“Natsuki, how is it that your lunch tastes this good?
Did you make it yourself?”
A surprised look appeared on Kushina Uzumaki’s face as she asked instinctively.
Back when they trained together over the break, they’d always eaten lunch at Konoha Hospital’s cafeteria since the training ground was right next to it.
This was the first time she’d had a lunch Natsuki made with his own hands.
All he could say was: the Shirou Emiya template had done a lot of heavy lifting.
“I made it.”
Natsuki nodded and admitted it.
“Natsuki’s really talented when it comes to cooking,” Minato Namikaze chimed in.
“He’s only been learning for a year, but his cooking is already on par with professional chefs who’ve been at it their whole lives.”
“This is the best bento I’ve ever had!”
Kushina praised without holding back.
Hearing that, Minato couldn’t help sighing inwardly.
He couldn’t beat Natsuki in a fight, and now he couldn’t even beat him at cooking.
This was a total defeat.
“Want to learn?
I can teach you.”
Natsuki smiled slightly.
“Really?
Great!”
Kushina agreed happily on the spot.
“Can I learn too?”
Minato suddenly asked.
“Teaching one person or teaching two makes no difference.
Of course you can.”
Natsuki didn’t refuse.
Kushina instinctively glanced at Minato.
What she really wanted was to learn cooking from Natsuki by herself.
When lunch break ended, afternoon practical class began.
This lesson was on the second of the Three Basic Techniques: the Transformation Jutsu.
Natsuki happened to need to learn the Transformation Jutsu to unlock Ability Two of the Naruto Uzumaki template, so he paid very close attention.
But Minato had already learned all three of the basic techniques ahead of time.
As soon as Ishida Yuu had a spare moment, he hurried over to him.
“Your situation really is a bit special,” Ishida Yuu said after a moment’s thought.
“How about this?
I’ll go ask Lord Hokage right now.
If he agrees, then I can teach you other jutsu.”
Normally, the Ninja Academy only taught the Three Basic Techniques.
But as always, geniuses had privileges.
“Thank you, Teacher.”
Minato let out a breath of relief.
He looked toward Natsuki, who was still learning the Transformation Jutsu, and thought to himself that at the next final exam, he would definitely surprise him.
“Keep an eye on them for me.
If anything’s wrong, point it out.”
After giving Minato a few instructions, Ishida Yuu headed for the Hokage’s office.
“Come in.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up when he heard the knock.
“Lord Hokage.”
Ishida Yuu got straight to the point and explained Minato’s request.
“Test his chakra nature with chakra paper first, then teach him other jutsu depending on the results,” Hiruzen said after some thought.
Then he added, “You teach him for a while first.
I’ll arrange for someone else to take over later.”
“Yes, Lord Hokage.”
Hearing that, Ishida Yuu couldn’t help feeling a little envious.
Hiruzen’s meaning was obvious—he intended to arrange a team leader for Minato ahead of schedule.
After bowing slightly, Ishida Yuu turned and left. The source of this chapter is g.com.
“Go notify Jiraiya and tell him to come back to Konoha when he has time,” Hiruzen said to the empty air.
“And bring Orochimaru here as well.”
“Yes, Lord Hokage.”
An Anbu ninja hidden in the shadows immediately answered.
When Ishida Yuu returned to the academy, he tested Minato’s chakra nature.
“I actually have three chakra natures?”
Minato looked stunned.
“You really are a genius through and through!”
Looking at Minato’s three affinities—Lightning, Fire, and Wind—Ishida Yuu couldn’t help praising him.
“I’m still not as good as Natsuki.”
Minato shook his head.
“Natsuki is a swordsmanship genius.
You’re a ninjutsu genius,” Ishida Yuu comforted him.
“It’s normal for ninjutsu to be weaker than swordsmanship in the early stages.
Once you get to the middle and later stages, you might even surpass him.”
Minato froze for a moment.
Natsuki really didn’t have much talent when it came to ninjutsu.
The Three Basic Techniques were a perfect example.
Minato had already learned all three, while Natsuki had only learned one.
Thinking that through, Minato suddenly perked up.
Stay steady.
I can win this.
I can turn this around!
The first day of the new term came to an end very quickly.
As usual, Natsuki went to Konoha Hospital, picked up Yakushi Nono, and returned to the Konoha Orphanage.
After greeting Director Mayu, he headed straight to the kitchen to make dinner.
But it didn’t take long for him to notice something was off.
“Director, did something happen?
You look really worried.”
Natsuki asked directly.
“N-No, it’s nothing.”
Mayu instinctively shook her head.
“Director, don’t underestimate me now.
I might actually be able to solve it.”
Natsuki’s tone turned serious.
“…We’re short on money.”
After hesitating for a moment, Mayu finally answered.
“Short on money?”
Natsuki frowned at once.
The moment he heard that, he understood.
Konoha Orphanage—or more precisely, he and Yakushi Nono—had offended Shimura Danzo.
In a fit of anger, Danzo had cut off the orphanage’s funding.
“And Lord Hokage isn’t doing anything about it?”
Natsuki asked again.
“Konoha Orphanage has always been under Lord Danzo’s control.”
Mayu didn’t answer him directly.
“Then I’ll go see Lady Tsunade.”
After thinking it over, Natsuki said.
“If Lady Tsunade is willing to help, then that would be for the best.”
Mayu visibly relaxed a little.
“Don’t worry, Director.
She’ll definitely help.”
Natsuki sounded completely confident.
Leaving aside the fact that Yakushi Nono was already studying in the medical ninja training class, just the bond he’d built with Nawaki and Kushina was enough reason for Tsunade to step in.
He could even go straight to Hiruzen Sarutobi, but since they weren’t that familiar, he decided to try Tsunade first. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Hearing that, Mayu looked a little dazed.
She hadn’t expected Natsuki’s relationship with Tsunade to have already reached that level.
Things had changed so quickly over the course of just one year that she could hardly believe it.
A problem that had been giving her such a headache now looked like it might be solved so easily by Natsuki.
Natsuki fell into thought.
Money mattered a lot in the ninja world.
Hiruzen might be able to solve the orphanage’s funding problem, but there was no way he’d hand that money directly to Natsuki.
And sometimes, when he wanted to unlock certain character templates, he had to spend money posting commissions.
If he only kept spending and never earned anything, that couldn’t last forever.
So how could he make money?
A thought suddenly crossed Natsuki’s mind: open an izakaya.
With the Shirou Emiya template, his cooking was already more than good enough.
Just then, a line of text appeared before his eyes.
[You have awakened the Zeff Template.]
Who the hell was Zeff?
Natsuki blinked in confusion.
He immediately looked at the newly triggered character template.
[Name: Zeff.]
[Stage: Owner and head chef of the Baratie sea restaurant.]
[World: One Piece.]
[Rank: D-rank.]
[Ability One: Cooking — Unlocked.]
[Effect: Superb culinary skill.]
[Ability Two: Head Chef’s Flying Kick — Locked.]
[Effect: Leap up and strike the enemy hard with your right leg.]
[Unlock Condition: Open an izakaya.]
[Ability Three: Head Chef’s Heavy Drop — Locked.]
[Effect: Leap into the air and drive your right leg downward into the enemy, powerful enough to break the floor with one kick.]
[Unlock Condition: Conquer thirty ninja with your cooking.]
So it was Sanji’s teacher from One Piece.
Natsuki still remembered parts of Zeff and Sanji’s story.
It was honestly pretty moving.
Aside from Ability One, Abilities Two and Three were basically taijutsu on the level of D-rank to C-rank techniques.
He figured they were probably similar to Might Guy’s Leaf Whirlwind-style moves, which could help make up for his weakness in taijutsu.
Coming back to himself, Natsuki brought up the idea of opening an izakaya to Mayu.
His plan was simple: let the kids from Konoha Orphanage help out as waiters and waitresses, and pay them wages.
At the same time, the izakaya would operate on two levels: a commoner route and a high-end route.
The commoner side would be handled by Mayu’s cooking.
The high-end side would be handled by him, meant specifically for wealthy ninja, merchants, and nobles.
Naturally, the prices would also be very high.
He would also limit how often he cooked.
First, scarcity made things more valuable.
Second, he still had school and training.
Mayu agreed right away.
She had already tasted Natsuki’s cooking before, and it really was extraordinary.
In all of Konoha, there was probably no second person who could cook better than him.
With that settled, Natsuki ate dinner and then resumed training.
[Congratulations, Host.
Shiba Tatsuya Template Ability Two unlocked: Weight-Type Magic: Weight Reduction.]
After a whole vacation spent on tree-climbing training, he had finally gained a new ability.
Weight-Type Magic: Weight Reduction!
At that moment, Natsuki finally understood what it meant to feel light as a swallow.
He started running around the courtyard, and his speed was about one-third faster than before.