It was evening when Nawaki returned home, only to smell a tantalizing aroma wafting from inside.
He rushed in eagerly. In the kitchen, Minato was cooking while Tsunade cleaned up the scraps. The atmosphere was incredibly harmonious.
For some reason, Nawaki suddenly had a weird sense of déjà vu, like coming home to see mom and dad cooking dinner. Scared by the thought, he shook his head vigorously to throw the absurd idea out of his mind.
Tsunade was fine—she was his older sister and acted like a mother figure, giving him all her gentleness over the years and taking good care of him.
But Minato? What the hell?!
That guy was two years younger than him!
"Hm? Nawaki is back?"
Noticing Nawaki, Tsunade looked him over. "Go wash your hands. Dinner is almost ready."
"Oh..."
Suppressing the weird feeling, Nawaki responded, then looked curiously at Minato. "What are you making, Minato? It smells amazing."
"Mushroom Stewed Chicken."
Minato didn't look back, tilting his head to watch the chicken in the pot. "Too bad I didn't have the right mushrooms. The taste might be a little off..."
"Is this considered 'off'? It smells so good..."
Nawaki sniffed the air, and his stomach growled loudly.
Minato shook his head but didn't reply. Mushroom Stewed Chicken should use hazel mushrooms (zhenmo), but he couldn't find any for sale.
Those mushrooms were mostly found in the Northeast. They looked ordinary but tasted incredibly savory and were highly nutritious.
Maybe I can try growing some fungi with Wood Style later. And fruits and vegetables, too. No wonder the First Hokage recorded so many planting techniques in the scroll...
With Wood Style, I can grow whatever I want to eat on the spot. I could even breed new varieties!
Theoretically, I could complete dozens or hundreds of generations of hybridization in a single day. Three-meter-tall rice stalks? Basin-sized pumpkins? Strawberry-flavored watermelons? It's all possible. I could single-handedly end world hunger in the ninja world!
Thinking of this, Minato laughed at himself.
Some genes really are carved into the soul...
"What are you laughing at?"
Tsunade noticed the smile on Minato's face and asked curiously.
"I was thinking that I could cultivate high-yield crops or tastier fruits and vegetables later."
The soup in the pot had thickened. Minato turned up the heat to reduce the sauce before serving.
"Cultivating crops..."
Tsunade paused, a gentle look flashing in her eyes.
"As expected, you Wood Style users all love that kind of stuff. My grandfather preferred bonsai, though. Speaking of which, you two have very similar personalities—both gentle and sunny."
Minato froze for two seconds. Then, thinking of something, he suddenly burst out laughing.
Tsunade looked confused. "What's so funny?"
Minato shook his head quickly. "Nothing, nothing..."
"Really?"
"Really!"
Seeing Minato nodding like a chicken pecking at rice, Tsunade instinctively felt something was wrong.
She raised an eyebrow and cracked her knuckles. Crack, crack. "Liar. Spill it now!"
"Um..."
Noticing Tsunade's gesture, Minato's face went slightly pale. "If I say it, you can't hit me!"
"I'll try..."
Tsunade kept a straight face, crossing her arms and accentuating her impressive figure. She tapped her left foot impatiently, giving off a "talk or else" vibe.
"Um... Sensei Tsunade."
Minato swallowed. Thinking about the death-defying act he was about to perform, he weirdly felt a thrill of excitement.
"Do I look like your grandpa?"
Thud!
The moment the words left his mouth, Tsunade punched him in the head.
Poof.
The Minato in front of her turned into a wooden statue.
Wood Replacement Jutsu!
"You brat..."
A vein popped on Tsunade's forehead. She turned to look at the kitchen door, where the real Minato stood holding a pot of chicken soup, smiling sheepishly.
"Lucky you run fast!"
Tsunade huffed, served the rice, and sat at the table.
Nawaki finished washing his hands and sat next to her, eagerly picking up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks.
"Delicious! Hoo, hoo..."
"Slow down. It's hot."
Tsunade picked up a piece of chicken and ate it gracefully.
"Minato's cooking is amazing!" Nawaki praised between bites.
"It's alright."
Minato smiled. He was happy his cooking was appreciated.
In his past life, a hotel head chef had told him he had a natural sensitivity to seasoning and heat control—he was born for this. Too bad he didn't become a chef.
Minato liked cooking, but only for things he enjoyed eating.
His tastes overlapped somewhat with the siblings', but personally, he preferred spicy food.
"I'm so envious... You have great talent for Ninjutsu and cooking. And you're handsome, too."
Nawaki suddenly sighed. "Sis was right. You really are my strongest rival on the road to becoming Hokage."
Watching Nawaki trying to act mature and treat him as a worthy rival, Tsunade couldn't help but smile.
Minato laughed, too. "Don't worry. Actually, I have no interest in being Hokage."
"Ehh—?"
Nawaki's eyes went wide, giving a look that said Really? I don't believe you!
"But it's the Hokage!"
"Yeah... I know."
Minato nodded. "Actually, I don't have any grand life ambitions. And I don't have a reason that forces me to become stronger."
Actually, there are reasons: future Obito, Madara Uchiha, Kaguya Otsutsuki, and the Otsutsuki clan. But I can't talk about those.
"Then what is your dream?"
Hearing this, Tsunade got curious.
In the Leaf Village, boys who didn't want to be Hokage weren't non-existent, but they were definitely rare.
"Dream..."
Minato thought for a few seconds. "Hmm... maybe living a peaceful and happy life, protecting the people important to me, something like that?"
"Ehh—"
Nawaki was speechless. "So boring! Is that even a dream? Wood Style is wasted on you..."
"No, you're wrong, Nawaki. Grandpa founded the Leaf Village hoping that future children could live exactly that kind of life."
Tsunade smiled and flicked Nawaki's forehead. "Being ordinary can be a form of greatness. Maybe it's because Minato has a quality ordinary people don't have that he awakened Wood Style?"
Quality...
Does a cheat system count?
Minato roasted himself internally.
"But speaking of... 'protecting important people.' You haven't fallen for some girl, have you, kid?"
Having just lectured Nawaki, Tsunade turned to Minato with a raised eyebrow and a teasing look in her eyes.
"No."
Minato shook his head. "Right now, the people closest to me are you, Sensei, and Nawaki. Doesn't that make you important people?"
"Eh..."
The siblings froze. Blushes appeared on both their faces at the same time. They looked at each other and saw the uncontrollable smiles on each other's lips.
"Ah, soka... haha, so desu ne~ (I see... is that so~)"
Tsunade gave a dry laugh, but inside she was squirming with joy.
This kid says such embarrassing things, but I love it!