Konoha: Naruto, trained by Aizen

"Wow, the man cooking is so handsome!" Sakura sat in the chair, cupping her face in her hands, looking completely infatuated.

In her eyes, Naruto was picking up a kitchen knife and elegantly slicing through the meat. In the blink of an eye, the meat had been perfectly cut into pieces of the same size.

Watching Naruto prepare ingredients is like watching a conductor of a symphony orchestra—elegant and confident, each ingredient is perfectly prepared in a very short time.

Under Sasuke's questioning gaze, Naruto took out a piece of plastic wrap and placed it under the meat, while his cleaver swiftly processed the ingredients.

"Cooking is also a form of self-cultivation. It requires calming the mind and concentrating on handling the ingredients, using the most appropriate amount of force, not a bit more or less."

Naruto finished processing the meat in a very short time, set it aside, and picked up the plastic wrap underneath it.

It remains smooth and clean, without any signs of being cut.

Sasuke stared at this scene in shock, a realization dawning on him:

"I see! Now I understand why you're so strong! It's because you've integrated cultivation into your life! I get it!"

Under Naruto and Sakura's bewildered gazes, Sasuke began to rapidly form hand seals, a confident smile playing on his lips: "From now on, no matter the situation, I will practice hand seals with all my might and make the most of every spare moment."

"Working hard is one thing, but you also need to get enough rest." Naruto nodded.

I began to fully immerse myself in the cooking process.

Half an hour later.

A table of delicious-looking dishes is ready.

Mapo tofu, salmon sushi, fresh fish soup, steak, and green pepper and pork slices.

"Come on, try it, give me some advice, please~" Naruto made a polite gesture.

"Tch, my standards are quite high." Sasuke cleared his throat and quietly swallowed.

After his clan was wiped out, he hadn't had a decent home-cooked meal in a long time.

"Then I won't be polite." Sakura, who was standing to the side, couldn't wait to pick up a piece of tofu and put it in her mouth.

The spicy and savory flavors exploded in her mouth, and Xiaoying's eyes widened as she felt as if she had ascended to heaven.

"How...how can it be so delicious?!"

Sasuke took a bite of the green pepper and pork slices with some skepticism, his eyes widening slightly, and his doubts about Naruto vanished instantly.

"This cooking..." He looked at Naruto in disbelief.

Naruto's cooking skills have actually surpassed those of his mother, Mikoto.

How did you do that?

He clearly spends time training every day.

"How is it? How does it taste?" Naruto wiped his hands, sat down at the table, and asked with a smile.

"That's great, Naruto, you're amazing! Your wife is so lucky!" Sakura praised without reservation.

"Hmph, the taste is alright." Sasuke snorted coldly, his eyes darting around, but his hands didn't slow down.

"I'll just have to eat this." Sasuke's chopsticks quickly moved to other dishes.

"Hey, you're really dishonest." Sakura pouted, a little disgusted, and in that instant, she channeled her inner Sakura and spoke her mind.

Seeing Sasuke's slightly displeased look, Sakura gave a coquettish snort, picked up a piece of meat for Naruto, and acted like the lady of the house: "Naruto, you've worked hard, eat more."

"Tch!" Sasuke couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. Naruto was clearly his friend, so why was Sakura, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, acting so familiar with him?

So Sasuke said to Naruto, "The steak is good, eat more."

“But you haven’t eaten your steak yet,” Sakura retorted immediately.

"You!!!" Sasuke's eyes widened.

Naruto paid no attention to the rivalry between the two, adjusted his glasses, and first enjoyed his salmon sushi.

The taste is not bad.

However, there was a slight mistake in the knife skills when handling the salmon, which affected the taste.

This is a mistake I shouldn't have made. I guess I wasn't focused enough.

"By the way, Naruto, why do you wear glasses?" Sasuke asked curiously during the meal.

"Yeah, yeah, Naruto-kun isn't nearsighted, is he? I'd love to see what Naruto-kun looks like without his glasses!" Sakura chimed in.

Upon hearing the question, Naruto visibly paused for a moment, then gave a meaningful smile:

"I won't take off my glasses until the right time."

Sasuke and Sakura, standing to the side, were completely bewildered and wanted to ask more, but were interrupted:

"Eat, eat! You need to be full to have the strength. Tomorrow will be a tough battle."

Time passed in a fairly warm atmosphere.

Night fell in the blink of an eye, and the three parted ways, heading home.

Chapter Fifty-Six Stealing the Bell

The next morning.

Sakura stood in the agreed-upon training ground, holding a small bento box in her hand.

A biting wind blew by, and Sakura hurriedly pulled her few clothes tighter around herself, her bare arms trembling slightly.

Suddenly, she felt a warm coat with a refreshing soapy scent being draped over her. She quickly turned around and saw Naruto's warm smile.

"The weather has been very changeable lately, so be careful not to catch a cold."

Naruto's words moved Sakura to nod in agreement, while Sakura herself became completely infatuated.

But she quickly noticed that Naruto was only wearing a thin casual outfit and no coat, and hurriedly tried to take off his coat with concern: "Naruto, you're wearing so little, don't..."

Naruto gently stopped Sakura from moving, and draped her coat back over her shoulders, his beautiful blue eyes filled with tenderness.

"It is very ungentlemanly to see a girl as beautiful as cherry blossoms freezing in the cold wind and do nothing about it."

'A girl like cherry blossoms? Ahhh, Naruto, don't do this, it makes me want to hug you.' Sakura had completely broken down and gone berserk.

All the words she wanted to say finally shrugged off into a shy "Mmm".

"Sakura, how long have you been here?" Naruto asked softly.

"I just arrived a little while ago."

At that moment, Sasuke's figure slowly appeared in the distance.

And just like that, the three-person group was complete.

"It seems Kakashi, the king of lateness, is even more outrageous than I thought," Naruto chuckled.

......

"I'm sorry, I've lost my way on the path of life." A short while later, Kakashi arrived late, using his tried-and-true excuse.

"It's alright, we just arrived not long ago." Naruto said with a kind and understanding expression.

"Hmm, this is pretty good. I didn't realize you were so skilled." Sasuke, without even looking up, picked up a piece of sushi from Sakura's bento box and savored it, looking at Sakura with considerable surprise.

It's hard to imagine that this girl who's obsessed with boys also has cooking skills that far surpass her own.

Excited by the praise, Sakura picked up a piece of sushi and fed it to Naruto: "Naruto-kun, I made this myself."

"Okay, thank you, Sakura." Naruto took a small step back, reached out and took the sushi, putting it in his mouth: "Mmm, it tastes pretty good!"

Sakura, undeterred by being refused food, cheered herself up: "Yoshi, at least Naruto-kun ate my bento, that's a big improvement."

The girl was full of fighting spirit.

Kakashi watched the three of them sharing their bento boxes in silence, and suddenly felt like an outsider.

It seemed like nobody cared that he was late.

This feeling.

I'm so annoyed.

"Ahem." Kakashi drew everyone's attention with a light cough, trying to appear serious, his voice low and deep:

"Next, we will begin the bell-grabbing test."

"I will carry two bells with me, and you need to grab them before noon."

“Those who don’t get the bell are not entitled to lunch. Since there are only two bells, one of you is destined to go hungry.”

"Oh, so that's what you do. How boring." Sasuke snorted.

"Waaaaah, I'm doomed, I'm definitely going to go hungry." Sakura said dejectedly.

"Don't worry, Sakura, we won't be hungry after we finish our bento boxes. We can just share the lunch later." Naruto smiled nonchalantly.

Kakashi: ? ? ?

Kakashi's carefully crafted atmosphere was instantly shattered, and he stood in the center of the field with a look of utter disbelief, his mind in turmoil.

This is completely different from what I expected. What kind of script is this?

"Stealing the bells, huh?" Minato, inside Naruto, sighed with nostalgia, a smile playing on his lips. "Back then, Kakashi went through a very rigorous bell test."

More than a decade has passed, and things have changed. The arrogant Kakashi of the past has grown up and is now someone else's teacher.

Having adjusted his mindset, Kakashi leaned lazily against a tree, looking nothing like a ninja.

"You'd better be prepared to kill me, or you won't succeed."

"Be careful, he's a ninja no less skilled than Guy," Naruto calmly warned. Sasuke nodded, while Sakura's hands grew cold with nervousness.

"Then, let the assessment begin."

After he finished speaking, no one moved.

Sakura's eyes were fixed on Naruto.

She understood that with her own abilities, only by cooperating with Naruto could she hope to pass the test.

Sasuke decided to observe for a while first.

Naruto, on the other hand, decided to launch a direct attack.