Chapter 287: Tsunade Eats Chicken

Ninja Academy Teacher: I Get Stronger Just by Teaching, Chapter 205: Tsunade Eats Chicken at the Izakaya, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru sit side by side.

"How nostalgic. When was the last time the three of us drank like this?" Jiraiya took a sip of sake and said with a laugh.

"Probably when the Second Shinobi World War ended." Tsunade drained her glass and said after a brief recollection.

After the Second Shinobi World War ended, they each went their own ways.

"Jiraiya, it's been so long. Have you found that student who can change the shinobi world?" Orochimaru picked up some appetizer and asked.

"Haha, good question. I don't know either." Jiraiya replied with a smile.

The Great Toad Sage's prophecy was too vague; he didn't know if any of the students he had taught was truly the Child of Prophecy.

"You're so confident even though you don't know. What a fool, as always." Tsunade teased.

"He's just making trouble for himself." Orochimaru was not surprised by Jiraiya's answer.

He believed that an individual's power could never change the entire shinobi world. Even the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, couldn't do it; after his death, the shinobi world remained as it was.

"I'm making trouble for myself? Then what are you? Learning all the jutsu in the world and gaining immortality? That's impossible. No matter how much you research, human life will never be eternal." Jiraiya retorted bluntly.

"Instead of researching immortality, it's better to find a worthy successor to pass on your ninja way. That way, even if you die, you live on in another form."

"No matter how nicely you put it, dead is dead. Living in people's hearts is just comforting talk for children." Orochimaru retorted calmly.

Since birth, he had witnessed many deaths. Not long after he could remember, his parents died.

During the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru was already an excellent jōnin and had led many Konoha ninja on important war missions. During that time, he saw many subordinates die before his eyes.

But what affected Orochimaru the most was the death of his disciple, Nawaki.

Nawaki was both his disciple and Tsunade's younger brother. Although he was Orochimaru's student, their personalities were nearly opposite. Orochimaru always had a stern face, while Nawaki always wore an excited, enthusiastic smile.

Despite their vastly different personalities, Orochimaru quite liked this disciple. His lack of smiles didn't mean he couldn't stand others smiling; in fact, Orochimaru felt exceptionally at ease when teaching Nawaki.

But the shinobi world war was too cruel. During a nighttime mission, Nawaki, in his haste to pursue an enemy, accidentally triggered an explosive tag trap and died right before Orochimaru's eyes.

From then on, Orochimaru understood one thing: humans were very fragile creatures. So he would study ninjutsu to its utmost to make himself less fragile.

Hearing Orochimaru's words, Tsunade recalled some unpleasant memories and downed several cups of sake in a row.

"You're getting colder and colder, you bastard." Jiraiya sighed after hearing Orochimaru's words.

"It's your thinking that's too childish." Orochimaru took a sip of sake and said.

"A naive fool and a fool who can't talk." Tsunade chose to roast them both.

The three drank, ate, and chatted for a long time. Although much of the time was spent bickering, the overall atmosphere was still pretty good.

"Haha, today was fun. Want to drink again tomorrow?" As they ended, Jiraiya's cheeks were already flushed, and he asked.

"No time. Tomorrow evening I have to study ninjutsu." Orochimaru declined Jiraiya's invitation.

"No drinking. If you hadn't invited me today, I could have eaten the chicken dish Muyue made." Tsunade also refused very directly and decisively.

No way — she had changed her previous stance just to eat Muyue's chicken. Why would she go drinking with Jiraiya?

"That really is a considerable loss — after all, it's Muyue's cooking." Jiraiya rubbed his chin and nodded in agreement.

"Muyue?" Hearing both Jiraiya and Tsunade mention this name, Orochimaru showed a thoughtful expression.

But what he was thinking about was not some legend of a chef god, but the contents of the Konoha newspaper and his exchanges with Danzo.

On the day the Konoha newspaper was published, he happened to be working at Root. Danzo couldn't hold it together when he saw the content.

He had thought he had lost just an insignificant small fry, but it turned out to be an excellent jōnin who could contribute in a Tailed Beast battle.

Danzo immediately couldn't resist using his authority to obtain the detailed report of that battle, learning how Muyue had performed in the war.

If Orochimaru remembered correctly, this Hanyu Muyue was skilled in using combination jutsu, and his techniques were very powerful.

After briefly recalling, Orochimaru lost interest. The ninjutsu he was currently researching were not the ordinary five elemental nature transformations, but those with more special effects.

……

When Tsunade woke up again, it was already noon.

Feeling a little hungry, Tsunade walked out of the room and called out, "Shizune, I'm starving. Is there anything to eat?"

"I'm working on it, Lady Tsunade. Please wait a moment," Shizune replied.

Tsunade did a simple wash up. As she passed the table, she caught a faint floral scent, then followed the smell to two packages on the table whose contents were unknown.

Since she was a bit hungry, Tsunade curiously opened one of the packages and popped the cake inside into her mouth.

"Not bad, actually. Is this a newly developed dessert?" Tsunade opened the second package, stuffed the cake inside into her mouth, and nodded.

"Lady Tsunade, the meal is ready." Shizune trotted over and placed the finished dishes on the table.

Then she saw the two packages that had already been opened.

Shizune was dumbfounded. Because it was so delicious, she had decided to wait a full twenty-four hours before having another one. To resist temptation, she had deliberately not brought it with her while cooking… she never expected this.

"Maybe it's just identical packaging. Perhaps Lady Tsunade will eat a different type of dessert," Shizune reassured herself inwardly.

Next, Shizune picked up the two now-empty packages and carefully examined them. There was still a bit of cake crumbs on them.

At that moment, Shizune could no longer comfort herself. Without a doubt, these were the cakes she had placed on the table.

Shizune's face froze, her eyes glazed over as she stared at Tsunade.

"Shizune, what's wrong?" Tsunade noticed Shizune's gaze and asked.

"They're gone."

"What's gone?" Tsunade was a bit confused.

"The desserts are gone. They were eaten by Lady Tsunade, who doesn't like sweets." There was a hint of petulance in Shizune's voice.

"Oh, those two on the table. They were surprisingly good. Where did you buy them? I'll give you money to go buy more." Tsunade's expression showed sudden understanding, and she prepared to get money for Shizune.

"I can't buy them. Those were made by Mu Yue-sensei himself." Shizune's expression was very dejected.

Seeing Shizune's low spirits, Tsunade also felt a bit awkward. Although she usually didn't care about such things, accidentally snatching a candy that a child was really looking forward to did bring an indescribable sense of guilt.

"It's no big deal. Shizune, you eat your meal too. When he comes, I'll just ask him for some." Tsunade quickly thought of a solution and said.

"Wouldn't it be bad to trouble Mu Yue-sensei like that?" Shizune shook her head.

Although she really wanted to eat them, she felt it was wrong to bother Mu Yue for no reason.

"What's so hard about that? His problems are so complicated and difficult, a hundred thousand ryo an hour isn't enough. It's only right that he throws in some desserts." Tsunade waved her hand dismissively, indicating it was no problem.

At half past twelve, Mu Yue came to Tsunade's house again. But this time, he didn't need Jiraiya to lead the way; Mu Yue came on his own.

"Lady Tsunade, today is five hours." Mu Yue handed Tsunade a stack of five hundred thousand ryo.

Tsunade took the money and tossed it to Shizune, then began answering Mu Yue's questions.

Whether it was Mu Yue's imagination or not, he felt that Tsunade was a bit more proactive today than yesterday. Yesterday, she had slacked off whenever she could.

When the five hours were over, Mu Yue felt much the same as yesterday—still full of gains.

After the lesson, Mu Yue also kept his promise and made a chicken dish for Tsunade.

Curious and with nothing to do, Tsunade brought Shizune to watch Mu Yue cook the whole time, wanting to see if the new dish Mu Yue mentioned was just a bluff.

"Why are you smearing mud on it?" Tsunade looked at Mu Yue, who had gone out into the yard, and asked in confusion.

"What if it gets dirty? Will it taste good this way?"

"It won't get dirty. The lotus leaf is wrapped tightly. As for the taste, you'll know when you eat it." Mu Yue replied with a chuckle.

The chicken dish he planned to make for Tsunade was the famous Beggar's Chicken from his past life, which had a very unique flavor.

After putting the Beggar's Chicken into a simple roasting tool made with Earth Release, Mu Yue started making other dishes.

He fried some tempura, made sushi, and then there were the indispensable stir-fried dishes. When all the dishes were set on the table, they looked very sumptuous.

Although many dishes gave off very enticing aromas, Tsunade's attention was still drawn to the largest dish—the Beggar's Chicken.

Tsunade poured herself a glass of sake, which she had bought specifically for eating chicken.

"Will something wrapped in mud and roasted taste good?" With this doubt, Tsunade directly pulled off a drumstick and took a bite.

The moment it entered her mouth, the tender, flaky, rich flavors exploded on Tsunade's palate. Her eyes lit up—she had never eaten chicken this delicious before.

Then came a moment of trance. Tsunade felt as if she had become a free wild chicken living in the jungle, utterly relaxed in both mind and body.

Tsunade did not say another word until she finished the dishes on the table.

"Muyue, that dessert you made was quite tasty. Could you send some to Shizune? She really likes it." After eating, Tsunade remembered Shizune's matter.

"No problem. I'll bring some when I come to learn tomorrow." Muyue replied with a smile.

Tsunade fell silent. She had intended to end her brief teaching career today.

"Forget it, one more day of teaching. For Shizune's sake. Absolutely not because the cooking is too delicious." Tsunade decided that tomorrow she would tell Muyue not to come again.