"To Uchiha Hikaru, Tsunade was nothing more than a stranger now—someone completely unrelated to him.
Although he liked her character a lot in his previous life, he could clearly distinguish between reality and fiction.
As the granddaughter of the First and Second Hokage, Tsunade was practically the 'Second Fire Princess.' Recklessly approaching her would only stir up unnecessary trouble.
Shaking his head at the thought, he decided not to dwell on it anymore.
By that time, the waiter had already served all the dishes he ordered. Looking at the table full of grilled meat, Uchiha Hikaru began to dig in.
From the moment he walked in, his body had been sending him signals—craving food—so he ordered enough to fill the entire table.
Hikaru guessed it might be due to the Idle Training System. Even if the system helped him grow stronger while idle, it still needed energy to function.
The whole table's worth of barbecue was devoured in record time. Uchiha Hikaru could even feel his stomach and intestines working overtime, digesting quickly to replenish his energy.
He opened the system panel and took a glance—two skills currently on idle were progressing at double speed, confirming his theory.
'Looks like replenishing energy actually speeds up the idle training. If I want to maintain this pace, I'll have to keep feeding myself.'
Strangely enough, Hikaru was perfectly fine with that.
After all, if he could eat as much as he wanted without gaining weight—and grow stronger in the process—who would complain?
The meal was not only delicious, but it also helped him discover a new feature of the system. He was more than satisfied.
"Check, please!"
As soon as Hikaru called out, the owner silently handed him the bill.
The moment he saw it, Uchiha Hikaru froze, stunned and nearly in tears.
Seeing that most of the other customers were shinobi, he knew BBQ Q wouldn't be cheap—but over twenty thousand Ryo?
To put things in perspective, a typical D-rank mission for a genin only paid around five to ten thousand. This one meal had cost him the equivalent of four D-rank mission rewards.
Looking over the bill carefully, though, Hikaru realized the owner hadn't scammed him. He'd just ordered enough food to feed four or five people.
So while the bill was steep, it was justifiable.
Under normal circumstances, it would've only cost four to five thousand Ryo for a single person. The price felt high because he'd eaten so much.
Still, after paying and walking out of BBQ Q, Uchiha Hikaru made a firm decision: he'd start cooking his own meals.
If he wanted to maintain his fast idle progress, a steady supply of food was essential.
His parents' combined pension was only 100,000 Ryo per month—not even enough to feed him for a full week.
Even the inheritance they left behind—worth several million Ryo—wouldn't last him a year at this rate.
And to make things worse, the forests and rivers surrounding Konoha were not freely accessible.
Most of them had been divided up among the various clans in the village, and outsiders were strictly forbidden from harvesting anything.
In the storyline, Shikamaru's Nara clan had their own massive forest used to raise medicinal deer.
Much of the surrounding land had also been converted into training zones, with limited access based on ninja rank.
Naruto being able to go fishing in the anime might have been thanks to permission from the Third Hokage.
Otherwise, everyone would be casting nets into the rivers. How would fish vendors make a living then?
The Uchiha, of course, had their own forest too. But it had been converted into a private training ground by the more militant faction of the clan.
Most of the animals had either died or fled, leaving no wild game to hunt.
Still, the village hadn't completely shut off the option. Every year, some areas were opened up temporarily.
However, most of the people who took advantage of that were commoners. Rarely did any ninja clan members participate.
If he were to go and scavenge for free food, Hikaru was certain the Uchiha clan would make his life hell.
So yeah—he could forget about freeloading off the land.
Back home, Uchiha Hikaru picked up the scattered scrolls on his desk and began reviewing them again.
There were two C-rank jutsu: Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu and Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu.
The last was a B-rank jutsu: Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu—the only inheritance left by his parents.
These three techniques were basically standard issue for the Uchiha. Fireball and Phoenix Fire were taught to genin, while Great Dragon Fire was for chunin.
As for why there weren't any chakra control basics—it was probably because they were too foundational. Whether in clan households or at the academy, everyone learned them.
Thanks to the Idle Training System, Uchiha Hikaru could level up his abilities without any effort.
But the system still required him to learn or create the abilities first—it wouldn't just conjure them out of thin air.
And compared to innate bloodline powers, ninjutsu scrolls provided actual knowledge.
What he still didn't know was whether the system upgraded only his ability, or if it also came with the relevant knowledge.
All of this would need thorough testing if he wanted to truly make the most of the system.
Just as he was deep in thought, a warm current surged through his body, making him squint in satisfaction.
It came quickly and left just as fast, but afterward, Hikaru could clearly feel that he'd grown stronger.
Surprised and curious, he quickly opened the system panel again:
[Host: Uchiha Hikaru]
Abilities:
One-Tomoe Sharingan (Green) Lv1
Uchiha Bloodline (Green) Lv2
Cooking (White)
Idle Slots:
One-Tomoe Sharingan
Uchiha Bloodline
Combat Power: 5
(A total trash-tier power level of 5)
The system's sarcasm was as sharp as ever, but it couldn't dampen Hikaru's joy.
Just one meal and his skills had leveled up. While it was clear that good nutrition helped speed up progress, this pace was still incredibly fast.
His combat power had jumped from 3 to 5—not much on paper, but that was nearly a twofold increase.
He spent a good while enjoying the moment before finally calming down.
He hadn't expected the system to be this effective. Sure, things would get harder as the levels increased...
But if things kept going at this rate, he might be invincible before he even graduated from the Academy.
With this rapid growth, Uchiha Hikaru began to develop ambition.
In his previous life, he lived in a peaceful country untouched by war. That gave him a deep appreciation for peace.
So now, he wanted to bring that same peace to the world that had once brought him joy and emotion.
Uchiha Hikaru wanted to become Hokage—
To truly change this continent, to make it run according to his will, to string up the so-called nobles and feudal lords by the trees.
It was a grand dream—but reality wasn't so accommodating.
Lying lazily on his tatami mat, he turned over, scratched his head, and sighed.
"Achieving that goal sounds exhausting... I really don't wanna end up doing a 996 schedule..."
(9 a.m. to 9 p.m., 6 days a week)