Might Duy's cooking

Although Might Duy was surprised by Ye Feng, he was even more delighted. Having someone who could carry on his legacy was a blessing, too.

"Very good. Your talent is unlike anything I've seen in my entire life. You adapted to the first gate so easily that the second shouldn't be difficult either. But you're still growing, so it's best to use the Eight Gates Released Formation as little as possible. Now, let's try opening the second gate." Might Duy then explained the second gate's location and the precautions to take.

Ye Feng earnestly learned from Might Duy's experience. Although his memories of his previous life gave him a fairly good understanding of the Eight Gates, having a predecessor's experience to draw on made his efforts far more effective.

As deftly as when he had opened the first gate, Ye Feng controlled his chakra and sent it surging toward the second gate, the Gate of Healing.

But this time, the result differed from the Gate of Opening. He actually failed to force open the Gate of Healing. Only then did Ye Feng realize that his body was not the problem-he had run out of chakra.

With a wry smile, he explained the situation to Might Duy. Only then did they both come to their senses. They had both forgotten that Ye Feng was only four, going on five. It was impossible for someone that age to have much chakra.

Might Duy thought to himself, Now that's more like a four-year-old.

So Might Duy told Ye Feng, "Since you don't have enough chakra, there's no rush to train in the Eight Gates Released Formation. From now on, you have two tasks: first, refine your chakra; second, push your body to its limits through training and strive to break past those limits as soon as possible."

Ye Feng also knew that neither task could be accomplished overnight. But without taking small steps, one could never travel a thousand miles; without gathering little streams, there could be no rivers or seas. Brimming with enthusiasm, Ye Feng threw himself into training.

Time flew, and another two months and more passed. In the blink of an eye, it was New Year in the world of the Hokage.

New Year here was just as lively as in his previous life. Walking through the streets, Ye Feng saw lanterns and streamers everywhere, with all kinds of festive decorations lining the streets. The passersby were dressed in colorful clothes, cheerful smiles on their faces.

At that moment, Ye Feng felt a little homesick. Although he had been alone in his previous life too, he had many friends with whom he would play around, laugh, and do childish yet heartwarming things.

In this world, Ye Feng always felt like a passing visitor, viewing its people and events from an outsider's perspective. He had little attachment to this world, and no one had much attachment to him.

Ye Feng sighed. No longer interested in wandering around, he turned and headed home. Yet at his door, he saw someone unexpected: Might Guy.

"Guy, what brings you here?" Ye Feng asked in puzzlement.

"Ye Feng, Father sent me to find you. It's New Year today, and he knew you'd be home alone, so he wanted you to celebrate with us. He's preparing the food at home."

That truly was unexpected. Ye Feng had never thought Might Duy would invite him. By this world's customs, only those closest to someone would be invited home for a gathering at this time.

It looks like Might Duy really does regard me as his student or family, Ye Feng thought. But that's good, too. Going to his place is better than returning to my own empty, quiet home.

So Ye Feng accepted without fuss and followed Might Guy back.

When they reached Might Duy's home, they found him scrambling around, cooking something they could not make out. There was even a faint smell of burning.

"Little Ye Feng, today you'll get to see my cooking skills." Seeing Ye Feng arrive, Might Duy struck a comical pose with an enormous thumbs-up.

But Ye Feng smelled an increasingly strong burning odor.

Realizing something was wrong, Ye Feng hurriedly lifted the lid and saw that the stir-fried meat inside had already turned black. Only then did he discover that Might Duy could not cook at all. No wonder the meals he usually saw the father and son eating were nothing more than simple seaweed sushi or boiled meat.

He hurriedly took the metal spatula from Might Duy's hand and spoke to him with a smile.

"Teacher Duy, leave the cooking to me today. I'm pretty good at it, so let me make a meal for you."

Might Duy was embarrassed, too. He had invited someone to dinner only to burn the food.

"I've made a fool of myself, little Ye Feng. I don't cook very often. Heh heh."

"Don't worry. We'll be eating soon."

Ye Feng also felt that spending time with someone as uncomplicated as Might Duy was the most relaxing.

Ye Feng looked at the many vegetables and meats on the floor. It seemed Might Duy had prepared plenty of ingredients for him. Unfortunately, he did not know how to cook them, but Ye Feng was still very grateful.

This time, Ye Feng put his cooking skills on full display, making many familiar home-style dishes from his previous life: kung pao chicken, red-braised pork, mapo tofu, fish head with chopped chilies, hot-and-sour shredded potatoes, and farmhouse stir-fried pork. He also made two cold dishes for Might Duy to enjoy with his drinks. (In the world of the Hokage, minors were strictly forbidden from drinking alcohol.)

In less than two hours, the table was covered with delicious dishes. Their enticing colors and aromas had long since left Might Duy and his son itching to dig in.

Amused at the sight of the father and son practically drooling onto the floor, Ye Feng spoke as though he were the host. "Let's eat."

"Then we're digging in!" Might Duy and his son hastily declared before swiftly reaching with their chopsticks for the dishes they had already picked out.

Watching the father and son scramble for food, Ye Feng felt a surge of satisfaction as the cook.

Dinner was casual and relaxed, and Ye Feng had not felt so at ease in a long time. Watching Might Duy and his son even resort to Taijutsu as they fought over a piece of meat was both funny and heartwarming. Caught up in it, Ye Feng joined the fray, and a bout of utter chaos followed.

After dinner, Ye Feng and Might Guy lay in the courtyard, gazing at the stars overhead and occasionally catching sight of fireworks. Might Duy, meanwhile, was cleaning up the pots, bowls, and dishes from dinner.

"Ye Feng, we finally found you! We've been looking for you for ages. There's a fireworks display in the shopping district tonight. Come watch it with us!" Two silvery voices rang out. Then Inuzuka Clan Fengyu and Kurenai Yuhi came skipping inside, took Ye Feng by the arms, and pulled him toward the door. Rin Nohara, Obito Uchiha, and Asuma Sarutobi followed behind them.

Thinking that lying around watching the stars was just passing the time anyway, and that going to see the fireworks and enjoy the festivities would be nice, he let Might Duy know and pulled Might Guy along with him.