Chapter 60 Learning the Sealing Technique (Seeking Follow-up Reading)

On Sunday afternoon, after finishing his disciples’ training, Muzuki went to the Main urban area, not returning home but directly going to Minato’s house.

Last night, when Kushina and Minato were having dinner at Muzuki’s place, they told Muzuki that they had almost finished practicing the braised pork with preserved vegetables and were planning to officially start making it tomorrow afternoon, suggesting Muzuki could come over to watch if he had time.

When Muzuki arrived, the two had just finished boiling the pork belly and were about to color it with soy sauce.

As Muzuki prepared to step forward to help, Kushina stopped him.

“Muzuki, just watch. If there are any wrong steps, you can point them out, no need to help,” Kushina said.

Tenten often freeloaded dinners at Muzuki’s house, so Kushina felt embarrassed to let Muzuki help.

Minato brought a fruit plate, poured Muzuki a glass of water, and smiled gently:

“Muzuki, you don’t need to help today. Just be an invigilator this time.”

Minato and Kushina had the same idea; they felt they should do it themselves this time.

“Then I’ll be lazy,” Muzuki said with a smile.

“You can use a skewer to poke some small holes in the pork rind before pouring the soy sauce. This will allow the braised pork with preserved vegetables to absorb more flavor and make it more porous when deep-fried later,” Muzuki reminded them.

Kushina and Minato then realized they had forgotten such a small detail.

With Muzuki’s reminders, Kushina and Minato completed each step in an orderly fashion: deep-frying, slicing, preparing the sauce, steaming…

By the time they finished, it was already dark.

“Although this braised pork with preserved vegetables is delicious, it’s really troublesome to make. Muzuki, you must be very hungry, right?” Kushina asked.

Compared to the everyday dishes she usually made, braised pork with preserved vegetables was much more complicated; it was just one dish, yet it required boiling, deep-frying, and steaming.

“Not really, after all, I was just watching from the side,” Muzuki replied.

As the two spoke, Minato brought out the finished braised pork with preserved vegetables.

“Now, it’s time for Teacher Muzuki to grade it,” Minato joked.

“You’ve been busy for so long, why don’t you taste your own hard work first?” Muzuki didn’t rush to taste it, choosing instead to let Minato and Kushina eat first.

“Then let’s eat together,” Kushina, who was already very hungry, decided not to bother with too much formality.

The three quickly served themselves rice, said “I’m eating,” and began to eat directly.

“That’s right, it’s that feeling of being fatty but not greasy!” Kushina’s face lit up with excitement and a sense of accomplishment as she picked up a piece of meat, put it in her mouth, and then took a bite of rice with her chopsticks.

She felt that her time had not been wasted and that she had successfully learned a very delicious dish.

Although she felt Muzuki’s cooking was still better, Kushina believed there was no one in this world who cooked better than Muzuki, so it was normal to be slightly worse than the world’s best.

“When Jiraiya Sensei comes back, I must make it for him to try,” Minato said while eating.

Minato was also very satisfied with this dish of braised pork with preserved vegetables, so he wanted to share it with Jiraiya.

“Hmm, the completion is very high, with no major flaws,” Muzuki also praised after tasting it.

It wasn’t entirely out of a desire to gain favor; the dish itself was not a difficult home-cooked meal, and with his guidance, the finished product naturally wouldn’t be bad.

However, an awkward situation quickly arose: the braised pork with preserved vegetables was quickly eaten, and the three stared at each other.

“Oh no, I forgot to make other dishes,” Minato realized, looking at the empty plate.

“I was too focused, I completely forgot,” Kushina showed an embarrassed smile.

“I’ll stir-fry two dishes,” Muzuki said, standing up.

“Isn’t that bad? You’re a guest, how can we let a guest cook?” Kushina was tempted but felt it wasn’t right.

“Then should I go home, cook, and bring it over?” Muzuki asked with a smile.

“I’ll wash the vegetables,” Minato silently stood up.

Kushina thought about the taste of Muzuki’s cooking and finally couldn’t help but nod.

“Muzuki, aren’t you interested in Sealing Technique? Are you learning any Sealing Technique recently? I can teach you some Sealing Technique tricks,” Kushina, sitting idly at the dining table, couldn’t help but ask.

Having freeloaded meals at her own house, Kushina felt truly embarrassed and wanted to repay Muzuki.

“Currently, I’m still reading various theoretical books. Do you have any recommended Sealing Technique, preferably ones available in the library?” Muzuki thought for a moment and said.

“If you haven’t started learning yet, how about I teach you an introductory Sealing Technique of our Uzumaki Clan? We can also test your Sealing Technique talent.

If you learn it within a day, you’re a Sealing Technique genius. A week means you have Sealing Technique talent. If it takes more than a month, it’s not highly recommended to waste time on Sealing Technique,” Kushina said.

“Then how long did it take you to learn it, Kushina?” Muzuki asked while heating oil in the wok.

“One day,” Kushina replied proudly, waiting for Muzuki to ask.

“Then aren’t you a genius of Sealing Technique?” Muzuki praised.

“Just average, I just learned most of our Uzumaki Clan’s Sealing Technique,” Kushina said “average” but couldn’t control the smile on her face.

After dinner, Kushina handed Muzuki a scroll and then went to wash dishes, leaving Minato to explain to Muzuki.

Muzuki listened very intently, more seriously than ever before.

“This Sealing Technique is called One-Finger Sealing. It quickly creates a seal that blocks Chakra, but its binding force is not strong and can be easily broken, so it has little practical combat significance. It’s generally only used for introductory training,” Minato explained.

He wondered if it was because Minato’s Sealing Technique level was high and he taught well, or if Muzuki had Sealing Technique talent, as he felt this One-Finger Sealing seemed quite simple?

Muzuki didn’t show this aspect, only asking questions from time to time.

…

On Monday, Kotetsu Hagane arrived at the Ninja Academy early. Seeing that Izumo Kamizuki hadn’t arrived yet, he nodded with satisfaction. He placed a novel on the desk and began to read.

When he felt that Izumo Kamizuki was about to arrive, Kotetsu Hagane put away his textbook, leaving only the novel on top.

“Kotetsu, didn’t you say you didn’t need to review? Why are you here so early reading?” Izumo Kamizuki, who had studied until 1 AM last night, asked in surprise.

Kotetsu Hagane held up the novel in his hand and said, “Review what? This is a newly released Ninja novel; it’s really good.”

Izumo Kamizuki looked at the cover design and title and then relaxed, smiling:

“Reading novels to relax is indeed a good choice.”

“So Kotetsu likes reading novels, huh? Tomorrow I’ll buy him a bestseller and let him read novels for two weeks,” Izumo Kamizuki thought to himself.

He felt that his first place was becoming more and more secure.

“Izumo, why do you look so tired? You didn’t stay up late studying, did you? That’s not good for your health, and it’s not good for the exam either,” Kotetsu Hagane asked with a concerned, probing expression.

“No, I was playing games with my cousin last night and lost track of time, so I went to bed very late,” Izumo Kamizuki said naturally.

“Playing games to relax, huh? That’s not bad either,” Kotetsu Hagane smiled, feeling that his first place was becoming more and more secure.

It’s good that he likes playing games. He decided to inquire more about various games after school, striving to make Izumo Kamizuki play various games every day for two weeks.

“What novel? What game?” Anko, who had entered the classroom, became interested.

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday are really important. Please keep reading!