Seeing Makoto return, everyone had different expressions.
Mrs. Yukinoshita and Kayoko looked at him with eyes practically glazed over.
Tomoya broke down crying again, jealousy and helplessness continuing to gnaw at his mental state.
And the most anxious, naturally, was the Nakiri Family.
"Um, Nishikawa-sama, can you save my sister now?"
Nakiri Soe nervously approached.
In his view, since his niece had returned with him, it meant Makoto had agreed to save her.
Makoto didn't answer. He walked directly to Mana's side, crouched down, placed his hand on her shoulder, and slowly channeled Chakra into her. Although he couldn't heal her directly like Medical Ninjutsu, he could at least disrupt the energy structure within her body and forcibly wake her.
The moment Mana opened her eyes, before she could react, Makoto's pupils had already transformed into three spinning tomoes.
Genjutsu: Sharingan.
In an instant, Mana's eyes lost focus, becoming vacant and lifeless, like a puppet whose soul had been extracted.
"Alright, feed her something."
"N-Nishikawa-kun, wh-what is this?"
Erina looked on in bewilderment, her gaze shifting between her mother and Makoto.
"I've sealed her sense of taste," Makoto explained. "Right now, her tongue won't function."
The five senses, after all, are commanded by the brain.
The essence of Sharingan's Genjutsu is directly controlling the brain's senses.
While not as overpowering as Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu, simply sealing the sense of taste was a trivial matter.
Hearing this, Erina's face lit up with joy. She quickly grabbed the portable food that she and her mother normally considered pig slop and began feeding it to her mother in small bites.
Mana swallowed quietly like a marionette, her movements mechanical, but her complexion visibly regained a healthy glow.
Then, Makoto applied the same Genjutsu to Erina, sealing her sense of taste as well.
Although eating now was like chewing wax, utterly tasteless, the genuine feeling of fullness in her stomach made the Totsuki Queen let out a long sigh of relief.
"Erina, how did it feel?"
Alice leaned close to her cousin, her eyes sparkling with gossip.
"What are you talking about? We didn't do that!!"
Erina, embarrassed and annoyed, lightly tapped her cousin. The flush that had just faded from her face returned.
"Huh?"
Alice was stunned, her expression incredulous. "Makoto is that generous? He saved someone without taking anything?"
Erina blushed, her voice barely a whisper:
"He, he said he wanted to savor my God Tongue first... th-that debt would be paid tonight..."
Alice: "…"
'They really know how to play.'
"Erina, what is this..."
Just then, Mana fully regained consciousness. She looked at her daughter eating cheap food next to her, then felt the unfamiliar sense of fullness in her stomach, her expression one of disbelief.
She hadn't felt this sensation of having something in her stomach for years.
"Mother, Nishikawa-kun saved us."
Erina quickly told her mother how Makoto had sealed their sense of taste with Genjutsu.
As for what price she had paid, she naturally omitted that part.
"I didn't know such a method existed... Thank you so much, Nishikawa-sama!"
Mana quickly bowed deeply to Makoto, her attitude sincere.
"It's nothing. Your daughter paid the bill."
Makoto waved his hand casually.
Mana: "???"
Makoto beckoned to his own people, gathering them around:
"Although we're going to split up later, to increase your chances of survival, it's necessary for you to form teams to look out for each other. Who do you want to team up with?"
The group immediately began discussing.
Utaha and Megumi exchanged a glance instantly.
Back in the Naruto World, they had been roommates.
Now that they were sharing the same... well, they naturally wanted to stay together.
Chizuru looked at Yui and the other two and said softly:
"Let's stick together, Yui."
Back in the Naruto World, the four of them had been like Makoto's 'maid quartet'.
The three naturally didn't object. Although Chizuru hadn't fully integrated into the group, they were still closer to her than to others.
"Um..."
Just then, Shizuka spoke hesitantly, "Wouldn't grouping like this create a huge gap in combat strength between the teams?"
"What do you mean?"
Makoto looked sideways at her, his gaze calm.
Shizuka steeled herself and said: "I understand teaming up with acquaintances, but that would leave the rest as ordinary people completely incapable of defending themselves. Could we perhaps mix some superpowered individuals, one superhuman leading a few ordinary people? That way everyone's survival rate would be higher."
"Huh?"
Airi let out an exaggerated laugh, her tone full of disdain. "What do their lives have to do with us?"
'Why should I risk my life to protect people I haven't even exchanged two words with?'
Shizuka's face paled.
Airi's words were harsh, but they were the truth.
This world was so dangerous… even for superhumans, simply protecting themselves was hard enough. Who would want to waste energy protecting strangers?
"Don't say that, Airi."
Unexpectedly, Makoto spoke up.
He glanced at Shizuka, then looked at the group: "To avoid drawing attention, until I defeat the Control Devil, try not to use Ninjutsu. Live like ordinary people. Having more roommates will also make things easier financially."
With that, Makoto looked towards the Food Wars! protagonist group not far away.
Soma and his group immediately tensed up, straightening their backs.
Makoto casually pointed at a few of the girls… Tadokoro Megumi, Sakaki Ryoko, Yoshino Yuki:
"You guys stay with Auntie Kayoko and the others."
"Really? Megumi, that's great!"
Yuki was overjoyed. She grabbed Tadokoro Megumi's hand, almost jumping for joy.
Tadokoro Megumi was still a bit dazed, just making 'oh oh' sounds instinctively.
"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"
Sakaki Ryoko quickly bowed in thanks, her full chest, wrapped by her top, bouncing with the movement.
"Wh-what about us?"
Soma and the other boys looked at each other in bewilderment.
Makoto glanced at them and pointed towards Hachiman and Saika nearby:
"Why don't you ask them if they're willing to take you in."
Hachiman was startled.
'Damn, big shot, why are you thinking of us now?'
As a realist, he really didn't want to be a soft touch.
"Yotsuba, is it okay for you to stay with Megumi and the others?"
Makoto looked at Yotsuba.
Being singled out by Makoto, Yotsuba's heart leaped with joy. She nodded vigorously:
"Yes!"
She then turned to Megumi, speaking a little shyly:
"Th-then, I'll be in your care, Kato-san."
"It's fine. You can call me Megumi."
Megumi smiled gently, her eyes soft.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, you can be in our group."
Just then, Yukino approached Hiratsuka Shizuka and said.
Shizuka had helped her a lot at school, not only facilitating the creation of the Service Club but also having been her sister's teacher.
For both reason and sentiment, their family should include Hiratsuka Shizuka.
"Oh, th-thank you."
Shizuka nodded, quickly expressing her gratitude. Although she could handle troublesome students at school with ease, having just witnessed the Gun Devil's power, she was well aware that in this world, she was nothing but a weakling.
Then, she looked at Mrs. Yukinoshita and bowed her head slightly: "I'll be in your care, ma'am."
Mrs. Yukinoshita blinked, a hint of confusion in her eyes: "Since when am I in your group?"
At these words, the Yukinoshita sisters and Shizuka's expressions changed drastically.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita gracefully walked over to Makoto's side and asked softly: "Makoto..."
Makoto glanced at the stunned Yukinoshita sisters and Shizuka, thought for a moment, and said: "You stick with the dumpling girls."
Mrs. Yukinoshita didn't argue. She turned to Mrs. Yuigahama and gave a slight bow: "I'll be in your care then, ma'am."
"Oh... oh, it's, it's fine."
Mrs. Yuigahama, her daughter, and the others were stunned for a few seconds before reacting.
They couldn't understand why Mrs. Yukinoshita wouldn't want to be in a group with her own daughters.
The Yukinoshita sisters bit their pink lips, watching their mother's retreating back, but there was nothing they could do.
'Do you hate us that much, Mother?'