Chapter 123: The Great Glutton (Two-in-One)

"Is Master Bunpuku's health... really alright?" Baki watched Bunpuku, who was trembling with every step, completely unaware that he had grown this frail. He was deeply worried about who would inherit the Tailed Beast if something were to happen to him out there.

"Rest assured, I know my own body well enough. I can certainly hold on for another year or two," Bunpuku replied, leaning on his staff and slowly walking toward the temple exit, a battered, dark, and ancient iron tea kettle clinking in his hand.

Nonō, unable to bear watching, was about to step forward to assist him, only to find Baimu had already approached the old monk. She thought to herself, "At least he has a human side."

"Careful, Master Bunpuku... let me carry that heavy thing for you." Baimu actually took the tea kettle! There weren't many treasures in the ninja world, and one look told Baimu that this kettle was destined to be his.

"...I take it back!" Nonō clutched her forehead, a headache brewing.

"Though it may be inappropriate to say, at this pace, I doubt we'll even reach that place you mentioned by next year," Pakura frowned.

"I have a way to make an elderly man dance again!" Baimu gave a thumbs up.

"It's... Obito time!!!" Tobi jumped excitedly from Baimu's head, transforming into a white, swirling mass that wrapped around Bunpuku's body.

"What is that!" Baki jumped in shock, immediately drawing his sword, intent on cutting the creature off Bunpuku.

"Woo-hoo!! Let's dance!! Big bird spinning around!!!" Tobi controlled Bunpuku’s body, performing a violent spinning maneuver that forced Baki to retreat three steps back from the sheer wind pressure.

"..." Baimu broke into a cold sweat, terrified that he might snap Bunpuku’s aging spine.

"Baki... I am fine. It feels as if a powerful life energy has pulled me back to my youth," Bunpuku opened his eyes, moving the body now enveloped by the White Zetsu.

"Good. Let’s head out," Baimu said.

"Then, Master Prophet, can you tell us now? Where is our destination?" Baki asked, spreading out a map.

Baimu leaned in to look. The map of the Land of Wind was incredibly detailed; every tribe, every oasis, every canyon, and every area prone to sandstorms was clearly marked. It was clearly a highly classified strategic map. Nonō took the opportunity to lean in and peek as well.

"Right here!" Baimu pointed to a small tribe deep within the desert.

"...Loulan?" Baki blinked, stunned.

"What's wrong with Loulan?" Baimu asked curiously.

"Nothing. It’s a tribe with its own sovereignty. They pay annual tributes to the Land of Wind to maintain complete autonomy; they are essentially a country within a country," Baki explained.

"Oh, have you been there?" Baimu asked again.

"I went once when I was a genin to urge them to pay their tribute on time. It’s a dilapidated tribe ruled by their queen. The citizens can barely survive, yet they are burdened with heavy taxes. I don't understand why they insist on maintaining their independent monarchy just to pay annual tributes—wouldn't it be better to just submit to the Daimyo?" Baki sighed.

"Probably just another power-hungry ruler who doesn't care about the lives of their people," Pakura said, crossing her arms. She took an immediate dislike to Loulan.

"A dilapidated tribe...?" Baimu mused. In the anime, Loulan was as luxurious as a world of the future. How could it be a dilapidated tribe? Could it be a different place with the same name? But the queen and the rest—this was clearly the same Loulan. Baimu regretted only focusing on the girls when watching the anime, forgetting all the details. He only remembered the queen was a beautiful red-headed girl named Sara, who would have her clothes shredded when she got agitated.

"Loulan is very far from the village; it will take about a month. Fortunately, Orochimaru didn't poison the oases in that direction, so we don't need to carry too much supplies," Baki said, confident despite only having been there once, as he had the map.

"Since we’re already at Sunagakure, let’s stop by and rest for a bit," Pakura suggested.

"Fine by me." Baimu didn't mind. There were few named characters in the Sunagakure of the original story, and most were away on missions. Only little Temari and Kankuro were likely still there.

"Hmm... there's no rush for a day. I haven't been home in a long time either," Baki agreed.

"I haven't left the temple in decades. I’d like to see what Sunagakure looks like now," Bunpuku said, pressing his palms together.

"I don't want to wait even a minute..." Kakuzu, who didn't need to eat or sleep, was impatient, but he had to bow to the majority.

...

A famous author once said: "The prosperity of a city is closely related to the number of its brothels and casinos."

As Baimu’s group entered Sunagakure, one word came to mind: desolation. Not only were there no entertainment venues, but even the restaurants were pitifully scarce. Yellow was the dominant color of the village—and by yellow, I mean the sand. The villagers walked the streets with numb expressions, struggling for their livelihood. Only a few naughty children, oblivious to the hardships of life, ran and played in the sand-covered streets.

"I'm heading home. Baki, you entertain them. We’ll meet at the village gate tomorrow morning," Pakura waved, having no interest in hosting guests.

"Honestly... with this many people, I'll have to find an inn..." Baki touched his wallet. Ebizo was already stressed enough managing the finances; he couldn't bring himself to ask for reimbursement for such a small matter, so he’d have to pay out of his own pocket.

...

"Hurry up and find somewhere to eat. I'm starving." After drawing the "Abyssal Maw," Baimu felt his stomach was a bottomless pit, and the hunger was making him frantic.

The "Big Mouth"—the name said it all. To gain its approval, one simply had to eat like a beast. Spitting slime was disgusting, sure... but look at it this way: acidic spit... that was basically the Acid Release! Terumi Mei became famous for spitting acid; why couldn't Baimu? Thinking of it that way, it wasn't so hard to accept.

[Quest Received: The Abyssal Maw's Appetite Challenge]
[Goal: Become the top competitive eater in every major village]
[Reward: Acquire an Abyssal Maw skill]

"The quest is here... time is tight. I must finish the Konoha challenge before Hinata comes of age!"

"Baki! Does your village have any competitive eating challenges?" Baimu asked immediately.

"Competitive... eating?" Baki was stunned. "Why would our village have such a strange activity?"

Sunagakure's entertainment options were pathetic. Everyone was busy making a living; usually, only puppet shows appeared during festivals. Competitive eating... nobody would organize something like that unless it was Konoha, right?

"I suppose you're right. Since there isn't one, we'll host a competitive eating contest ourselves!" Baimu raised his hand with enthusiasm.

"Great! Support the kid!" Except for Tobi, everyone else looked at Baimu with the blank expressions of people watching an idiot.

"Baki! The most important thing for a village is its spirit. Look at Sunagakure—there's no energy here at all. How do you expect to win with such a dispirited village? I’m just trying to liven things up!" Baimu winked at Baki.

"If you insist... but you'll have to pay for it yourself." Baki didn't want to argue. Let the young man play; Sunagakure was as boring as the desert anyway.

"Kakuzu~ old man~" Baimu shot a friendly look at Kakuzu.

Kakuzu didn't say a word, pulling out his second notebook—Baimu's personal debt ledger. "Same rules: borrow seven, return thirteen."

"Deal!" Baimu happily pressed his thumbprint.

...

Chiyo and Ebizo were old and nearing retirement, and Baki was essentially the most influential person under the Kazekage. Under his direction, a high platform was quickly erected in front of the Kazekage building. Through word of mouth, the sign for the "First Sunagakure Competitive Eating Contest" attracted half the bored people in the village. The children were as happy as if it were a holiday.

Normally, such an event would be announced days in advance, but they were on a mission and would only stay for a day. They couldn't wait long, so it was hastily organized for the evening. The Kazekage building was lit up—it hadn't been this lively in a long time. Karura led her two children, her pregnant belly already visible, out to watch the fun.

Three-year-old Temari wore her hair in two high pigtails, looking incredibly cute. She held a black-and-white long-tailed rat—the summoning creature, Kamatari, that Rasa had given her. The younger Kankuro wiped his nose, hiding behind Temari and clutching her clothes, looking at the smiling Baimu in fear.

"Little Kankuro, go home and put on your sister's clothes, and this lollipop is yours." Baimu crouched down, flashing a creepy uncle smile, dangling the candy.

"Sister will scold me..." Kankuro sniffled, wanting the candy but too afraid.

"We aren't two-year-olds. You won't tempt my brother with a mere lollipop," Temari said, her temper already quite sharp for her age.

"Then how about I show you a magic trick?" Baimu donned a V mask and started acting like a clown, using all his effort to make them clap. Karura smiled at the children, not minding Baimu’s antics at all.

"Still want to see? If you do, go put on your sister's clothes." Baimu stuffed the lollipop into Kankuro's mouth.

"Go, go!" Temari pushed Kankuro, who trotted home.

"Money is hard to earn, and life is hard..." Baimu twisted his aching lower back.

"Everything is ready. We can start," Baki pointed to the mountain of flatbread. Baimu picked one up and broke it open...

???

Solid.

"Where's the filling? Are you trying to choke us to death with plain bread?" Baimu widened his eyes.

"The money you provided only covers this much. Did you expect us to stuff a cow inside?" Baki asked.

"Is the cost of living in Sunagakure really that high?" Baimu had given them a million ryo.

...

"It gets expensive during wartime, but there is free mutton bone soup provided." Baki pointed to the cauldron of boiling mutton bone soup, the aroma making one's appetite soar.

Soaking bread in mutton soup...

The contest was free to enter, and the champion would receive a prize of 100,000 ryo. This was a system restriction to prevent Baimu from cheesing the rules. Over three hundred people signed up, mostly just to get free bread. An average person couldn't eat more than five. The bread was dry and incredibly dense—truly substantial stuff meant to fill bellies. After three bites, you’d choke and have to drink soup, but once the bread soaked up the soup in your stomach, it expanded, and eating too much could literally kill you.

Within the first round, half the freeloaders were eliminated, and a few had to be dragged off to the hospital. Baimu was gnawing on his tenth piece of bread. Even if it was choking him, he could only take small sips of soup; drinking too much soup wouldn't count toward the tally.

Pakura had inexplicably joined the contest, and she was calmly dipping her eighth piece into the soup. With that perfect figure, it was impossible to guess how she could eat so much.

Fu! Fu!

Whose side are you on? Following from the shadows is one thing, but why are you out here competing in my eating contest!

Baimu opened his maw, swallowing one piece after another. This was his twentieth!

"Love, love, love... How could I not participate in my master's contest?" Having tasted the sweetness of love, Fu’s mental state was becoming increasingly unstable.

Baki, you were the referee! Why did you join the contest!? And you're eating just as much as Baimu! He was rubbing salt on the bread, swallowing it dry, refusing to drink a drop of soup. The other contestants were nameless ninjas, but they were eating like commoners, their stomachs bulging like pregnant women, as if they might explode at any moment.

100,000 ryo was enough to make people risk their lives in Sunagakure. Unlike Konoha's ramen challenge, this dry bread destroyed all desire to eat, sucking away all saliva. Reason forced you to drink soup, but anyone who drank soup would collapse.

After twenty pieces, a large group had already collapsed, foaming at the mouth as they were carried away.

"Go! Go!" Tobi cheered energetically, though attached to Bunpuku, making the benevolent old monk look like a degenerate.

By the time the fourth round of bread was served, only four remained.

"Too hard to swallow... I... I forfeit..." Baki couldn't produce any more saliva. He should have at least provided some pickled vegetables. Final score: 20.

"I'm full." Pakura wiped her mouth and stepped off the platform, her lower abdomen slightly distended. She didn't want to fight to the death. Final score: 22.

"The kid made someone else's belly grow!" Tobi shook his head, overjoyed.

"Fu... stop for a second, please..." Baimu rolled his eyes, realizing that no matter how much stomach acid he had, he couldn't out-eat a mud doll.

"Then will you show me your love once more?" Fu actually dared to threaten Baimu using the eating championship!

"You..." Baimu covered his mouth, nearly vomiting. For the sake of the skill, I'll endure it...

[Charm Kiss]...

"Ah~~~" Fu's soul was nearly ascending to heaven.

"Contestant Fu forfeits! Score: 40!"

Baimu widened his eyes, looking at his own score of 35. That meant he had to eat six more to win.

"I never... want to eat another piece of bread in my life..." Baimu’s last six pieces were shoved into his stomach by Nonō using a stick.

[Acquired Title: Sunagakure's Top Competitive Eater!]
[Extracting Abyssal Maw Skill...]
[Acidic Sludge: Spit a massive glob of gastric acid, dealing acid damage and slowing enemies.]