“Today’s only regret is that the sake doesn’t live up to the food.”
Tsunade set down her chopsticks, shook her head, and spoke.
“This is already the best sake in the whole village,”
Jiraiya reminded her.
“It’s not that the sake isn’t good enough.
It’s that the food is too good.”
“Next time you leave the village, bring back some better sake,”
Orochimaru said casually.
“No problem.”
Jiraiya grinned.
“Once I find some good liquor, we’ll get together again.”
“My lords,”
Natsuki suddenly suggested, “I prepared a camera.
Since this is such a rare occasion, how about we take a group photo?”
“You really did think this through.”
Tsunade sounded a little surprised.
“When we’re done, I’m definitely hanging that photo in my room!”
Nawaki said happily.
Kushina Uzumaki, Yakushi Nono, and Minato Namikaze naturally had no objections either.
Natsuki immediately went to find Mayu and asked her to take the picture for them.
“You kids stand in front,”
Tsunade said.
“Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and I will stand in the second row.”
Nawaki, Natsuki, Kushina Uzumaki, Yakushi Nono, and Minato Namikaze immediately lined up in front of them.
Looking at them, Mayu felt a surge of emotion.
They could absolutely be called the present and future of Konoha—the finest of two generations of ninja.
When Natsuki had first suggested that she buy a camera, it had been for the sake of taking photos to hang in the izakaya as promotion.
But now, it seemed this photo meant far more than simple advertising.
Once the picture was taken, the gathering gradually came to an end.
“Natsuki.”
Orochimaru spoke in his usual calm tone.
“Tomorrow morning at nine, wait for me at Training Ground One.”
Without waiting for Natsuki’s reply, he turned and left, clean and direct as ever.
Natsuki stood there blankly for a second before it hit him.
Did that mean he had become Orochimaru’s student?
Fortunately, Orochimaru hadn’t gone dark yet at this point, so becoming his student wasn’t a bad outcome at all.
Still, Natsuki couldn’t help thinking it was a little regrettable that his teacher wasn’t Tsunade.
Then again, it wasn’t as if there was no chance.
In the original story, Naruto Uzumaki had two teachers—Hatake Kakashi and Jiraiya.
“Natsuki, looks like we’ll be teammates from now on.
Please take care of me.”
A bright smile spread across Nawaki’s face.
“You too.
Please take care of me.”
Natsuki nodded.
“Then we’re heading out.
See you next time.” You are reading on g.com, the official source.
After Jiraiya said that, he called Minato over and left with him.
Tsunade, Nawaki, and Kushina Uzumaki also didn’t stay long.
Soon enough, they parted ways with Natsuki and Yakushi Nono.
“Director,”
Natsuki turned to Mayu and said, “I’ve got a full promotional plan here.
Starting tomorrow, find people to carry it out.”
“A full plan?”
Mayu asked in surprise.
“Aren’t we just using the group photo for publicity?”
“That alone isn’t enough.”
Natsuki shook his head and started explaining some promotional methods from his previous life.
Things like handing out flyers, posting ads, grand opening discounts, membership perks, reward points for spending, and so on.
Fortunately, with that big group photo in hand, promoting the place wouldn’t be nearly as difficult.
Once the izakaya built up enough of a reputation, he would come in every Saturday and Sunday to cook for reservation-only guests.
Even then, he would take no more than four tables a day—two at lunch and two at dinner.
In short, it was a perfect demonstration of what it meant for rarity to create value.
“You came up with all of that?”
After listening, Mayu looked deeply shocked.
A lot of those promotional ideas were things she had never even heard of.
Mostly because publicity in the ninja world was still extremely traditional.
It was nothing like Natsuki’s previous life, where marketing had become almost omnipresent and relentless.
“I just thought of it on the spot.”
Natsuki blinked.
Mayu instantly fell silent.
Standing in front of him, she felt like he was the reliable adult here, not her.
The next day arrived.
As far as the izakaya was concerned, Natsuki left everything to Mayu.
He and Yakushi Nono, meanwhile, entered an entirely new stage of life: learning ninjutsu under one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha.
Natsuki came alone to Konoha’s Training Ground One.
“Natsuki!”
Nawaki, who had been practicing Water Release, immediately stopped and waved at him.
“Keep training.”
Orochimaru glanced at him and spoke.
Nawaki quickly withdrew his attention.
“I heard from Teacher that your swordsmanship is excellent, and that you even created two sword techniques?”
Orochimaru looked at Natsuki and asked.
“I created three sword techniques.”
Natsuki corrected him.
“Attack me.”
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Yes, Orochimaru-sensei.”
Natsuki drew the Sword of the Thunder God.
With his current level of strength, there was no way he could actually injure Orochimaru, so he could go all out without worry.
One-Sword Style: Demon Bear!
Gripping the Sword of the Thunder God, Natsuki slashed down with all his might.
The sword’s lightning-like blade cut from above, as if trying to cleave Orochimaru in half.
Orochimaru merely tilted his body slightly and evaded the strike.
One-Sword Style: 36 Pound Phoenix!
From within those afterimages, a sword wave blasted toward Orochimaru.
One of Orochimaru’s brows lifted.
This sword technique was clearly more threatening than the previous one.
Even so, he simply stepped once to the left and made Natsuki’s attack miss.
One-Sword Style Iaijutsu: Lion’s Song!
Natsuki raised the Sword of the Thunder God.
In the next instant, his whole body turned into a flash of sword-light and vanished.
So fast!
Orochimaru let out a quiet sound of surprise.
He immediately opened his mouth, and a sword extended out from within it.
Clang!
Natsuki reappeared.
His Sword of the Thunder God had been blocked by the blade extending from Orochimaru’s mouth, and it could advance no further.
Natsuki took one look and recognized it at once.
The Kusanagi Sword.
Its most distinctive feature was that it could extend and retract, reaching well over a hundred meters at its longest.
“You’re very good.”
Orochimaru praised him.
When Hiruzen had first told him that Natsuki had created his own sword techniques, Orochimaru honestly hadn’t thought much of it.
In his view, how powerful could sword techniques created by a seven-year-old child really be?
But now, his thoughts had changed completely.
The three sword techniques Natsuki had created—especially the latter two—had already reached the standard of B-rank techniques.
Orochimaru stepped back and swallowed the Kusanagi Sword back down.
From Natsuki’s point of view, that was a pretty horrifying sight.
“With your talent for swordsmanship, my recommendation is that you first master the sword styles that already exist, integrate what you’ve learned, and then try creating even more sword techniques of your own.”
After some thought, Orochimaru gave his advice.
“Yes, Orochimaru-sensei.”
Natsuki nodded at once.
That suggestion suited him perfectly.
After all, he had a system.
“I’ll start by teaching you Konoha-style swordsmanship.”
Orochimaru thought for a moment, then said.
Konoha-style swordsmanship?
Natsuki immediately thought of Gekkō Hayate and Uzuki Yugao, that famous couple.
They were known specifically for Konoha-style swordsmanship.
Natsuki’s ninjutsu talent might have been poor, but in swordsmanship, because he had inherited Zoro’s skill with the blade, learning came very easily to him.
April passed in the blink of an eye, and soon it was June.
[Congratulations, Host.
Zeff Template Ability Three unlocked: Head Chef’s Heavy Drop.]
After two months of momentum, Natsuki’s izakaya had become famous far and wide.
Especially because the guests he received were either wealthy or high-ranking.
That caused his name to spread among nobles and merchants, and reservations were already booked solid half a year in advance.
He had also conquered thirty ninja with his cooking, fully fusing the Zeff template in the process.
On Monday, Natsuki found Ishida Yuu.
“You want to challenge upperclassmen?”
Ishida Yuu looked visibly surprised after hearing that.