A Good Strategy, But I'd Like to Make a Slight Modification

Lu Bian: [The Dog Beating Technique I created is finished. Brothers, come take a look. @All Members]

Kakashi Hatake: [You summoned everyone just for this?]

Lu Bian: [Please, watch my demonstration.]

Lu Bian uploaded the video he had painstakingly filmed of the Dog Beating Technique demonstration to the Chat Group.

Lu Bian: [Kakashi, I recall your summoning jutsu summons the Eight Ninja Hounds, right? What do you think of my Dog Beating Technique?]

Kakashi Hatake: [Terrified.]

Shi Tianwu: [The moves are exquisite and the variations are marvelous. I see the shadow of the Supreme World Shocking Era within them.]

Lu Bian: [It was indeed a flash of inspiration I had, combining some variations from the Book of Supreme World Ordering.]

Shi Tianwu: [Just some? You are being too modest.]

Lu Bian: [This technique of mine might not be great for hitting people, but it is very effective against animals that walk on all fours.]

Lu Bian: [Does anyone want to learn it?]

[Lu Bian uploaded Dog Beating Technique]

[Kakashi Hatake downloaded Dog Beating Technique]

Lu Bian: [Brother Kaka, you want to learn my Dog Beating Technique?]

Kakashi Hatake: [One can never have too many skills. I might not necessarily use it, but it would be quite good to teach it to others.]

Lu Bian: [Then can I ask you to teach my Dog Beating Technique to someone on your side?]

Kakashi Hatake: [Who do you want me to teach?]

Lu Bian: [Naruto Uzumaki.]

Kakashi Hatake: [Naruto Uzumaki...]

Kakashi Hatake: [Fine. But let's be clear, if Naruto Uzumaki doesn't want to learn it himself, that's not my problem.]

Lu Bian: [I know. Naruto Uzumaki's personality is actually quite stubborn, and right now is when he loves playing pranks the most. Not many people like a brat who causes trouble.]

Lu Bian: [Before you teach him, let's put on a show.]

Kakashi Hatake: [How should we act it out?]

Lu Bian: [Like this... like this... and then like this...]

Kakashi Hatake: [Good strategy, but I would like to make a slight modification.]

It was another day of skipping school.

Naruto Uzumaki was catching fish by the stream behind the village.

Why skip school?

Because school was simply too boring, of course. And... he had forgotten to do his homework. Fearing the teacher's inspection and having no classmates to copy from, Naruto simply decided to skip class.

Naruto could already imagine being dragged back by his homeroom teacher, Iruka. He would definitely be punished again. Would it be carrying water buckets or balancing books on his head? Either way, he would end up standing in the hallway, so he might as well fill his stomach before the punishment began.

Just as he was about to scoop up a fish, Naruto suddenly heard someone laughing loudly in the distance. The laughter sounded like demonic music, startling Naruto into hiding.

The laughter drifted near and far; the person making the sound was moving around.

Naruto then heard a rustling sound behind him, as if some wild beast was moving through the grass. Naruto hurriedly turned to look.

Kakashi Hatake covered Naruto's mouth with one hand and locked him in a rear-naked choke with his other arm, preventing him from making a single sound.

Naruto Uzumaki broke out in a cold sweat.

In the Ninja Academy's classes, "spies" were an important topic and a mandatory part of every exam. Naruto figured he must have run into a spy.

Although the ninja covering his mouth wore a Konoha forehead protector, he had his face covered so thoroughly that he was undoubtedly a spy.

Naruto Uzumaki had never seen a guy who only showed one eye.

The laughter gradually faded away.

The one laughing maniacally should be a Konoha ninja, right?

Help!

He, Naruto Uzumaki, hadn't become Hokage yet; he couldn't die here!!

"Kid, my opponent has already left."

"I am a Konoha jonin, you don't need to be nervous."

Kakashi Hatake released Naruto Uzumaki.

"Ugh!? Help! It's a Konoha jonin!!" Naruto Uzumaki shouted at the top of his lungs.

"I already told you I'm a Konoha ninja, why are you still yelling?"

"Na, na, na..." Naruto started stuttering.

"I'm not explaining it to you anymore, I have important business to attend to." Kakashi rose from the bushes.

"?"

Kakashi jogged away, intentionally maintaining a pace that Naruto Uzumaki could keep up with as he headed toward another part of the mountain behind them.

They arrived at the spot he had prepared in advance.

Kakashi took out a small shovel and began to dig into the ground.

"..."

Naruto caught up and hid in a nearby tree, peeking over.

What is this guy digging for? Naruto wondered. Could it be treasure? A ninja scroll? Or... the corpse of another ninja?! What kind of secret is he hiding here?

He dug it up.

It was a dead rooster.

Kakashi had only needed a few scoops with the shovel to unearth the dead rooster, and the carcass was crawling with giant centipedes.

"Eww!!!"

Seeing the hair-raising centipedes, Naruto Uzumaki was so startled that he fell right out of the tree.

If it were just one or two centipedes, Naruto would have been brave enough to use a branch to jump out and scare little girls, but the dead rooster Kakashi was handling was covered in over a dozen massive centipedes, and his trypophobia flared up on the spot.

"W-why are you messing with so many centipedes?" Naruto asked, summoning his courage to walk over to Kakashi.

"Heh, because I'm going to eat them," Kakashi said, turning back to look at Naruto.

Even with the mask covering his face, Naruto could feel that Kakashi was smiling at him.

"Y-you're going to eat them? These bugs don't look edible at all, do they?" Naruto felt a wave of nausea.

"Don't worry, as long as they're prepared properly, they're actually quite delicious."

Kakashi pulled out a scroll and released the seal, causing a pile of camping stoves and cookware to appear beside him.

Kakashi picked up a small knife, carefully removed the centipedes' venom glands and fangs, and tossed them into the pot.

"Could you do me a favor and fetch some water?" Kakashi asked.

"...Yeah." Naruto picked up another pot and headed to the nearby stream to fetch water.

After Naruto brought the water back, Kakashi started the fire and placed the cleaned centipedes into the boiling water.

Naruto watched with keen interest.

Kakashi's technique for handling the centipedes was extremely skillful, and as Naruto watched, he found he was no longer afraid of the dense cluster of insects.

Once the boiling water had cooked the dozen or so centipedes through, Kakashi poured the water out and peeled off their outer shells.

After removing the heads and tails, the shelled centipede meat was revealed; it was snow-white and translucent, much like a large shrimp.

Kakashi poured oil into the pan, and when it was medium-hot, he dropped the centipede meat in to deep-fry.

Naruto stood by, drooling.

When the centipede meat had been fried to a light golden brown, Kakashi scooped it out, sprinkled on some seasoning, and popped a piece into his mouth, chewing gently.

"Do you still think they're gross now that you know they're centipedes?" Kakashi asked Naruto.

"Not anymore, not anymore! Give me some to try~!"

"Here you go."

Naruto took the freshly fried centipede from Kakashi's hand and shoved it straight into his mouth; the piping-hot meat made him let out all sorts of strange, wheezing noises.

"Ha, the centipede is biting back," Kakashi laughed.

"Mmph, mmph, mmph!!" Naruto made faces at Kakashi, his mouth working quickly to chew the tender, fragrant centipede meat.