Chapter 120: Graduation
After that incredibly rewarding lottery session, Naruto's daily routine gained a rather peculiar new "task."
It was the Pokémon egg that had been carefully placed in his home—the one with the distinctive green circular pattern. Could the hatching method really be as simple as the system description and the games suggested? Just carry it around while walking?
Still, Naruto found a corner in his small apartment and used some basic materials along with a heating device to build a simple yet warm makeshift "greenhouse," placing the egg securely inside to ensure it remained in the most comfortable environment possible.
When he needed to go out, he would extremely carefully remove the egg from the greenhouse, wrap it in several layers of soft, thick blankets, and then place it steadily in his backpack. Fortunately, this egg was "only" the size of two footballs, so while it took up space in his backpack, it didn't look too out of place—at most like he was carrying an unusually large lunch box or sports equipment.
Satsuki and the Third Hokage, who occasionally came to visit, quickly noticed the conspicuous "makeshift greenhouse" in Naruto's home and the strange egg inside it.
When asked about it, Naruto had already prepared his explanation. He said he'd discovered it by chance while fishing in the back mountains some time ago, in a very remote location.
He felt that the egg contained an unusual life force and thought that whatever hatched from it might be quite remarkable—perhaps it could become his future summoning beast.
Upon hearing this, the Third Hokage simply nodded without pressing for more details. After all, in this bizarre ninja world where he'd seen giant summoning snakes dozens of meters long and toads as large as buildings, an egg slightly bigger than ordinary bird eggs wasn't particularly extraordinary.
Satsuki's reaction, however, was completely different. After carefully observing the egg and learning that Naruto was trying to hatch it, she showed tremendous interest.
A few days later, Satsuki bought what appeared to be a quite sophisticated automatic temperature-controlled incubator and delivered it directly to Naruto's home.
...The technology tree in the ninja world really is weirdly developed... They even have things like this?
While marveling at this, Naruto gratefully accepted this practical gift.
What surprised Naruto even more was that Satsuki actually began actively researching information, teaching herself extensive knowledge about hatching and caring for various egg-laying creatures. She would then come over to tell Naruto in minute detail what he should pay attention to, how to control temperature and humidity, and even visited daily to observe the egg's condition with him, recording subtle changes.
She seemed to regard successfully helping Naruto hatch this "future summoning beast" as an extremely important matter, throwing herself into it wholeheartedly.
Meanwhile, Naruto began experimenting with combining his lottery-obtained Master-Level Cooking Skills with the Pearl Jam ability.
His first taste tester was naturally Satsuki. He specifically told her a day in advance that he had recently "devoted himself to studying" cooking and felt his skills had greatly improved. He hoped she could be his first taste tester and give him feedback.
Satsuki naturally agreed without hesitation.
During the cooking process, Naruto truly felt the difference. Steps that previously required thought now became instinctive, his movements flowed like water, his control over heat and seasoning reached perfection, and even his ingredient preparation carried a fluid beauty.
The finished dishes were several times more appetizing than before, just from their presentation and color alone.
It certainly seemed much more impressive... But could it really reach the level the system described—"soul-shocking," making people feel "truly alive"? Naruto still felt uncertain.
He quietly incorporated Pearl Jam into the final, most ordinary-looking home-cooked dish—scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
When this carefully prepared scrambled egg dish, enhanced with "healing" effects, was placed on the table and Satsuki took her first expectant bite—her movements suddenly froze.
Then, to Naruto's astonishment, he watched as Satsuki's eyes visibly reddened at an alarming rate, and large teardrops began rolling down without warning, splashing onto the dining table.
She looked up at Naruto with an expression of overwhelming emotion that seemed almost too much to bear.
"What's wrong? Doesn't it taste good? Is it too sour?" Naruto immediately became flustered, not knowing what to do.
However, Satsuki's true thoughts were quite different.
This flavor... the base was undoubtedly Naruto's cooking—she could taste his usual seasoning style... But...
But this harmonious taste, this warming sensation, this flavor that made every bite feel incredibly blissful... this could only be achieved through thousands upon thousands of repeated practice sessions, with countless hours of dedication!
Naruto... in order to make dishes that would make her happy... had he been secretly putting in so much effort behind the scenes?
With his training being so demanding, he still found time to focus on something like this... Just thinking about him possibly practicing alone in the kitchen, failing and starting over again and again...
Under the overwhelming impact of heartache, emotion, and the happiness of being so deeply cherished, Satsuki's emotions burst like a dam, and her tears simply wouldn't stop.
...And so, Naruto remained completely unaware that Satsuki had imagined an entire touching drama of "secretly practicing cooking for her sake."
He had no idea that if the system could still accurately calculate Satsuki's bond level—which had long since exceeded its limits—his mind would probably be filled with the non-stop chiming of bond increase notifications at that very moment.
In the days that followed, Naruto used his Master-Level Cooking Skills to harvest another "bond fruit"—Choji Akimichi. After several carefully prepared feasts, the chubby boy's affection for Naruto skyrocketed.
Ding!
Congratulations, Host: Bond level with original character "Choji Akimichi" has increased to Level 6!
Reward points earned: 100!
Days passed like this, one after another. Now his life, aside from having an increasingly clingy Satsuki by his side and the daily careful tending of that mysterious golden legendary egg, still revolved around the same two most important things: school and training.
Change was roughly like this—peaceful yet fulfilling.
Time flowed on, day after day, week after week. Finally, Naruto's life reached an important milestone—he was about to graduate from the Ninja Academy!