Chapter 234: Chapter 234: Mikoto’s Discovery
Sasuke stiffened in place. Could it be that he couldn't even keep second place?
He hurriedly ran over to confirm the situation, and immediately, his expression became strange.
"Sasuke, what kind of expression is that?", Inuzuka Kiba didn't understand.
"Kiba, take a look at your bucket," Shikamaru reminded lightly.
"…Huh? Where are my fish?", Inuzuka Kiba was dumbfounded, there were only four small fish in the bucket.
"Woof!", At this moment, Akamaru suddenly barked.
Then Inuzuka Kiba saw the fish bones remaining beneath Akamaru's feet.
"Akamaru!", Inuzuka Kiba let out a cry of grief and indignation, then went up and had a free-style fight with Akamaru.
The others all smiled knowingly.
Aoba looked at the five fish in his own bucket and felt he still had some skill.
He then looked at Sai, Shikamaru, and Choji's buckets and found they were more or less the same.
As for the other two insect-using shinobi wearing sunglasses and with no sense of presence, each had only one small fish in their bucket.
But the fish bodies seemed to have marks from insect bites.
Whether they were caught by fishing or not was unknown.
"Let's start grilling fish."
The fishing competition instantly turned into a grilled fish party.
They were all quite used to this kind of activity.
———
When the sky appeared with a faint yellow hue, the grilled fish party also came to an end.
"Burp~", Naruto patted his belly, "So full, but still can't compare to Choji."
"Mmhm~", Choji also covered his stomach and hummed a little proudly.
"When it comes to eating, no one can beat Choji," Inuzuka Kiba accepted it wholeheartedly.
Aoba, hearing this, couldn't help but smile a little.
This was also why Hinata rarely showed her real appetite in front of outsiders.
Otherwise, people would be shocked beyond measure.
"Are you guys coming to my house tonight?", Aoba also extended an invitation to the group.
'Go for what? To be light bulbs?'
Shikamaru showed his dead-fish eyes again and yawned.
"Tomorrow is the Chunin Exam. I've decided to go home and get a good night's sleep."
"I can't eat anymore."
Naruto patted his own belly.
"I'm going back to prepare for tomorrow's exam. Aoba, during the Chunin Exam, I will definitely defeat you!", Sasuke left a harsh statement, then turned and left.
"Aoba, see you tomorrow at the Chunin Exam."
Inuzuka Kiba and the others also bid farewell one after another.
———
Aoba returned to the Senju ancestral home. In the open-air courtyard, quite a few people had already gathered with cheerful voices.
Tenten, Ino, Sakura, Karin, Yakumo, and Hinata had already arrived early.
They were helping Uzuki Yugao, Terumi Mei, and Uzumaki Kasui prepare the ingredients for the upcoming barbecue.
While the boys had a grilled fish party, this side was a barbecue party.
"Aoba!", As soon as Aoba returned to the Senju ancestral home, the girls happily surrounded him.
"Ahem!", Uzuki Yugao reminded aloud, "First finish preparing everything needed for tonight."
"Okay~"
The girls secretly snuggled up to Aoba for a while, then returned to their tasks.
"I'll help too," Aoba walked over.
Uzuki Yugao glanced at him and said, "You go rest first."
"Eh?"
"Aoba, we'll prepare the ingredients. The grilling later is up to you," Uzumaki Kasui explained with a smile.
"Alright, no problem," Aoba was quite confident in his grilling skills.
Seeing that there was nothing for him to do at the moment, he simply brought out a lounge chair.
He sat beside them, admiring the graceful figures of the girls busying around.
Before long—
The people invited by Aoba also arrived one by one.
Tsunade and Shizune returned together, and they brought out a sealing scroll.
After unsealing it, all sorts of ingredients piled up into a small mountain.
Besides common meats, there were many rare ingredients as well, it must've cost a lot.
As for where the money came from, that wasn't Aoba's concern.
Kurenai Yuhi arrived together with Anko. They even brought gifts as presents for Aoba.
In Kurenai's hands were several bottles of long-aged sake; it seemed she didn't consider that Aoba hadn't yet reached drinking age.
In Anko's hands were several boxes of exquisitely decorated sweets.
Very much in line with her tastes.
"Hahaha, never thought Aoba actually invited me. Don't tell me you found out I'm the chief examiner for the Chunin Exam and plan to bribe me?", Anko still had her usual loud and brash demeanor, slinging an arm around Aoba's neck like a buddy.
"No way, I invited you because you're my good friend, Anko-nee," Aoba didn't mind Anko's behavior, after all, she was a broad-minded girl.
"Anko! With Aoba's current strength, how could he still need to bribe you?", Kurenai grabbed the scruff of Anko's neck and lifted her away from Aoba.
Otherwise, she couldn't guarantee Anko would make it out in one piece later.
"Kurenai, are you getting jealous seeing how well I get along with your student?", Anko teased mischievously.
"What nonsense are you talking about?", Kurenai tightened her grip, 'Is Anko going for mutual destruction here?
"Ah! Ow ow ow!", Anko started to struggle.
Kurenai's face flushed a little, "Aoba, Anko doesn't always think before she speaks."
"It's fine, I think it's kind of cute," Aoba smiled in reply.
"Alright then, we'll go over there first."
Kurenai dragged the struggling Anko away.
Following closely behind them was Uchiha Mikoto.
She too had brought a gift.
"Aunt Mikoto, this is…"
"Looks like it fits well," Uchiha Mikoto wrapped a scarf around Aoba's neck.
"The weather's getting chilly now, make sure to keep warm. Aunt made this by hand."
"Then I'll definitely treasure it," Aoba said seriously.
"No need to treasure it too much. If it gets damaged, Aunt will make you another," Uchiha Mikoto smiled sincerely, then reached out and pinched Aoba's cheek.
———
After the charcoal fire was fully ignited, thick smoke slowly rose from the grill.
Aoba got busy beside it.
Meat was placed on the grill, the fat melting into the flames, and the aroma instantly spread all around.
Only when he started grilling did Aoba realize that among the ingredients prepared by Shizune and Tsunade, there were a lot of "private goods."
Like snake meat, venison, lamb kidneys…
It was obvious who those were for.
Because he was busy grilling, Shizune and Yugao continuously shoved skewers into his mouth.
People who didn't know better would think it was because the food was too delicious.
After trying and finding the flavor didn't suit them, they gave it all to Aoba.
Only one certain mature married lady looked at Shizune and Yugao, her eyes widened.
It seemed she had discovered something remarkable.
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