A Date

The final assessment was scheduled for a month later. Jimo walked down the road, unsure what to do.

There was no need to worry about Sasuke; Kakashi was teaching him. Naruto was even less of a concern... His teacher was Jiraiya, after all.

Jimo looked at the orange-yellow ball of Chakra in his hand and marveled at what a genius the Fourth Hokage had been... Though it wasn't as convenient as firing a Shockwave directly, this non-elemental technique truly had endless possibilities... As he pondered, a whirlwind began to circle the ball of Chakra, and the faint image of what looked like a Shuriken flickered in and out beside it.

"Wind Style: Rasengan... Complete!"

"Ding! The system has detected that the protagonist has been promoted to Chunin. A gift pack is being issued."

The damn system had been gone for ages. Usually, it only rewarded him with little skills he couldn't use, like Little Chef's cooking or Chopper's animal linguistics.

"Open the gift pack..."

"Congratulations, host! You have obtained a new form—Giant Ape Form! You can create an artificial moon to transform into a Great Ape, increasing your combat power tenfold.

Congratulations, host! You have obtained the weapon Indestructible Nyoi-Bo!

Note: This form can only be maintained for one hour. After one hour, it will enter a five-day cooldown. In addition, for 24 hours after reverting, the host will be unable to move his body, and his pain will be twice as intense as before."

Jimo's eyes lit up when he saw the skill. He'd been worrying about how to deal with a super-monster like Shukaku...

"By the way, why did you suddenly pop up? Weren't you supposed to appear as soon as I became a Chunin?"

"Host, have you got a screw loose? If I'd shown up then, the people in the Naruto world would've taken you away and dissected you..."

After sneering at Jimo, the system tossed him two small gift packs and disappeared.

"Bean Sprout's propagation and functional upgrades... Flying Nimbus's propagation and postpartum care..."

Jimo looked at the two books in his hands and fell into thought...

As everyone knew, when you were feeling down, you needed to eat something sweet.

"Boss, I'll have three portions of every kind of sweet dango you've got."

"Sure!"

Before long, dozens of plates of dango were spread out in front of Jimo.

Jimo was eating with gusto when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Boss! I'll have three portions of your three-colored dango!"

"Sorry, we're out of dango. That young man just ordered the last portion."

The owner pointed at Jimo. Just then, the last three-colored dango slid into Jimo's stomach with a gulp.

"It's you!"

Jimo seemed to realize what was happening and sprang to his feet.

He stood up, paid, and ran—all in one smooth motion.

"Stop right there, you little pervert! I'll kill you!" Anko yelled as she chased after him, hot on his heels.

There was nothing Jimo could do. Even in his previous life, he'd been powerless to resist bold, fun-loving women... Even though Anko was ten years older than him, he still couldn't resist her.

After a chase, Anko sat down hard on top of Jimo, pinning him to the ground.

"Run? Go on, run! Ask anyone—who in that shop would dare steal rice dumplings from Anko?"

"Anko... I'll pay you back, okay? Ow, ow, ow! I'm breaking! I'm breaking!"

Jimo shouted from the ground, but in the end, she still caught him.

"You did plenty of groping during the exam! Those hands of yours, that face of yours! Now you've finally fallen into my hands!"

Anko said with a grin, a strange smile spreading across her face...

After Anko had taught him a lesson, Jimo walked off with a bruised and swollen face to buy ingredients for making dango.

"I'm very picky, you know! Don't try to fob me off with just anything." Anko followed behind Jimo like a victorious rooster.

After they finished shopping, Jimo arrived at the apartment the Hokage had assigned him. It had all the basic amenities, with pots, bowls, and pans all provided.

"I was going to invite Team 7 over for a meal... You're lucky I'm letting you have the first meal in my new place..." Jimo muttered.

As soon as Anko came in, she flopped onto Jimo's bed. He'd specifically asked for it: the other furnishings could be a little lacking, but the bed had to be as comfortable as possible!

"You've got good taste. This big bed is so comfortable!"

"Hey, hey, you're a grown woman. Could you not come into someone's home and roll around on his bed?"

Jimo deftly prepared the red bean paste, sugar, glutinous rice, and other ingredients, then began making rice dumplings.

"Ah... I guess the original author might not have eaten anything good..." While the rice steamed, Jimo started making other snacks.

"What are you making?" Anko asked curiously, watching Jimo work with practiced ease.

"I'm making some snacks from my hometown for you."

After a flurry of activity, Jimo had made xiaolongbao, pan-fried dumplings, candied hawthorn, peach crisps, and other snacks and pastries. He showed Anko just how meager the foods she used to like had been.

"Don't eat too much, or you'll turn into Choji..." Jimo's voice came at the wrong moment from behind Anko, who was stuffing her face.

"You're so rude, you know that?"

Anko said smugly, looking at Jimo, who had several large bumps on his head.

"By the way, where did you learn to cook? With skills like yours, you could open a shop on Konoha Street and probably make a lot of money."

The two of them chatted on and off.

"Jimo! We came to eat..."

Naruto's voice came from the window. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were standing outside, with Kakashi and a middle-aged man with red face paint behind them.

"Oh, oh, are you on a date with Teacher Anko?" Naruto stuck his head inside.

"Use the door, hey!"

The two of them greeted Naruto with a combined barrage of blows.

After finishing their training, they remembered that Jimo had said he would host a meal after the exam. So they'd taken their instructor to ask the Third Hokage for Jimo's address, then hurried over.

"I presume you're Lord Jiraiya!" Jimo bowed deeply to the middle-aged man.

"Oh! Has the fame of I, Jiraiya, spread even to little kids like you?" Jiraiya laughed heartily. He glanced at Anko, who was eating rice dumplings nearby, then whispered, "You've got good taste!"

"Hey, hey, don't tell me you've actually fallen for this troublesome kunoichi..." Kakashi stared at Jimo with his dead-fish eyes. Anko was quite the oddball among their Jonin circle... Plenty of men who pursued her had gotten a thorough beating.

"Well... I was just thanking her for saving me in the Forest of Death..." Jimo gave an awkward smile. He wanted Anko to explain, but she was already so absorbed in the sea of snacks that nothing could distract her.

"Everyone, come on in. I bought plenty of ingredients today. I'll make some more!"

"Yay!" The three little ones cheered happily after tasting Jimo's cooking.