Chapter 194: True Fragrance

As time passed, Jiraiya gradually smelled the aroma coming from the kitchen.

"Is that fried fish?" Jiraiya guessed what Muyue was cooking based on the smell.

"It smells great, but I wonder how it tastes." Jiraiya rubbed his stomach, unconsciously realizing he was starting to feel hungry.

Fortunately, Muyue and Minato didn't keep him waiting long. Just as Jiraiya was pondering what to write, Muyue and Minato brought out all the prepared dishes.

Jiraiya was immediately captivated by the uniquely shaped and appetizingly colored Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish. Although he had encountered many distinctive delicacies while traveling through the ninja world, this was the first time he had seen fish prepared this way.

"What is this dish called? It must have taken quite some effort to shape it." Jiraiya glanced at the Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish and asked curiously.

"This dish is called Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish. The shape is indeed its specialty." Muyue introduced with a smile.

"Master Jiraiya, it may not look very complicated, but it's actually quite difficult to make. Kushina and I have been learning for a while, but we can't make it like Muyue does. The taste is worlds apart."

Minato talked about the difficulties he and Kushina had in learning the Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish. When he mentioned that Kushina had directly handed over the step of making the cross-hatch cuts to him halfway through, a helpless smile appeared on Minato's face.

"Haha, that sounds just like something Kushina would do." Jiraiya smiled and said.

"Let's eat first. These dishes are best enjoyed hot." Muyue reminded.

Some dishes taste completely different when hot versus when cold.

Jiraiya didn't stand on ceremony; he directly reached out with his chopsticks, picked up some fish meat, and stuffed it into his mouth. As he did, he felt a bit of regret for ruining such a beautifully presented dish.

But soon the regret in Jiraiya's heart vanished. As he bit through the crispy shell, inside was incredibly tender fish meat, and the sweet and sour sauce on the fish only made him more eager to eat. After one bite, he felt even hungrier.

After eating the fish, Jiraiya even felt as if he had transformed into a swimming dragon rushing into the vast, boundless ocean, roaming freely without needing to scour the world for the prophesied child who would change it.

When he snapped back to reality, Jiraiya realized that Minato's description in the letter was not an exaggeration at all. It was so delicious it was like being under a genjutsu. For just a moment, Jiraiya experienced an extremely relaxed feeling he hadn't had in a long time.

"The timing for frying this fish is incredibly precise, and the sweet and sour ratio of the sauce is perfection. Any more sour or any more sweet would not achieve this effect."

Jiraiya gave his commentary, then looked back at the Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish and suddenly noticed that nearly half the fish was gone. He saw Minato silently eating without saying a word, continuously devouring the rice.

"Minato, since when do you eat so fast?"

Now Jiraiya couldn't sit still. He had only spoken a few words and Minato had already eaten so much. So Jiraiya stopped talking and quickly started eating too.

It wasn't just the beautifully shaped Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish; even the seemingly ordinary Mei Cai Kou Rou and Stir-fried Pork with Chili Peppers made Jiraiya unable to resist bowl after bowl of rice.

"Muyue, your Stir-fried Pork with Chili Peppers tastes great, but why don't you add a bit more meat?" Jiraiya scanned through the abundance of chili peppers with sharp eyes, finally picked up a piece of meat, and asked in confusion.

"If the meat were more than the chili peppers, it wouldn't have this taste." Muyue explained.

His Stir-fried Pork with Chili Peppers wasn't to the point where you only see chili and no meat; it's just that the chili peppers weren't being eaten, so by the end it seemed like there was a lot of chili.

"That makes a lot of sense. Cooking is similar to ninja training in a way; if you disrupt the proportions, you fail." Jiraiya stroked his chin in approval. To synthesize Sage Chakra, one needs to balance the ratio of chakra and natural energy.

"Then this dish would be suitable for making in larger portions." Jiraiya suggested.

Since adding more meat would ruin the taste, if you add more of both chili and meat, it won't ruin the proportion.

"I, Jiraiya, hereby dub you the number one chef in the ninja world. Having traveled far and wide for so many years, this is the first time I've eaten such delicious food." Jiraiya praised.

This was the first time he had eaten to the point of wanting to lick the chopsticks clean.

Although Minato's description of Muyue's cooking seemed outrageous, after eating it, Jiraiya found that Minato had been completely realistic, without any exaggeration.

"I don't deserve the title of number one in the ninja world. I just put a bit more thought into cooking." Muyue said modestly.

"Haha, that 'bit more thought' of yours is really something." Jiraiya smiled, looking at Muyue with great approval.

At this moment, Minato suddenly coughed twice lightly, with an apologetic look on his face, and said:

"Muyue, I have something to apologize to you for."

Muyue guessed what it was in his heart, but put on a puzzled expression and asked:

"What is it? Is it about eating too fast during the meal? That's really not necessary."

Hearing Muyue's words, Minato felt even more embarrassed and explained:

"I really didn't speed up on purpose. It's just that your cooking is so delicious that I unconsciously ate quickly."

Muyue knew that Minato might indeed have been like that, after all, Minato had superhuman reflexes.

Then Minato put on a serious expression and apologized:

"Sorry, Mu Yue. I lied when I said I didn't have time to eat before. Actually, I wasn't that busy back then—I just wanted to bring food to Kushina, so I made up an excuse about being busy."

"Oh, that's what it was. I already knew. No one who was truly busy would come here to freeload every day." Mu Yue said with a chuckle.

Sometimes you can play dumb appropriately, but you can't let others think you're actually stupid.

"Kushina is in secret training, so she can't come over, but she really wants to eat your cooking, Mu Yue, so..."

Minato briefly explained things to Mu Yue, omitting a series of sensitive details like Kushina's identity and the surveillance Anbu.

He wouldn't be able to keep it a secret much longer, because before long Minato would have to go to the battlefield with Jiraiya. He couldn't exactly leave a Shadow Clone to bring Kushina her meals the whole time.

"Sorry for troubling you, Mu Yue." Minato said with an apologetic look.

"It's nothing. It's just one extra meal to make. It's nothing compared to the help you've given me with sealing techniques." Mu Yue nodded with a smile, indicating that as long as he was in Konoha, Kushina would never go hungry.

After eating, the three sat together and chatted for a while. At first Jiraiya asked Mu Yue about cooking, and later the conversation turned to sealing techniques.

"I have an idea: set up a seal inside the body, store some chakra in it, and when you run low during battle, release the chakra from the seal to quickly replenish it." Mu Yue shared his idea.

Jiraiya and Minato were both highly skilled in sealing techniques and knew more local knowledge than he did as a time-traveler. Mu Yue wanted to use this opportunity to find inspiration.

After all, it was just an idea, a brainstorm—it wouldn't reveal his true level of sealing technique mastery.

"The idea is pretty good, but making it happen is basically impossible." Jiraiya thought for a moment and answered.

"This idea of yours came from the Jinchuuriki's Tailed Beast, right?" Jiraiya asked.

Mu Yue nodded. Actually, his inspiration came from Tsunade's Yin Seal.

"The reason Jinchuuriki can use a Tailed Beast's chakra is that Tailed Beasts have very unique properties. When sealed into a human body, they achieve a state of fusion. No matter how much Tailed Beast chakra there is, it won't affect the chakra pathways and points."

"But your idea is different. You want to store your own chakra, so you'd have to set up a sealing technique on the chakra pathways and points. Not to mention the difficulty of setting up a sealing technique on those pathways and points."

"A large amount of chakra suddenly released at some pathway or point would cause the burst of chakra to throw your entire body's chakra into chaos, making it impossible for you to perform ninjutsu. How could you use that in battle?" Jiraiya explained.

"And you also have to consider the damage that sudden, massive chakra burst would do to your body."

Jiraiya's words suddenly enlightened Mu Yue about a lot. He had previously thought that Tsunade's Yin Seal was meant to preserve her youth, which was why Byakugō no Jutsu—the automatic healing jutsu mode that cannot be turned off once activated—was released from the Yin Seal.

According to Jiraiya, it wasn't that Tsunade wanted to auto-heal, but that she had no choice. Without that, the sudden surge of massive chakra would become a negative state hindering her, much like the chakra released when opening the Eight Gates.

Jiraiya's words were indeed quite helpful to Mu Yue. Earlier, he had only thought about creating a power bank inside his body but neglected other aspects.

However, Mu Yue did not immediately abandon the power bank plan. Jiraiya thought it was impossible, but that didn't mean Mu Yue couldn't do it—after all, he had cheats.

He had the Transparent World, absolute control over his body, and could perform any fine manipulation internally. He also had excellent talent in sealing techniques.

In just half a year of studying sealing techniques, Mu Yue had already mastered Five Elements Seal and Contract Seal to a proficient level. Not long ago, the Third had given him the Evil Sealing Method, which he had become skilled at, and Fire Sealing Technique, which he had begun learning.

"Maybe I can first create an automatic Rock Breathing Mark seal." Mu Yue thought to himself.

He could avoid innovating for now and simply imitate Tsunade to create a fully automated sealing ninjutsu.

The reason it was Rock Breathing was because the Rock Breathing Mark provides ultimate physical enhancement, even strengthening the inside of the body, to prevent sudden chakra bursts from injuring the body.

"Thank you for the reminder, Jiraiya-sama. I was a bit too presumptuous." Mu Yue expressed his gratitude.

"No problem. The most important thing for young people is to think a lot. If you don't even dare to think, what kind of young person are you? Haha." Jiraiya patted Mu Yue's shoulder and laughed.

"Mu Yue, you're making me feel a bit ashamed. I never thought about this kind of thing myself—I just tried to improve on some sealing techniques." Minato said with a smile.

If it weren't Minato saying this, Mu Yue would definitely think that person was showing off. Anyone who could improve sealing techniques truly understood them.

But coming from Minato, Mu Yue felt that Minato might genuinely think his brainstorm was interesting.

When it was about time, Minato and Jiraiya left.

Mu Yue used Appraisal on Jiraiya as he was leaving.

Next, there's still 7k.