"Why hasn't he come yet? Could he still be asleep?"
Tsunade glanced at the clock; the hour hand was on twelve and the minute hand had moved halfway. Since Mutsuki had arrived at this time the past couple of days, Tsunade expected him to show up around the same time today.
"Yumi-sensei shouldn't be someone who wakes up at noon," Shizune thought Mutsuki was definitely different from Tsunade.
"What's wrong with waking up at noon? There's nothing to do anyway, so it doesn't matter what time you wake up." Tsunade thought Shizune's words were somewhat pointed, so she reached out with her mischievous hands towards Shizune's cheeks.
"Mmm…" Shizune wanted to say that waking up at noon means losing a third of the day, but Tsunade's rubbing attacks made her words unclear.
Until one o'clock, Tsunade still hadn't seen Mutsuki, so she decided to start teaching Shizune instead.
"It should be that you're still learning the Mystical Palm Jutsu, right?" Tsunade asked Shizune.
"Yes," Shizune nodded.
By two-thirty, Mutsuki entered Tsunade's courtyard, carrying a small box.
"Tsunade-sama," Mutsuki greeted Tsunade with a smile and placed the box next to her and Shizune.
At that moment, Tsunade had just finished a segment and was taking a break. She nodded in acknowledgment and opened the gift box.
Shizune's eyes lit up as soon as she saw the pastries inside the box.
Tsunade casually picked up a piece, tasted it, and nodded. She had to admit that Mutsuki had a real knack for food; even someone like her, who wasn't very fond of sweets, found it quite tasty.
"Go ahead and eat; it was meant for you," Mutsuki said with a smile to Shizune.
Grateful, Shizune looked at Mutsuki with appreciation and began to eat as well.
Shizune actually wanted to save some for later in the evening or for tomorrow, but Tsunade's constant eating made her give up on that idea. There was no way to keep any, as Tsunade would eat it all if she didn't.
"Tsunade-sama, today's lesson will be for four hours. Here is the payment," Mutsuki said after Tsunade finished eating, handing over 400,000 ryo to Tsunade.
"Let's begin," Tsunade replied, taking the money and tossing it to Shizune without even looking at it.
She didn't ask Mutsuki why only four hours today, as Mutsuki might not be as free as she was, and it was normal for things to come up.
During the next four hours, the courtyard was filled only with the sounds of the lesson and questions. Although the knowledge Tsunade taught was quite advanced for Shizune at the moment, she made an effort to pay attention and took notes on the parts she didn't understand to maintain the atmosphere.
After the lesson, Mutsuki, as usual, prepared dinner for Tsunade and left a preview for the next day.
"Aside from Beggar's Chicken, there's another way to cook chicken that's really tasty, with just a bit of spiciness," Mutsuki said after the meal.
After hearing Mutsuki's words, Tsunade silently swallowed the words she had originally planned to say.
The Beggar's Chicken that Mutsuki made was the best chicken Tsunade had ever tasted. In fact, Tsunade and Shizune had tried to replicate it themselves at noon today. Although the flavor was acceptable, it was no comparison to Mutsuki's dish, and it didn't leave them feeling as refreshed and relaxed.
"Make sure he doesn't come for tomorrow's chicken dish!" Tsunade thought resolutely.
There was no doubt that Mutsuki's presence severely affected her laziness. Teaching a ninja of Shizune's level was easy for Tsunade, as she could provide answers without much thought, mostly letting Shizune practice on her own.
But Mutsuki was different; sometimes he asked questions that required her serious consideration.
As Mutsuki was leaving, Shizune waved goodbye to him with reluctance, saying, "Yumi-sensei, goodbye."
To Shizune, Mutsuki was wonderful, not only bringing her sweets but also making delicious meals for them without charge.
Mutsuki responded with a gentle smile and left the courtyard under their watchful eyes.
Seeing her disciple still staring at Mutsuki's departing figure, Tsunade gave Shizune a light smack on the head with her hand and, crossing her arms, said:
"Still looking? He's already gone far. Are you so fond of him after just a few meals?"
"It's not just about the food; Yumi-sensei is such a nice person," Shizune replied, covering her head with her hands and blushing.
"It's not just me who likes him; everyone in the fourth grade likes Yumi-sensei."
The next day, without a hangover, Tsunade woke up a bit earlier, getting up by ten o'clock.
However, waking up early had little meaning for Tsunade, and even had a negative impact, as it meant she would have to wait longer to enjoy Mutsuki's cooking.
Shizune, on the other hand, was happy, hoping that Tsunade might return to a healthier routine of waking up at eight in the morning.
"If I had known, I should have slept until six-thirty in the afternoon," Tsunade said, glancing at the clock. It was already past one, and Mutsuki had not arrived yet.
"If you really slept that late, you definitely wouldn't get to eat Yumi-sensei's cooking. If he saw you sleeping, he would be disappointed and might leave without cooking," Shizune said, disapproving of Tsunade's thought.
She felt that Mutsuki stayed to cook as a reward for Tsunade, so if Tsunade wanted to eat Mutsuki's cooking without teaching, wouldn't that be unearned?
Tsunade realized this was true. If she didn't teach, there was no way Mutsuki would stay.
Today, Mutsuki arrived even later than yesterday, coming to Tsunade's courtyard only at four in the afternoon.
"You've been lazy; coming so late today. I absolutely won't use the evening to teach you," Tsunade said with an annoyed expression.
"Sorry, Tsunade-sama, two hours of teaching today will be enough," Mutsuki said apologetically, then handed over 200,000 ryo to Tsunade.
Mutsuki's strength was enough to support him in completing high-rank missions and earning commission fees, but he wouldn't waste time for money, and with the Academy's school year approaching, he didn't have much money left.
Of course, this was also part of Mutsuki's plan.
"Oh, I see," Tsunade said, slightly taken aback, and the inexplicable frustration she had felt dissipated.
If Mutsuki only planned to learn for two hours today, then arriving at four o'clock was indeed reasonable; even arriving at four-thirty wouldn't be too late.
After teaching him for four to six hours for three consecutive days, only teaching for two hours today made the time seem to pass quickly, and it wasn't tiring at all.
Tsunade didn't give up on her idea of learning from Mutsuki and watched him cook with Shizune.
Tsunade thought today's chicken might have a richer flavor because she saw Mutsuki marinating, frying, and stir-frying, which seemed a bit complex.
In fact, Tsunade was already quite hungry after the frying was done and couldn't wait after Mutsuki finished stir-frying.
"This dish is called Spicy Chicken. For those who like spicy food, it might be even more delicious than Beggar's Chicken," Mutsuki briefly introduced after placing the dish on the table.
Tsunade ignored Mutsuki's words, knowing she would find out whether it was good or not after eating it.
However, looking at the pile of red chilies, Tsunade felt that the name Spicy Chicken was quite fitting.
Under the influence of the aroma, Tsunade picked up a piece of chicken and put it in her mouth. As she chewed, she felt as if her whole body was immersed in a warm hot spring, feeling extremely comfortable.
"Mutsuki, with your cooking skills, you could definitely make a lot of money if you opened a restaurant, probably more than being a ninja," Tsunade tried to persuade Mutsuki to open a restaurant, thinking it would make it easier for her to enjoy his cooking.
"Cooking is just a hobby for me; I don't want it to become my job," Mutsuki directly told Tsunade that it wasn't going to happen.
Tsunade struggled with her feelings for a long time and didn't say, "Mutsuki, don't come again," because she still wanted to eat Mutsuki's Beggar's Chicken and Spicy Chicken.
"Forget it, I'll give one last lesson tomorrow; it will definitely be the final one!" Tsunade thought to herself.
Although Tsunade didn't tell Mutsuki not to come, Mutsuki said:
"Tsunade-sama, I have a small matter tomorrow, so I probably won't have time to come for lessons. You don't need to wait for me in the afternoon."
"Do you think I'm someone else? I'm Tsunade, one of the Three Sannin. Why would I be waiting at home for you in the afternoon? I'm just here to teach Shizune," Tsunade said with a displeased expression.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama, for today's instruction," Mutsuki said, not minding Tsunade's words, and gently smiled as he bid farewell to the two.
Watching Mutsuki leave, Shizune lamented, "It's such a pity that we won't get to eat Yumi-sensei's cooking tomorrow."
"What's the pity? I'll take you to a high-end restaurant tomorrow, and we'll use his money to eat there," Tsunade said nonchalantly.
True to her word, Tsunade took Shizune to a high-end restaurant in Konoha for lunch the next day.
"I don't know how they dare set such high prices when the food isn't even as good as what an amateur makes," Tsunade complained, looking at the table full of dishes.
She ordered the most expensive items, but none of the dishes gave her the same feeling as Mutsuki's cooking. Tsunade even felt that these dishes weren't even one-fifth as good as Mutsuki's.
"Maybe Yumi-sensei's cooking is just too good," Shizune said, believing that it wasn't the restaurant that was lacking but rather Mutsuki's exceptional skills.
She thought the restaurant's food tasted much better than what she could cook.
In the afternoon, Tsunade still held out a small hope that Mutsuki might finish his business early and come for the lesson.
After all, based on her observations over the past few days, Mutsuki was very diligent in his training and seemed to be the type who would seize every opportunity to improve himself.
But by the time Tsunade saw the hour hand reach seven o'clock, Mutsuki was still nowhere to be seen.
"The younger generation of ninjas these days really is lacking; they can't even make the most of opportunities to improve themselves," Tsunade thought the younger ninjas of Konoha were somewhat worrisome.
"Tsunade-sama, Yumi-sensei just had a small matter to attend to. It doesn't mean all the young ninjas in the village are like that," Shizune said weakly in defense of Mutsuki.
Tsunade gave Shizune a sharp look.
At that moment, Tsunade suddenly felt the slowness of time and eagerly awaited the arrival of the next day.
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