After settling the many survivors in a nearby town, personnel from the Kakushi soon arrived to complete the handover with the local police station. This saved Natsunishi's group of three from much of the subsequent red tape.
By the time they finally sat down at a Yatai (food stall) familiar to Uzui, it was already the evening of the following day.
Kojiro, the Kanoe-ranked swordsman, had also wanted to attend this "victory banquet." However, due to his severe injuries, he was forcibly sent by the Kakushi members to a nearby Wisteria House for recuperation. The Butterfly Mansion at headquarters was too far, so he could only be sent to the nearest civilian facility cooperating with the Demon Slayer Corps.
At this moment, the stall where the three were located sat on the edge of town. Despite its location, it was quite large; even deep into the night, it remained brightly lit and filled with the bustling atmosphere of life.
According to Uzui, this was practically his home turf. In the past, whenever he finished a mission near Yamanashi, he would frequently come here to reward himself with a meal if time permitted. Now, having come to acknowledge Natsunishi and Kanae, he naturally brought them along.
"The exhaustion after a mission must be soothed with flamboyant food!"
He greeted the owner familiarly and began a fluent session of pointing and gesturing at the menu. From time to time, Chuunibyou ninja maxims that others found hard to understand would pop out of his mouth. It was only because the owner already knew him that he wasn't mistaken for a troublesome customer.
Furthermore, he was completely indifferent to the curious gazes of surrounding diners drawn by his flamboyant clothing and ninja attire. Instead, he nodded with a smile to a few familiar vendors, showing off his new hair ornaments and nail art.
"Uzui-senpai is truly a confident person," Kanae remarked with a soft laugh. Seeing Tengen Uzui completely disregarding the opinions of those around him—and even showing off his charm in a rather showy manner—she whispered beside Natsunishi, "He doesn't seem like a ninja at all."
Natsunishi replied, "He's not confident; he's narcissistic plus chuunibyou."
"Oh, and three more salt-grilled Pacific saury, Oden with extra radish, double pork yakisoba, sweet tamagoyaki, fried chicken... bring the edamame first, and three jars of sake!"
Just as they sat down, Uzui realized there were two more people this time and raised his arm to call out to the counter again.
"Hey, shouldn't the person treating the guests let them see the menu first?" a diner teased him with a laugh. "Tengen, are these two your colleagues? Are they that 'ninja' thing too?"
Uzui gave a confident smile. "Old man Okamoto, everything I ordered is the most flamboyant... and most delicious here! Trust the taste of the Great Uzui!"
"Che, you clearly just ordered what you like to eat." The man raised his cup from across the tables in a distant toast, then went back to chatting and laughing with his friends.
The ninja laughed and slapped Natsunishi's back. "Hahaha, don't listen to that old geezer. This time, the Great Uzui didn't even order my favorite pufferfish sashimi."
Natsunishi had just taken a sip of hot tea and nearly coughed it back out from that slap. The girl beside him kept hiding her giggles behind her hand.
Natsunishi gave the tall ninja a sidelong glance, then leaned back against the wooden chair, gradually relaxing.
The izakaya was noisy with the clamor of voices. From the back came the hurried sounds of cooking and the crisp clinking of bowls and plates. The constant aroma of grilled items, the warm mist rising from the Oden, and even the tiny ripples of sake being poured into cups made Natsunishi feel as if he were momentarily outside the game.
Everything here was simply too realistic. It's clearly a combat-focused action game, yet they insist on spending so much computing power on realistic rendering and NPC AI...
Cradling the hot tea in his hands, Natsunishi's gaze lost focus slightly. He wasn't checking the system panel; he was suddenly reminded of things from the past. Back then, he would occasionally go out alone after work or gaming to find hidden gems in bustling streets to reward himself. Even sitting alone in a corner, hearing strangers—people he had never met and would never cross paths with again—talking happily, sharing their futures, and recounting their pasts, made him feel briefly that he wasn't the only person in the city.
It was the fleeting taste of leisure amidst busyness. It was the sound of voices and the scent of delicious food from a kitchen. It was the taste of being alive.
"It's lively, isn't it?"
Uzui pushed a cup of sake over, pulling Natsunishi back from his thoughts. He pointed to the gourd at Natsunishi's waist. "Don't tell me you're underage and don't drink. You're even carrying that old woman's sake gourd."
Natsunishi took a small sip. As a beverage, it was a bit spicy; as alcohol, it seemed lacking in flavor and rather bland. "Like Nikaido shochu, it's ordinary."
Tengen's interest was piqued. "What, you don't like shochu or sake? Could it be that you, Kuguruma, like that bubbly sparkling wine or the plum wine the girls prefer? Surely it's not that 'combustible oolong tea' that catches fire like the Westerners drink?"
Natsunishi took another sip of tea. He said faintly, "I like ice-cold Coca-Cola."
"...Huh?" Uzui blinked. What on earth was that?
Natsunishi: "Perhaps if you live a few more decades, you'll know what it is."
Uzui: (´･_･)?
A passing diner nearby interjected with a loud laugh, "Tengen, you wouldn't know! That's a rare thing brought over from the West, like that... Ka... Ka..."
"Coffee," his companion added.
"Right, right! Just like coffee, croquettes, and curry, they're all good things only the rich get to taste! It seems this young man's background isn't shallow at all, haha!" After saying that, he clinked cups with Tengen and swayed away drunkenly with his companion.
Natsunishi: ?
Wait, you can actually drink Coke in this era?
Holding his cup, Uzui couldn't help but scrutinize Natsunishi carefully. Kuguruma... was actually once a wealthy young master? Most people joined the Demon Slayer Corps either for revenge or to earn sky-high rewards. It seemed he was the former.
He then turned his gaze toward Kanae. Come to think of it, her temperament didn't seem like it came from an ordinary family either. Was she also once the daughter of a prominent house?
The girl smiled and shook her head. "I can't handle alcohol very well."
Uzui: Do I look like the kind of boring man who would force a girl who is still injured to drink?
The ninja silently gulped down a mouthful of sake. "Kuguruma, what are your plans next? Do you want to team up with the Great Uzui?"
Natsunishi took a bite of a chicken skewer that had just been served. The taste was decent. "No thanks," he declined. "I still have a lot of training to do."
Recalling the various Breathing Styles the other had demonstrated earlier, Uzui roughly understood his thoughts. Kanae also realized this and said gently, "In Natsunishi-kun's case, are you going to continue training in Flame Breathing?"
Natsunishi nodded, speaking indistinctly while chewing. "I plan to develop my own unique Breathing Style in the future. Training in multiple styles now is preparation for that."
Flame? Is it really five? Learning the five main Breathing Styles just to develop a derivative one? What kind of monster would come up with such an idea? If one had that kind of time and energy, they could have trained a single style to a much higher level. Why waste the effort?
Uzui felt the yakitori in his hand wasn't as savory anymore.
Natsunishi continued, "Speaking of which, the Sound Breathing and Flower Breathing you two practice are derived from Thunder and Water Breathing, right? Do you have any suggestions or experiences I can use for reference?"
Both of them froze at the same time. How could he... identify their Breathing Styles so accurately?
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