deltrittennovels Chapter 120 Graduation
Chapter 120 Graduation
After the very successful lottery draw, Naruto's daily life took on a rather peculiar "task".
It's that Pokémon egg with the green circular pattern that he carefully placed in his house. Is the hatching process really like the system instructions and in the game—just walking around with it?
However, Naruto still found a corner in his small apartment and, using some simple materials and heating devices, built a simple yet warm "greenhouse" by hand, placing the egg inside securely to ensure it was in the most comfortable environment.
When he needs to go out, he takes the egg out of the greenhouse with extra care, wraps it carefully in several layers of soft, thick blankets, and then places it securely into his backpack. Fortunately, the egg is "only" the size of two soccer balls, so although it takes up space in his backpack, it doesn't look too out of place; at most, it looks like he's carrying a particularly large lunchbox or ball.
Satsuki and the Third Hokage, who occasionally came to visit, soon noticed the unusual "makeshift greenhouse" in Naruto's house and the strange egg inside.
When asked, Naruto had already prepared his explanation, saying that he had accidentally discovered it in a very remote place when he went fishing in the back mountains some time ago.
He felt that the life force contained in this egg was extraordinary, and that it might hatch into a powerful creature that could perhaps become his future summoned beast.
The Third Hokage simply nodded upon hearing this, without pressing further. After all, in this bizarre and wondrous ninja world, he had seen summoning snakes tens of meters long and toads as large as small buildings, so an egg slightly larger than an ordinary bird's egg was not particularly unusual.
Satsuki's reaction was quite different. After carefully observing the egg and learning that Naruto was trying to hatch it, she showed great interest.
A few days later, Satsuki bought a rather sophisticated-looking automatic constant-temperature incubator and delivered it directly to Naruto's house.
...The technology tree in the Naruto world is definitely a bit off...They even have something like this?
Naruto gratefully accepted the practical gift, expressing his admiration.
What Naruto didn't expect was that Satsuki even started to look up information and taught herself a lot about hatching and caring for various oviparous creatures. Then she came over and told Naruto in detail what to pay attention to, how to control the temperature and humidity, and even came over every day to observe the condition of the eggs with Naruto and record the subtle changes.
She seemed to regard helping Naruto successfully hatch this "future summoning beast" as an extremely important matter, and devoted herself to it wholeheartedly.
Naruto also began to try combining the [Top-Tier Culinary Skills] he obtained from the lottery with the [Pearl Jam] ability.
His first taster was naturally Satsuki. He told Satsuki a day in advance that he had recently "studied" his cooking skills and felt that his level had greatly improved, and hoped that she could be the first taster and give her evaluation.
Satsuki readily agreed without hesitation.
During the cooking process, Naruto truly felt the difference. Steps that used to require thought now became instinctive, his movements were fluid and graceful, his control over the heat and seasonings was top-notch, and his handling of ingredients even possessed a fluid beauty.
The dishes I made were several times more appealing than before, both in terms of presentation and color.
It looks much more powerful... but can it really reach the level of "soul-shaking" and making people feel "it's good to be alive" that the system mentioned? Naruto was still a little unsure.
He subtly incorporated the pearl jam into the final, seemingly ordinary home-style dish—scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
When this carefully prepared tomato and egg stir-fry, imbued with "healing" effects, was served, Satsuki took her first bite with anticipation—but her movements suddenly froze.
Immediately afterwards, Naruto was shocked to see that Satsuki's eyes were rapidly reddening, and large tears rolled down without warning, dripping onto the dining table.
She looked up at Naruto, her face showing a deeply moved, even somewhat overwhelmed expression.
"W-what's wrong? Is it not tasty? Or is it too sour?" Naruto was immediately flustered and at a loss.
However, Satsuki's true thoughts were quite different.
The flavor... the base is undoubtedly Naruto's cooking; you can taste his usual seasoning style... but...
But this harmonious flavor, this warm texture, this taste that makes you feel incredibly happy with every bite... is definitely the result of thousands of repeated practices and countless hours of hard work!
Naruto... did he secretly put in so much effort behind the scenes just to make dishes that make him happy?
He trains so hard, and then he has to distract himself with this kind of thing... Just thinking about him probably failing and starting over all the time alone in the kitchen...
Overwhelmed by immense heartache, gratitude, and a profound sense of happiness at being cherished, Zuo Yue's emotions overwhelmed her, and she couldn't stop crying.
...And so, Naruto had no idea that Satsuki had imagined a touching drama of "practicing cooking skills for his own sake."
He was even more unaware that, fortunately, because the system could no longer accurately calculate Zuo Yue's bond level that had broken through the limit, otherwise the notification sound representing the bond upgrade in his mind would probably be ringing non-stop right now.
In the days that followed, Naruto, with his top-notch culinary skills, indeed gained the "Bond Fruit" and Choji of the Akimichi clan. After several meticulously prepared meals, the chubby boy's affection for Naruto skyrocketed.
【Ding! 】
[Congratulations, host! Your bond level with the original character "Akimichi Choji" has increased to level 6!]
[Reward points earned: 100!]
Days passed by like this. Nowadays, apart from having an increasingly clingy Zuo Yue by his side and needing to carefully care for that mysterious golden legendary egg, the main theme of life still seems to revolve around two most important things: going to school and training.
The changes were largely like this: peaceful yet fulfilling.
Time flies, day after day, year after year. Finally, Naruto's life reached a significant milestone—he was about to graduate from the Ninja Academy!
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(Still at 3 PM.)