On Saturday morning, Makoto had made an appointnt with Minato and the others to provide a detailed lesson on preparing squirrel mandarin fish.
He sent his shadow clone to guide the disciples while his real body cooked for Minato and Kushina.
The reason he didn't have the shadow clone demonstrate was primarily because the shadow clone didn't possess the chef skills blessing.
Makoto took out a fish and placed it on the chopping board, allowing Minato and Kushina to observe. While cutting the fish, he explained, "To process the fish, start by cutting it diagonally behind the gills and removing the spine."
After chopping off the fish head, he added, "Make sure to process the fish head a bit and cut off the gill cover. It will take shape when fried, making it look much better."
Kushina realized why her previous attempts didn't look good.
When handling the fish, Makoto told the two of them to control their strength and cut only four-fifths of the fish, avoiding cutting the skin, which would result in an unattractive appearance.
At this point, Makoto provided two fishes prepared in advance for Kushina and Minato to try.
Minato's performance was decent, but he was cautious, resulting in slightly shallow cuts. On the other hand, Kushina cut directly through the fish skin.
She humorously remarked, "Haha, the fish at is too soft, and it ca off all at once. Makoto, do you have any fish with firr at?"
Makoto showed a helpless smile and asked, "If the at is too firm, will you still eat it?"
Fortunately, Makoto was well-prepared and gave Kushina another fish to try. With this first experience, it took Kushina three cuts to cut through the fish skin properly, which was considered a significant improvent.
"From now on, I'll leave the step of cutting the fish to you, Minato," Kushina said solemnly. In order not to waste Makoto's ti, Kushina decided not to compete for the ti being.
The teaching continued, and Makoto explained each step in great detail. After the explanation, he imdiately asked the two of them to practice.
They proceeded slowly, and by noon, they had almost completed the instructional breakdown but hadn't yet prepared a complete squirrel mandarin fish.
It wasn't until after two o'clock in the afternoon that they were finally completed it. It was complete in the sense of being done, but the appearance was quite different.
"Obviously, we followed the steps, but why did the final result turn out so differently?" Kushina felt there was still a significant gap between her and Minato's finished product compared to Makoto's.
Minato reassured her, "After all, we're beginners. With more practice, we should improve."
Minato was quite satisfied; he had successfully prepared a dish that appeared so complicated.
If there were levels of difficulty in learning dishes, he believed that this squirrel mandarin fish dish would be at least a B level. He imdiately added this dish to the recomndation nu he would give Jiraiya when he returns.
[Lecture completed]
[Evaluation: B]
[Reward: Magic Mapo Tofu]
Just when Makoto was about to say sothing, the system suddenly popped up a prompt. "Is teaching how to cook considered a lecture? Can teaching two people also count as a lecture reward?" Two doubts suddenly crossed Makoto's mind.
He also rembered teaching before and wondering why the rewards weren't triggered when teaching disciples. After careful consideration, Makoto had so theories.
The assessnt of lectures might not solely depend on the number of people but also on the strength of the individuals being taught. Although he had only taught Minato and Kushina, they were exceptionally strong.
Regarding why the lecture reward didn't trigger when teaching cooking before, Makoto felt it might have been because the duration and depth of teaching weren't sufficient.
The results of this lecture exceeded Makoto's expectations, and the reward was sowhat abstract.
Kushina and Minato each took a bite of the squirrel mandarin fish they made, and both expressed satisfaction. Although it was a bit lumpy, the taste was still excellent.
However, during the al, Makoto's squirrel and mandarin fish was devoured first. What they cooked was good, but Makoto's dish was so fragrant that it was irresistible.
"Makoto, we you caused quite a bit of trouble this ti, spending most of the day teaching us how to cook," Minato said with a gentle smile.
Makoto responded with a smile, "It's no trouble. You often help solve my doubts regarding sealing techniques."
Kushina asked about Makoto's three-finger seal progress, and he shared the insights from the first three days of practice. She affird his progress, stating that the final successful practice should take about as much ti as she had estimated.
Kushina considered Makoto the strongest when it ca to cooking, but when it ca to Fuinjutsu, she believed there was no one better than her in the entire ninja world.
"I'll go back and write down so insights from my previous sealing practice, and I'll give it to you once I am done," Kushina said. She was soone who knew how to repay kindness. Unlike a certain soone.
Makoto had taught her and Minato how to cook so carefully and ticulously, and she appreciated it.
Makoto expressed his satisfaction, saying, "That's truly helpful. Sorry for troubling you."
Kushina laughed heartily, saying, "Makoto, you're still talking about trouble. You're welco; it's a simple matter."
In the evening, Obito inford Makoto in advance that he would apply to start the Taijutsu challenge again on Sunday.
"Are you ready?" Makoto asked Obito with a smile, slowly taking out three test papers from a scroll.
As Obito gazed at the three test papers in Makoto's hand, his expression suddenly fell. He had no desire to tackle these questions.
But when Obito looked at Might Gai and Shisui, who were practicing not far away and rembered their conversation from the previous day, Obito's determination flared up, and he declared, "Teacher Makoto, I'm ready. I will definitely succeed this ti."
After his disastrous defeat the previous Saturday, Obito had been diligently training for a week and was confident in the results of his efforts.
Seeing Obito's newfound confidence, Makoto handed him the ticket fee and began to prepare the challenge venue.
Early the next morning, Obito arrived at the training grounds earlier than Shisui for the first ti.
After so warm-up exercises, Makoto led Obito to the challenge area he had arranged.
"It's the sa as before; keep heading east, and you'll reach the endpoint," Makoto reminded.
*Swish*
Obito nodded and sprinted in the direction Makoto had indicated, putting all his strength into it.
Having learned from his previous experience, Obito refrained from looking back at the shadow clone, focusing instead on any potential traps or pitfalls around him.
With a cautious approach, Obito managed to bypass a trap and reached the level with the giant swinging pendulums, where he had previously failed. Thick trees swung back and forth, presenting a potential hazard.
Obito didn't hesitate and rushed through, using his incredible speed to pass through unscathed.
Obito, accustod to running with weights, found his body unusually light without them, significantly increasing his running speed.
After overcoming the point where he had previously failed, Obito felt a sense of relief and sported a bright smile.
"As long as I take this challenge seriously, it won't be that difficult."
*Swoosh*
*Bang*
However, Obito's triumph was short-lived. Within three seconds, he tumbled into a large pit dug by Makoto shortly after expressing his confidence.
"One point deducted," Makoto's warm voice inford Obito.
*Swish*
Obito quickly leaped out of the pit and continued his cautious run, determined not to be careless again. The price of carelessness was too steep; not only would he have to restart the challenge, but he'd also need to answer a lot of questions.
After running carefully for a considerable ti, Obito ca across a kunai wedged into a wooden stake with a flag indicating the endpoint. Obito smiled once more.
'This is the finish line. I only have one points deducted, and I've done well as long as I'm careful,' he thought.
But as Obito approached the kunai, he was suddenly caught in a trap. To his surprise, there was a hidden trap near the finish line!
"One point deducted," Makoto's voice resounded again.
Obito quickly disentangled himself from the trap, refraining from laughing this ti. He didn't want to risk losing his last point for laughter, so he cautiously reached the kunai.
Filled with a sense of accomplishnt and satisfaction from his hard training and extraordinary caution, Obito looked around, then crossed the finish line.
Makoto appeared and congratulated Obito, "Although you have only one point left, it's still a success."
Obito couldn't contain his excitent and cheered, "Hahaha, great!" He laughed without restraint, relieved that he wouldn't have to answer the questions due to failure.
"Finally, I can learn to Soru like Shisui and Gai."
"Who told you that you can learn Soru now?" Makoto asked, puzzled.
"Didn't you say, Teacher Makoto, that I can learn it after completing the challenge?" Obito inquired, confused.
"Yes, you've completed the challenge, but you've only completed the first level of forest sprint. You haven't finished the second level yet," Makoto explained.
After a mont of contemplation, Obito recalled the relevant details from his mory. It was indeed as Makoto said.
"The second level is called river sprint. You need to cross from one river bank to the other within a specified ti without falling into the water," Makoto elucidated.
"Is it really that simple?" Obito expressed his delight.
Treading water seed like an easy task for him now.
"I will interfere with the use of ninjutsu on the river to so extent once you start," Makoto added with a smile.
"Like the Water Dragon Bullet?" Obito asked.
Makoto nodded, confirming that it was indeed the Water Dragon Bullet but with a smaller number.
Upon receiving this assurance, Obito felt at ease. Treading water and handling the Water Dragon Bullet were skills he had mastered long ago.
"Teacher Makoto, I'd like to begin the second level of the challenge," Obito declared, eager to complete the challenge and start learning Soru.
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