Chapter 42: Mu Yue's Interest in Sealing Jutsu

On Saturday afternoon, Mu Yue returned to his house in the main city area.

Since they had eaten at each other's places several times, their relationship had become quite familiar, so Mu Yue directly called the two to his home before cooking.

"Yusheng, what dish are you planning to make today?" Kushina asked curiously.

Having eaten at Mu Yue's place several times, Kushina had never had a repeat dish.

Having variety wasn't the main point; the key was that Mu Yue could make them all delicious, which made Kushina both admire and envy him.

"Mushroom soup and stir-fried mushrooms." Mu Yue pointed to a plastic bag full of mushrooms by the sink.

At noon, Shisui and the others had prepared too much food—various fish and wild vegetables, and even a reasonably hunted wild boar—so Mu Yue brought home the leftover ingredients.

Not to mention anything else, wild mushrooms were indeed fresh, but they had to be cooked thoroughly; otherwise, food poisoning would be a real problem—diarrhea was a minor issue, and even death wasn't impossible.

"These aren't wild mushrooms picked from the forest, are they?" Kushina looked at the mushrooms of various types and sizes, feeling they didn't look store-bought.

This reminded her of the teasing she had given Mu Yue when she first ate at his place—whether he had added some oddly colored mushrooms that made her see hallucinations.

If there really were that kind of mushroom inside, coupled with Mu Yue's cooking skills, eating it would be like being hit by a genjutsu.

Mu Yue nodded and said, "I had a picnic in the forest with a few students at noon. We prepared too much food and didn't finish it, so I brought the leftovers home."

"Yusheng, you even take your students on picnics?" Kushina asked with some envy.

She had attended the ninja academy for a full six years and had never seen any teacher be that nice, taking students on picnics.

"Those students and I have a good relationship," Mu Yue explained.

"Yusheng, do you need help? I'll wash the vegetables." Minato, feeling embarrassed to freeload, stepped forward to help.

"Then Namikaze, help me wash the mushrooms. I'll handle the wild boar meat first." Mu Yue didn't stand on ceremony and directly assigned work to Minato.

Being too polite all the time wouldn't help their friendship grow.

Feelings, this kind of thing, require give-and-take to improve well.

Since three people were eating, besides the mushroom soup and stir-fried mushrooms, Mu Yue also planned to make a serving of braised pork belly.

In his previous life, he didn't know why he would feel like vomiting at the mere thought of fatty meat, but he could accept the fatty part in braised pork belly; he even thought that braised pork belly with alternating fat and lean was more delicious. Mei Cai Kou Rou (preserved vegetable braised pork) was a dish he quite liked.

But at the moment there was no preserved vegetable (mei cai), so he could only make plain braised pork belly, not Mei Cai Kou Rou.

"Then what about me? What should I do?" Watching the backs of Minato and Mu Yue, Kushina scratched her head, feeling as if they were two brothers cooking together with a good bond, and she had become an outsider.

"There's no more space here. Just sit down and wait to eat," Mu Yue replied.

This wasn't a restaurant kitchen; three people working together would only cause more trouble. Two was just right, and there wasn't much that needed help anyway.

So the bored Kushina sat down on a seat in the living room and casually picked up a book placed on a low table.

"Eh?" Kushina was a bit surprised when she saw the title on the cover; it was a book about sealing techniques.

"'What is Sealing Technique'? Yusheng, why are you reading a book like this? Just by the name, it's no good. It's better to—"

Kushina paused because she turned the page and saw the words "by Uzumaki Ashina."

"Ahem, this book is actually not bad. Mu Yue, you should take a good look at it." Kushina coughed twice and rephrased her words.

"Mm, I've already read it several times. Lord Uzumaki Ashina is truly worthy of being the founder of Konoha's sealing techniques.

Even someone like me who knows nothing about sealing techniques can gain a lot after reading it," Mu Yue replied while handling the pork.

"Of course, he is the leader of our Uzumaki clan," Kushina said proudly.

"But Mu Yue, are you interested in sealing techniques?" Kushina asked curiously.

"Very interested. I feel sealing techniques are mysterious and powerful," Mu Yue said with a longing expression.

"From the perspective of improving strength, sealing techniques are indeed a good choice," Minato nodded and said.

The three of them kept chatting about sealing techniques until the meal was finished.

During that time, Mu Yue mostly listened, occasionally offering some beginner's perspectives, which made Minato and Kushina feel more accomplished.

Kushina first tried the braised pork belly, which she had never eaten before. That one bite was amazing; the soft, sticky, fatty-but-not-greasy texture directly made Kushina take a huge mouthful of rice.

"This is too delicious. Why haven't I seen such a tasty dish before?" Kushina instantly fell in love with the flavor of braised pork belly.

"If you want to learn, I can teach you." Mu Yue said with a chuckle.

"It's a deal. Tomorrow evening, Minato and I will buy the ingredients for you." Kushina nodded quickly.

After saying that, Kushina glanced at the plate of stir-fried mushrooms and realized that more than half of it was already gone. Minato had been nonstop eating while they were discussing teaching cooking.

"I haven't even eaten yet, Minato, leave some for me!" Kushina, disregarding everything else, quickly started eating too.

The first bite amazed Kushina—it was incredibly fresh and delicious.

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, the three of them went out for a stroll.

Naturally, they chatted while strolling. Mu Yue shared some amusing anecdotes from teaching, while Minato and Kushina talked about some strange and interesting events from their missions.

…

Two days before the competition, Mu Yue began Obito's final training.

"If you want a ninjutsu to look more imposing, besides Nature Transformation and chakra amount, you can also use Shape Transformation to make it look more majestic." Mu Yue said.

"But there are only two days left. Is it still possible to train Shape Transformation?" Obito scratched his head.

"Of course not." Mu Yue said bluntly. Obito didn't have that strong a talent in ninjutsu.

"But you don't need to master Shape Transformation. You just need to master my improved Great Fireball."

In order to let Obito take first place and maximize the rewards of the training mission, Mu Yue had gone to great lengths.

He specially modified the Great Fireball to make it look bigger, but in reality, there wasn't that much flame inside—the power remained unchanged.

In short, it looked intimidating.

After all, that Youth Ninjutsu Tournament didn't involve actual combat—each person just performed one ninjutsu, and they'd see who scored higher.

"Mu Yue-sensei, you're really like my Sage of Six Paths!" Upon hearing Mu Yue's words, Obito instantly felt that first place was absolutely certain.

Going up against himself, who had Mu Yue-sensei's guidance, Kakashi stood no chance!

"After all, you said it was a lifelong request. As your teacher, I naturally have to go all out." Mu Yue said with a chuckle, intentionally cultivating Obito's awareness of asking his teacher for help.

"Hehe." Obito showed an embarrassed smile.

"Get to training." Mu Yue tapped Obito on the head.

"Yes!" Obito immediately began training.

He could hardly wait to defeat Kakashi in front of Rin Nohara and take first place.