Cooking Brings Happiness

There were only three slurps because Itachi still cared about his image and did not sit in a row with the Three Little Ones.

"I didn't expect you to be so skilled at cooking too, Kakashi-senpai." Itachi tasted a spoonful of soup and praised him.

"I got used to cooking for myself when I was alone for a while. I'm glad you like it." Kakashi served himself a bowl as well, smiling as he enjoyed the fruits of his labor.

Naruto took a sip of hot soup and said, "I think if Itachi used his Mangekyo Sharingan to make a Fried Egg, it might taste really good too."

What did this guy think the Mangekyo Sharingan was for? Sasuke glared at Naruto and snapped, "Who would use the Mangekyo Sharingan for something like that?!"

Itachi smiled gently and mercilessly undermined Sasuke. "Haha, maybe I can give it a try once I recover."

Sasuke had never expected such a stab in the back from his own brother. He said unhappily, "Hey, Brother, why are you also..."

"Aha." Naruto suddenly had a bold idea. "Listen, there's a super huge Island Turtle in the Hidden Cloud Village. When it lays eggs, we can go steal one. I have the Flying Thunder God Technique, so stealing an egg shouldn't be a problem.

"Then we can use Amaterasu's flames to heat it. Mount Myoboku has Toad Oil, though I don't know whether it can be used as cooking oil. The Yata Mirror can be used as a pot..."

Naruto had already fast-forwarded to the cooking plan. One egg might be enough to feed the whole village, or maybe enough to feed Hinata.

He did not consider at all whether the Island Turtle whose egg had been stolen would send a group of furious little turtles flying over on slingshots to tear down his house.

Seeing Naruto mention his Susanoo, Itachi added with a chuckle, "I also have the Sword of Totsuka. It can be used as a spatula."

"That's way too ridiculous..." Sakura involuntarily pictured Itachi activating a red Susanoo, propping up a gigantic shield as a pot, with raging black flames burning beneath it and a huge egg frying inside.

"I can be in charge of smashing the eggshell. I guarantee I'll smash it cleanly." Sakura raised her hand to state her role, then asked the "key" question. "But what if the Island Turtle doesn't lay eggs?"

"My brother has Tsukuyomi. It'll be willing." For some reason, Sasuke seriously began analyzing the feasibility of this matter as well.

Why had weapons of war turned into pots, bowls, and ladles with you people? But seeing his students discuss it so happily, Kakashi decided to join in too. Pointing at his eye, he said:

"Then leave the kitchen waste to me. I guarantee there won't be a scrap left over."

Naruto grinned and delivered the final conclusion. "So Sasuke is the most useless! From preparing the ingredients to putting them in the pot, he can't help with anything at all."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Naruto! We still haven't settled things between us!"

Naruto pointed at the soup bowl in Sasuke's hand. "Your soup is about to spill."

"Oh." Sasuke sat properly again. "Slurp... ha!"

Seeing Sasuke smile again, Naruto nodded to himself. Sure enough, cooking was something that brought people happiness. Little Chef had not deceived him.

Guren entered a laboratory. "Lord Orochimaru, Shinno and Hiruko both failed."

"As expected. Those two idiots merely achieved insignificant results in their preliminary research, yet they became so arrogant that they thought themselves invincible."

Orochimaru continued experimenting on several animals before him and casually asked, "Did you get the materials?"

Guren answered shamefully, "I obtained some of Shinno's hair and blood, but something unexpected happened with Hiruko."

"Something unexpected?"

"Yes. Hiruko left nothing behind. There were only large scorched marks at the scene. I only saw a huge, ferocious Thunder Dragon, and... there seemed to be a Red Giant that flashed by in an instant."

To avoid being sensed, Guren had hidden far away while observing. She somewhat suspected that the lightning had been so dazzling that it had made her hallucinate.

"Oh? Some interesting and powerful ninjutsu?" Orochimaru finally showed a trace of interest. After all, his original dream had been to learn every ninjutsu.

He had pursued eternal life because learning all ninjutsu required far too much time, and he felt he did not have enough. Later, he came to realize that life was too short and too fragile, which was why he had embarked on the path of researching forbidden techniques.

However, Orochimaru's curiosity only lasted a moment. He had more urgent matters at hand.

Orochimaru set down his scalpel and Formed a few hand seals. "The preparations are complete. Now, let's try my improved Chimera Technique!"

The unconscious animals felt pain and woke with screams. Under a burst of Chakra light, their bodies softened like mud and slowly fused together.

A monster appeared, with the head of a tiger, antlers like a deer's, a snake-like neck, eagle talons, a donkey's tail, and a pair of wings on its back. It crushed the experiment table under one foot, shook its head, and bared its Sharp Weapons at Orochimaru.

"It seems to have succeeded. Adding the traits of different individuals onto another individual is unlike simple plant grafting. What an interesting idea."

"Roar!" The monster lunged at Orochimaru, perhaps because its mind still remembered the torment this man had inflicted on it.

The monster was extremely fast, and it was close enough that Guren behind them could not react before she saw Orochimaru knocked down and his throat bitten through.

"Lord Orochimaru!" Guren cried out. She raised her hand and created two red Crystal Shuriken half the height of a person, then flung them at the monster.

The monster lowered its head and swung it from side to side. Its two horns smashed the Crystal Shuriken apart, then it turned its attention to Guren and prepared to attack.

"Stop." Orochimaru's voice came from the "corpse," halting Guren's attempt to continue attacking.

At the same time, dozens of snakes of various sizes burrowed out of the ground, coiling around the monster's limbs and neck and pinning it in place.

Then, like a cicada shedding its skin, Orochimaru opened a slit in the back of the "corpse" and crawled out.

Corpse: I'm splitting apart.

In a distant jar, the liquid person soaking in an unknown fluid sighed in disappointment... or did he sigh out a mouthful of water?

If only Orochimaru had died just like that. Now he wanted so badly to escape, but he could not.

Skillfully washing his face with his tongue, Orochimaru smiled at the monster he had created.

"Is its speed and strength greater than those of the original individuals? Next, let's see how its cells differ from those of ordinary animals..."

As Orochimaru carried out test after test, the monster seemed to recall terrifying scenes, and a panicked expression appeared on its face.

Orochimaru became even more interested. "It has reason and a certain degree of intelligence, so it should possess a soul. Then does this fellow made up of five animals have five souls, or have they fused into one soul?"

Seeing the sinister smile on Orochimaru's face, the poor monster became even more terrified.

I heard