowly said:
"If your body is compared to the Leaf Village, then the bacteria in expired milk are like the ninjas of the enemy country."
Seeing Naruto's eyes suddenly glowing brightly, Yiyong knew that he had finally found some ways to coax the child.
"If the enemy's ninjas are too strong and Konoha's ninjas are too weak, then Konoha will be destroyed, and your body will fall ill directly like most people.
"But if the two are evenly matched, they will fight endlessly in the village. Although Konoha has not been destroyed, the buildings have been destroyed, everyone's life will be disrupted, and the original functions of the village will no longer be available. Just like you
It’s the same when I have diarrhea, but everything else I do is different.”
"oh--"
Naruto suddenly realized, "I understand."
Yiyong shook the expired milk in his hand, "In other words, it is precisely because you have a good constitution that you did not fall ill directly because of the bacteria in it. But if the bacteria are constantly fighting in your body, sooner or later your body will
It will become weaker and weaker every day.
"So, if you buy milk in the future, you should first check the date on the back. As for these, it is better to throw them away as soon as possible."
Yiyong took a breath, feeling like he had finished speaking for a month.
[This village allows him to live alone, but no one even teaches him this? 】
But the next second, Naruto's hair drooped down as if being weighed down by a heavy object.
"But, I...I can't buy non-expired milk."
"Why?" Yiyong was confused.
"People in the village say that I am a monster,"
Naruto's voice suddenly choked up.
He took the milk carton from Yiyong, turned it over in his hand, and said without raising his head: "That's why they don't want to sell me food. The food at home is either given to me by my grandfather, or I buy it from outside."
I picked them up. I obviously drank them as quickly as possible."
Naruto looked at the milk cartons with an expression that was not disgusting, but rather cherished, not knowing what to do with them.
Occasionally, he feels that there is nothing wrong with having abandoned food paired with despised people. At least he won't get sick directly like other people if he eats it, right?
"Monster?" Yiyong repeated.
"Um."
Naruto turned around and looked for something in the refrigerator in a decent manner, "Some people in the village say that I am a demon fox or something. I don't know why, but everyone seems to think so."
As he spoke, he took out a box of biscuits from the depths of the refrigerator.
The moment he turned around, Naruto's originally sunken facial features suddenly rose up and he became cheerful: "This is the snack that grandpa gave me last time when he came here. Let's eat this! The things he gave must not be the same.
It will expire."
Obviously, in order to change the subject, Uzumaki Naruto had used his most "proud" survival technique - forcing a smile.
He would do this every time the old man asked him how he was doing, and the old man would be diverted from the topics that made him uncomfortable.
However, Yiyong is a very serious person.
He remembered the word "demon fox". Naruto had said the same thing the last time they met.
Yiyong pointed to his cheeks and asked, "Is it because of his beard that you are said like this?"
"Yeah, maybe."
Naruto tore open the biscuit packages and put them on the table, then turned to boil water, trying to avoid eye contact with Giyuu, "I tried cutting them off, but they would grow back the next day.
"
The Kyuubi in the depths turned over proudly.
"I just don't know what the relationship between me and the demon fox is. Do we look alike?"
"I've seen a demon fox."
Yiyong said suddenly.
Not to mention Naruto Uzumaki who was very close at hand, Kakashi Hatake outside the window was stunned.
[During the Nine-Tails Rebellion, he should have been less than three months old, right?]
Seeing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't sit still anymore. He created a shadow clone on the spot, picked out two gifts from his subordinates and walked out.
And the chatter in the room continued.
Naruto turned around suddenly, his face full of surprise: "Yes, is it true?"
"Hmm." Yiyong looked at Naruto's face carefully, "You two look nothing alike. That demon fox is very big, looks a bit like a dog and a wolf, and is fierce. But its hair is
It’s red, and the eyes are also red, completely different from you.”
"Damn you little devil!"
Hearing that he was said to be like a dog and a wolf, Jiuwei was so angry that he flew into a rage!
"When I am free, the first thing I will do is to trample you into shit!"
But no matter how furious it is, it can't break free from the fence in front of it, and it can only bark helplessly.
"Did it, did it do something?"
Naruto showed an expression that he only had when listening to ghost stories, "Why do people in the village get scared and hate it when it comes to it?"
"One night five years ago, the demon fox almost destroyed half of the village."
Giyuu continued to say to Naruto: "It is taller than the largest building in Konoha, and the people in the village should be afraid of him."
It was precisely because he had seen with his own eyes that the monster was far more terrifying than Kibutsuji Mumei that Giyuu began to practice breathing techniques again so as not to be unable to protect Sasuke and Itachi when similar things appeared again in the future.
Then, Yiyong added: "In short, no matter what, that demon fox has nothing to do with you.
"Although I still don't understand why they are unwilling to sell things to you, there is nothing you can do if you want to buy things that are not expired."
"Do you have any ideas?"
Naruto's eyes widened with desire.
"You can go wearing a mask."
Giyuu pointed at the disaster-repelling fox mask placed by Naruto's pillow, which was the one he gave to Naruto last time, "That thing is completely useless if you don't take it with you."
As the name suggests, the disaster relief mask is supposed to have the effect of amulet.
"But, that was the gift you gave me."
Naruto hesitated, "I don't want to get it dirty or broken."
"I make new ones every year."
Yiyong said, "If this doesn't work, I can help you notify a few shops that hire genin to deliver food. They will deliver fresh food to your door regularly every day. In this way, you don't have to meet with the merchants."
As he said that, he glanced at Naruto's bulging pants pockets: "I just want to charge you an extra delivery fee."
【But at least it is better than eating expired food.】
The money in the family was not earned by Giyu, and he had no right to use it on others. The money could only be paid by Naruto himself. After all, he would still have to live alone in the future.
"Is this really okay?"
Naruto jumped up happily, and then said in a low voice, "But, I can't cook by myself, so I'll just buy cup noodles and milk."
"I also have a recipe at home. I have cooked all the dishes on it and memorized the contents."
Giyuu said that of course the "Minato-sensei's Secret Recipe" that Kakashi gave him before was copied by a tribesman named Uchiha Obito.
It is said that the word "Minato" refers to the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato.
Giyuu had seen Namikaze Minato's face at Hokage Rock and in books.
To be honest, he and Naruto look quite similar, which is why Giyuu can recall the recipe at once.
"Next time I come, I will bring you that recipe and teach you how to make a few simple dishes."
Yiyong paused, "This way you won't have diarrhea in the future."
Kakashi outside the window suddenly pressed the mask on his face to prevent himself from making any noise that might attract attention.
He never thought that Minato-sensei's (and Obito's) relics would return to his children in this way.
The fate and destiny of time are really an incomparable thing.
"Well, I can ask..."
Naruto froze on the spot, looking at Giyu blankly, his eyes full of excitement and gratitude, but there was still a trace of doubt, "Why are you so nice to me?"
【Obviously, this is only the second time we meet.】
Yiyong, however, plans to solve his food problem once and for all.
Kakashi held his breath completely, and Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was in front of the crystal ball, also lay down next to the crystal ball, wanting to listen carefully to Giyuu's answer.
Yiyong's expression remained as usual, and he was about to speak——
There was a knock on Naruto's door, and an old voice came from outside.
"Is Naruto at home? I'm here to see you. Come and open the door for grandpa quickly."
In the Hokage's office, the veins on the forehead of Sarutobi Hiruzen's true form were bulging, and he almost crushed the crystal ball.