Chapter 33: Asuma with Guts (Please Follow)

"Teacher Muyue, when do we start nature transformation training? Lately, I've been reading your handbook every night, and I really want to put it into practice." Obito, who was walking on the river, asked.

Climbing trees and treading water every single day is way too boring.

Besides, Muyue's nature transformation handbook had really inspired him, and he suddenly felt like his Fire Release was about to get good.

"Bored with treading water? Already mastered it?" Muyue asked with a smile.

"Mm-hmm." Obito nodded quickly. He could already jog on the water.

"Alright then, let me test your level, and while I'm at it, I'll make treading water a bit more interesting." Muyue quickly formed hand seals, his chakra surging.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

A massive water dragon formed instantly, then rolled through the river, turning the calm surface into a raging torrent that occasionally kicked up huge waves.

"Mmph..." Obito accidentally pitched headfirst into the water and took a big gulp.

Muyue swiftly fished Obito out and laughed, "See? You haven't quite mastered it yet."

"Teacher Muyue, how am I supposed to handle you suddenly pulling something like that?" Obito complained.

There was a classmate and a clan junior present, so he still had face to save.

"Then try again." Muyue said with a smile.

Treading water really tests a ninja's control over sustained chakra output. With a Water Dragon Bullet to distract you, plus having to dodge the waves, being able to keep a steady and continuous output under those conditions shows pretty good chakra control.

Obito had a hard mouth, but his skills weren't hard at all. He couldn't hold out a few minutes before falling into the water again.

"The shoes I wore today didn't fit right, affected my performance." Obito spat out the river water in his mouth to explain, then put his shoes on the bank and walked barefoot on the water.

Muyue gave a slight smile and said nothing.

After a little while longer, Obito fell into the water again.

"Ah, probably because I stayed up too late reading yesterday, so I don't have any energy today. No wonder I'm making so many mistakes."

Obito stretched his limbs, twisted his neck, rolled up his sleeves, and his eyes turned serious as he said, "Okay, now I'm going to get serious."

Splash!

The sound of him hitting the water rang out again.

After Muyue quickly fished Obito out, Obito's eyes went blank, his face lost all expression, and he didn't say another word.

"Big brother Obito, it's okay, I know you're just doing this to learn how to swim." Shisui consoled him.

Obito covered his face with both hands and said, "You go ahead and busy yourself, Shisui. I'll be fine on my own for a bit."

"Think you performed too poorly?" Muyue crouched beside Obito, not looking at him but gazing into the distance.

As the saying goes, there's no harm without comparison.

While Obito hadn't even started his chakra control training, Shisui had already begun.

And Shisui made rapid progress—right from the start he skipped tree climbing, and treading water came easily to him; even with Muyue's interference, he could stay on the water for a long time.

With Shisui, his younger clan brother, performing so well, Obito kept being stubborn. He admitted he might not be as good as Shisui, but he shouldn't be so far behind.

"Actually, last weekend on Saturday afternoon when I left, it was because I went to the Hokage's house to tutor." Muyue said.

"The Hokage has a younger son, you probably know him too—Asuma Sarutobi. He's only one grade above you."

Obito nodded. He did know him.

"When he was doing his water treading training, I also used Water Dragon Bullet to disturb him. He fell into the water at least dozens of times one afternoon, until finally, on the last try, he managed to last five minutes."

"Asuma actually..." Obito never imagined that Asuma, the top student at the Ninja Academy, could have such a rough time, and on top of that, he kept going for an entire afternoon despite it.

Obito gained a new level of respect for Asuma. He'd never noticed Asuma had that much perseverance before.

"Teacher, I understand. I've rested enough. Let's start training!" Obito took a deep breath and said with sparkling eyes.

If Asuma could keep going, why couldn't he? His goal was to beat Kakashi in front of Rin and take first place!

"Eat something before you train." Muyue handed Obito a skewer of dango he had bought earlier.

"Yeah, thanks, teacher!" Obito shouted energetically, quickly finished the dango, and walked into the river.

【You gifted a disciple red bean dumplings. Due to the disciple's immense gratitude, a reward critical hit occurred, and you obtained the skill Chef.】

【Chef: The dishes you make are delicious enough to cause hallucinations.】

"Eh, actually got a skill, and it's a life-type one." Mu Yue was somewhat surprised in his heart.

Although the teaching reward system occasionally drops things quite randomly—Might Duy had dropped Water Nature Transformation Mastery, but Obito dropped Chef—he couldn't quite understand it.

But that didn't stop Mu Yue from being happy, because judging from the skill description, this skill was very powerful.

Being good at cooking is a huge plus.

If he had gotten this skill earlier, he could have pretended the cooking equipment at home was broken, then gone to Minato's house to cook, showcasing extraordinary culinary skills—maybe then Kushina and Minato would have proactively become friends with him.

He could also quickly raise his disciples' favorability. Who wouldn't like a teacher who delivers top-notch teaching quality and also cooks amazingly?

After all the disciples finished their training, Mu Yue returned early to the main Konoha district. He wanted to try out just how delicious the food made with his new skill really was.

Mu Yue chose two dishes: one was egg fried rice, and the other was fried tempura.

He had made egg fried rice before; he quite liked anything with eggs in it. But he had never made fried tempura.

From the moment he picked up an egg, Mu Yue felt a mysterious force take hold. Although the steps were still more or less the same as before, everything was just right.

After he finished frying the egg fried rice, looking at the perfectly separated grains, all golden and faintly emitting a golden glow, Mu Yue was a little dazed.

He thought to himself: he hadn't added any fluorescent powder when frying, so why did it seem to be glowing?

Mu Yue took a spoonful and tasted it. The tenderness of the egg, the springiness of the rice, and the fragrance of the chopped scallions all exploded in his mouth. He had never eaten such delicious egg fried rice before.

Mu Yue even vaguely saw a sturdy chicken running and flying over the grass—so free, so exhilarating.

"Really is so delicious it causes hallucinations." Mu Yue shook his head and soon snapped back to reality.

Mu Yue switched to a flat pan and began preparing to fry the tempura.

First, he made the batter, then heated oil in the pan, coated the pre-prepared shrimp in the batter, and put them into the oil to fry.

Soon, the tempura's coating began to change color, and a unique aroma of frying permeated the kitchen, wafting into the distance.

Mu Yue used his intuition to scoop out the tempura, placed them on a plate, and carried it to the table.

Just as Mu Yue picked up a piece of tempura to try the taste, there was a knock at the door.