"Minato, have you smelled anything?" Kushina, who was preparing the meal, suddenly caught a very enticing aroma.
"I have, a very tempting fried scent," Minato nodded.
"Yeah, such a tempting fragrance. I wonder how it's made," Kushina sniffed the air, unable to contain her curiosity.
She also cooked and had made tempura, fried dishes like that, but she had never experienced this kind of alluring fragrance. Just by smelling the aroma, one could imagine the food's perfect golden and crispy state.
"No, I can't resist. I need to go check it out," Kushina said as she walked out.
Carefully sniffing the air, she discovered that the source of the fragrance was the house to the right of Minato's.
"Hey, isn't this Yumi's house? Minato, come out quickly!" Kushina waved to Minato inside the house.
If she remembered correctly, this house belonged to the ninja school sensei Mutsuki Yumi. Though they had only known each other for a few days, Mutsuki had left a quite deep impression on Kushina.
With golden hair and blue eyes similar to Minato's, Mutsuki was eloquent, and his teaching abilities were strong. Minato walked out and, looking in the direction Kushina pointed, nodded, saying, "Yes, it's Yumi's house."
"Come on, let's pay a visit to our neighbor," Kushina said, pulling Minato as they knocked on Mutsuki's door.
Mutsuki placed the shrimp in a bowl, set down the chopsticks, and walked to the door, opening it as soon as Kushina knocked.
As soon as the door opened, Kushina couldn't wait to ask, "Yumi, are you making dinner?"
"Sorry for the disturbance," Minato, looking apologetic, said while glancing at the apron Mutsuki hadn't taken off yet.
"No problem, I've just finished cooking and was about to eat. Your timing is perfect," Mutsuki said with a gentle smile, then invited the two inside.
Following the fragrance, Kushina walked to the dining table and saw the tempura in the dish, lightly golden from frying. Her eyes lit up instantly; this was the aroma she had been following.
However, upon entering Mutsuki's house, Kushina discovered another scent of fried rice.
"Yumi, you're truly a hidden chef. I could smell the fragrance of this tempura even next door," Kushina praised.
"It's not much of being a chef. Since I'm usually alone, I've gotten used to cooking," Mutsuki said, taking two glasses from the cupboard and pouring water for Minato and Kushina.
"You can give it a try; it's just made," Mutsuki said, taking out two sets of utensils.
"Is it okay? I see you haven't eaten yet," Kushina said, staring at the tempura.
She really wanted to taste what that fragrant tempura would be like.
"Let's start eating now," Mutsuki smiled, picking up a piece of tempura from the bowl and putting it in his mouth.
"Thank you, Yumi," Minato expressed his gratitude.
"I'm starting," Kushina said, bringing her hands together in a ceremonial manner. She then picked up the chopsticks, capturing a piece of still-steaming tempura and placing it in her mouth.
"Mmm!" As she bit through the crispy outer layer, the moist and tender shrimp inside instantly widened Kushina's eyes.
Even more magically, Kushina seemed to have entered the depths of the ocean in a trance. Surrounded by a mysterious and beautiful blue world, she felt like a carefree fish, happily swimming in the sea.
"Huh?" Kushina quickly snapped back to reality, almost thinking she had fallen under a Genjutsu.
Upon careful consideration, she realized there was no one present capable of casting Genjutsu on her.
"Mutsuki, how did you make this tempura? Did you add some strange-colored mushrooms?" Kushina asked in confusion.
She had heard about ninjas going into the forest to pick mushrooms in the summer, and one ended up in the Konoha hospital claiming to have too many branches and leaves on his body, asking if someone could help trim them.
"Um, no, it's just like this and then like that..." Mutsuki briefly described the process of cooking.
At that moment, Kushina noticed that Minato seemed to have stopped talking after taking a bite of fried rice. She looked at Minato and found him daydreaming, so she gave him a light tap.
"Minato, what's wrong?" Kushina asked.
Minato instinctively replied, "Eating wild vegetables."
"Where are the wild vegetables here?" Kushina looked at the fried rice, and aside from eggs, there were only chopped green onions, no mushrooms. She asked in confusion.
"Just finished eating the fried rice, and for a moment, I felt like I had turned into a wild chicken living in the mountains..." Minato explained.
Kushina looked at the plate of fried rice, every grain plump and golden, emitting a faint glow like golden light.
Because she had been focused on the tempura, Kushina just noticed that the fried rice seemed to be glowing!
"This is the most delicious fried rice I've ever had," Minato said, unable to resist taking two spoonfuls and putting them into his mouth.
"Is it really that delicious? You should come and try the tempura," Kushina said in confusion.
Afterwards, Kushina ate the egg fried rice, and Minato enjoyed the tempura. Both of them once again displayed expressions of astonishment and happiness.
"Yumi, did you develop a Ninjutsu that makes food taste this good? It's ridiculously delicious!" Kushina joked.
"If you ever think about opening a restaurant, Yumi, be sure to let me know," Minato said seriously.
He wasn't someone who focused much on material pleasures, but Mutsuki's fried rice and tempura provided him with an unparalleled culinary experience.
"If you like it, feel free to visit more often. It's quite lonely here," Mutsuki smiled, extending an invitation.
"As long as you don't find it troublesome, and in the future, you can also taste mine and Minato's cooking, even though it's not as delicious as yours," Kushina said excitedly upon hearing Mutsuki's invitation.
"Well, I'm looking forward to it then," Mutsuki replied with a smile.
After seeing the two off, Mutsuki secretly thought that the new skill was indeed powerful, quickly bringing them to the point of sharing meals together.
Mutsuki brought down some books from the second-floor bedroom, gradually revealing his interests.
...
Encouraged by Mutsuki and with Asuma leading by example as a friend, Obito was full of enthusiasm. By Saturday, he was on the verge of completing his control ability training and was ready to begin practicing Nature Transformation.
On the weekend, Mutsuki, the home tutor, resumed work.
"You deceiver!" Asuma angrily accused Mutsuki.
Last week, in order not to waste the expensive tutoring fees, Asuma had worked hard in his training and returned home utterly exhausted. The intensity and pain during the training made Asuma resent Mutsuki upon learning the truth.
"Oh, what did I deceive you about?" Mutsuki asked with a smile.
"Your tutoring fee was clearly two thousand ryo per hour, but you lied to me, saying it was twenty-five thousand ryo!" Asuma, seeing Mutsuki not admitting it, became even more enraged.
"Did you actually lose anything? Did you really give me twenty-five thousand ryo?" Mutsuki continued to inquire.
"Of course, I..." Asuma tried to say something but suddenly realized he hadn't really lost anything.
"See, you haven't lost anything, and you've even gained. You thought you spent two hundred thousand ryo (for 8h of training) , but you actually only spent sixteen thousand ryo, gaining one hundred and eighty-four thousand ryo. You should thank me," Mutsuki quickly remarked.
"I gained?" Asuma, following Mutsuki's reasoning, seemed to indeed have gained.
"Well, then, it's all good. Let's start the training," Mutsuki said casually.
"No, something's definitely off about this. It doesn't seem right! " Asuma felt that something was amiss.
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