Fire Release Ninjutsu, a Must-Have for Home and Travel!

"All right, let's get back to preparing the ingredients."

Hayato brought the conversation back on track at just the right moment. It was getting late, and if they didn't hurry, dinner would be ruined.

Kurenai chimed in from the side. "Yeah. Does anyone know how to prepare these rabbits and pheasants?"

There was a hint of anxiety in her voice. These wild game animals were new to them, after all, and preparing them was certainly a challenge.

Everyone's eyes turned to Hayato in unison, as if they expected him to come up with a solution.

Hayato smiled helplessly and shook his head. "Looks like this tough job is mine, then."

In the blink of an eye, Hayato was already skillfully bleeding the pheasants and rabbits. His movements were practiced and decisive.

As for the squirrel, he left it alone. He didn't plan to put it on the dinner menu.

"By the way, why aren't Asuma and the others back yet?" Obito looked around and saw that Asuma's team was still nowhere to be seen. He couldn't help feeling a little worried.

Guy and Kurenai were helping Hayato, while Rin focused on gathering firewood nearby. Kakashi was completely absorbed in preparing the fish.

By comparison, Obito had nothing to do, so he volunteered, "How about I go look for them? It's getting late, and they still haven't come back. What if they've run into trouble?"

But before he could finish speaking, Asuma and the others came into view.

Obito hurried over to meet them. "You're all right, aren't you? What took you so long?"

Ebisu smiled and explained, "We went farther away, so we got held up."

Curious, Rin stood up and leaned in for a closer look. The bundles in Asuma and the others' hands were full of all kinds of mushrooms. "Wow, they're so pretty!" she exclaimed.

Asuma raised his eyebrows proudly. "I picked these out especially. They'll make a delicious soup."

The others gathered around to admire the colorful mushrooms.

Seeing this, Hayato set the bled pheasants and rabbits on a rock, then walked over and looked at what Asuma and the others had brought back.

Those are the poisonous mushrooms that'll make you lie flat after one bite.

"These mushrooms are poisonous. You can't eat them," Hayato warned.

The others were startled when they heard him.

Kurenai quickly backed away a few steps, muttering, "Could even the smell be poisonous?"

Clearly, she trusted Hayato's warning completely.

Asuma, however, looked displeased. "What's that supposed to mean? The food I brought back is poisonous? Are you picking on me?"

Hayato shook his head helplessly and didn't explain further. He turned and went back to preparing the ingredients.

Asuma assumed Hayato thought he'd stolen the spotlight and was deliberately slandering him.

Then he looked at the three people beside him—"You're not going to believe his nonsense too, are you?"

After thinking for a moment, Ebisu replied awkwardly, "Asuma, maybe we should just not eat these."

Genma and Izumo nodded in agreement.

Better safe than sorry. They'd never eaten these mushrooms before, after all.

At that, Asuma grew even angrier. "Traitors! Hmph! If you won't eat them, I will. You don't even know how to enjoy good food. It's your own loss!"

So they went over to Hayato and the others and asked if they needed any help.

"Go start a fire, and boil some water too," Hayato said after a moment's thought, assigning them their tasks.

The three readily agreed and went over to Rin and Obito. Obito was trying hard to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, but he didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

His face had gone bright red from the effort, but not a single spark had appeared.

"This is so hard!" Obito groaned, stopping what he was doing.

Seeing this, Genma offered, "Let me try."

The three of them took turns trying to start a fire. But as the seconds ticked by, they still couldn't get one going.

After a long while, Hayato glanced over at the fire-starting group, which still hadn't made any progress, and walked over.

"What's going on?"

When they saw Hayato coming to check on them, all four boys looked troubled.

"Starting a fire is so hard. My hand's about to smoke from all the spinning, but it's not working," Obito said, waving his right hand.

Hayato looked at the fire drill they had set up in the middle of the group. If they kept at this rate, the sun would be up before they got a fire going.

Without another word, he swiftly formed Hand Seals, adjusting his chakra output as well.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A stream of flame flew onto the dry firewood, and it caught fire in an instant.

Fire Release Ninjutsu: a must-have for home and travel!

"This is... Fire Release Ninjutsu!" Obito cried.

The others looked just as shocked. They couldn't believe that someone had already mastered Fire Release Ninjutsu when they'd only been at the academy for a few days.

Kakashi's pupils contracted slightly too. Hayato's jutsu wasn't particularly powerful, but Kakashi could tell he had carefully controlled its output to start the fire. He nodded to himself, gaining a deeper understanding of Hayato's abilities.

"All right, nothing special. Don't make such a fuss. Now let's boil some water." Hayato waved a hand, signaling everyone to get back to work.

The others came back to their senses and got busy. With Hayato's help, the fire-starting group had successfully lit the fire and began boiling water.

Asuma, meanwhile, looked rather dejected.

He watched jealously as Hayato became the center of attention, while his own impulsiveness had left him in an awkward position.

He rubbed a stick against the fire, as though it were an insult to his dignity.

"Hmph! Once my mushroom soup is ready, it'll smell so good you'll all be jealous! But I'm not sharing any with you!" Asuma muttered.

What he didn't know was that the mushroom soup in his hands was hiding a grave danger...

A while later, Hayato used the boiling water to pluck the pheasants, cleaning them thoroughly. Once he'd finished preparing the game, he handed the ingredients over to the others to grill.

He didn't bother with the rest. As for why he wasn't making chicken soup, it was mainly because they didn't have any other seasonings. Boiled on its own, the meat would be rather bland.

Kakashi had already finished grilling his fish. He brought it over to Hayato. "Want some?"

"Want some?"

Hayato looked up with a smile and took the fish. "You're pretty good at this, Kakashi," he praised him. The fish was crisp on the outside and tender inside, with just the right flavor.

"Thanks for the compliment."

Then Kakashi sat down beside Hayato and began enjoying the fruits of his labor.

The two ate quietly, neither disturbing the other as they enjoyed this rare moment of peace.

Meanwhile, Asuma was stirring his mushroom soup. Ebisu tried earnestly to talk him out of it. "Asuma, maybe you should just not try it. What if something goes wrong?"

"Tch, coward. I'm not afraid, so what are you afraid of? I trust my own judgment." As he spoke, Asuma took a sip.

But then disaster struck! The moment the mushroom soup hit his stomach, Asuma felt a powerful force surge through his brain. "This is bad! Something really is wrong!" He'd barely finished speaking before he collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth.

Everyone was horrified.