Ino flipped through the menu for a while, ordering some beef, mutton, and fish belly. She then asked for Nana and Kana's opinions, and the two women ordered many vegetables—eggplant, green peppers, baby bok choy, etc., as well as some bean curd skin and meatballs... "To lose weight, you can't just eat vegetarian—only a reasonable mix of meat and vegetables can successfully allow you to eat without getting fat, keeping the parts that should be big big, and the parts that should be small small..."
Ino spoke earnestly... although it seemed a bit strange for a four-year-old brat to be earnestly teaching two adult women how to lose weight.
However, Nana and Kana believed her. In their hearts, Princess Ino was almost synonymous with being "well-read" and "knowing everything"... Since she said a mix of meat and vegetables could help lose weight and was good for shaping the body, then there must be benefits, and it would definitely maintain their figures.
Ino complained, "Besides, you're Ninjas. If you're in a state of hunger and nutritional imbalance for a long time, I'm certain you'll be good at 'enduring'—after all, being hungry is too uncomfortable. But I would deeply doubt your achievements in Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. Without enough physical strength, all descriptions are in vain..."
"Princess Ino, you don't understand yet... if a girl grows up to be that kind of round shape, she won't be able to get married."
Kana faintly used a very cruel fact to refute Ino, and Nana nodded in deep agreement beside her.
"Please—we're all adults, capable of living independently. It's not like we can't survive without the opposite sex. Get lost, Love-struck brains."
Ino rolled her eyes, complaining out loud and in her heart: "What's wrong with this Naruto world? Every single woman is love-struck. Can't it get any better? Hmm, there's Chakra-chan who's single-mindedly chasing Sasuke, little Hinata with her silent unrequited love, and Mei Terumī from the neighboring village who's desperate to marry... Is it impossible to draw without writing such mushy stuff?"
After finishing her complaint, Ino ignored the two and began to study the grill on the table. The grill was designed very ingeniously:
It looked to be about ten centimeters deep, with a layer of charcoal, and several metal air ducts extending from the side of the stove.
This air duct design allowed the smoke formed after the charcoal burned, as well as the carbon monoxide formed due to incomplete combustion for certain reasons, to follow the air duct and be discharged outside directly along the table. The surface was a metal mesh, convenient for those who liked open-fire grilling to grill directly, and there was also a sliding iron plate that could be pulled over the mesh for teppanyaki.
"It's better than that impulsive 'Tea by the hearth'—it's good because they know how to set up air ducts, so it won't leave people surrounded by smoke, nor will it cause something like carbon monoxide poisoning..."
She placed her hand on the mesh to feel it; the breeze from the air duct was quite mild... While she was studying it... the waiter came in carrying various raw meats and vegetables and placed them on the table. Then, he lifted the metal mesh and lit the charcoal inside.
Bowing and saying "Enjoy your meal," the waiter withdrew.
The meat and vegetables were arranged on top, and the fat and moisture dripped onto the burning charcoal, making a sizzling sound.
The aroma of the fat also spread, filling the room.
Nana and Kana took off their masks, serving Ino while eating themselves. All the meat and vegetables were actually eaten clean by the three of them.
Nana and Kana later lamented with hindsight, "What if we get a little belly?" This "hindsight" also fully illustrated how much they enjoyed this meal—they really ate well, better than ever before, to the point of forgetting about body management.
Ino eyed their figures and said with a grin, "There's Shapewear! Nana, Kana, you deserve to have Shapewear..."
She looked at the tight-fitting clothes on them and envisioned them wearing a layer of Shapewear underneath, and then another layer over the tight clothes.
Hmm... very interesting.
"Demon Fox, get lost! Don't get in the way of my business here—" a vigorous voice drifted in from the window facing the street.
Demon Fox... isn't this the kind and friendly nickname the Konoha villagers have for our protagonist, Uzumaki Naruto?
Hearing the sound, Ino ran to the window, easily climbed onto the windowsill, and saw the scene happening on the street... The originally bustling street had become deserted because of a blond child wearing an ill-fitting white short-sleeved T-shirt and gray shorts. A middle-aged man wearing an apron waved a spatula and chased after the child, scaring him away from the street... Only then did the street gradually regain its vitality.
Looking down from above, Ino could clearly see the thick, long, cat-like whiskers on the blond child's face.
His azure eyes were full of a kind of loneliness and grievance.
"Demon Fox..."
Ino savored those two words, feeling a sense of incomprehension and doubt even greater than when she read fanfics in her previous life, as well as curiosity.
What was the cause of this scene? It was hard to know—but Ino seemed to be able to think of one reason why Uzumaki Naruto was loathed by these villagers and even treated so extremely: when he was here, these people indeed couldn't do business because the customers all ran away. This "fact" was more powerful than any force.
"Princess Ino... are you looking at that Demon Fox?" Nana and Kana naturally heard the sound as well, and seeing Ino looking, they followed suit.
Ino asked, "Why is he called the Demon Fox?"
The answer was actually quite inexplicable... "Don't know, everyone just calls him the Demon Fox anyway. Legend has it that in the year you were born, a Nine-Tailed Demon Fox caused chaos, and many people in Konoha died—probably because he has whiskers on his face. Look, they're exactly like a fox's..."
Ino nodded.
"Indeed... human association itself doesn't need any logic or evidence. It just needs a focal point."
A child with whiskers that only cats, dogs, or foxes have—how could such an oddity not make people think more?
In the absence of sufficient information, the more they thought, the more bizarre it naturally became.
"Does he have a name?"
"Don't know."
"I see..."
It turned out that many people didn't know the name "Uzumaki Naruto"—so these villagers probably didn't know either.
He was just a Demon Fox, a Demon Fox born with fox whiskers, different from normal people.
Who would bother to learn his name?
Ino thought to herself, "So, at this time, how many people actually know the name Uzumaki Naruto? If it's limited to only the Sandaime, Danzo, and maybe one or two others, then many things would make sense..."
...
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