Arima's shop wasn't large, only five tables inside, which meant it was packed to the brim every day.
Even so, because of his exceptional skill, customers were willing to wait hours just for a taste of his impossibly delicious grilled meat.
In comparison, the Akimichi clan's shop had become noticeably quieter these days.
Akimichi Choza, the head of the Akimichi clan, had personally visited Arima's small shop.
The flavor of Arima's grilled meat reminded him of his late father, Akimichi Tokufu.
Because of that, Choza suppressed all objections from his clan and insisted they not cause trouble for Arima.
Of course, Arima had noticed the Akimichi clan's little moves, but he didn't bother arguing with them.
Since Arima couldn't create shadow clones, he could only investigate matters after closing shop each night.
Eventually, he decided to adopt a reservation system to forcibly shorten business hours.
The reservation system caused quite a few complaints at first, but customers couldn't camp outside the store every day forever.
Soon, they accepted the more "humane" arrangement. As a result, the Akimichi clan's shop also regained a good chunk of its business.
On the afternoon of the first Sunday after opening, a special guest arrived.
The moment Arima saw him, an old, worn figure, his chest tightened. The words almost slipped out.
Hiruzen had come to test him. A few days earlier, he'd already had the Anbu reserve a slot for this visit.
Hiruzen was still wearing the Hokage robes, as if he'd rushed over directly from his office.
Every person dining inside was Anbu, they had all, conveniently, booked the same time slot.
Hiruzen took a slow seat, a pipe dangling from his lips.
Arima served him a special dish, simmered sardine meatballs. It was the only non-grilled dish he had ever served since opening the shop.
Hiruzen tasted one. The meatball was springy, the flavor rich and comforting.
His body relaxed, as if all his fatigue from the day had melted away. In no time, he finished the entire bowl, soup and all.
Setting his chopsticks down, Hiruzen couldn't help praising, "Delicious… I feel completely refreshed! And you seem to know I like this dish."
Arima smiled. "Consider it a small gesture from the Senju clan."
Hiruzen asked, "You went to your clan's compound?"
Arima nodded. "My mother, Senju Naomi, was the First Hokage's niece. She told me many clan secrets before she died. Lord Hokage, do you know where Tsunade is?"
The mention of Tsunade, spoken in a tone of equal seniority, made Hiruzen suddenly cautious.
He asked in a light voice, "Why are you looking for Tsunade?"
Arima knew Hiruzen's personality well. He could tell that Hiruzen was already on guard.
Arima kept smiling. "You don't have to be so wary of me. As you can see, I can't use chakra at all, only raw physical strength."
That much Hiruzen couldn't refute. The man's composure and ease didn't resemble someone lying. For now, Hiruzen shelved his suspicion.
Over the past several days, Anbu had observed Arima closely.
His only unusual trait was frightening strength. After investigating with the Byakugan, they confirmed he truly could not use chakra.
Within the ninja world, a person without chakra could at best reach the level of a Land of Iron samurai like Mifune.
And Arima didn't even have sword-calluses on his palms. His threat level was therefore extremely low, perhaps not even on par with a Chunin.
Hiruzen took a long pull on his pipe and said, "Tsunade has been traveling the shinobi world. She hasn't returned in a long time."
Arima nodded. "Thank you for trusting me."
Hiruzen asked one last question. "Do you know about the plan your clan leader, Tobirama-sama, left behind?"
Arima shook his head.
"I truly don't. My mother never mentioned it. Konoha was a painful place for her… but in the end, she still told me to come back and take a look. I just never expected the Senju clan to be gone."
Hiruzen didn't know how to respond to that. Not only the Senju, even the Uchiha were gone.
Slowly, Hiruzen stood. Before stepping out, he said, "I hope you can enjoy your time in Konoha. This is your home too."
Then he left the shop with the Anbu entourage.
Watching the bent, weary figure leave, Arima sighed inwardly. 'Hiruzen really has gotten old.'
Up to this moment, aside from Hiruzen, neither Danzo, nor Homura, nor Koharu had appeared.
Over the next two weeks, Arima remained endlessly busy, running the shop by day while gathering information from customers, and scouting for intel at night.
As the Chunin Exam finals drew near, more and more visitors flooded into Konoha, bringing even more customers to Arima's little shop.
Under intense pressure from diners, Arima reluctantly added another five tables.
After a long day, Arima finally sat behind the counter and muttered, "If this keeps up, I really will turn into a full time chef."
Just then, the door curtain lifted, and a tall, burly figure in wooden clogs stepped inside, followed by a short blond genin.
Arima already knew who it was, so he didn't kick them out. Still, rules were rules. "Sorry, we're closed."
The man laughed. "Come on, shopkeep, we're starving! Don't be so stingy!"
Ignoring Arima's stare, he plopped himself down and urged him to prepare grilled meat.
The kid behind him quickly added, "Thanks old man!" and plopped into the seat across from him.
Arima shrugged helplessly.
'Jiraiya's still the same carefree idiot. It's just a shame about Orochimaru, how did he end up defecting like that?
And Tsunade, that girl… she just left her grandfather's village behind and ran off to enjoy herself.'
It was a bit unfair to Tsunade.
But it couldn't be helped, without chakra and lacking transformation or dojutsu, it was nearly impossible for Arima to track the Sannin in a village full of barriers, nor could he openly ask people about them.
Soon, Arima brought over a large plate of grilled meat and placed it before Jiraiya and the kid.
Jiraiya took a bite and immediately started praising it.
"Delicious! I thought everyone was exaggerating! Here, Naruto, eat more! …Boss, how do you make this?"
He moved some of the meat onto the blond kid's plate.
Naruto seemed absolutely starving. He shoveled meat into his mouth nonstop, completely ignoring the taste.
Arima chuckled. "The ingredients need to be treated with a special massage technique. Everything else is the same as any other shop."
Jiraiya suddenly grinned. "A special massage technique? Boss, could you maybe…. "
Arima cut him off immediately. "Forget it. No way I'm teaching you that. You'd just use it to prey on young women."
Jiraiya sighed dramatically.
"What a waste of talent! A bathhouse with massage, now that would be paradise.
I'm definitely putting this in my next book. And if I ever learn this technique… heh… I'll definitely try it on Tsunade!"
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