Chapter 195: So Good

As time passed, Jiraiya gradually smelled the aroma wafting from the kitchen.

“It smells like fried fish?” Jiraiya guessed at Muzuki’s Cuisine based on the scent.

“The aroma is very good, but I wonder how it tastes.” Jiraiya rubbed his stomach, realizing he was a bit hungry.

Fortunately, Muzuki and Minato didn’t make him wait too long. Just as Jiraiya was pondering what to write in his novel, Muzuki and Minato brought out all the prepared dishes.

Jiraiya was instantly captivated by the uniquely shaped and appetizing squirrel mandarin fish. Although he had encountered many distinctive delicacies during his travels in the Ninja World, this was his first time seeing fish prepared in such a way.

“What is this Cuisine called? It must have taken a lot of effort to create such a shape,” Jiraiya asked curiously, looking at the squirrel mandarin fish.

“This dish is called squirrel mandarin fish, and its unique shape is indeed its characteristic,” Muzuki introduced with a smile.

“Jiraiya-sensei, don’t let it fool you, it doesn’t look very complicated, but it’s actually quite difficult to make. Kushina and I have been learning it for a while, but we still can’t make it like Muzuki, and the taste is worlds apart.”

Minato recounted the difficulties he and Kushina faced learning squirrel mandarin fish. A helpless smile appeared on Minato’s face when he mentioned that Kushina had given up halfway and handed the flower-cutting step directly to him.

“Haha, that sounds exactly like something Kushina would do,” Jiraiya said with a smile.

“Let’s eat first. These dishes should be eaten while they’re hot,” Muzuki reminded them.

Some dishes taste completely different when hot compared to when they’re cold.

Jiraiya didn’t stand on ceremony, directly reaching out his chopsticks to pick up some fish and put it in his mouth. As he picked it up, Jiraiya felt a bit of pity, regretting to spoil such an aesthetically pleasing dish.

But soon, Jiraiya’s regret vanished. Biting through the crispy outer shell, he found incredibly tender fish meat inside. The sweet and sour sauce on the fish meat further stimulated Jiraiya’s appetite, making him even hungrier after just one bite of fish.

After eating the fish, Jiraiya felt as if he had transformed into a swimming dragon, soaring into the vast, boundless ocean, freely roaming without needing to search the entire world for the child of prophecy who could change the world.

When he came back to his senses, Jiraiya realized that what Minato had said in his letter was not an exaggeration at all. It was truly so delicious that it felt like he was under a genjutsu. For a fleeting moment, Jiraiya experienced a long-lost feeling of ultimate relaxation.

“The timing of this fried fish is incredibly precise, and the sweet and sour ratio of the sauce is also perfected. Neither a little more sour nor a little more sweet would achieve this effect.”

Jiraiya commented, and then, looking back at the squirrel mandarin fish, he suddenly noticed that nearly half of the fish was gone. Minato was silently eating away.

“Minato, when did you start eating so fast?”

At this, Jiraiya couldn’t sit still. He had only said a few words, and Minato had already eaten so much. So, Jiraiya stopped talking and quickly started eating.

Not only the uniquely shaped squirrel mandarin fish, but also the seemingly ordinary steamed pork with preserved vegetables and stir-fried pork with chili made Jiraiya unable to resist eating bowl after bowl of rice.

“Muzuki, your stir-fried pork with chili tastes good, but why don’t you put more meat?” Jiraiya, with sharp eyes, scanned through the abundant chilies, finally picking up a piece of meat and asking doubtfully.

“If there were more meat than chilies, it wouldn’t have this flavor,” Muzuki explained.

His stir-fried pork with chili wasn’t so extreme that there were only chilies and no meat; it was just that the chilies weren’t eaten, so by the end, it seemed like there were a lot of chilies.

“That makes a lot of sense. Cooking also has its similarities with Ninja training. Destroying the ratio leads to failure,” Jiraiya acknowledged, stroking his chin. To synthesize Sage Chakra, one needs to balance the ratio of Chakra and natural energy.

“Then this dish should be made in a larger portion,” Jiraiya suggested.

If adding more meat would spoil the taste, then adding more chilies and meat wouldn’t disrupt the ratio.

“I, Jiraiya, declare you the best chef in the Ninja World. After traveling north and south for so many years, this is the first time I’ve eaten such delicious Cuisine,” Jiraiya praised.

This was the first time he had eaten a meal and felt the urge to lick his chopsticks clean.

Although Minato’s description of Muzuki’s Cuisine was outrageous, Jiraiya found after eating that Minato’s account was actually realistic, without any exaggeration.

“I wouldn’t dare claim to be the best in the Ninja World. I just put a little more thought into my cooking,” Muzuki humbly said.

“Haha, that ‘little more thought’ of yours is quite extraordinary,” Jiraiya said with a smile, looking at Muzuki with great approval.

At this moment, Minato suddenly coughed twice, a hint of apology on his face as he spoke:

“Muzuki, there’s something I need to apologize to you for.”

Muzuki guessed what it was, but he showed a puzzled expression and asked:

“What is it? Is it about picking up food too fast while eating? There’s no need for that.”

Hearing Muzuki’s words, Minato became even more embarrassed and explained:

“I really didn’t intentionally speed up. It’s just that your Cuisine, Muzuki, is too delicious, and I subconsciously ate very quickly.”

Muzuki knew that Minato might actually be telling the truth, after all, Minato had superhuman reactions.

Then Minato, with a serious expression, apologized:

“I’m sorry, Muzuki. Before, I told you I didn’t have time to eat, but that was a lie. Actually, I wasn’t particularly busy during that time. I just wanted to bring food to Kushina, so I made up the excuse of being busy.”

“Oh, so that’s what it was. I already knew. How could someone who’s busy come over for free meals every day?” Muzuki said with a chuckle.

Sometimes it’s okay to pretend to be foolish, but you can’t let others think you’re genuinely foolish.

“Kushina is currently undergoing secret training, so she can’t come over, but she really wants to eat your Cuisine, Muzuki, so…”

Minato briefly explained to Muzuki, omitting a series of confidential information such as Kushina’s identity and the Anbu surveillance.

It was becoming impossible to keep secret, because Minato would be going to the battlefield with Jiraiya soon, and he couldn’t possibly leave a Shadow Clone to bring food to Kushina then.

“I’m sorry to trouble you, Muzuki,” Minato said with an apologetic look.

“It’s nothing, just making an extra meal. It’s nothing compared to your help with my Sealing Technique,” Muzuki said with a smile and a nod, indicating that if he was in Konoha, Kushina wouldn’t go hungry.

After dinner, the three sat together and chatted for a while. Initially, Jiraiya asked Muzuki about Cuisine, and later they talked about Sealing Technique.

“I have an idea: to set up a Seal within the body to store some Chakra, and then, when Chakra is insufficient during battle, release the Chakra from the Seal to quickly replenish it,” Muzuki shared his idea.

Jiraiya and Minato both had high levels of Sealing Technique, and they knew more local knowledge than him, a transmigrator. Muzuki wanted to use this opportunity to seek inspiration.

Anyway, this was just an idea, a brainstorm, and it wouldn’t reveal his true Sealing Technique level.

“It’s a good idea, but it’s basically impossible to achieve,” Jiraiya thought for a moment and replied.

“Is your idea derived from the Tailed Beast of a Jinchuriki?” Jiraiya asked.

Muzuki nodded. In fact, his inspiration came from Tsunade’s Yin Seal.

“The reason a Jinchuriki can utilize a Tailed Beast’s Chakra is because Tailed Beasts have a very unique nature. Sealing them into the human body achieves an effect of becoming one, and no matter how much Tailed Beast Chakra there is, it won’t affect the Chakra pathways and acupoints.”

“But your idea is different. You want to store your own Chakra, which would require setting up a Sealing Technique on the Chakra pathways and acupoints. Not to mention the difficulty of setting up a Sealing Technique on the Chakra pathways and acupoints,

A large amount of Chakra suddenly released in a certain pathway or acupoint, the gushing Chakra would cause your entire body’s Chakra to fall into chaos, preventing you from releasing Ninjutsu. How could that be used in battle?” Jiraiya explained.

“And you also have to consider the damage to the body from the sudden burst of a large amount of Chakra.”

Jiraiya’s words suddenly enlightened Muzuki. He had previously thought that Tsunade’s Yin Seal was to maintain her appearance, which was why the Mitotic Regeneration released by the Yin Seal became an automatic Medical Ninjutsu mode that, once activated, couldn’t be turned off.

According to Jiraiya, it wasn’t that Tsunade wanted automatic healing, but that Tsunade could only do it that way. Otherwise, the sudden surge of a large amount of Chakra would instead become a negative status that hindered her, much like the Chakra released when the Eight Gates is opened.

Jiraiya’s words were indeed very helpful to Muzuki. Before, he only thought about creating a power bank inside his body, but he overlooked other aspects.

However, Muzuki didn’t directly abandon the power bank plan. Jiraiya thought it was impossible, but he might not be unable to do it, because he had a cheat.

He possessed the Transparent World, giving him absolute control over his body, allowing him to perform any fine internal operation. He also had an excellent talent for Sealing Technique.

Muzuki had only studied Sealing Technique for half a year and had already mastered Sealing Techniques like the Five Elements Seal and the Contract Seal. Not long ago, he had become proficient in the Evil Sealing Method given to him by the Third Hokage, and had just begun to learn the Fire Sealing Method.

“Perhaps I can first create an automatic Rock Breathing Mark Seal,” Muzuki thought to himself.

He could start by not innovating, but by imitating Tsunade and creating a fully automated Sealing Ninjutsu.

The reason for Rock Breathing was because the Rock Breathing Mark provided extreme physical enhancement, even strengthening the internal body, to prevent the sudden surge of Chakra from harming the body.

“Thank you for your reminder, Jiraiya-sama. I was being a bit naive,” Muzuki said gratefully.

“It’s nothing. The most important thing for young people is to think more. What kind of young person doesn’t even dare to think? Haha,” Jiraiya said with a laugh, patting Muzuki’s shoulder.

“Muzuki, you make me feel a bit ashamed. I haven’t even thought about such things, only tried to improve the effects of some Sealing Techniques,” Minato said with a smile.

If it wasn’t Minato saying this, Muzuki would feel that the person was definitely being sarcastic. Those who can improve Sealing Technique are truly knowledgeable about it.

But coming from Minato, Muzuki felt that Minato might genuinely think his idea was good.

When the time was right, Minato and Jiraiya left.

Muzuki gave Jiraiya an appraisal as he left.

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