Six months later, in the Gourmet World's Fourth Continent.
Two ferocious beasts with Capture Levels over 100 roared and bellowed. One was the Three-Headed Asura Tiger, and the other was the King Mandrill, whose body was harder than iron.
Just as the two ferocious beasts were about to fight to the death, a faint, almost imperceptible aura terrified them both, causing them to immediately kneel down and cry out in sorrow.
Setsuna stepped out from the woods. The murderous bloodlust behind him had nearly solidified into a ghostly specter, but with a shift of his will, the specter vanished like an illusion.
"Titan, time to eat."
At Setsuna's command, a giant serpent, easily a kilometer long, rushed out and swallowed the two massive beasts whole.
Over the past year, Titan's size had increased tenfold. This was after Setsuna had consciously tried to control his growth, worried that bringing Titan back to the Leaf Village would bankrupt the Naruto world.
"It's a pity your Gourmet Cells haven't attracted a Gourmet Demon yet. Otherwise, your intimidation alone would be enough to make most Demons submit," Jirou said, stepping out from behind Setsuna with a hint of regret.
Setsuna was a little surprised. "Can Gourmet Cells that have been transplanted, like mine, still attract a Gourmet Demon?"
Gourmet Demons are the same as Shokurei (Food Spirits). When some cosmic powerhouses die, their will doesn't completely disappear. Instead, it transforms into a Gourmet Demon form, waiting for a suitable host to appear.
However, as far as Setsuna knew, these Gourmet Demons generally only reside within people who are born with Gourmet Cells.
The more often a host uses the Gourmet Demon's power, the greater the degree of demonic erosion, until the host's body is completely taken over by the Gourmet Demon.
In Setsuna's view, these Gourmet Demons were similar to the Tailed Beasts—you could use their power, but you also ran a corresponding risk.
Jirou said, "Of course they can. Gourmet Demons are very particular about their hosts."
Setsuna nodded thoughtfully. Jirou's expression suddenly turned serious. "Setsuna, the Human World is facing a massive crisis."
"A massive crisis?" Setsuna raised an eyebrow.
"Look," Jirou pulled out his watch and projected a holographic screen in front of them.
The screen showed images of countless citizens screaming and fleeing, and the news anchor also looked visibly terrified but continued to professionally report the news: "Generally speaking, creatures from the Gourmet World are not interested in unpalatable food. In other words, they don't specifically come to the Human World for that reason, which is fortunate for us humans."
"But the Four-Beast is different. It has a particular taste for humans and invades the Human World once every few centuries. This is a catastrophe for humanity. We urge all citizens seeing this broadcast to quickly evacuate to the central areas of the Human World. You must not linger in the peripheral regions…"
Setsuna watched expressionlessly and couldn't help but complain, "Setting aside you, Jirou-sensei, shouldn't there be a large number of powerful people in the Human World who can deal with these four beasts?"
"Haha, you caught on," Jirou said, showing no embarrassment. He continued, "It's true that it wouldn't be difficult for us old guys to defeat the Four-Beast, but this crucial mission must still be completed by you young ones."
Setsuna frowned. "I don't understand. Why make something simple so complicated, forcing billions of people to migrate?"
Jirou explained with a smile, "Because the invasion of the Four-Beast is both a disaster and an opportunity. The meat of the Four-Beast can subtly promote the cellular evolution of all humanity. Even humans who haven't undergone Gourmet Cell transplants can gain enormous benefits from its meat."
"However, the Four-Beast is a very special creature. The more its fighting spirit is ignited, and the more times it is injured, the more delicious its meat becomes. Only this top-quality meat can fulfill the Four-Beast's purpose—it's like tenderizing a steak. Only after thousands of hits can the meat become truly soft and flavorful."
Setsuna nodded slightly, but still asked, "What if you controlled your power and fought it slowly?"
Jirou shook his head. "The Four-Beast has extremely keen senses. It's impossible to hide your true strength from it. Once it loses its fighting spirit, no matter how many times it is injured afterwards, it will be difficult to prepare the Four-Beast to perfection."
Setsuna couldn't help but comment, "What's with this predetermined feeling? The mechanism of the Four-Beast seems like it was specifically created to test humanity."
Jirou laughed. "You guessed it. The Four-Beast was not naturally born; it was created by the Creation God as a species to make us humans more delicious."
Setsuna mused, "Creation God? More delicious?"
He hadn't watched the entire series in his past life, but he knew enough. The Creation God Jirou mentioned might be the strange bird known as a Nitro.
Jirou said in a low voice, "You'll find out eventually anyway, so I'll give you a general idea. Based on my explorations over the years, all species in our world may have originated from Gourmet Nobles called Nitro. They seeded the planet with Gourmet Cells, and even caused the Earth to expand several hundred times over the long course of its history."
"But these guys aren't benevolent. They just want to turn Earth into a gourmet marketplace, or perhaps a grazing pasture. We hunt the Four-Beast to help all humanity evolve, and the Four-Beast was created by them precisely for the purpose of human evolution. Perhaps when humanity evolves to a certain point, those Gourmet Nobles will descend upon this planet once again and harvest all of us."
Setsuna nodded. He knew more about this than Jirou did; the Gourmet Nobles weren't looking to cook humanity—they were looking to cook the entire planet Earth.
Seeing Setsuna looking worried, Jirou smiled and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about the future. Even if the Four-Beast is a delicious bait, we can only choose to take that bait. If we passively run away, when the true disaster comes, we won't even have the right to fight back."
Setsuna gave a wry laugh. If he didn't know the later plot, Jirou-sensei really would have fooled him.
Jirou once treated a Nitro as a snack to go with his drink. Although it was only a low-level Red Nitro, the higher-level Blue Nitro that appeared later weren't much better and were taken out by Jirou with a single punch each.
Of course, Setsuna understood Jirou's concern. After all, the Nitro aren't just one individual; they are a space-faring race, and who knows how many Nitro exist in the universe.
Jirou continued, "My senior disciple, Ichiryu, originally intended for his four disciples—the Four Heavenly Kings—to deal with the Four-Beast. Ignoring the Gourmet Corp established by Midora, those four are probably the strongest of the younger generation. But judging from the result of your previous fight, they will have a hard enough time just dealing with the Four-Beast's four components."
"You should go too. Help them defeat the Four-Beast's main body, and enjoy the delicious meat of the Four-Beast while you're at it."
Setsuna nodded heavily. In fact, he had long wanted to meet Coco, the Poison King among the Four Heavenly Kings. He planned to ask him for advice on how to increase his resistance to toxins, so he wouldn't suffer an unexpected defeat like Son Goku in the gutter.