Nanami had somewhat of a personal goal for herself today. She'd heard rumors of a small food shop somewhere in the village. It wasn't just any boring ramen shop though. No, it was much, much better. This store made food that wasn't very easily accessible in Konoha. In fact, Nanami was certain she heard that chefs from different villages would come and make the cuisine themselves. Like anyone who likes to eat often she was excited but there lie a small issue with her plans. Every path to get to the store she had overheard was different. None the less she was prepared to do whatever it took to get there and try the food she'd been dreaming of. In the best case scenario, she would bring some "product" for potential buyers and sell quite a bit as well.

Nanami had cleaned herself up well and decided on wearing a yellow knee-length dress with a jacket. She wore her headband loosely around her neck and secured her weapons pouch around her thigh underneath her dress. Going somewhere as seedy as this place sounds unprotected was idiotic. After she slipped on her shoes Nanami grabbed her apartment key and headed out.

From what she could remember, all of the directions started out with going to the edge of the marketplace. So she did just that. The trek through the usually crowded streets wasn't so bad. The blazing sun was setting casting an orange glow over the stalls. Many of them were beginning to close as Nanami passed by them. She felt rather happy today. The feeling wasn't foreign to her but, it seemed like rain after a drought. It was refreshing not to feel like she was at war with herself. Part of this may have been to blame of Hanza. He was the first person she'd actually had a conversation with besides her mother in a while. It was refreshing. So much so that she even went to the grocery store the other day without actually needing to. Her house had plenty of food but she craved more social interaction. She even sold to the cashier who rung her up.


She had hoped he say yes when she invited him to eat with her at this restaurant. He said yes without missing a beat. Now smiling as she reached the end of the marketplace. Nanami began looking for a certain light post. The post was told to be red and stood out like a sore thumb. That it did. Nanami ran her fingers along the post and paused for a second to pull out the notes she had written for finding the restaurant. In the distance, there was light music playing. It was so quiet she had almost missed it. Shoving the paper back into her jacket pocket Nanami followed the sound of the music. The music led her behind a building and flowed from a back alley that had a singular blinking light to illuminate it.

Maybe she should have felt skeptical entering such a place but, she didn't. She walked closer to the sound. It was rather gentle music and could easily be described as something akin to the blues or jazz. The alleyway ended at a grungy stairwell but the smells coming from down it was mouth watering. It was almost as if the music were to hook and you and the smell of delicious food were to force you to go down those steps. And so she did, The petite Senju's hair bounced as she descended into the restaurant.

The letters above the forest green door were brass and of a very curly fancy font. It spelled 'Heaven'. No longer denying her excitement, Nanami opened the door and edged her way into the dimly lit room. Where she stood was a small coat area but the space of the business itself was far larger than she'd anticipated. The place was washed in a pinkish glow and tables adorned with darkly colored cloth were scattered amongst the floor facing the band. At the end of the room was a bar that was bit brighter than the main floor. It had warm golden lights above it and a woman was cleaning the cups behind it. The sound of a throat clearing snapped the young woman out of her stupor. Nanami turned back to face a blond man dressed rather casually in comparison to the ambiance this place gave off. On second glance everyone was dressed casually. Turning back to the man Nanami raised an eyebrow.


'Oh' Nanami tentatively shrugged off her jacket and gave it to the blond before thanking him and heading to the bar. She thought he was going to be rude but he was only doing his job. She took a seat in the middle of the bar and turned to the crowd to take in the scenery for a bit before ordering. Maybe someone else that was willing to dine with her would arrive.

WC:860

OOC: Roy sent me this so I am guessing this was the thing he wanted me the join for the social, if not I apologize!

It had been a long day at the academy for Seicho, he'd been keeping the records up and actually went about going through the old records to get everything up to date and in order. It had taken more than half of the day to do his normal duties and an extra three hours after the end of his shift to do the extra work he'd put on himself, but all in all it had been worth it. He was happy with the outcome of changing things around in the records room of the academy and was surprised hos refreshing it was to have every file up to date. It was made easier by the fact that the others that came before him had done their very best to do the same thing he had tasked himself with, so that he wasn't going to have to spend days or weeks on the little project of his. When his work was done, Seicho had taken a waltz to his apartment to freshen up and dress in his casual clothes, making his way down into the flower shop as it was beginning to close to take up his favorite hobby: cataloging the flora and fauna within the Yamanaka flower shop to learn more about them for devising new jutsu in the future. The owners of the yamanaka flower shop, he couldn't tell if they were yamanaka at this point or not, were happy to have him around as he helped them with record keeping and sales.

The senju was looking at a particular strain of Wolf's Bane, doing his best to stay just close enough to study it without touching it when he heard movement from behind him. He turned to see one of the owners of the shop, a man in his late thirties smiling and coming close to the shinobi. He seemed pleased about something and stopped a few feet from the studious senju to allow him to finish what he was doing. Seicho quietly wrote down a few details about the plant, then closed his notepad and  clicked the end of his pen so that he could turn his full attention to the owner, showing him a soft smile. "Oi there, Seicho! I hope you're not working too hard after the day you've had!" Seicho shook his head, smiling as he patted his notepad with his other hand, the pen clicking against the bindings softly. "No, just getting a few notes before I head out to get something for dinner. I was interested in the wolf's bane and wanted to learn more about poison and paralytic properties, something nonlethal so that if I needed a quick defense, I could form it based on these flowers."

With a chuckle, the owner clapped Seicho on his shoulder and shook his head. "Poisons aren't exactly what you want to get into then. You'd want to look at the fungi around the edge of the village, known for releasing paralytic spores when they shake. In any case, I figured I'd let you know I found a new restaurant. It's 'Heaven' as they say. It has some great spicy foods I thought you'd enjoy, just head out towards the edge of the village market place and look for a red light post. Around there you'll hear some music, just follow it and you'll get where you're going. Now go one and enjoy yourself! I'm going to close up shop and have dinner with the missus and my kids!" The two smiled at each other and shook hands, rather awkwardly with the pen in Seicho's left hand, and Seicho made his way out of the flower shop, walking out into the not so busy streets of Konohagakure no Sato. He quickly stowed his notepad and pen into the pockets of his jacket and pushed his hands into the pockets on his jeans.

Outside, Seicho was in plan view thanks to the orange lighting of what could be a setting sun in another hour or two. He was wearing a green and brown coat with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing the tattoos on either forearm, his blue jeans seemed casual, as did the black tee shirt underneath his opened jacket. On his right thigh was a ninja tool pouch that had three shuriken and a kunai within it, and upon his forehead, keeping the leaf green locks out of his face was his headband that signified him as a ninja of the village hidden in the leaves. Seicho's emerald eyes searched around as he walked through the market place, noting the closing stalls and the very few people that were walking around at this time. He waved to a few of them and said hello, but didn't really stop to talk to anyone on his way. He was too excited about the prospect of finding a new restaurant with spicy foods to do so. When he reached the light post in question, he stopped and looked around, trying to listen.

What he heard  was a strange type of music that he couldn't exactly pin point. With a shrug and a smile, he followed the music, trying to track down its source. He was eventually brought down an alleyway that looked dingy and dirty, with a single door that had a blinking light above it. There was a sign above the door in elegant lettering that read 'Heaven' and Seicho chuckled to himself at the shop owner's cheeky joke about it. Without waiting on any sort of ceremony, Seicho stepped inside and looked around, seeing a beautiful place, but casually dressed people. He didn't feel overdressed and that made him happy. He spotted a bar with a girl sitting near the middle of it and a woman behind it cleaning glasses. When he turned to see a young blond man asking to take his coat, Seicho shook his hand and thanked him anyway, heading towards the bar. He sat a few seats away from the girl in the dress, looking around quietly. He smiled at the girl and spoke only loud enough for her to hear him say: "Hell, I'm Seicho." before looking back to the woman behind the counter trying to decide what to drink.

1,066

With a mind as easily distracted as his, panicked rushes in moments of tardiness were frequent in the life of Kōri, Hanza. This new day was of course no different. Hanza woke up in his flat, glancing around the room with a smile on his face, he wore long comfortable pajama pants with snowflakes on them and a plain white t-shirt. After his initial encounter with a particular man named Hakara, it was now a small guilty pleasure of Hanza’s to make himself a cup of warm tea in the mornings before his day starting up. He would likely never tell anyone that. As he sat at his small desk drinking tea, he held a set of papers in one hand that he glazed over with intensity. These documents detailed some very important information regarding Hanza and his place in Konohagakure, but that was a little too deep to be working out this morning. Hanza threw the paper behind a stack of books in his desk and climbed up to scan out his home. It was so incredibly tidy that one would not have first endeavored to guess that the pristine flat was lived in at all. Hanza was a man who valued his time alone when he had it, using the opportunity to further pry into the mysteries of the human body. When he was not buried in a book several hundreds of pages thick, he was slipping small microscope slides under his high powered model and using Hyōton to effect the bacteria and single celled organisms while he watched their behavior. While this sounds dreadfully repetitive and boring, Hanza loved every last moment of it and spent hours upon hours in his dimly lit apartment, doing just this.

It was after an hour of this that Hanza remembered something important was meant to happen today. It was no later than that when he realized that he had been invited by Nanami to a special dining place in a part of town he had never had a visit to before. That meant there was a significant chance that he would get lost, which meant he should have left so very much earlier than this! He bolted to his room and changed clothes, allowing his body to superchill as a method of quick hygiene. After dressing himself at light speed and dashing down the stairs of his apartment he roared into the busy lunch rush and began his journey through town.

His choice of clothing today consisted of a white button-up shirt with some dark colored jeans. The crowds consumed him quickly but that did not stop him from swimming through them in the most disruptive, haphazard display they had ever witnessed. Hanza was not unaware of this, and in fact he embraced it. He had two entire friends now, so why would it matter at all if every single one of the people inside this crowd disliked him? That would be way too many friends anyhow. So he persevered. A red light post. He jumped and hopped quickly across the street, finding a red light post. It was a bit worn, despite it’s vibrancy being enough to stick out in the street.

A very gentle jazz music played from the alley in line with the red post. Hanza had arrived. Unfortunately, it was unlikely that anything on the face of the planet could have been more clashing and unsuitable than Hanza and an establishment that recognized any sort of fine eating practices or manners. As he entered, he quickly spotted his green haired Nanami, but also another green haired person sat at the bar.


Those words startled him as they came from a man standing behind Hanza, his hand extended as if he’d assumed he could have a free jacket today. Hanza was not wearing his jacket, he had it draped over his shoulder as usual. This was an unconventional method for thieves, they usually did not ask for your items before taking them.

“Uh, no you cannot have my jacket. I appreciate the politeness but you would have had more success if you had just stolen it. This is my favorite jacket and I will not be surrendering it just because you asked nicely.”

Hanza gave a thumbs up to Nanami from across the room as he walked away from the doorman. He took a seat across from her and smiled.

“How have you been, Nanami?”

He glanced over at the green haired man at the bar and back at Nanami.

“Is he also our company? And did that guy at the door take your coat? Do not worry, I will make sure you get it back before we leave. He tried to have his way with me too and I said no.”

WC: 805

It wasn't very long after sitting down at the bar that things began to pick p a bit. Or maybe it was just that Nanami had started to down a bit many drinks. The place was filling and she was anxious so a little bit of liquid confidence couldn't possibly hurt her social endeavors. In fact, her and the lady at the bar had been chatting quite a bit.

"So you've never been here before? Well, then you're in for a treat" The woman at the bar said as she winked at poured the Senju woman a drink. Nanami sipped slowly on the drink while looking over the menu. Most of it was new and confusing. She didn't see much of anything she thought would be here. Then again she didn't walk into the place with heavy expectations.

"Is there a special of the day here or something? I don't see much I know about."

The Bartender paused for a moment and smiled almost devilishly before speaking, "You don't happen to like spicy food do you?"

'Uh', "I guess... I'm definitely not opposed to it if it tastes good." Nanami finished her drink and pushed the cup to the side. "Did you have something in mind?"

The bartender in a shockingly quick manner pulled out a flyer. The flyer announced an eating challenge. A ten pound plate of curry was displayed on it. "If you can finish this plate you get to eat her free for a month and We'll put your picture up here, see?" The woman gestured behind her and low and behold there was a wall of pictures displaying contest winners. Nanami was heavily leaning towards saying no. But that woman and her charming way of speaking pulled her in again.

"You can participate with two other people if you'd like but if you do you'll only have fifteen minutes to finish the plate." The woman flashed a large smile and Nanami couldn't help but agree. 'God dammit' She thought as she anxiously waited for Hanza to show up. Maybe he'd be able to eat with her. Was this even worth it? Free food for a month sounded appetizing but indigestion? not so much.

Nanami noticed a young man walk into the bar. His hair was the same shade of green as grass and his eyes were a very stunning shade of emerald. He dressed rather casually in a nice jacket and plain blue jeans. Nanami noted that he was a Konoha ninja equipped with weapon pouch and all. He sat down a couple of seats away from her and introduced himself just loud enough to hear over the music.

"Hey, I'm Nanami," The young Senju paused for a second thinking. Would she truly with no bad conscience be able to drag this poor stranger into the predicament she's landed herself in? She didn't think before following up her statement, "Do you by any chance like spicy foods Seicho?"

Just as her thoughts floated back to him Hanza appeared. He walked in rather merrily his jacket over his shoulder and greeted Nanami.

"I'm alright Hanza," The Senju started. She tried to hold in her laugh when he offered to retrieve her jacket from the doorman. His mannerism might always stay a mystery to her. "Actually I've gotten myself into quite the predicament. I ordered a ten pound curry and I need two people to eat it with me so I'd hope that young man is eating with us. But I promise it'll be worth both your while." Nanami grinned sheepishly and tried her best puppy eyes to plead with the two ninja. All of this for a month of free food she didn't even need because a charming lady told her so.

WC: 647
TWC: 1,487

The girl's name was Nanami and from the conversation her and the woman were having just a couple seats down, Seicho gathered that she was trying to win free food at this restaurant. Seicho had honestly never heard of this place and now they were offering free food to whoever could eat a ten pound serving of spicy curry? Seemed a bit too good to be true. Nonetheless, he was a bit excited at the prospect of being able to eat spicy foods after a long day of working and record keeping. So when the girl asked if he liked spicy foods he could only give a wide smile and nod enthusiastically. "Spicy foods are some of my favorite types of food. I've been wanting to leave Konoha and go to different villages to try their food, if only to bring the recipes back here to make at home. I haven't been able to get out and do as much just yet, but I'm hoping some day soon that wish will become a reality and I'll join a squad that takes me out to where the spiciest foods are made: The village hidden in the sand."

His mouth was practically watering at the prospect of spicy curry and he turned his body in the chair he sat on so that he could more easily see and talk to Nanami. There was another who came up to them and Seicho tilted his head, having heard the name 'Hanza.' He didn't know this young man who didn't seem to understand how doormen worked and that taking a coat meant he would hold onto it for the remainder of their meals. But, it wasn't exactly his place to say anything on it so he shrugged and turned to the bartender, smiling softly. "Miss could I have a glass of Kirigakure ale? Thank you" He turned back to the two, waiting on his drink, absentmindedly pulling the needed ryo from his pocket and placing it on the counter behind him. He looked on as the girl told them of the situation with her ten pound serving of spicy curry and how she couldn't finish it alone, rather that she needed two people to eat with her. Seicho turned and picked up his ale that was brought to him and took a few sips, enjoying the murky substance that was made out barley, hops, and a few other choice plants or substances.

Nanami wanted him to join the two of them as they ate, claiming that it would be worth their while. Seicho was sold even before she gave them her puppy eyes. He was never one to back down from someone in need, so when he saw that Nanami needed help in eating the curry, of course he would put himself into the fray. He had a large enough appetite to eat for all of them if they couldn't handle the curry. "You can count on me, Nanami! I've never been one to back away from helping someone out of a tight spot. Like any good senju, I'll do my best to help you in your time of need!" He turned his sight towards the other male and nodded to him, reaching out to shake his hand. "By the way, my name is Seicho, I'm a new acquaintance of Nanami here, so I guess you and I should be acquainted too. Are you from around here? Or did you come to Konoha from somewhere else? Your mannerisms seem rather foreign to me my friend!" He was being friendly and courteous, but was more than excited for the curry.

617|1,683

The two others seemed to be getting along just fine, and all was going perfectly well save for the moment a large plate of steaming hot curry slid across the surface before them. The dish gave off not only a thick steam, but one which was spicy enough to burn the eyes of one held them open in its flow. Hanza tucked his face into the bend of his arm and coughed heavily as he accidentally inhaled the very intense aroma. The dish looked great, though and Hanza was a bit hungry. Nanami was no stranger at all when it came to convincing the two of them to partake with her in the dish which was quite obviously too much in quantity for a person of her size. His closed lips gave a very gentle upward turn and he looked over at his Senju friend with a playful gaze.

“You know...what’s scarier than attempting to eat ten pounds of curry between three people is likely going to be paying for it if we are unable to do so.”

With a chuckle, from his seat he grabbed a pair of chopsticks and held them plainly before him could practicing with them as if for a fierce battle. This entire situation made him feel like a filler episode. At least he would make it a wonderful, epic filler episode.

Would the best strategy for such a thing, being that it had such an unknown quality to it, be to begin scarfing it down as quickly as possible without allowing much of it to touch the insides of the mouth, or would one desire to eat it normally and fully embrace the raging capsaicin stinging the inside of the mouth like a wildfire? There was no correct answer, and Hanza had yet to pick out a strategy.

There was no way out of this without a sore mouth and an aching stomach, likely from indigestion galore. But free food was free food, and on a genin’s salary...that could mean the difference between eating and enjoying oneself.

“If we clear this, we will eat great for a month. If we lose, we may not eat again for an entire month...I do love a good risk. Let’s do this!

He awaited his partners to join in on grabbing their chopsticks to begin the long journey through that curry. He knew by the end they would all be foaming st the mouth, but perhaps they might gain some valuable friendships along the way. The bartender seemed more than entertained just watching the look on Hanza’s face as he gazed down into that spicy abyss resting on the table. It was as if some capsaicin death god had descended  before them in an effort to choose its champion.

WC: 468
TWC: 1273

Nanami felt pretty pleased with herself. She managed to sum up a group of which to eat the curry with. This Seicho actually seemed pretty apt to eat some curry even though they'd barely met. He seemed like a kind enough person. He also mentioned liking spicy food. The guy had big aspirations as well it seemed. He wanted to travel to Suna. It also turns out that this Seicho was a Senju as well. Nanami couldn't help but wonder what his home life was like compared to hers. Was it normal for clanswomen to give up their children? That'd be a rude question to ask. She shoved the thoughts down. She knew the answer to that already and there was no use in pondering about such depressing things when there were bigger fish to fry.

The green haired girl glanced back at Hanza. He was a character. His mannerisms and appearance just continued to stand out from the Konoha crowd. It wasn't a bad thing but it was noticeable to everyone. He never once seemed to change himself though. Well, not in the brief time they've known each other anyway. He seemed comfortable with himself. Something Nanami's been striving to be for a while now. She was worried for the young man earlier in the day. It was a bit strenuous for her to get here but he didn't seem to have much of a problem finding his way on his own. It was amazing to think that she was down here about to eat a potentially indigestion inducing amount of curry.

'Better than just me' She thought with a chuckle.

The green haired girl had some pretty high hopes for this challenge and odds seemed to be in her favor. Well until they brought out the plate that was. The steam coming off of the food was heavy and the scent of it was thick. The smell was enough to make her eyes water and upon setting it in front of them Nanami almost coughed just from the intensity. After setting it down the wait staff watched from a comfortable distance. Many of the patrons also seemed to take glances back or stare heavily at us. It was nerve wracking, to say the least.

The best route of action, Nanami decided, was to put her head down and shovel as much as she could into her face. She looked up at her peers and down at the monster heap of flaming hot food and grabbed her spoon. The first bite was heaven at first. The taste was savory and pleasant and then the burning began. It happened in seconds. Pleasant and then hell. The sensation traveled across her tongue much like a wildfire and it filled her entire mouth with heat. She could feel her eyes water immensely and her nose was going to begin running any second.

Damn that cute girl from the bar...

Before she could think much more heavily about the young woman began to shovel everything she could from the plate into her mouth without breaking. She just went for it. If she ate it fast without contemplating there wouldn't be much to feel from the spices.

WC: 541
TWC: 2,028

Seicho smiled and nodded to Hanza as he spoke about the scariness of eating a ten pound plate of curry between the three of them. For Seicho, it was more excitement than anything. He'd eaten plenty of spicy foods in his time and this would just be one more he would conquer. When the giat serving of food was put down in front of the three, Seicho rubbed his hands together excitedly and almost bounced out of his seat. He was probably the only one of the three so excited to taste what this restaurant had to offer and probably the only one who enjoyed spicy foods more than normal foods. He was a strange card, he was. At least, most people who knew of the Senju and how they usually acted would think such. Seicho wasn't too worried, though. The two he was to dine with rather soon seemed to be agreeable enough people and would likely not care about his personality or at least not judge him for how excited he acted in the presence of something he truly enjoyed.

He was getting a bit out of it though, as he noticed that Hanza had grabbed chopsticks after the food was brought to them. When looking at the steaming dish of curry, his nose was hit with the smell of delicious spices and chilies. The thought of such a thing was making his mouth water and he was ready to dig in. It seemed that Nanami was ready as well, as before he'd even grabbed a utensil she began to dig into it voraciously. As though a hungered beast had found its first meal in days. Seicho watched with a bit of curiosity in his eyes, he was rather impressed at how she dived headfirst into the food.  Looking around the room, it appeared by the gazes of the staff and other customers, they too found such a thing impressive. They watched the girl with a mix of curiosity and astonishment, unsure of how one person could dive head first into such a dish with such a voracious appetite, without waiting to see if the other two would even join in.

Seicho was ready to begin eating as well, but he noticed that Hanza hadn't started just yet, he was staring into the curry as though he were staring into the eyes of the abyss, watching his soul be drained down into the unfathomable depths. Seicho tilted his head and spoke a bit, confused about the situation as a whole. "You alright there, Hanza? You look as though you saw your last bit of life drain into the bottomless pit that is the abyss. Or are you perhaps trying to psyche yourself up at the excitement of trying to finish so much food with two people? Whichever it is, I'm sure you'll do fine! We have got this in the bag! So to speak, since it's not really in a bag, it's more on a dish and.. well you know what I mean!" He chuckled and reached over to clap the young man on the back, feeling that his body temperature was rather cold to the touch, but it wasn't exactly something he completely understood at this point. For all he knew, the guy was some sort of snow wizard.

Without waiting too much longer on ceremony, Seicho grabbed his own utensils: a spoon and a fork, and readied to eat. With the spoon he'd scoop up the liquids and the fork would get the solids like the meats and rice. He'd then pour the liquids over the food on the fork, taking the bite and smiling as he tasted each individual flavour and spice. He shivered with excitement, and just like the girl Nanami, he went into the food voraciously as though he were a hawk descending upon its prey. His mouth would be filled with curry base and meat or rice or even all of it, and then he would swallow, quickly moving on to fill more into his gullet. He wasn't an impolite eater by any means, but he was too excited not to jump into the food with the intensity of one training to perfect a craft. Seicho loved spicy spicy foods almost as much as he loved studying the differences of each plant he found, or studying in general.

Seicho and Nanami seemed to be in their own worlds eating the spicy food, with Seicho doing so with a smile upon his face and it seemed Nanami was doing so because she was determined. Seicho didn't get to see how hanza would react to the food as he hadn't waited long after try to psyche him up before digging in himself. He'd look over at the other male from time to time and give a reassuring smile, making a habit to do the same for Nanami. Of course, before he gave them the reassuring smiles he would wipe his mouth and be sure not to be chewing anything at that point, otherwise it would be quite impolite and possibly messy.

862|2,545

EXIT

Trained Razor Grass 1,000/1,000
Trained Firewood 1,000/1,000
Trained Passive: Mother Nature's Call 500/500
45 discarded. 350 Ryo Total

It was enough to push out a chuckle from the young Kōri clansmen. His two comrades on this most challenging mission were apparently without shame. The two of them obviously knew the struggle of the starving genin, and they wanted that free food very intensely. Hanza clenched his teeth and tapped his chopsticks a few times, clearly trying to find an excuse not to jump in with the same vigor. He could not find one. The scene around Hanza would seemingly fade to black as he was (only in his own mind) replaces with a voracious Frost Drake, as he began to rapid fire the curry into his mouth, eventually even swapping to a more western tool of the spoon to assist him. Though he was a dragon in his mind, the only effect his newfound courage had on the outside was making him look like both of his friends, and sending out a sudden chilling air throughout the restaurant.

The curry was very, very spicy. The capsaicin within it stung and burned his tongue, a completely different sensation than that of fire. Hanza felt his body literally forming ice in a defensive measure across his tongue, which was actually quite nice, as soon the spice did not serve to bother him at all! He was now actually out-eating both of the other two, and without so much as a sniffle. Other than the inherent spice, the food was also just outright tasty. This spoke volumes for the quality of chef that prepared it. It was interesting that in such a spirited, warming restaraunt, a potential gem of a chef could likely be found in the back room. It was more often Hanza’s experience that high end establishments - particularly cold and glassy, tended to hold the most talented chefs. And they were often no different. Cold and full of themselves.

Hanza glanced to each of his companions with a smile on his face as he noticed the dish was approaching a critically low level. They were actually doing it. “This food is actually extremely delicious...if you just get beyond the heat of it, it’s wonderfully prepared. Did...you notice?”

He smiled and continued to pick away at his fair share, feeling actually quite full, but not yet ill. In contests like these it was not over until one were full to sickness. You had to be brave and bold and have an iron gut to pierce through a challenge such as this. It was not clear to Hanza how intense the crowd had grown to be until he turned away into his arm to sneeze, the proper and polite way to do so. It was then that he made eye contact with at least five entire people within that monstrous crowd. It was only by his own odd tuning in to his situation that he had blocked it out for all this time.

He had persevered through his nerves, albeit by tuning out the massive crowds. But, was there truly any reason to be nervous when that crowd was rooting for the three challengers? No, a rational person may have been invigorated by the roar of the crowd. Hanza...he did not know how to take it. Part of him enjoyed it, while another part remembered his fear of them. The anxiety brought on by crowds and loud bantering that couldn’t be tuned in to was something Hanza fought with often. It was no matter, though. They had done it. The three food warriors had done battle with the most monstrous, colossal dish. The flaming curry of immolation had scourged and scoured their tongues, but had fallen as they engulfed it all in the fury of heroic contest.

This dish, nor any other dish, would ever stand in their path. Hanza dropped his utensil onto the plate and rose up, fist in the air, stomach as full as could be. Triumph rang out through the hall. It was a decisive victory for the three. Hanza grinned at his allies, then over at the barkeep, who was smiling smugly as she wiped down the countertop. It was clear that the contest itself had brought in more money in patrons than what the restaurant would lose feeding three genin for a month.

Hanza would revel with his friends in their victory before leaving when things died down, bidding them both a farewell and heading home to sleep off his food high.

[Exit Thread]

WC: 745
TWC: 2018

Speed: D-0 ~> D-3 (1175 + 150 Ryo)
Strength: D-0 ~> D-2 (725 + 75 Ryo)

118 Discarded