Chapter 40: My Reward for You Is to Be My Student
"You all did so well today. Let's go eat yakiniku!"
Shinku Yūhi said, his mouth twitching as he suppressed the urge to laugh out loud.
Hoshikawa glanced at him and wanted to tell him to just laugh. His mouth was already contorted, and he was afraid he might end up with an awkward expression.
"Yakiniku!" Kurenai Yūhi's ruby-like eyes lit up with excitement. "I want to eat beef!"
Just as the three of them left the school, they ran into an unexpected guest: Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama," Shinku Yūhi quickly greeted her.
"I'm here for Hoshikawa," Tsunade said directly.
"Hoshikawa, go with Tsunade-sama," Shinku Yūhi said knowingly. "Kurenai and I will go back first."
"Huh?" Kurenai Yūhi was a little displeased with Tsunade's sudden interruption.
She gave Hoshikawa a reluctant look and followed Shinku Yūhi away.
"..." Hoshikawa's expression was a little strange.
He felt that Shinku Yūhi's words were a little ambiguous, giving him the false impression that he was a gigolo from Takamagahara.
"You're very popular with girls, it seems," Tsunade said casually, noticing Kurenai Yūhi's expression.
I'm popular with boys, too.
Just now, three boys were arguing about... fighting me.
Hoshikawa asked, "Is there something you need, Tsunade-sama? Are we going to the casino?"
"No," Tsunade shook her head. "I heard you defeated Kakashi?"
You already knew?
Did the news spread that fast?
It seemed that Kakashi Hatake's reputation was just too big.
Hoshikawa replied, "That's all thanks to you, Tsunade-sama."
The key to defeating Kakashi Hatake wasn't the Konoha-Style Kenjutsu, but the 30% arm strength boost.
One step ahead, and every step would be ahead.
Once he gained the advantage with his arm strength, he was unstoppable.
"What does that have to do with me?" Tsunade snorted. "Sometimes you're so humble that you don't seem like a child."
"Then I won't be humble. Tsunade-sama, is there a reward for getting first place?" Hoshikawa asked with a smile, extending his hand.
After spending so much time with Tsunade, a little joke like this was harmless.
And although she had a violent personality, she was very soft, especially at heart.
"My reward for you is to be my student," Tsunade said out of the blue.
Although it was Hiruzen Sarutobi's suggestion, she wasn't against the idea of taking on a student.
Over the past two months, she had gotten to know Hoshikawa.
He was a mature, steady genius, and he was cute and good-looking.
His only flaw was that his talent in medical ninjutsu wasn't as strong as his talent in genjutsu.
But he wasn't without his strengths; his fundamentals were solid, with every piece of knowledge building upon the last.
Of course, for Tsunade, the most important thing was that he was pleasing to the eye.
"Huh?" Hoshikawa was caught off guard and showed a surprised expression.
Something this good could actually happen?
He had thought he would only have a chance to become her student after he got the Yang Release talent, but he didn't expect it to happen so soon.
"What? You don't want to?" Tsunade turned her head, and a chilling glint flashed in her beautiful eyes.
"I do!" Hoshikawa felt like he would be devoured alive if he took another second to answer.
"That's more like it," Tsunade's face broke into a smile, and she extended her hand.
Hoshikawa instinctively leaned back, but he still couldn't dodge the hand that patted his head.
"Let's go home," Tsunade's smile grew wider.
Hoshikawa nodded, a feeling of resignation washing over him.
Great. Now that he was her student, he had been demoted, and she would probably pat his head constantly from now on.
A moment later, they returned to Tsunade's house.
Hoshikawa had been there many times and was no longer curious.
He entered the living room and asked, "Teacher, what are we learning today?"
This past month, he had been working on the basics, only having a few close calls with the carp.
"Come here," Tsunade went straight to the kitchen, stopping at the doorway.
"..." Hoshikawa looked at her, and a bad feeling crept into his heart.
"Today, I'll teach you how to cook first," Tsunade said with a smile.
Have a heart!
I'm just a child!
Hoshikawa suddenly understood why Shizune in the original story had become a housekeeper, secretary, and maid all in one.
"First lesson of a ninja: self-sufficiency," Tsunade said with a smile, holding up her fair finger.
What kind of excuse is that? You're just lazy.
But cooking wasn't a big deal.
Hoshikawa had cooked often in his previous life, but the food in the ninja world was Japanese cuisine, which was a little different.
"We'll start with the simplest dish: tamagoyaki," Tsunade said after thinking for a moment.
"Tamagoyaki? I know how to make that," Hoshikawa said, rolling up his sleeves and entering the kitchen.
Tamagoyaki was essentially a rolled omelet, rolled up and drizzled with sauce.
"Oh?" Tsunade said with interest. "Then you do it, and I'll watch."
She wasn't too suspicious because Hoshikawa acted more mature than his peers.
"Okay." Hoshikawa stood on a small stool and began his performance.
"Do you cook often?" Tsunade noticed that his technique was very skilled.
"I'm an orphan," Hoshikawa explained casually.
Tsunade was stunned for a moment and fell silent.
She walked up to him and said, "Let me do it."
"Put that down," Hoshikawa said with a straight face. "I'm in charge of the kitchen now."
He hated it when people messed with him while he was cooking.
"You little brat, you want to be a disobedient student on the very first day?" Tsunade reached out and flicked him on the forehead.
But her body was honest, and she backed away to the doorway.
She crossed her arms and watched Hoshikawa busy himself, feeling a long-lost sense of life.
Having a student isn't so bad after all.
It seems she could openly slack off from now on.
"Done!" Hoshikawa brought out a plate of tamagoyaki.
The rolled omelet looked like sushi.
"Hmm, not bad," Tsunade said, picking up a piece of tamagoyaki and taking a bite.
Just then, three lines of text appeared before Hoshikawa's eyes.
He was stunned. There was an unexpected bonus?
[E-rank Talent Entry: Chef.]
[Trigger Condition: First time cooking.]
[Effect: Deliciousness increased by 10%.]
A little useful, but not a lot.
What would the evolution path be? God of Cooking? Or Special-Grade Chef?
Would the effect be to make clothes burst off people's bodies?
Hoshikawa looked at the buxom Tsunade in front of him and couldn't help but gasp.
Coach, no, system, I want to learn this.
"Tamagoyaki alone isn't enough to fill us up," Tsunade said, taking off her jacket and throwing it at him. "Go wait outside; I'll make another dish."
Hoshikawa quickly caught the warm jacket.
He turned to look at Tsunade as she cooked and felt like something wasn't quite right.
Would it be any good?
Hoshikawa suddenly remembered that in the original story, there was a flashback of Tsunade cooking for Nawaki.
And Nawaki's reaction to eating it was as if he had been poisoned.
Oh, no!
Hoshikawa's heart sank.
Wait a minute.
Hope suddenly appeared in his eyes.
Tsunade's roasted chicken had actually tasted pretty good.
But roasting and stir-frying were two different things.
Hoshikawa took the tamagoyaki to the living room and sat at the dining table, anxiously awaiting his fate.
"Tempura. Try some," Tsunade appeared soon after.
Fried food?
Hoshikawa's heart skipped a beat. He picked up a fried shrimp, chewed it a few times, and his eyes lit up. "It's delicious."
It wasn't exactly very delicious, but it did taste better after surviving the ordeal.
Tsunade nodded slightly.
She was good at frying and roasting but not at stir-frying.
....
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