Chapter 140 Curry of Fate
"Next, we will escort Mr. Rokusuke and his party to the Oxalis Gold Mine to eliminate the Black Shovel Clan."
As Haruko saw everyone all ready to go, she also became a little more interested.
Rock Lee squeezed in front of Haruko Hayama and said solicitously, "There's a shop near the mine that I know very well. We can use that as our base!"
"A very familiar store?" Tian Tian asked, still somewhat doubtful.
"This is it! The Curry House of Destiny!"
As they hurried on their way, they finally saw a restaurant not far away. Lee Rock was so excited that he rushed over, picked up the old woman watering plants in front of the restaurant, and spun her around.
"Grandma Sansho!"
"Oh, it's a curry shop." Tian Tian's expectations along the way felt a little disappointed.
Haruko smiled gently and took her hand. "Curry rice is good too. Naruto would definitely like it."
Every day, Naruto Uzumaki saw that he had indeed rushed over, but he ignored Rock Lee who was still spinning around and ran straight into the curry shop.
“…Those two idiots.” Neji Hyuga’s face darkened.
Upon entering the curry shop, they found that although the decor was simple, it exuded a rustic charm.
Grandma Sansho smiled kindly and said, "Hey, hey, it's been a long time!"
"I was saved by Grandma Sansho's curry!" Rock Lee said, tears streaming down his face.
Tian Tian's anticipation returned. "You mean her curry is especially delicious?"
“No, it truly saved a life.” Rock Lee’s eyes lit up.
It wasn't until Grandma Sansho handed them the curry that they realized the seriousness of the situation.
"So... you couldn't wake up while running, and were only saved by the spiciness of an insanely hot curry?!"
Naruto Uzumaki looked at the bubbling black curry in front of him and swallowed hard. The others looked at each other awkwardly.
"Everyone! This was specially made for us by Grandma Sansho, let's dig in!"
Lee Rock was completely oblivious to their atmosphere and scooped up a large mouthful of curry with a spoon and stuffed it into his mouth.
Everyone stared intently as he ate the curry, his face turning bright red. Even Haruko thought his head was about to explode, but Rock Lee ate it as if it were a delicacy.
Naruto glanced at Rock Lee, who was eating with great gusto, then at the culinary disaster in front of him, and finally succumbed to his craving and took a bite to try.
"Naruto!" Haruko called after him, but he had already eaten.
Seeing that Naruto Uzumaki chewed a few times without any problems, Neji Hyuga, not to be outdone, also scooped up a spoonful.
Every day, seeing Hyuga Neji sparring beside him, his lips twitched.
The next second, both of them were furious, their faces turned bright red, and they collapsed onto the table.
"Naruto! Drink some water!" Haruko quickly handed a water glass to Naruto Uzumaki across from her.
With his last ounce of consciousness, Naruto took the water glass and gulped it down, but the spiciness still brought tears to his eyes.
Haruko handed him her own unfinished water glass in the morning, and after gulping down two glasses of water in one go, Naruto finally felt alive again.
Tenten, who was standing nearby, called to Granny Sansho to pour them some more water. Seeing Hyuga Neji's flushed and still unconvinced face, Tenten chuckled and whispered in his ear, "Doesn't this count as losing face without even winning?"
Hyuga Neji glared at her, but his moist eyes were hardly menacing; instead, they only made Tenten laugh even harder.
At this moment, Naruto Uzumaki realized that he had just drunk from Haruko Hayama's water cup, and his mind went completely blank.
"I haven't had any yet, I'm sorry Naruto, I only gave you my water cup because you looked so uncomfortable." Haruko Hayama thought he was disgusted by her having used it, so she quickly explained.
"No, no! I don't mind!" Naruto's face was still red, but he didn't want her to misunderstand.
She simply gripped Haruko's water glass tightly in both hands, as if she wanted to possess the small glass all to herself.
“Then let’s use Grandma Sansho’s shop as a base to thoroughly investigate the village.” Haruko looked around them carefully, then turned to Grandma Sansho. “And then, please make us a regular curry.”
However, plans can't keep up with changes. That evening, the other two clients came in a panic to tell them that Mr. Rokusuke was missing. They guessed that he had run off to the Oxalis Gold Mine to rescue their companions. So, in the morning, Haruko had no choice but to lead everyone to the rescue.
They arrived at the Oxalis Gold Mine around dawn, where they encountered the Black Shovel Clan's henchmen who were abusing the elderly. Rock Lee defeated them in one fell swoop.
From the old man, they learned that Raiya, the leader of the Black Shovel Clan, hated those who betrayed him the most. If someone was caught, he would give that person a living funeral and would genuinely cry for them.
And judging from the gong sound we just heard, it seems they're holding a funeral for the six men who were captured today.
"To send him to his death and then cry for him, this gangster boss has some rather novel interests."
Haruko looked at the black-robed leader who was talking nonsense not far away, and the contempt in her eyes was impossible to hide.
"But this funeral was quite grand," Tian Tian exclaimed.
"After I die, I will definitely hold a funeral filled with the passion and sweat of my youth! To commemorate the beautiful blue beast of Konoha!" Rock Lee clenched his fist excitedly.
Following his train of thought, Haruko imagined, "So it's probably a bunch of people in green bodysuits weeping and wailing at your funeral?"
Naruto Uzumaki also imagined that scene, and the thick eyebrows in the room couldn't help but shudder with disgust.
"Alright, let's get started." Hyuga Neji stopped their increasingly exaggerated imagination.
Haruko looked around intently in the morning. "Neji, use your Byakugan to take a look."
Hyuga Neji focused his mind, activated his Byakugan, and looked through the coffin. He discovered that Rokusuke, who was lying inside, was unconscious but still had a life force. Furthermore, when he looked away, he even discovered a pair of eyes watching him from a distant rocky mountain.
Haruko and Tenten each threw a few smoke grenades, then charged straight at the enemy with the others.
"Tenten on the left, Lee on the right, Naruto to rescue Rokusuke-sensei," Haruko said as she ran. "Neji and I will go to that rocky mountain over there to catch Raiga."
After sweeping away the enemies, Rock Lee's flying kick suddenly stopped.
"Who are you……"
"What's wrong, Xiao Li?" Tian Tian came over and asked.
“He is Mustard Seed, the son of Granny Sansho.” Rock Lee looked seriously at Mustard Seed lying on the ground. “I heard you voluntarily joined the Black Shovel Clan, is that true?”
Mustard scoffed, wiping the dirt off his face. "So what if I joined?"
"You bastard!" Naruto was instantly enraged by his nonchalant attitude.
Mustard Seed, however, argued vehemently, "Because Lord Raiya is extremely powerful, he drove away the corrupt officials at the Oxalis Gold Mine, granting the villagers their freedom!"
Rock Lee stopped Naruto from making a move, then calmly threw a punch at Mustard Seed.
"Grandma Sansho cooks curry every day, waiting for you to come back!"
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Thank you for reminding me of the update reminder charm a dear friend sent me before! Your extra chapter has been delivered (*)(*)～
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