When Kushina lifted the cover, something magical happened. A red glow seemed to be emitted the moment the cover was removed.
However, when Kushina and Minato looked closely, it seemed there was no light, just that the dish was extremely red.
Looking at the bright red Mapo Tofu, Kushina swallowed and said:
"Mokgetsu, you didn't say you'd put so much spice in it. It looks so spicy!"
She originally thought Mokgetsu only added one more chili, but looking at the color of Mapo Tofu, Kushina felt like the entire dish was dominated by spiciness.
"This dish is indeed a bit spicy, but there's more than just spice. There's also fragrance, heat, crispness, numbness, and several other flavors," Mokgetsu explained.
Hearing that there were so many flavors, Minato took the lead in scooping a portion into his mouth.
"Spicy!" Minato's first reaction upon eating the Mapo Tofu was the indescribable spiciness. Mokgetsu's idea of "a bit spicy" was extremely spicy for him.
It was so spicy that Minato felt like he had been transported to a world full of flames, with fire erupting everywhere, extremely hot.
But the Mapo Tofu was not just spicy. Quickly, a variety of flavors exploded in Minato's mouth, immersing him in the deliciousness.
"Delicious!" Minato sincerely praised.
After speaking, Minato quickly scooped several more spoonfuls of tofu into his bowl and continued tasting.
Seeing Minato eating so eagerly, Kushina knew the dish must taste amazing, so she also took a bite.
It was indeed very numbing and spicy, but also very aromatic. Kushina even tasted some meat inside.
"It's really delicious!" Kushina quickly took a few more spoonfuls of tofu.
Although it was very spicy, it was so tasty that Kushina couldn't control her hands.
After the meal, the delicious Magical Mapo Tofu became a topic of conversation.
When Mokgetsu mentioned the ingredients needed for the Magical Mapo Tofu, Kushina asked:
"Mokgetsu, did you forget an ingredient? Isn't there also meat?"
Kushina remembered tasting something like meat in it.
"There's no meat in the ingredients," Mokgetsu confirmed.
"But I definitely tasted something that seemed like meat," Kushina said, puzzled.
"I tasted it too," Minato nodded.
"The flavor is meat, but it isn't actually meat; it's processed soybeans," Mokgetsu explained, revealing the principle to them.
"It's amazing that soybeans can be made to taste like this!" Kushina found it quite miraculous.
Minato also felt that Mokgetsu's culinary skill was unheard of, unseen before, making soybeans taste like meat.
Because he still had to help his disciples train, Mokgetsu soon bid farewell to Minato and Kushina, suggesting he could show them the cooking process when he had time.
Going to the Southern Border Forest, Mokgetsu routinely helped his disciples train.
Shisui was cultivating Impatiens Claw Red, Might Guy was strengthening his physique and familiarizing himself with the use of Soru, while Obito continued striving towards mastering Soru.
As the training time was about to end, Obito asked Mokgetsu:
"Teacher Mokgetsu, how can you teach others ninjutsu?"
"Why are you asking this? Who do you want to teach?" Mokgetsu inquired.
"My good friend Nohara Rin is also attending the summer training, in Group B," Obito explained what happened today to Mokgetsu.
"I feel like I've explained it quite clearly, but little Rin still doesn't understand," Obito sighed.
Mokgetsu felt speechless; just from Obito's description, he felt Obito's teaching skills were similar to Naruto—teaching ninjutsu was like letting the other person take a glance and then figure it out themselves.
Mokgetsu indeed had knowledge on how to be a qualified teacher, as he was a teacher-in-training, which was his specialty.
However, based on Obito's current performance, Mokgetsu felt it might be useless to pass this on to Obito.
"You'd better refine your ninjutsu first," Mokgetsu said, tapping Obito's forehead with two fingers.
"Could it be that even the omnipotent Sage Mokgetsu has no way?" Obito asked dejectedly.
But Obito quickly thought of a good idea. If he couldn't teach Nohara Rin, and Mokgetsu couldn't make him a good teacher, then why not let Mokgetsu teach Nohara Rin directly?
"Teacher Mokgetsu, actually little Rin's grades aren't great either. I think she urgently needs your guidance," Obito suggested to Mokgetsu.
Upon hearing Obito's words, Mokgetsu started pondering.
Currently, the system only had four disciple spots, with only one vacancy left; giving it to Nohara Rin seemed impossible.
However, she could be a disciple in reality without confirming it in the system.
Mokgetsu thought about it; teaching Nohara Rin had two benefits.
One was better motivating Obito to strive in his cultivation, and the other was the opportunity to entice Kakashi to become a disciple.
Kakashi also had S-level potential and was already on the path of rapid growth, making him a good choice.
"Then go and talk to Nohara Rin. If she's willing to come learn from me, she can join," Mokgetsu said.
Upon hearing Mokgetsu's agreement, Obito cheered aloud.
He was only half-heartedly trying; after all, he couldn't force Mokgetsu to teach Nohara Rin.
"Sage Mokgetsu is indeed all-powerful!" Obito said excitedly.
Thinking about being able to train with Nohara Rin in the future, Obito was ecstatic.
He couldn't wait to fast-forward time to tomorrow to share the good news with Nohara Rin.
...
The next day, Ebisu went to the training ground as usual in the morning, ready to undergo special training.
"Why do I feel like everyone's looking at me?" Ebisu muttered, sensing the gazes from all around.
The last time, when he was the only one to make the promotion list, he gained a lot of attention. However, he didn't perform well in Group A yesterday, so there was no reason for everyone to pay attention now.
After all, he had just been promoted and couldn't beat those originally in Group A, which was reasonable.
"Ebisu, I didn't expect you to look so serious on the surface but play so big behind the scenes," Shiranui Genma said, punching Ebisu on the chest.
They were all students of Class 4-6 and had a good relationship.
Hearing Shiranui Genma's words, although Ebisu didn't know what had happened, he instinctively felt something was amiss.
"Show me that Deception Jutsu at noon. I want to challenge my weakness," Shiranui Genma joked.
"Deception Jutsu?" Ebisu vaguely guessed what had happened, and his heart sank.
"Stop pretending; our relationship doesn't require pretense, and now everyone in the three groups knows. Continuing to pretend is pointless."
"It's just developing a rather mature ninjutsu; just admit it boldly," Shiranui Genma said.
"A mature ninjutsu for adults, known by all three groups..." Realizing what had happened, Ebisu nearly blacked out and fainted.
"I really didn't develop it; I only made a suggestion!" Ebisu felt like his Ninja School career was saying goodbye to him.