Mukai and Kurama kept staring at the black curry in front of them nervously as it kept bubbling like some kind of concoction made by a witch… Meanwhile, Bakorio too started regretting his decision of ordering this crazy dish 'Curry of life my ass, this curry is a ticket to the afterlife… my Yomi no Kuni was probably named after it, tch'

The trio kept staring at each other no one making the first move, and Jiraiya got intrigued by this so he said "Don't judge it by its appearance, this curry's really delicious and it won't kill you so don't worry" the moment he finished saying this, Jiraiya picked up his spoon and took a bite of this curry with a smug smile on his face, belittling the fear of those around him.

"See, it's oka-" Jiraiya was about to brag some more, but suddenly he froze mid-sentence and his face started turning beet red before it turned completely pale and he fell face-first on the table and started muttering "S-S-Sancho-san, what's wrong with today's curry?"

"Oh, I made it extra hot as the little boy wanted, enjoy, this will give you a lot of strength!" Sancho replied enthusiastically but the rest of the people sitting at the table didn't share her excitement at all and Mukai swallowed hard before he quickly decided to use this opportunity against Bakorio who also seemed hesitant "Bakorio, how about you try it first and tell us how it tastes?"

'This bastard's trying to use me as his sacrificial lamb… but still, I'm I really going to be okay if I eat this? Even Jiraiya didn't survive it…' Bakorio took a deep look at the curry bubbling in front of him before his eyes suddenly flickered and said " Yo, Kurama, you must be quite hungry quick try it"

"NO, I-" Kurama tried to refute but the moment he opened his mouth. Bakorio manipulated a chakra string and smacked him with his own dish resulting in most of the curry entering his mouth immediately while Bakorio quickly covered his face expecting the worse…

'How cruel…' thought Mukai as he decided it's better if he doesn't let down his guard around Bakorio in the future while Jiraiya that was half dead kept admiring his chakra manipulating skills 'This kid is talented…'

However, as they were each having their own thoughts. Kurama suddenly froze for an instant as his eyes dilated clearly speechless by the unknown sensations he was experiencing… but then suddenly he opened his mouth causing all of them to become serious expecting him to shoot fire from his mouth or something…

But, the exact opposite happened as his eyes started twinkling and he said "That was so tasty! Another serving please!"

"Huh? Are you serious?" Said Mukai before he remembered that this little fox beside him could probably withstand his strongest attack with its bare body and not even flinch…

'This is really that tailed fox…' Thought Jiraiya who already recovered but kept pretending to be dead just so he could observe them without getting suspected…

"See Mukai, Kurama can do it and so can you, go ahead, have a bite" said Bakorio with an evil smile, to which Mukai responded with a challenging one and said "Let's take a bite at the same time if you dare"

Bakorio narrowed his eyes at him before he accepted the challenge with a nod and said "Why wouldn't I? let's go at the count of three…"

"one" said Bakorio as they both picked up their spoons...

"Two" they both scooped up a similar amount of curry using all of their experience and mastery so that no one gets the advantage over the other before they brought them near their mouths and Bakorio ended the count

"THREE" Both their eyes were full of determination as they put that spoon of deadly curry in their mouths and kept staring at each other the whole time… that's when they both noticed something… no one swallowed the curry…

'This bastard, I knew it he was going to play it dirty…' Thought Mukai as his tongue started burning and stinging while looking at the boy in front of him that was only frowning and seemed to be doing well tolerating this amount of pain.

'This guy's not easy to trick, I should-' However, Bakorio couldn't even finish his thought before suddenly Kurama yelled "stop wasting time you two idiots" and he directly slapped them both with his tails forcing them to guard it but they swallowed that curry in the process…

And that's when the hellfire started burning their whole bodies 'I won't forget this Kurama…' thought Bakorio as he started experiencing what's like to be burned by Amaterasu from the inside out…

Both he and Mukai started spitting fire from their mouths before they fell face-first on the table…

"Tch, you humans are weak" said Kurama in a condescending tone before he started eating all of their curry's and a close to death Bakorio ended up saying "Ol-Old lady, can you bring us three serving of some mild curry please, you can give the rest of that poison to the fox…"

"Sure sure" Replied Sancho as she started preparing a normal batch while Bakorio started to slowly recover "Man I should coat my kunais with this curry, I can't imagine what the result would be, what do you think Mukai?"

"That's a great idea…" Replied Mukai with a thoughtful look on his face, clearly considering this idea for real…

'Is this really the kid from the prophecy…' Thought Jiraiya before he decided to stop pretending and asked directly "So, why are you searching for me?"

Bakorio shot him a look before he took a sip of a cup of water and replied "I want to learn how to control nature chakra from you and achieve sage mode"

"Hmm?" Jiraiya was surprised by this weird request " Kid, do you think anyone can master such a thing?"

"Well, I'm not anyone and I believe I can master it yes" replied Bakorio with a shrug, but Jiraiya could sense endless confidence emanating from this casual gesture… 'Is this kid really serious? But I think it's helpful if I take him to Mount Myoboku and maybe the great toad sage can predict his future and find the reason for that ominous prophecy…'

"Jiraiya, you've been drowning in your thoughts since the moment you laid your eyes on me… care to explain what's going on?" seeing that Jiraiya kept thinking a lot before every answer he gave. Bakorio decided to ask him this with a piercing look, and Jiraiya felt like someone was staring at his deepest secrets…

'This boy might be as perspective as Minato…' thought Jiraiya before he let out a sigh and replied "I'm sure since you came to find me then it means you know what I'm trying to do here in the land of rivers so I will skip the boring explanation"

Bakorio nodded at him and started listening seriously to what could cause so much worry in the heart of this great man…

"Just before you guys arrived here, I was summoned back to mount Myoboku by the great toad sage who's the leader of all the toads there, and the reason I was summoned is because he predicted that the fate of the world has changed, and the one responsible for that change was a boy with a fox and man…" once he reached this point, Jiraiya kept examining the boy in front of him and noticed that the laid-back look on his eyes suddenly started changing into something complicated before it turned into a blank look and he couldn't read anything from it anymore so he decided to continue speaking…

"The great toad sage said that the boy who wields the power of death is going to face the darkness and that the survival or destruction of the world will be in his hands…" finished Jiraiya as a terrible silence fell on the shop and Mukai and Kurama kept staring at Bakorio waiting for his response…

'I never thought that toad would actually predict my future… And this darkness again…' Bakorio suddenly fell into deep contemplation and Mukai noticed something that sent a shiver down his spine… Bakorio's reaction to hearing such ominous news was a faint smile as he replied "When we start our training in nature's chakra I want to meet this great toad sage"

'What's this kid planning?' Mukai understood one thing for sure, whatever hid behind that faint smile was a terrifying monster and it was ready to bare its fangs to the world…