After finishing the fruitful lottery, Naruto's daily life gained a somewhat peculiar 'task'.
It was the carefully placed, green, circular-patterned Pokémon egg in his home. Would the hatching method really be as the system description and game said, just needing to walk with it?
But Naruto still found a corner in his small apartment, and with some simple materials and a heating device, he personally built a simple yet warm 'mini greenhouse', placing the egg steadily inside to ensure it was in the most comfortable environment.
And when he needed to go out, he would very carefully take the egg out of the greenhouse, wrap it meticulously in several layers of soft, thick blankets, and then place it securely into his backpack. Luckily, this egg was 'only' the size of two footballs; although it took up space in his backpack, it didn't look too out of place, at most resembling a particularly large lunchbox or a ball.
Satsuki and the Third Hokage, who occasionally visited, quickly noticed the abrupt 'mini greenhouse' in Naruto's home and the strange egg inside.
When questioned, Naruto had already prepared his explanation, saying that he had accidentally discovered it in a very secluded spot in the mountains while fishing some time ago.
He felt that the life aura contained within this egg was quite unusual, and it might hatch into a very powerful creature, perhaps becoming his future Summoning Beast.
The Third Hokage merely nodded upon hearing this and did not press further. After all, in this bizarre Ninja World, he had seen giant summoning snakes dozens of meters long and toads as large as small buildings, so an egg slightly larger than a normal bird egg was not particularly rare.
Satsuki's reaction, however, was completely different. After carefully observing the egg and learning that Naruto was trying to hatch it, she showed immense interest.
A few days later, Satsuki bought a rather exquisite-looking automatic constant-temperature incubator and delivered it directly to Naruto's home.
…The tech tree of the Hokage World is really a bit skewed… do they even have something like this?
Naruto sighed with emotion while gratefully accepting this practical gift.
What Naruto didn't expect was that Satsuki even started actively researching, self-studying a lot of knowledge about hatching and caring for various oviparous creatures, then came to Naruto to tell him in meticulous detail what to pay attention to, how to control temperature and humidity, and even came over every day to observe the egg's condition with Naruto, recording subtle changes.
She seemed to have taken helping Naruto successfully hatch this 'future Summoning Beast' as an extremely important matter, dedicating herself wholeheartedly to it.
Naruto also began to try combining the abilities of [Top-tier Culinary Skills] and [Pearl Jam] that he had obtained from the lottery.
His first chosen taster was naturally Satsuki. He specifically told Satsuki a day in advance that he had recently 'painstakingly studied' his cooking skills, felt his level had greatly improved, and hoped she could be the first taster to give her evaluation.
Satsuki naturally agreed without hesitation.
During the cooking process, Naruto indeed felt a difference. Steps that previously required thought now became instinct, his movements flowed smoothly, his control over heat and seasoning was top-notch, and handling ingredients even had a fluid beauty to it.
The dishes he made were several times more appealing just from their presentation and color than before.
It looks much more impressive… but can it really reach the level of'shocking the soul' and making people feel 'it's good to be alive' as the system said? Naruto still felt a bit uncertain.
He silently incorporated the [Pearl Jam] into the final, most ordinary-looking home-cooked dish—scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
When this carefully prepared and 'healing' enhanced scrambled eggs with tomatoes was served, and Satsuki took her first expectant bite—her movements suddenly froze.
Immediately after, Naruto watched in astonishment as Satsuki's eyes visibly reddened at a rapid pace, and large tears rolled down without warning, dripping onto the dining table.
She looked up at Naruto, her face showing an expression of great emotion, even some difficulty in bearing it.
"Wh-what's wrong? Is it not tasty? Or is it too sour?" Naruto instantly became flustered and at a loss.
However, Satsuki's true thoughts were a different scene altogether.
This taste… the base was undoubtedly Naruto's cooking, she could taste his usual seasoning style… but…
But this harmonious taste, this warm texture, this taste that made one feel incredibly happy with every bite… it must have reached this level after tens of thousands of repetitions and countless efforts!
Naruto… to make dishes that would make her happy… had he secretly put in so much effort behind her back?
He trains so hard, and still has to distract himself with something like this… just thinking about him possibly failing repeatedly and starting over alone in the kitchen…
Under the impact of immense heartache, emotion, and a profound sense of being cherished, Satsuki's emotions instantly burst, and her tears simply wouldn't stop.
…Thus, Naruto was completely unaware that Satsuki had concocted a touching drama in her own mind about him 'practicing cooking hard for her'.
He also didn't know that, fortunately, because the system could no longer accurately calculate Satsuki's bond level, which had exceeded the limit, otherwise, at this moment, the notification sound representing a bond increase would probably be ringing non-stop in his mind.
In the days that followed, Naruto, relying on his [Top-tier Culinary Skills], indeed harvested another 'Bond Fruit', Akimichi Choji. After several meticulously prepared banquets, this little chubby boy's favorability towards Naruto skyrocketed.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host: Your bond level with original character "Akimichi Choji" has increased to Level 6!]
[Reward Points obtained: 100 points!]
Days passed by. Aside from an increasingly clingy Satsuki by his side and the daily careful care of that mysterious golden legendary egg, the main theme of his current life still seemed to revolve around two most important things: going to school and training.
The changes were largely like this, peaceful and fulfilling.
Time flew by, day after day, year after year. Finally, Naruto's life reached an important milestone—he was about to graduate from the Ninja Academy!