Naruto: Teaching to Become Stronger, Changing Tragedies 85

Chapter 85: Discovering a New System Mechanism (10,000 words update, please subscribe!)

Saturday morning.

Because he had made an appointment with Minato and Kushina to conduct a detailed lesson on Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish (松鼠桂鱼), Makuya sent a Shadow Clone to guide his disciples, while his main body stayed at home in Konoha’s main city area to teach Minato and Kushina how to cook the dish.

The reason for not switching roles—the Shadow Clone teaching cooking and the main body teaching disciples—was mainly because the Shadow Clone didn’t have the benefit of the cook skill.

Makuya took a fish, placed it on the cutting board, and showed Minato and Kushina, explaining as he filleted the fish:

“To process the fish, first make a slanted cut behind the gills and sever the backbone.”

Makuya cut off the fish head, then reminded them:

“For the fish head, do a little more processing; cut off the gill cover. This will help it set properly when frying, and it will look much better when plated.”

“No wonder mine didn’t look good; there was this extra step!” Kushina exclaimed in realization.

While processing the fish, Makuya instructed the two to control their strength carefully, cutting only four-fifths of the fish meat, being careful not to cut through the skin, as that would ruin the presentation.

At this point, Makuya took out two more prepared fish for Kushina and Minato to try.

Minato did fairly well, perhaps afraid of cutting through the fish meat, making his cuts slightly shallow. Kushina, on the other hand, cut straight through the fish skin.

“Haha, this fish meat is too soft; it cut right through! Makuya, do you have any firmer fish?” Kushina tried to blame the fish.

“Would you eat it if it was too hard?” Makuya responded with a helpless smile.

Luckily, Makuya was well-prepared. He took another fish for Kushina to try.

With the experience from her first attempt, Kushina made three cuts before breaking the fish skin, showing significant improvement.

“From now on, leave the filleting to you, Minato,” Kushina said solemnly. To avoid wasting Makuya’s time, Kushina decided to temporarily give up on the fish.

The lesson continued. Makuya meticulously explained each step, then immediately had the two practice it.

This method was slow. By noon, Makuya hadn’t completed a single Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish with Kushina and Minato; they had only just finished the preparatory steps.

It wasn’t until around 2 PM that Makuya finally helped them complete their own Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish.

They were finished, although the appearance varied greatly.

“We followed each step precisely, so why are our results so different?” Kushina felt that her and Minato’s dishes were still far from Makuya’s.

“After all, we’re beginners. With more practice, the appearance should improve,” Minato said.

Minato was quite satisfied; he had actually completed such a complex dish.

If cooking had difficulty levels, Minato felt this Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish was at least a B-level.

He immediately added the dish to the menu for when Jiraiya returned.

[Lesson Complete]

[Evaluation: B]

[Reward Obtained: Magical Mapo Tofu]

Just as Makuya was about to say something, the system suddenly issued a prompt.

“Teaching cooking also counts as teaching? Teaching two people can also trigger a lesson reward?” Two questions immediately popped into Makuya’s mind.

Before, he had also taught, but why hadn’t it triggered a reward? Why hadn’t it triggered a lesson reward when teaching his disciples?

After careful consideration, Makuya had some guesses.

The judgment of a lesson might not only be based on the number of people, but also the strength of those being taught. Although he only taught Minato and Kushina, they were both very strong.

As for why it didn’t trigger before when teaching cooking, Makuya felt it was likely because of insufficient time or depth of instruction.

This lesson reward was quite unexpected; the reward was abstract, a recipe—if he remembered correctly, it was a recipe from *中华小当家* (Chuka Ichiban! – a popular Chinese anime about a culinary prodigy).

Kushina and Minato each took a bite of their Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish, both showing satisfied smiles. Although the appearance was a bit rough, the taste was quite good.

However, during the meal, Makuya’s Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish was finished first. Their own dishes were good, but Makuya’s was too fragrant to resist.

“Makuya, thank you so much for taking half a day to teach us how to cook,” Minato said warmly.

“It’s nothing. Don’t you often help me with my sealing jutsu questions?” Makuya replied with a smile, indicating that they didn’t need to be so polite.

“Speaking of sealing jutsu, how’s your Three-Finger Seal Cultivation going?” Kushina asked.

“I’ve made some headway,” Makuya shared his insights from the past three days of cultivation.

“That’s pretty good. The total time until you succeed should be about what I estimated,” Kushina nodded in affirmation.

In terms of cooking, Kushina would consider Makuya the strongest, but when it came to sealing jutsu, she believed there was no one stronger than her in the entire ninja world.

“I’ll write down some of my insights on sealing jutsu cultivation and give them to you,” Kushina said after thinking for a moment.

She was someone who knew how to reciprocate kindness. Since Makuya had so carefully taught her and Minato how to cook, Kushina decided to return the favor.

“That would be great,” Makuya thought happily.

“You’re so kind, Makuya. It’s nothing at all,” Kushina laughed heartily.

In the evening, Obito informed Makuya in advance that he would be applying again for the physical skill challenge on Sunday.

“Are you ready?” Makuya asked Obito with a smile, slowly taking three test papers from a scroll.

Seeing the three test papers in Makuya’s hand, Obito’s face immediately fell. No matter what, he didn’t want to take tests.

But when Obito looked at Might Guy and Shisui practicing Body Flicker (剃) in the distance, and recalled their conversation from yesterday, Obito’s fighting spirit was rekindled. “Makuya-sensei, I’m ready! This time, I’ll succeed!”

Since his disastrous defeat last Saturday, he had trained hard for a week. Obito chose to believe in his training results.

Seeing Obito’s confidence, Makuya gave Obito the “entrance fee,” and began setting up the course.

The next morning.

Obito arrived very early, even earlier than Shisui to the training ground.

After Obito warmed up, Makuya took him to the challenge area he had set up.

“It’s the same as before. Just keep heading east, and you’ll see the finish line,” Makuya reminded him.

Obito nodded, and immediately sprinted with all his might in the direction Makuya pointed.

Having learned from last time, Obito didn’t look back for Shadow Clones, instead paying close attention to his surroundings for traps and mechanisms.

With his cautious attitude, Obito reached the large swing obstacle where he had failed last time—an area where numerous thick trees swung back and forth.

Without hesitation, Obito charged in, relying on his speed to pass unscathed.

Used to running with weights, without them, Obito felt incredibly light, and his running speed increased dramatically.

After passing the point of his previous failure, Obito felt much more relaxed, a bright smile spreading across his face.

“As long as I’m serious, this challenge is nothing.”

However, Obito’s smugness didn’t last three seconds. His words had barely left his mouth when he fell into a large pit dug by Makuya.

“Minus one point.”

Makuya’s warm voice reached Obito’s ears.

Obito quickly jumped out of the pit and carefully ran, no longer daring to be careless.

The price of carelessness was too high—not only did he have to restart the challenge, but he also had to answer one hundred more questions.

The former was unpleasant but acceptable; the latter was terrifying.

After running cautiously for a while, Obito saw a kunai stuck in a wooden post. A flag was tied to the kunai, and the flag read “Finish Line.”

Obito smiled again.

“This is the finish line. I still have two points left. My carefulness is truly amazing,” Obito walked towards the kunai with an air of unconquerable confidence.

At this moment, Obito’s satisfaction was overwhelming. Passing the difficult challenge with his hard training and extraordinary caution, nothing could be more satisfying. The sense of accomplishment was immense.

But just as Obito was about to reach the kunai, he was suddenly hoisted into the air—he hadn’t expected a trap at the finish line!

“Minus one point.” Makuya’s voice once again reached Obito’s ears.

Obito quickly freed himself from the trap, no longer daring to laugh. He was afraid that another laugh would cost him his last point, resulting in three more test papers.

After carefully checking his surroundings, Obito crossed the finish line.

Only then did Makuya appear, saying, “Although you only have one point left, you succeeded.”

“Hahaha, yes!” Obito couldn’t help but jump up and cheer, letting out a joyful laugh. He didn’t have to worry about failing and receiving a hundred questions.

“Finally, I can learn Body Flicker like Shisui and Guy!”

“Who said you can learn Body Flicker now?” Makuya asked, puzzled.

“Didn’t Makuya-sensei say I could learn it after completing the physical skill challenge?” Obito asked in confusion.

“Yes, after completing the physical skill challenge. But you only completed the first stage, the forest sprint. You haven’t completed the second stage yet,” Makuya explained.

Obito thought for a moment, and finally retrieved the relevant memory from somewhere—there was indeed such a thing!

“The second stage is the river sprint. You need to cross from one riverbank to the other within the time limit without falling into the water,” Makuya explained.

“It’s that simple?” Obito’s face lit up with joy.

It’s just treading water—too easy for him now.

“I will release a jutsu on the river’s surface to create some interference,” Makuya said with a smile.

“Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet?” Obito asked.

Makuya nodded. It was indeed Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet, but the quantity was just a little…more.

With Makuya’s confirmation, Obito looked relaxed. It’s just Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet plus treading water; he’s already completed this training.

“Makuya-sensei, I want to start the second stage of the challenge,” Obito wanted to quickly complete the challenge and begin practicing Body Flicker.

Due to lack of saved chapters, all five chapters were written late at night. There might be some mistakes. Please leave any comments at the end of the chapters; I will read them.

(End of Chapter)

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