Dreaming into the Kitchen

Dreaming into the Kitchen released a new mission: After gaining Kakashi's recognition, many people in Konoha learned that you possessed talent comparable to Uchiha Itachi's. They began teaching their children to take you as their role model.

At the same time, many girls obsessed with your handsome appearance sought your guidance in their studies, and you maintained close private contact with them.

Naruto also noticed you at this time. After thinking it over for a long while, he challenged you.

The pride of the Uchiha in your heart made you fearless in the face of any challenge.

You directly arranged to meet him in a small grove and began your fateful first duel.

But after using two C-Rank Ninjutsu and one B-Rank Ninjutsu, you depleted all your Chakra. Not only was the other party not frightened by the Ninjutsu you deliberately aimed wide, he even walked over and punched you. Six words surfaced in your mind.

Not enough Chakra!

Because your own Chakra had been growing far too slowly, find a way to increase it through some means in order to deal with the shortage.

This mission could be abandoned.

Mission reward: Deepen your Sharingan awakening progress once, a Body Technique Cultivation Acceleration Card (30 days), and a weapon similar to Samehada.

The system was still the same system. The rewards it gave were all quite good.

Uchiha Asuka stared at the Body Technique Cultivation Acceleration Card and pondered in secret.

Hmm. Thirty days probably wasn't enough to quickly master the Eight Gates, right??

Even if that card could make one day count as one month, that was only thirty months.

The Eight Gates probably required over two hundred months of continuous training?? Hah! He shifted his gaze away from the card and looked at the mission.

Increase his own Chakra through external means.

Asuka knew of several ways to increase Chakra through external means.

1. Capture a tailed beast and seal it inside his body, becoming a Jinchuriki. 2. Transplant Hashirama Cells. 3. Become the owner of Samehada, and so on. And the Ninja World's strongest Chakra battery was probably the Nine-Tails.

Back then, Kinkaku and Ginkaku had gained the Nine-Tails' Chakra by eating its flesh and blood, earning themselves the title "Two Lights of the Cloud."

The Nine-Tails... Asuka looked toward the village, imagining himself hugging the Nine-Tails and taking a couple bites. He smacked his lips in secret.

Quite a few people in the Ninja World had eaten tailed beasts, but only two had succeeded. Everyone else had died.

As for eating a Jinchuriki, Minato Namikaze ate Kushina every day, yet he still carried no trace of tailed beast aura. Other than having an extra pair of Sharingan and some blood relation to the Sage of Six Paths, Asuka could be said to have no advantages over him.

Persuade Minato Namikaze to seal the other half of the Nine-Tails inside him??

It seemed some senior transmigrator had done that before.

But as long as Minato Namikaze's brain hadn't short-circuited, he probably wouldn't hand the Nine-Tails over to an Uchiha.

"Ugh!"

The next morning.

Asuka sighed as he left home and headed to the Great Elder's residence.

After thinking all night, he still hadn't found a good way to increase his Chakra.

This mission wouldn't be difficult for the real Sasuke. He only needed a little stimulation to awaken another tomoe in his Sharingan, and his Chakra would surge.

But he already had Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Awakening the Mangekyo wouldn't be that easy.

"Great Elder!"

When he saw the Great Elder come from the back courtyard to the front, Asuka greeted him and explained why he had come.

"Hmm!"

The Great Elder sat upright in the seat of honor. After pondering for a moment, he nodded.

"The clan treasury does have some things, but most are Ninjutsu collected by the clan. If you want to pick out something useful for your trip to Sunagakure, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed.

There used to be some forbidden techniques in the clan treasury, but unfortunately Uchiha Madara took them away."

Thinking of the clan's once-glorious history, the Great Elder's eyes brimmed with tears, and helplessness rose in his heart.

The old clan treasury had contained everything imaginable. It covered Ninjutsu of all major attributes, and even some inherited techniques of other clans.

But the current clan treasury was rather impractical despite its impressive appearance.

The current treasury had many decorative weapons and Exploding Tags, making it look packed to the brim from the outside.

When he returned from the clan treasury with Asuka, the Great Elder looked at the scroll in the other's hand and sighed.

"Lord Madara didn't fail to bring some benefits to the clan. Back when he and the First Hokage hadn't fallen out, he obtained some Sealing Techniques, but few people in the clan studied them.

Later, the clan began improving many Sealing Techniques, making them more suitable for clansmen to cultivate.

For example, the Uchiha Flame Formation."

"Great Elder, farewell!"

Seeing that the man was about to start reminiscing about clan history again, Asuka's mouth twitched. He quickly walked past the old man and prepared to use the Body Flicker Technique to leave.

He had only come to the clan treasury to find that box. After searching around and finding nothing, he had casually taken a Sealing Technique before leaving.

After returning from Sunagakure, he would look around the Clan Head's house.

At that moment, the Great Elder seemed to remember something. He waved at Asuka's back and said in an aged voice.

"There'll be a clan meeting this evening. The village has approved Fugaku's application to go to the battlefield."

Hmm? Asuka stopped and turned to look at the Great Elder in confusion.

"Why go to the battlefield at a time like this?"

"Although the Third Shinobi World War has largely ended, there are still small local battles. Fugaku plans to take Itachi to the battlefield so he can see what war is like."

"Tut, tut!"

Hearing the ambiguous clicking of Asuka's tongue, the Great Elder stroked his beard and smiled.

"This old man has seen Itachi's talent. Going to the battlefield at four is a little early, but the Ninja World will probably remain peaceful for a long time in the future. It's good for him to see it now."

Looking at the Great Elder's glowing face, Asuka curled his lips. He understood what these people were thinking. They just wanted to train him early.

What you thought Itachi would do on the battlefield: mature faster, awaken his Sharingan, then crush the new generation in the village all the way through and become the village's favored prodigy.

But what he would actually do on the battlefield: suddenly realize that war was hell, begin contemplating The meaning of life, and become a man who loved peace from then on.

He might even wipe all of you out for the sake of peace.

"Old man, I'll attend the clan meeting this afternoon."

He waved at the other man and left the courtyard directly.

He still had to give his three students one final lesson. The next time he could return to teach would be three months later.

That afternoon, Naka Shrine.

"I've been far too slack!"

After the training just now, Asuka felt that he had been far too slack.

In the months since coming down from the battlefield, he had only routinely trained his Sharingan. He hadn't touched any other training at all, which had left his body feeling rusty.

If he weren't about to head to Sunagakure for friendly exchanges, his strength might have fallen to the level of an ordinary jonin, just like Kakashi in the future.

Pressing two fingers against the ground, Asuka began doing two-finger push-ups at the entrance to Naka Shrine.

"108."

"..."

"201."

"..."

"326."

After reaching five hundred, Asuka let out a heavy breath. Then he loosened up every joint and resumed the daily training he had abandoned for nearly a year.

Expecting to recover his level from a year ago in a single day was wishful thinking. He could only adjust slowly and proceed step by step. Sweat poured down like a waterfall, soaking the dry ground.

As time passed, the Uchiha Clan's jonin gradually appeared around the shrine.

They glanced at Asuka, who was drenched in sweat, but did not greet him. Instead, each found an empty corner and closed their eyes to wait.

None of them found it strange that Asuka was training here. As Konoha's representative, the danger of going to Sunagakure for an exchange mission was obvious even without thinking.

The more strength he recovered now, the greater his chance of staying alive.

Without realizing it, night arrived.

Elder Ryoichi looked at the pitch-black sky, then turned to the Great Elder sitting beside him and raised a brow.

"Old man, did you get the time wrong? Is the meeting today?"

"Yes!"

The Great Elder nodded firmly. Though his face remained calm, his heart had begun to pound.

A full hour had already passed since the agreed meeting time.

Could he really have remembered wrong? Sniff, sniff. At that moment, a strange smell interrupted the Great Elder's doubts. He sniffed hard, smelled the sudden odor drifting through the air, and frowned at Elder Ryoichi beside him.

"Ryoichi, did you fart?"

"You're the one who fucking farted."

"Then what's with this disgusting smell in the air?"

Hmm? After the Great Elder's reminder, Ryoichi also noticed the strange odor that had suddenly appeared. He turned to another Elder nearby and said disdainfully.

"Old bastard, how many days has it been since you washed your socks? This sour stench is making my eyes hurt."

"This old man doesn't wear socks!"

He placed his foot on Ryoichi's leg, wiggled his toes a few times, then stood up. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun wildly as he shouted toward the distance.

"Go take a shit somewhere else! Do you take Naka Shrine for a latrine?"

After waiting for quite some time without receiving a response, he thought the matter had been resolved. But the strange smell in the air only grew thicker.

"Who the hell is it?"

Ryoichi stood up, his Sharingan beginning to spin as well. After scanning around, he looked at Asuka, who was still eating rice noodles, and frowned.

"Kid, aren't you afraid eating here will ruin your appetite?"

"It's fine!"

Asuka waved at the restless Uchiha Elders, then picked up his bowl of Luosifen and continued eating heartily.

He was hungry and tired after training. If the Clan Head had not been late today, why would he need to fill his stomach here?

Too focused on eating, Asuka failed to notice that all the Uchiha clansmen around him had stood up, their brows deeply furrowed. Then their facial features twisted, their expressions becoming conflicted and pained. If this were not Naka Shrine, they would have thought they had walked into their own latrine.

After searching nearby and finding nothing unusual, Ryoichi came over to Asuka while grumbling curses. He lowered his head and glanced at Asuka, who was drinking soup.

Just as he was about to pat him and ask for a chicken wing for his grandson, he suddenly noticed that the smell here was especially strong.

Ryoichi pinched his nose and instinctively lowered his head, bringing it close to the basin in Asuka's hands to sniff.

"Hah!"

Asuka lifted his head and let out a satisfied breath.

Bang! He looked at Elder Ryoichi, who had fallen onto the ground, and raised a brow at the disbelief on his face.

"Elder, were you looking for me?"

"Y-you... You... What... what are you eating?"

Ryoichi's voice trembled as he pointed at the empty bowl in Asuka's hand, his body shaking instinctively.

He felt as though he had found the source of the strange smell.

"This?"

Asuka looked at the empty bowl, wiped his mouth, then summoned another basin and handed it to Ryoichi. His expression suddenly turned sorrowful, and he said in a low voice.

"Our clan is a clan of love. No clan loves more deeply than the Uchiha Clan.

This is a food I developed for the Uchiha Clan.

It has the taste of love."

Smelling the increasingly strong sour stench in the air, Ryoichi fell silent for a rare moment.

Did the taste of love smell this sour and rancid?

"..."

After a moment of silence, he seemed to think of something. He took the steaming basin of Luosifen with both hands and lowered his head to look at the wood ear mushrooms, long beans, greens, and other ingredients floating on top. After confirming there was indeed no shit in it, Ryoichi casually snapped off two tree branches, scooped up some noodles, and took a bite.

He mainly wanted to know what the taste of love was.

He had lost love many years ago.

Slurp!

After swallowing one mouthful, Ryoichi closed his eyes. Images of his departed companions flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

He could now eat something so novel, while they had long since been buried beneath the earth.

Thinking of that, he picked up another mouthful of noodles and put it into his mouth.

This unpleasant smell was somewhat similar to the sour feeling that rose in his heart whenever he saw others holding hands and strolling through the streets back then.

"Ryoichi, what are you eating?"

At that moment, Ryoichi suddenly heard the Great Elder's horrified voice behind him. He cleared his throat, which had become hoarse from the chili, and said in a low voice.

"Our Uchiha Clan is a clan of love.

And these noodles are filled with the taste of love. They make this old man think of things I once desired but could never have.

They bring back painful memories from those years. Now, taking another bite of noodles and tasting the sourness, sweetness, spiciness, and other flavors in my mouth, the pungent sour smell rushes through my Nostrils straight into my mind. My current state of mind is exactly the same as it was back then.

This food truly suits the Uchiha Clan."

As he spoke, he handed the noodles over, signaling for the Great Elder to try them as well.

???

The Great Elder looked at the strange-smelling noodles in Ryoichi's hand, then raised his head to look at Ryoichi's nostalgic gaze. His hand froze as he tugged at his beard.

Was this stuff... really that mystical? Should he try it? But looking at the leftover noodles in Ryoichi's bowl, then at the half bowl still in Asuka's hands, the Great Elder's expression darkened. As if he had made up his mind, he extended an aged arm toward Asuka and said.

"Kid, you made this stuff, right?

Get this old man a fresh bowl."

"..."

Asuka looked at the Great Elder's expression as if he were marching to his death. He smacked his lips, then made another bowl of Luosifen for him.

Slurp~ "Hmm, it does have some flavor. All of you, come over and try it."

With the principle of sharing good things with everyone, after taking a bite of noodles, the Great Elder beckoned to the clansmen around him and told them to come eat together.

As more and more Uchiha clansmen were called over by the Great Elder and Elder Ryoichi to experience the taste of love, the stench in the air grew stronger and stronger.

"Let's go inside the shrine to eat.

If we keep eating outside, people will think the Uchiha Clan is boiling shit."

Led by the Great Elder, the Uchiha jonin each carried their bowls of Luosifen into Naka Shrine.

Not bad, actually. It tasted pretty good.

The taste of love.

Sour and stinky.

An hour later.

Uchiha Fugaku's family of three slowly approached from afar.

Itachi looked up at his father. Seeing the somewhat gloomy expression on his face, he quietly asked,

"Father, what did Hokage-sama want to see you about just now?"

"To finalize matters concerning the war."

"Father, where are we going?"

"The Rain Country or the Land of Water. It will depend on the situation at the border."

Hearing this, Uchiha Itachi nodded. War was still very unfamiliar to him; he only knew a few simple accounts from books.

Incomplete torsos, intestines slowly sliding out from their bellies, bodies. Looking down at Uchiha Itachi's silent expression, Mikoto reached out and stroked his head. A trace of heartache flashed across her face before it became calm once more.

As the Young Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan, these were things he had to experience.

A trip to the battlefield could be considered the first lesson of life. Only by personally going through certain things could one mature.

Creak!

Watching the gates of Naka Shrine being pushed open, Uchiha Mikoto calmly looked at the clan members inside.

As the Clan Head's Wife, she had not attended a clan meeting in a long time.

Today, she wanted to see exactly how that bastard Uchiha Asuka had persuaded Fugaku to marry another woman at the clan meeting.

???

A toilet smell??? Uchiha Mikoto sniffed the strange odor in the air, rubbing her nose as she unconsciously frowned.

Was something wrong with her nose? There shouldn't be any toilets near Naka Shrine.

But where was this nauseating stench of a filthy gutter coming from?

After sniffing a few more times, she looked at Itachi, who was covering his nose, and Fugaku, who looked somewhat bewildered. A look of realization immediately appeared on her face.

So there was nothing wrong with her nose.

"Burp~"

A long, resonant burp drifted over. The Great Elder stood up while patting his belly, facing the stunned Clan Head's family at the entrance as he said in a hoarse voice,

"Clan Head, close the door first. Don't let people think our Uchiha Clan is cooking something indescribable."

"Alright!"

Uchiha Fugaku nodded with difficulty. After reaching out to close the doors, he walked to the seat of honor, sat down cross-legged, and calmly said,

"This smell here??"

"The taste of love!"

The Great Elder nodded with certainty. Rubbing his eyes, which had been reddened by the fumes, he then turned his gaze toward Uchiha Asuka, raised three fingers, and said firmly,

"Three bowls!"

Just as Fugaku's family was left confused, Uchiha Asuka bit his thumb, formed the hand sign for the Summoning Technique, and slammed his hand onto the table.

A burst of white smoke flashed, and three large bowls filled with Luosifen instantly appeared on the table.

After placing the three large bowls before Fugaku and the other two, Asuka rubbed his fume-reddened eyes and said,

"Clan Head, tonight belongs to the Uchiha. Even the noodles are filled with the taste of love. Please enjoy."

He regretted it.

Dozens of people eating Luosifen in the Secret Chamber—the smell was simply overpowering.

The key was that everyone had eaten more than one bowl.

The fumes made their eyes hurt.

???

Fugaku smelled the sour stench wafting from the bowl and swept his gaze over the clan's jonin below. Seeing that all of them were looking at him with swollen red eyes, the anticipation in their gazes made his heart skip a beat.

He hesitated for a moment, then, out of trust for his clansmen, picked up his chopsticks and took a bite.

Mm. The taste was acceptable.

That was what he thought, but Uchiha Mikoto smelled the sour stench stabbing into her nostrils. Rubbing her somewhat dizzy head, she stared fixedly at Asuka as though she wanted to devour him alive.

How could This humble one possibly eat something like this? Even chocolate that tastes like shit would be no worse.

That was probably the truest reflection of Uchiha Mikoto's current feelings.

She quietly pushed her bowl of Luosifen toward Uchiha Fugaku and unconsciously clenched her fist.

So angry!!

She really wanted to hit someone!! Because the stench in the Secret Chamber was far too pungent today, after Uchiha Fugaku finished his Luosifen, he only said a few brief words before dismissing the jonin who were nearly stunned senseless by the fumes.

His own eyes hurt from the fumes too.

When Uchiha Mikoto passed by Asuka, she fiercely glared at him and let out a chilling sneer.

Even without counting the suggestion he had made, he had already toyed with her twice.

The first time was those awful pastries; the second was these foul-smelling noodles. It was truly infuriating.

As time passed, it soon became midnight.

At this moment.

Most of Konoha had fallen asleep.

Uchiha Itachi reached out to the side. When he found nothing there, he sighed softly in his heart.

He was going to the battlefield tomorrow. His mother had said she would sleep with him tonight.

Had she already left? Uchiha Itachi slowly opened his eyes, and through the moonlight shining in through the window, he saw that his mother had not left.

He discovered that his mother had merely sat up, her back against the wall. The Sharingan in her eyes spun continuously, and her face was frighteningly pale.

"Mother?"

Hearing Itachi call to her, she shifted her gaze from the direction of Asuka's house to Uchiha Itachi and coldly said,

"Sleep!"

"Mother, aren't you going to sleep?"

At those words, Uchiha Mikoto took a deep breath, deactivated her Sharingan, and patted Itachi's back with one hand.

"I can't sleep."

Uchiha Itachi looked at his mother with concern and asked in confusion,

"Mother, what happened?"

"I dreamed I went into the kitchen, and every pot was boiling shit."

As she spoke, the Sharingan in Uchiha Mikoto's eyes began spinning again. She glared hatefully in the direction of Asuka's house, biting her lips until they lost all color.

Uchiha Asuka, just wait until you return from Sunagakure.

P.S.: Today's two-in-one chapter.

One chapter, 5,800 characters.