Deep Fried Dumb-lings [P]

Miyamoto was brought back to the reality of the situation as Ayato called him a pervert, Shouhei told him to tone it down a bit.  However, Miyamoto could not contain it, he was pumped about a competition and wanted to show up his fellow peers that were older than him.  It helped that he was extremely hungry  though as his stomach nearly wailed as he sat back in his chair and prepared himself as the two beautiful maid dressed workers decreed that it was time for the contestants to throw down and begin to eat when the gong sounded.  

"Good I have been starving for over an hour now..."

He exclaimed under his breath as one of the women began to count down as the other smacked the gong to bring out the plates.  Just like clockwork, the plates came out with the cooks trailing behind to place the food down.  The dumplings were looking amazing as Miyamoto's eyes nearly turned into dumplings themselves as the plate was placed in front of him...even the plate looked delicious as he was drooling like a dog...the countdown continued.

"Soooo...good...can't...wait..."

Miyamoto's speech became simple as a drunken bafoon as he stared off.  The count down came down to the last few seconds as he began to move his hands instinctively up towards the plate. 

Then the gong sounded.

Miyamoto dug right in as he shoved his hands into the plate of dumplings, pulling them out by the fist and devouring them like a barbarian.  He had eaten more than he could count on his hands in a matter of 1 minute as he could still taste the flavor of the dumplings due to the amount of them, but this was his element.  He had to win

WC: 295

"I bet I sounded cool saying that."Ayato thought to himself oblivious to other Genin feelings. Miyamoto’s reaction didn’t confirm this, though since there was no reply from him to Ayato’s earlier comment. There was nothing new there; the current Miyamoto took joy only in food and women.  But Shouhei Sato, on the other hand, seemed to have something say to Ayato's challenging comment.  Maybe something among the lines of challenged accepted with his eyes looking sharp as a blade.

But a confetti explosion and a microphone test did not give Ayato the satisfaction of a reply. The maid's hands went towards the banner behind them, smiled, winked and announced the rules of the contest in a playful manner.  The dumplings came out in hundreds from the kitchen, their sweet scent exploding into the room making everyone’s mouth drool.  And that was the story of how Ayato made a challenge and was completely forgotten.

“Well whatever..” Ayato thought with disinterest as a plate of dumplings was put in front of where he was seated.  Below the dough there was a cocktail of minced pork, ginger and sesame oil seasoned with sea salt. From the smell alone Ayato could almost taste every flavor on his lips. But he shouldn’t let his hunger fool him if he failed to eat 300 of these bad boys he would have to pay a week of allowance to this maid café – dumpling restaurant or whatever it was. The aim was to empty the plate does not fill his stomach. “Since I’m participating I might as well win. “ Ayato let out in the calm voice and stood up from his chair; he couldn’t take a proper Gentle Fist stance while sitting.

The right bandaged hand extended in front of his body and the left was close to the side of his chest. Fingertips pointed in front of him and to the dumplings. Knees bent and his legs felt light, the left one leading and the other not far behind. Ayato was careful to look for the smaller portions. The gong sounded and Ayato’s arms extended like whips throwing a series of open palm strikes. At first, there were only 2 then came another 2, and 4 and 8 and so on until a total of 32 strikes. The plate in front of him had emptied in a blur and he had barely tasted any of the dumplings that were now whole in his stomach. “Let’s go at it again before my stomach bursts.” Ayato thought before preparing to execute another 32.

He could go beyond that number of strikes, with the stronger "Sixty-Four Palms" a Jutsu he had learned before. But that meant he activating his Byakugan something that in the current situation was wisest not to. White-eyes were likely to arouse attention in this city and additionally it would give away their identities as shinobi. If the maids knew they were going to kick them out of here in fear of them using a jutsu. And they would not be in the wrong; Ayato did just that. But they wouldn't know, there was nothing there to see but a hungry child moving his hands in quick succession. Ayato could get away with cheating, all he had to do was keep using this watered down version of the "Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms"; the "Eight Trigrams: Thirty-two Palms". 

WC - 561

Before his heart could even skip a beat, the others began eating as if their life depended on it. Shouhei, on the other hand, was distracted by the sights around him instead of eating there and now like everyone else. The maids had hidden themselves on the sidelines, and Shouhei guessed they were letting the people behind the contestants make sure who would win or not. The other contestants were pretty average with their eating techniques, either stuffing themselves or moving the hand holding the chopsticks like they were eating rice and wanted a new dish in a few.

The techniques of his companions on the other hand were more interesting. Miyamoto just stuffed his face like what he would have expected of a ten year old; just ignore the fact that Miyamoto is ten. Shouhei kept forgetting that thinking he was a very scrawny thirteen year old. People looked impressed at him almost like a child burping like a laborer. Ayato on the other hand, Shouhei was sure used some kind of jutsu to increase his strength with how fast his arms moved. With such a precision, that he took the smallest dumplings on his plate first. However, Shouhei never saw him use any seals nor could he detect chakra yet, so he couldn’t say whether he used a jutsu or not.

Howbeit, his observations were soon broken when a voice behind him whispered. “Excuse me sir, but if you don’t eat anything within one minute you are going to be disqualified.” The man’s voice sounded concerned but not by much. “You have 35 seconds left to start. If you need any water just say so.”

Shouhei shock his head as he picked up his chopsticks and the plate of dumplings on his table putting it near his mouth. There was only one-way he could catch up to his competitors, and that was through hard work. There was no smart option available in this. And so, he just stuffed the dumplings into his mouth, using the advantage of his large mouth to house them all as he chewed. When he had finished his first portion he said to Ayato and Miyamoto. "These are actually quite good. Maybe we should come here another time?"

Afterwards, he kept on eating. Like a monster eating a man whole, he started to catch up, and may even catch up to the others. After each portion he would take a sip of water so the taste of the dumplings wouldn't overwhelm him.

Notes wrote:Word Count: 418
Total Word Count: 2472.

Miyamoto was like a man possessed as he shoveled in the dumplings.  It was both an amazing sight, and one of pure gluttony as he was now taking the plate and tipping it into his mouth.  Steam seemed to come from his ears as he did so, he did not look around as he only knew his current goal was to keep eating till the kitchen told him to stop, or if he passed out.  He heard music in the background as it was just him and the dumplings as the music played in the background.  It drove him forward as he ate more and more, it seemed to even give him momentum as he cleared his second plate and was onto the third as he took a drink of water and began to rock back and forth in his chair...a weird scene.

The at is when he heard Shouhei's voice exclaim that he, Miyamoto, and Ayato should come back sometime to eat, that their dumplings were really good.  Miyamoto would agree, but he basically had blinders on so instead he just flashed up a thumbs up sign for his friend to see.  The more he ate, the more he began to think that perhaps he could not finish, but he pushed himself as he kept on munching down on these dumplings, quickly reaching 99 dumplings as his fourth plate now was about to be put out in front of him.  People looked at him with awe and in shock that a kid was managing to outpace the adults with ease.

As he finished up his third plate he handed it up to a passing cook as he belched quietly, smacking his stomach which might be mistaken as he was full however...it was quite the opposite as he grabbed the fourth plate and began to shovel the dumplings in with newfound strength.  His mouth full as he chewed for a few seconds before a visible lump in his throat traveled down.  This was his element...his teammate and friends would have to try really hard if they wanted a chance at winning.

WC: 360

His throat and lips burned from the salt and other spices.  Ayato decided he had best to freshen himself with a glass of water.  The summer wines smelled so good that one could get drunk just by breathing the air. He swallowed with a gulping sound that was muffed among the cheers from the audience and the clashing of plates. Shouhei said amidst of all the noise as well, the three of them getting back here some time to eat those delicious dumplings. Sounded like a plan so Ayato gave a weak nod. Miyamoto seemed to agree as well judging from that thumbs up sign he gave to them due to his mouth being full with a plate of dumplings. Ayato much to his surprise had found himself enjoying this food contest a lot more than he expected.  Is this what friendship feels like?  Ayato was never going to let that slip from his lips.  If he did it would make him look like a pathetic guy who hadn’t made a single friend in his entire life as Ayato Hyuuga.  Well except for Azusa (NPC), the Uzumaki girl who had been around ever since he walked through the gates of Hoshi. But ever since their last encounter, he could not help but feel that Azusa meant a lot more to him than a friend.  I wish she could be here. So she could take part in this contest and eat and have fun with us. I hope she gets back from her mission soon He thought spaced out as noticed Shouhei consuming a plate of dumplings as if he was eating a man whole. 

What the fuck That astonishing image that defied logic had left him stunned and speechless unable to express any further thoughts.  Damn you for ruining my inner monolog. The rude awakening to reality was what he needed to focus back into his goal, which was to win this contest. He was still leading the chase it seemed and he was midways to the 300 dumplings. All thanks to his tactic of picking the smaller dumplings in quick succession using his Eight Trigrams 32 palms. Ayato thought had evaluated the situation perfectly before and believed his little was going to secure his victory for sure. But it seemed he had underestimated his main opponents. Shouhei had the blood of the giant with the appetite of one and Miyamoto...that guy's stomach appeared to be a bottomless pit. The more he ate the hungrier he got.  The two were bound to catch up and surpass him in no time.  No snowball’s chance in beating those two monsters. Not very likely to reach 300 either, my stomach is about to burst. Swallowing food without chewing properly had such drawbacks. But he never they would start kicking in so soon.  It’s no use. I never had enough storage, to begin with. Ayato was about to raise the white flag and quit. Pay up and go home.  Then it hit him. Storage.  All he needed was more space.  He had a Jutsu in his that would allow him to eat for two people.

But Ayato knew it was too risky to use the shadow clone in here. What if they found him out? Ayato and his clone shared the same consciousness but the jutsu’s execution was easier to distinguish than the one he used previously. Not to mention it was also unethical. But wasn’t Ayato already cheating using a watered down version of his taijutsu to consume the dumplings in quick succession? The inner conflict did not keep up for long. There was nothing with some friendly rivalry.  And besides this contest could be a mission, and wasn’t a shinobi’s duty to find a solution when defeat seemed inevitable.

In the current situation, that solution would be to create a shadow clone to take his place and Ayato to transform himself into an item to blend in the environment. I have to be fast. First, I need is a distraction. Then again maybe not, taking a look around everyone was busy feasting and getting drunk,  unlikely to pay the plain teen any heed. I swear, everything today is so anti-climactic. Ayato thought with a sigh as he dunked under the bench. He drew a deep breath and put his hand together, forming the unique cross shaped hand sealed required for the technique. Then he attempted to capture every detail about his appearance. Unleashing the technique the spitting image of Ayato appeared next to him.  Even though he was quite happy with the result, he didn’t have time to praise his own ability for successfully executing a B-rank technique. Instead, he quickly performed the Dog->Boar->Ram transforming himself into a dumpling, falling into the floor with a soft thud. It was crucial to blend in with the environment while the clone took his place. No one is hungry to eat a dirty dumpling from the ground.  

While Ayato remained under the table in the form of food waste, his clone emerged from the bench and took his seat. “Dropped a dumpling. Silly me.” The clone of Ayato Hyuuga announced for Miyamoto and Shouhei to hear. It took a lot of an effort to speak via the clone and the words came out in a grotesque fashion.Still, he figured the two were unlikely to notice this disconnect. Not that he underestimated their intelligence but it was they didn’t know him well enough to tell the difference in the manner of speaking.  The clone of Ayato Hyuuga went back into the feast, swallowing the dumplings whole without any problem. But things running smoothly didn't bring Ayato much joy since he felt as if he was abusing his doppelganger. “Oh well, it is not like he is going explode from the food.” The dumpling on the floor reassured itself.

WC - 969

Shouhei might have underestimated his ability when he first started eating. He wasn’t going to give up, but he did not think he would be this determinate to win and how much he could actual stuff in his mouth. Hadn’t it been for Ayato’s fast jazz hands – yes he was going to call it that – who took all the attention off him, the audience might have applauded him. However, it would appear that after emptying the third plate and going over to the fourth, their eyes went to him. “How many am I at?” He asked the man behind him who responded. “512 dumplings, sir.”

Shouhei had an ‘oh’ moment he quickly washed away with a glass of water. However, in the border of his eye, he noticed that Ayato came back up from the table having dropped one dumpling. Shouhei didn’t buy it, but he only went as far as to poke with his foot to the other Ayato under the table. Looking at the new one, he just smirked, but he said nothing. Sometimes it was the best punishment to make people torture themselves by wondering.

He finished his fourth and fifth plate, and then noted to the man behind. “I am done. How many am I at?”

He looked at his notes and responded. “768 dumplings which is our record so far. Are you sure you want to stop?” To which Shouhei nodded, putted the plate aside, and laid his head on the table arms first. The man put his number up on the scoreboard with Shouhei numbered as contestant number 2. If Shouhei were to guess, Ayato would be 1, and Miyamoto 2. Not that he cared too much as he was about to close his eyes while waiting for the rest. However, not before that he lightly poked the Ayato under the table continuously (if he was still there), with his foot to see how he would react to that. "Good luck you two." Was his last words as he waited.

Notes wrote:Word Count: 338.
Notes: Shouhei is out of the competition. Feel free to beat his number, or fight it out for the first place. He is not sleeping yet.

Miyamoto continued, not noticing the competitors around him as he finished off the fourth plate, noticing that the portions of the plate though large, were not as big as the other competitors.  To which Miyamoto called up a chef as he had another plate laid in front of him.

"More...I want my fair share." Miyamoto said with determined eyes.  The chef, looking kind of afraid went into the back and brought out a large plate like the others.  Miyamoto's mouth watered.

Miyamoto then dug in with newfound strength as he devoured the dumplings like candy, no tact, but he could hear the crowd gasp and the count behind him began to increase.  He had jumped from a mere 99 to 300 by the end of the fifth plate.  He belched as the sixth plate was laid in front of him, his stomach gurgled and he could tell he was still needing more.  He downed the cup of water and  continued on with the challenge.  His score climbed to 501 by the end of the plate as he as beginning to look a bit bloated.  His skin was turning a darker shade of red as steam poured off of him.  The seventh plate went by a little slower, but how he sat at 702, he hiccuped as he took a second to look around, noting it was just him and Ayato now as Shouhei had conceded.  He was damn sure not going to lose to his teammate now of all times.  He shoved his face into the plate and ate like an animal as his hands were full of dumplings.  He actually missed Shouhei's words as he was eating to loudly, in his head he was saying over and over; "don't quit, don't quit, don't quit" his body giving off a steam as his body seemed to proccess the proteins faster.

WC- 310

"Why!? How could I lose? My plan was the greatest ever." The internal monolog lamenting Ayato's defeat at the hands of food consuming monsters could go on forever. However, the contest would still be over and he would still have lost. Truth, he trusted he had evaluated the situation perfectly and had come up with a plan that would secure his victory. Yet his trump card proved to be his downfall. The poor excuse of a shadow clone had dispersed in a puff of smoke seconds later essentially putting Ayato out of the contest.  

He canceled his transformation and the dumpling became a black haired teen that would go sulking into a corner. For a moment he may give others the illusion that there were black clouds above his head. Why did he even try to use a ninjutsu technique he was unfamiliar with? His obsession to win against all odds was sincere but false. Again much to his surprise had found himself enjoying this food contest a lot more than he expected. But using all those dirty moves and have nothing to show in return would only him look like a twat. This had nothing to do with his career as a shinobi, so there was no need to try so hard. Then it hit him. There was a way he could still save face today and even make it up to the others who were bound to have found him out by now and may feel cheated. Standing up and out of his sulking mode, Ayato turned to face the other two Genin. "I apologize for that pathetic display. I acknowledge my defeat in here." He muttered in a low voice before clearing his throat before attempting to speak again. "I would like to challenge you to a real contest, befitting that a shinobi. Each of us to execute a technique or skill we consider difficult." Ayato made the declaration hotly careful for his voice not to crack. "What do you say?" He asked while keeping a straight face.

WC - 339

Shouhei thought it was unfortunate – in a selfish kind of way – that Ayato’s plan completely failed. As for why it was selfish for Shouhei to find it unfortunate was that he could not poke Ayato with his foot before he was found out. A small chuckle made it apparent that he still found it comical as Ayato was lead outside. On the bright side, at least Ayato didn’t have to pay the fee as the maids were too distracted by Miyamoto’s display of him masticating his food like he was a very hungry hippo. His amusements were soon broken however; as he had to storm out for the bathrooms so he weren’t around to see Miyamoto beat his score by a whole two points. Well he could probably have done better but the maids stopped him before he could chew down more and declared him the winner at 770 dumplings. Lead up the stage, he was given a big cheer and the price of 3000 ryo.

Pale like a ghost and in big discomfort, Shouhei came out of the restaurant to see Ayato and probably Miyamoto too. His vision was still a bit fuzzy so he wasn’t sure. Ayato had that serious look on his face so Shouhei made sure to listen. His respond was a casual. “Sure we can do that.” Then he rolled his eyes. “If it is so much of an issue to you, don’t apologies for getting caught. Instead, don’t do it at all.”

Shaking his head, he followed up. “I’ll start then.” Moreover, he took out two scrolls. “I’ll try to do the Body Flicker Technique, and the Water Trumpet Technique. What about the two of you?”

Then it dawned on him. “Maybe we should go someplace else that’s less people-y?” Then his frown deepened further when he realized something else. “I was going to train these later. I don’t always carry around random scrolls.”

Notes wrote:Word Count: 320.

Miyamoto smiled widely as he was stopped as the bell rang.  He had done it, he had beat both Ayato and Shouhei in a duel of the stomachs.  He let out a loud belch before leaning back in his chair as the chef’s all began to cheer as the others were taken off stage.  The maids came up quickly and named Miyamoto the winner as he held his hands up like a champion.  With his prize he quickly pocketed everything and as he walked out to join his friends people patted him on the back before he was face to face with his teammate and friends.  He heard Ayato say that he apologized for his foolishness and then asked them both to a true contest of shinobi skill.  That made Miyamoto smile as he looked between the two.


“I would love to, gotta get to working off all this food anyway.  However, I will politely bow out for now as I need to get home...I...I have been needing to go to the bathroom since we started and I do not think that I cannot hold it much longer.  Sorry”  He said with a bow before his stomach audibly made a noise that sounded like a literal monster trapped inside of him.  He came back up as his face looked that of pure agony as he used the Body Flicker Jutsu to leave the area in a flash of speed.

WC:241
[EXIT]
(Claiming CD to memorize Shouhei and Ayato's signatures)