He looked closely and saw a figure performing hand seals in a nearby clearing, with the scorching scent of Chakra still lingering in the air.
Clearly, someone was practicing Fire Release Ninjutsu nearby.
"Scared me for a second. So someone is just training."
Ryoko breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to continue on his way, he suddenly looked at the lively fish in his arms and then at the firelight that hadn't yet fully dissipated. His eyes rolled as an idea popped into his head.
Holding the fish, he jogged over, a warm smile plastered on his face as he greeted, "Big brother from the Uchiha Clan, excuse me, could you do me a small favor?"
The Uchiha Ninja in the clearing heard the voice, stopped his hand seals, and turned around with a frown.
It was a youth in his early teens with a handsome face and a slender build. His long black hair draped loosely over his shoulders, and his temperament was slightly different from common Uchiha Ninjas.
He wore a standard Ninja flak jacket, clearly already a formal Ninja.
Uchiha Fugaku looked at the child in front of him, who was holding an armful of live fish and had a very recognizable physique. His mouth twitched slightly.
"You are... a child of the Akimichi Clan? Are you here... catching fish?"
He deduced the other's origin and actions almost instantly.
However, based on his impression of the Akimichi Clan, it was truly possible for them to do something like catching fish in a river.
"Yes, big brother!"
Ryoko nodded vigorously, his chubby little face full of expectation as he tried to act cute. "I saw your Fire Release is so amazing. Could you help me start a fire? It would be even better if you could help me grill these fish while you're at it!"
In Konoha during this period, living facilities were still quite traditional. Cooking mostly relied on firewood or expensive coal.
Ryoko couldn't bear to spend his precious pocket money on charcoal and was too lazy to pick up firewood himself. This free and powerful human-shaped fish-grilling machine before him was a godsend.
Uchiha Fugaku was meeting such a familiar, even somewhat pushy child for the first time.
With the stoic and cold temperament of the Uchiha Clan, ordinary people would consciously keep their distance.
He looked at the lively fish in Ryoko's arms, then at the other's round, wet, and pitiful appearance. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded.
"Alright, put the fish on that clearing over there." He pointed to a relatively clean stone bank nearby.
"Great, thank you, big brother!"
Ryoko immediately beamed with joy and scurried over. Not only did he put the fish down, but he also spread out his outer coat, which had gotten wet while catching fish, intending to dry it with the residual heat later.
Watching Ryoko's series of incredibly natural, "make-yourself-at-home" actions, Fugaku's eye couldn't help but twitch again.
He silently complained in his heart, "Is this Akimichi brat just too carefree?"
The relationship between the various Ninja Clans in Konoha was subtle; they usually kept their distance and wouldn't easily pry into or display their information.
The Akimichi Clan members he knew, like Akimichi Choza of the same age, might look simple and honest, but they would never be as informal as this child.
This child was simply an anomaly.
Seeing Ryoko was ready, Fugaku stopped thinking. His hands quickly formed seals, his chest puffed out, and Chakra gathered in his throat.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
A scorching, massive fireball erupted from his mouth, precisely covering the fish.
The flames burned fiercely with a crackling sound, and the unique scent of burning protein immediately filled the air.
The rich aroma of grilled fish instantly reached Ryoko's nose, making his mouth water and his appetite surge.
He was about to offer a few words of praise, but he saw the Great Fireball continuing to erupt, the flames showing no sign of weakening.
"Wait, big brother, that's enough! Stop quickly, or they'll burn!" Ryoko shouted hurriedly.
Although he wasn't good at cooking, he had a natural instinct for the timing of food. At this moment, the fish meat had reached its peak time for consumption.
However, his warning was a step too late.
Ninjutsu was essentially a killing technique; using it for delicate grilling was truly asking too much.
Under the continuous high-temperature roasting of the Great Fireball, the surfaces of those poor fish quickly turned charred black, and some edges even began to carbonize.
When Fugaku finally stopped the Ninjutsu and the flames dissipated, what appeared before them were several "charcoal-grilled fish" with charred skins and wisps of blue smoke.
"Uh, this..."
Looking at his masterpiece, even the usually calm Uchiha Fugaku showed a rare hint of embarrassment and awkwardness.
He had clearly overestimated his micro-control of Fire Release and underestimated the precise heat required for grilling fish.
"It's fine, it's fine. It's edible enough."
Smelling the aroma, Ryoko didn't care if it was charred or not and started eating immediately.
The fish meat crunched in his mouth. He finished one in just a few bites, his swallowing speed alarmingly fast.
Seeing this, Uchiha Fugaku couldn't help but want to stop him, lest the child choke to death in front of him.
But his actions misled Ryoko.
Seeing Uchiha Fugaku staring at the grilled fish as if wanting to say something but hesitating, Ryoko blinked, thinking he understood the other's thoughts.
He looked down and picked through his pile of charred fish, eventually picking up a relatively small one that was slightly less burnt. With a look of obvious reluctance, he handed it over.
"Here, you can have this." He tried to make his tone sound generous.
Fugaku looked at the charred-smelling fish handed to him, then at Ryoko's pained expression, and was suddenly caught between laughter and tears.
He quickly waved his hand in refusal. "No need, you eat it yourself."
He paused, and out of habit as an elder, he offered a reminder.
"But be careful when you eat; there are many bones. Don't get choked."
In his view, there was always some risk for such a small child eating fish.
Hearing this, Ryoko curled his lip dismissively.
He picked up the largest grilled fish and, ignoring the heat, took a huge bite.
"Crunch, crunch..."
A tooth-aching sound echoed. Like an insatiable Taotie, he not only gulped down the fish meat but also chewed the small bones to pieces and swallowed them all.
It wasn't that he didn't know; it was that he wasn't afraid at all.
After receiving a large amount of nutritional supplements, his body had long since undergone unusual changes, becoming much stronger and tougher than an average person's.
A few mere fish bones couldn't pierce his flesh at all; he even thought they tasted pretty good.
Moreover, in his eyes, the whole fish was nutrition; there was no reason to waste it.
Being able to eat meat in large gulps and replenish precious protein and fat was a great satisfaction for him.
After all, living in this world with an environment similar to an island nation, the daily diet mostly consisted of Onigiri and Sushi. Meat was considered a relatively expensive ingredient.
Even in Root, what could be supplied without limit was mostly carbohydrates; the meat supply was also limited.
Now that he could enjoy grilled fish to his heart's content, he was naturally overjoyed, not caring about anything else.
Halfway through devouring the fish, he suddenly seemed to remember something. With his mouth still stuffed with fish meat, he turned to Fugaku, who had been standing nearby, and asked indistinctly, "Mmm, big brother, what's your name?"
"Fugaku. Uchiha Fugaku."
Hearing this name, Ryoko's action of stuffing fish into his mouth paused slightly, and a flash of hard-to-detect surprise crossed his eyes.
Uchiha Fugaku?
Isn't this the future leader of the Uchiha Clan?
The father who sired two "great sons."
The eldest son is the famous clan-exterminating "filial" son, and the second son is even more incredible—the reincarnation of Indra's Chakra and one of the future core protagonists.
He didn't expect that someone he randomly bumped into by the river would be this legendary father.
Looking at the other's appearance, which was a few years older than himself and already had the air of a Ninja, Ryoko remembered that Fugaku's age was indeed a good deal older than his own and Minato Namikaze's.
Although his sons were more famous, Fugaku himself could open the Mangekyo Sharingan, and his strength was definitely not to be underestimated.
A family of three Mangekyo Sharingan users—none of them were simple.
If this were some Xuanhuan world, it would be the epitome of "three supremes from a single house."
Ryoko quickly swallowed the fish meat in his mouth. A particularly sincere smile appeared on his chubby little face, and he gave a thumbs-up with his still-greasy hand:
"Wow, Big Brother Fugaku, just hearing your name makes me feel like it has a lot of depth and is overbearingly powerful. I feel like you'll definitely achieve great things in the future and become a super powerful Ninja!"
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