Coaxing and Tricking to Lure a Little Girl, Treating Kushina to Pig Trotter Rice!

10 a.m.

The Shadow Clone that had previously gone to the bookstore voluntarily dispersed, and a flood of memories instantly returned to the original body.

Liuyun let out a muffled grunt and instinctively closed his eyes, his mind rapidly processing those complex memories.

"Hm? What's wrong with you?"

Kushina noticed something was off with Liuyun and stepped forward to ask with concern.

"Nothing..."

Liuyun opened his eyes again. His Shadow Clone had reached an agreement with the bookstore owner, Toriyama Akira. He might soon have a way to make money.

"It's getting late. Let's call it here for the morning..."

Liuyun planned to go home and cook. His mother, Asuka, wanted to eat his cooking one more time, and he had agreed to the small request.

"Ah... It's still early. You're going home already?"

Kushina was a little dissatisfied. Happy times always passed too quickly.

"I'm going home to cook..." Liuyun casually explained.

"Cook? You know how to cook? Really?" Kushina found it hard to believe.

"A little. I need to buy groceries now, and I still have to bring lunch to my mom later... so I can't stay out too late."

"Buying groceries, cooking, delivering food... You... you really weren't joking?" Kushina still looked suspicious.

In the ninja world, men who could cook were rare to begin with. Children who could cook were even rarer, and boys who could cook were practically nonexistent... She thought Liuyun might be lying.

"..."

Liuyun suddenly gave a wicked smile. "Want to come home with me? I'll cook for you..."

"Come home with you, and you'll cook for me..." Kushina murmured instinctively, her face instantly turning as red as an oversized tomato.

"I'll be the only one home at noon!" Liuyun leaned close to her ear and whispered, his tone brimming with indescribable ambiguity.

"!!!"

Kushina's already flushed face reddened even further. Her heart pounded wildly, and fine beads of sweat unconsciously formed on her forehead.

"Didn't you want to know whether I can cook?"

"Don't you want to try my cooking?"

"After we eat, we can train together. Don't you really want to become stronger?"

Liuyun continued tempting her in rapid succession by her ear. His gentle voice and warm breath constantly stimulated her nerves.

"I... I..."

Liuyun had successfully aroused her intense curiosity. She really wanted to agree, but her girlish reserve and embarrassment kept her from daring to nod.

"Come on..."

Liuyun suddenly hugged her fair arm and gently shook it, striking exactly the same pose she had used yesterday when acting cute and coquettish!

Kushina's lips parted slightly as she stared at him blankly.

After a long while, for some reason, she nodded as though possessed...

"Haha, then let's go. Come home with me..." Liuyun said, taking her hand.

At that moment, he looked exactly like one of those little scumbags who lured young girls home, coaxing and deceiving them step by step until, in the end...

"W-Wait... no, I can't. If Grandma Mito waits for me to come home for lunch and I don't show up, she'll worry..."

Kushina hurriedly pulled her hand free.

"Isn't that easy? It's still early. Your grandma probably hasn't started cooking yet, so just go back and tell her."

"It's just lunch together, it's nothing. Don't we often sit together and eat our lunchboxes at school?"

Liuyun spread his hands, a wicked smile curling at his lips.

"..."

Kushina suddenly felt that Liuyun made a lot of sense.

It was only lunch, wasn't it? In broad daylight, what was there to be embarrassed about? What was there that she couldn't do?

"Then... then okay... I-I'll go home and ask Grandma Mito..."

Kushina lowered her head, her restless little hands fiddling with the hem of her clothes.

"Mhm, then it's settled. I'll go buy ingredients first."

Soon, the two split up. Kushina returned to the Senju Clan Grounds, while Liuyun went to the market.

"Damn it, seafood is so cheap, but pork is ridiculously expensive..."

Liuyun held a pig's trotter, his face full of pain. Two-thirds of the grocery money Asuka had given him was gone just like that.

If you can't find it by searching the book title, try searching for the author instead. It may have simply been renamed!

"Green vegetables are outrageously expensive too..." Liuyun muttered, immediately giving up on the idea of buying any vegetables.

Fortunately, while jogging through the fields that morning, he had picked up several wild angled luffas for free.

The people here did not like this stuff, but he loved it and knew how to make it taste good.

"Huh? Why aren't there any braising spices for sale? I clearly saw Naruto eating braised-flavor ramen in the original story, and Kushina seemed to like that flavor of ramen too..."

Liuyun entered a general store, only to find none of the spices or seasonings he wanted. Soy sauce, however, was available.

He had already bought all the ingredients, so changing to another dish was not an option. Left with no choice, he could only check a few more general stores.

In the end, he found what he wanted at the third store.

Once he had finished gathering the ingredients, he hurried home in a panic.

Since time was tight, he directly used a Shadow Clone to help him out.

"Fire Release: Fireball Technique!"

A small fireball blew from his mouth, instantly burning all the hair off the pig trotters.

Before long, he had prepared lunch one dish after another. As noon approached, Kushina arrived at Liuyun's doorstep.

"Liuyun, I... I'm here..." Kushina said softly, her face flushed red as she stood before the door.

Her voice was quiet, but Liuyun inside the house heard it.

"I'm here. Come in..."

"O-okay..." Kushina lowered her head and walked inside.

The moment she entered, she saw Liuyun and a Shadow Clone.

"The food's ready. Go wash your hands first... then we can eat!"

"Okay..."

Liuyun took out a lunchbox and packed away a portion of the freshly prepared food before handing it to his Shadow Clone.

"Take this to Mom. Hurry up—if it gets cold, it won't taste as good!"

"Don't worry..."

The Shadow Clone accepted the lunchbox and turned to leave, leaving Kushina staring in amazement.

"You can use Shadow Clones like that? That's so convenient!"

"Of course you can, provided you can handle the impact of all those memories..."

Liuyun casually explained, not caring whether Kushina understood.

"The braised meat smells so good!"

As she inhaled the rich aroma of meat and looked at the soft, enticingly colored slices on the plate, Kushina's eyes immediately lit up. She had not expected Liuyun to be telling the truth—he really knew how to cook!

"And this rice—why is every grain so translucent?"

"Try it."

Liuyun handed her a pair of chopsticks.

"Okay, thanks for the food!"

Kushina accepted the chopsticks and performed a little pre-meal ritual.

"Meat can be cooked like this? And there's even this clear, gelatinous layer. What kind of meat is this?"

Kushina's face was full of surprise. When Liuyun merely smiled without answering, she placed a tender slice of meat into her mouth.

The instant the meat entered her mouth, a rich burst of savory aroma exploded across her tongue.

"It's tender and refreshing, fatty without being greasy, and most importantly, that explosively rich meaty flavor... This is pork, right???"

Kushina's eyes shone. It was her first time eating braised meat this fragrant.

"To be precise, it's pig trotters..."

Liuyun smiled brightly. This was a serving of Chinese-style braised Pig Trotter Rice!

"Huh? Pig trotters? Where are the hooves and bones?" Kushina asked, her large eyes wide with surprise.

"They're in the rice cooker. I didn't take them out..."

Liuyun pointed at the rice cooker nearby. It did not contain rice, but pig trotters.

"Huh? You used the rice cooker to braise pig trotters? Then this rice..."

As she spoke, Kushina picked up a clump of translucent rice and put it into her mouth.

"The rice is so springy and fragrant! It's much better than rice balls! How did you cook it?"

Kushina's face was full of shock. Why was even the rice at Liuyun's home so different?

"It wasn't cooked... it was steamed!"