Kushina's First DIY Meal!

"Grandma, aren't we deceiving Kushina by doing this?"

All that nonsense about being scolded and feeling upset, about being unable to keep an appointment—it was all a setup!

A setup to make Kushina willingly take on the task and fulfill the promise herself.

Tsunade felt that this was a little immoral. After all, Kushina was still just a child.

"Do you have a better way to help Kushina let go of her grief, lower her guard toward the village, and truly integrate into it?"

Mito Uzumaki shot her granddaughter an irritated glare.

If you could do that, would this old woman need to meddle?

"Uh..." You had a point.

Tsunade shrank back and decisively shut her mouth. She did not dare talk back to Mito Uzumaki.

What Tsunade feared most was her grandmother nagging and lecturing her. As for whether Jingyi could be relied on...

What a joke. He was someone she had trained. And who was she?

Tsunade!

The First Hokage's eldest granddaughter, Konoha's princess!

Could Tsunade's judgment be wrong? Absolutely not!

Knock, knock, knock!

"The door isn't locked. Come in."

Jingyi, who was resting on the sofa, heard the knocking.

The door slowly opened, and Kushina walked in with great effort, carrying a bag. Her forehead was covered in sweat, and she looked utterly exhausted.

"Jingyi, Tsunade had something to do today, so I bought the groceries for you instead. I didn't know what you liked to eat, so I bought a little extra."

Kushina set the bag on the floor and proudly showed off her accomplishment.

"..."

Jingyi rose from the sofa and fell silent for a moment.

Though he could not see, he could use his senses to tell just how much Kushina had bought.

It was a huge, bulging bag. Even a violent little girl like Kushina struggled to carry it, which showed how heavy it was.

Jingyi felt he should not disappoint Kushina's kindness, so he smiled and asked, "You worked so hard, Kushina. Can you tell me what you bought?"

"Hehe, no need to thank me. I don't feel tired at all. Actually, I think it was great fun."

Kushina wiped the sweat from her forehead. She was clearly in a good mood. Although it had been her first time entering a market to buy groceries and she had made plenty of mistakes along the way, she had completed the mission in the end.

"Potatoes, and beef. The uncle selling beef said that if I bought more, he'd give me a discount."

Kushina thought she had been very clever, buying lots of beef at a low price.

"..."

No matter what you bought, buying in bulk would get you a discount. Groceries were not luxury goods; sellers would love nothing more than for you to buy everything they had.

Jingyi opened his mouth, then decided it was better not to say that.

After all, Kushina meant well.

"How about we have barbecue?"

"Sure!"

Kushina clapped happily, but then she worried about Jingyi's eyes.

"Maybe we shouldn't. Grandma Mito said that wouldn't be right. You can't see, so moving around is inconvenient for you."

"Then let's do it together. I'll direct you, and you do the cooking. How does that sound?"

At Jingyi's invitation, Kushina hesitated briefly before obediently agreeing. She did not want to disappoint him, and her heart was itching to give it a try.

Food made with her own hands had to be delicious, right?

"First, cut the beef into large chunks. Yes, that size is perfect. Then put the chopped ingredients and seasonings into the pot and marinate the beef."

After marinating the beef, Kushina carried a small hoe into the yard to dig up mud.

She kept thinking about it, yet could not figure out why roasting beef required mud.

The CPU in her little head was practically burning out.

Wrap the marinated beef in lotus leaves, coat it in a thick layer of mud, then toss it into the fire to roast.

Looking at Jingyi's confident and incredibly handsome face, Kushina began to doubt herself. Could meat cooked like this really be edible?

When the beggar's beef came fresh out of the fire, Kushina was dumbfounded.

So this was another way to cook?

Mud and lotus leaves, of all things.

The process was a little strange, but the taste was genuinely amazing. The large chunks of marinated beef had become wonderfully tender and delicious.

Kushina ate happily. Besides the beef being delicious in the first place, there was also the satisfaction of making it herself.

Even though her clothes were now filthy, Kushina did not care in the slightest.

The smile never left her usually gloomy little face.

"So the Hyuga Clan's rules are really that strict? That's terrifying."

Kushina was deeply shocked as she listened to Jingyi talk about the Hyuga Clan.

Compared to the Hyuga Clan, she felt that the Uzumaki's rules were practically nonexistent.

Not to mention that within the Hyuga Clan, the branch family could only protect and serve the main family.

Put nicely, they were all one family. Put bluntly, the branch family were the main family's servants—slaves.

Fortunately, the village kept them in check. Even though the Hyuga main family had the right to punish the branch family, they did not dare go too far.

From that perspective, the Third Hokage had actually done something decent.

His control and suppression had greatly curbed the Hyuga main family's arrogance and stripped away a considerable portion of their authority.

A faint smile hung on Jingyi's lips. "Is it that scary? It's not too bad now. With the village mediating, the main family can't punish branch family members without reason, much less kill people as casually as they did in the past."

Although the F4 group had their own motives for doing so, their methods had indeed made life much easier for the branch family.

Kushina said indignantly, "Those people from the main family are absolutely awful. They're just a bunch of villains."

The more she learned, the more Kushina felt that she and Jingyi were the same kind of people.

Although Jingyi still had a clan and his own people, his situation was even more difficult than hers.

With the Caged Bird Seal in place, it was impossible for branch family members to resist.

"Jingyi."

Kushina was deeply worried that his clan would target him.

Jingyi smiled casually, raised a hand, and patted Kushina's little head to comfort her.

"Don't worry about me. I passed the medical ninja examination and now work at Konoha Hospital. With Tsunade around, the main family won't dare come looking for trouble with me."

"Then I'm relieved."

Kushina was afraid that the Hyuga Clan would trouble Jingyi at any time or order him around in the name of the clan.

Ninjas from ninja clans placed immense importance on clan honor.

Unfortunately, Jingyi was not one of them, because he was a transmigrator.

Clan honor was all bullshit to him, especially when it came to a rotten, dark, and inhuman clan like the Hyuga Clan.

After hearing Jingyi's story, Kushina shared her own with him.

When it was about time, Kushina knew she had to leave.

Although she had gained a certain degree of freedom, she could not be willful. At this point, she did not have the means to be willful.

"Well then, Jingyi, I'm going back first. I'll come see you again another day."

Though reluctant to leave, Kushina obediently departed and returned to the Senju ancestral residence.

Mito Uzumaki had given her some freedom, so she needed to keep her promise as well—return home on time and not stay out too long.

"This child."

Although Jingyi was only thirteen, Kushina truly was a child in his eyes.

Even without considering his past life, their age difference in this life alone was a full seven years.

Kushina had bought far too much in one trip. The vegetables could keep for a few days, but what about the meat?

If he did not deal with it, it would spoil quickly. At this point in time, household appliances like refrigerators had not yet become widespread in the ninja world.

To keep the meat from spoiling, Jingyi could only get to work, curing it and making smoked beef jerky.

"Luckily, she bought beef. If she'd brought back a pile of pork, it really would have been hard to deal with."

Jingyi became busy.

Kushina happily returned to the Senju ancestral residence.

"Grandma Mito, Tsunade, Nawaki, this is the beef I brought back for you. It's really tasty, and I made it myself."