Pakkun

"Pakkun? What are you doing here?"

That's right, the short figure that had burst into Gu Qi's kitchen was none other than Pakkun, one of Kakashi's eight summoned Ninja Dogs.

Pakkun scratched his neck with a hind leg. "I followed the smell. Did you make all this, Gu Qi?"

"Yeah, help yourself!" Gu Qi, who had originally planned to taste-test it himself, was happy to have a volunteer guinea pig.

Pakkun's big, glossy black eyes widened at Gu Qi's words. "Great, then I won't hold back!"

With that, Pakkun jumped straight onto the kitchen counter, picked a piece of dried meat from a bowl with his paw, and popped it into his mouth.

"Beef jerky, and it's butter-honey flavored. Gu Qi, your cooking's amazing. I never knew you could make this." Pakkun swallowed the meat and raised a front paw in praise.

Gu Qi chuckled. "How is it? Feel anything different?"

"Uh... Gu Qi, you didn't put laxatives in this, did you?" Pakkun's body trembled, as if recalling some unpleasant memory.

Gu Qi waved a hand. "No, I promise there's none this time."

"Huh?" Pakkun had just relaxed when he suddenly noticed a strange change in his body.

"Gu Qi, is this jerky some kind of Ration Pill? Why is it so effective?" Pakkun was astonished to find his stamina and Chakra had both increased significantly.

Gu Qi squinted with a smile. "That's right, it's my latest jerky-type Ration Pill. Not only does it avoid the digestion issues of normal Ration Pills, but its effects are several times stronger."

Gu Qi wasn't just making this up—all these benefits were described in the scroll.

"If that's true, this is amazing. I've been sick of those awful Ration Pills for ages. Finally, a change of taste." Pakkun's glossy black eyes stared intently at Gu Qi.

Gu Qi, with a face full of exasperation, found a backpack and stuffed about fifty pounds of jerky into it—half of what he'd made this time.

After helping Pakkun strap the backpack on, Gu Qi said, "Here, this is for you and Bru and the others. Oh, and no hoarding."

Pakkun grinned broadly. "Don't worry, I won't."

Gu Qi didn't dwell on it and asked, "By the way, any news from the ninja world lately?"

Gu Qi was always curious about what happened outside Konoha.

But Kakashi rarely brought it up, so most of Gu Qi's info came from Pakkun.

With a full mouth, Pakkun thought carefully for a moment. "If there's any news, it's that this ninja war is basically over. I think it won't be long before peace returns to the ninja world."

Gu Qi had expected this—otherwise, Kakashi, a Konoha jonin, wouldn't have had time to come back for leave.

"Anything else?" Gu Qi pressed.

Pakkun scratched his chin with a paw. "Our only enemy left in Konoha is the Cloud Ninja. But I heard that because of supply and attrition issues, they're being forced to negotiate a peace treaty with us."

"Oh? When?" Gu Qi asked.

If Gu Qi remembered correctly, when the Cloud Ninja came last time, their leader tried to kidnap Hinata and got killed by Hyuga Hiashi.

As a result, the Cloud Ninja demanded Konoha hand over the culprit—Hyuga Hiashi.

In the end, the Third Hokage chose to compromise for peace, and Hizashi Hyuga decided to sacrifice himself for Konoha and the Main Family to escape the Caged Bird.

Pakkun shook his head. "No idea yet. It's just rumors for now. As for the timing, that's up to the higher-ups on both sides."

"Alright, thanks, Pakkun."

"No problem. If you ever want to know anything, Gu Qi, just come find me. It's getting late, I should head back."

"See you, Pakkun."

After Pakkun left, Gu Qi tidied up the kitchen and packed all the jerky he'd made into wooden boxes.

"Phew, since I've confirmed the system's stuff is fine, I should really start studying the knowledge it gave me." Gu Qi wiped the sweat from his forehead and muttered to himself.

"Huh? What's this?"

Just as Gu Qi was about to start studying, he noticed an exclamation mark had appeared on the System Mall tab.

Curious, he opened the System Mall to check.

"Huh? Two new items!" Upon opening the System Mall, Gu Qi was surprised to find two new products.

Originally, the System Mall only had the Crimson Pill priced at ten thousand Ryo, but now there were purchase options for Secret Recipe Dried Meat and Secret Brew.

As for the prices, Secret Recipe Dried Meat was 100 Ryo per pound, and Secret Brew was 150 Ryo per pound.

"Damn! If I'd known, I wouldn't have made so much."

Gu Qi did a rough calculation and realized the prices for Secret Brew and Secret Recipe Dried Meat in the System Mall were basically cost price.

In other words, if Gu Qi bought them from the system, he'd save both time and labor.

But since it was already done, Gu Qi could only accept reality.

He silently closed the system and opened the basic math knowledge it provided to start reading.

The basic knowledge from the system was fairly simple, roughly equivalent to elementary school level from his past life.

So for Gu Qi, it was just a refresher on stuff he'd long since returned to his teachers.

Plus, he was really looking forward to the system's rewards, so he soon lost himself in study.

Meanwhile, after training all afternoon, Kakashi returned home to find his eight ninja dogs huddled together, doing something unspeakable.

"This box is yours, Shiba."

"Thanks!"

"And this one's yours, Akino."

"Hey, what are you guys up to?"

Kakashi crept up behind the eight ninja dogs without a sound, startling them so badly their fur stood on end.

"Whew—Kakashi, you nearly scared me to death." Pakkun pressed a paw to his chest, let out a breath, and said irritably.

Kakashi clicked his tongue. "I've been in here this long and you didn't notice a thing. That just means you were too absorbed. Spill it—what are you doing?"

At that, Pakkun's dog face showed an embarrassed expression. "We're dividing up the jerky Gu Qi made. Kakashi, you should try some too—it's really good!"

"Are you sure he didn't put laxatives in it?" Kakashi was a bit surprised by Pakkun's words, but thinking of Gu Qi's personality, he couldn't help asking.

Pakkun didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Of course he knew what Kakashi was wary of. "If there were laxatives, we'd have fallen for it by now. Relax, we've already tasted it."

"Good, then I'll have to see just how good little Gu Qi's jerky really is."

With that, Kakashi took a piece of jerky from the wooden box belonging to Urushi and popped it into his mouth.

"Huh? Matcha flavor—that's unusual." Kakashi's expression was a bit odd. It was his first time eating matcha-flavored jerky.

Pakkun reminded him, "There are lots of flavors. So far we've had chocolate, red bean, and spicy. But that's not the point—it's the effect after eating it."

"Effect? Huh, how is that possible?" Kakashi was astonished to find that his stamina and Chakra, which had been nearly depleted from training, had suddenly fully recovered.

"Amazing." Kakashi closed his eyes and sensed his own body for a moment before saying, "It's even better than Ration Pills. And it doesn't have that hard-to-digest feeling Ration Pills give."

"Are you sure this was really made by Gu Qi?" Kakashi asked Pakkun.

Pakkun thought for a moment. "When I went over, Gu Qi was in the kitchen. But..." He hesitated before adding, "I also saw a scroll on the stove. The handwriting looked a bit like Lord Kawao's."

"Uncle's scroll? I see! So this must be some old research of Uncle's that little Gu Qi dug up." Kakashi thought it over and said.

Pakkun nodded. "That matches my guess. If Lord Kawao hadn't died, he might have become a remarkable Medical Ninja someday."

"Yeah, what a shame."

As if reminded of something, Kakashi silently retreated to his own room.

"Kakashi..." Pakkun opened his mouth, but in the end, said nothing.