Ninja School Teacher, I Can Become Stronger by Teaching - Chapter 72

“Squirrel fish? Can it taste good if you cook a squirrel and fish together?” Kushina wondered aloud.

“It shouldn’t be made with both a squirrel and fish. Maybe the finished dish just looks like a squirrel,” Minato said, having just finished washing the vegetables.

Since he hadn’t washed a squirrel, there shouldn’t be one in the dish.

“Minato’s right. There’s no squirrel in this dish,” Mokutsuki explained as he cleaned the fish, removing its scales and guts.

Squirrel fish is a classic dish in Su cuisine, known for its vibrant color, aroma, and taste.

Mokutsuki had seen many videos of this dish in his previous life and had tried making it once himself. However, due to his lack of knife skills, the final product didn’t quite resemble the original dish.

But now, with his chef skills, Mokutsuki felt confident as he handled the fish, having already planned how to prepare it in his mind.

First, he used a knife to remove the fish bones along the back, leaving about a centimeter of spine near the tail. Then, he spread the fish skin-side down and made diagonal cuts into the flesh, about four-fifths deep.

This step was crucial. Any mistake here would ruin the appearance of the final dish.

With the help of his masterful cooking skills, Mokutsuki perfectly recreated the squirrel fish from his memory. The golden, crispy fish resembled a squirrel, and with the sweet and sour sauce poured over it, it looked not only beautiful but also smelled incredibly appetizing.

“Huh? How did this fish transform while Minato and I were chatting?” Kushina was stunned as she looked at the squirrel fish on the dining table.

No exaggeration, she had never seen such a beautiful dish.

In her mind, food was primarily for filling the stomach and secondly for tasting good.

Minato stood up and walked over to the table, taking a closer look at the freshly prepared squirrel fish. He was equally surprised to see such an attractive dish.

“This is the first time I’ve thought a dish looks beautiful,” Minato praised. Mokutsuki’s squirrel fish was indeed a feast for the eyes.

“Don’t just look at it, give it a try,” Mokutsuki said with a smile.

Kushina and Minato didn’t hesitate, each picking up a piece of fish with their chopsticks.

As soon as Minato tasted the fish, he first felt the sweet and sour flavor, followed by the crispy exterior and tender interior of the fish, with the sweet and sour taste permeating the meat.

Snapping out of his daze, Minato quickly filled a bowl with rice and began to eat heartily. The sweet and sour dish was incredibly appetizing.

“We have to learn this dish, one of us must!” Kushina said seriously after the meal.

Although she still preferred pork belly, the appearance of squirrel fish added a lot of points.

“No problem, I’ll teach you both,” Mokutsuki said with a smile.

“But this dish is much more difficult than pork belly, so be prepared,” Mokutsuki warned.

Pork belly didn’t require much attention to appearance. If the steps were followed correctly, the final product would be all right.

But squirrel fish was different. Its appearance was its soul. If the appearance was off, the dish was a failure.

“I refuse to believe this dish can be harder than high-level sealing techniques,” Kushina said confidently, trusting in both her and Minato’s abilities.

“Mokutsuki, how is your Three-Finger Seal training going? Have you encountered any problems?” Minato asked about Mokutsuki’s sealing technique practice.

“It feels much harder than the One-Finger Seal. After ten days of training, I still don’t have a clear idea,” Mokutsuki sighed.

Although he had mastered it in six days, Kushina had estimated it would take him a month, so he planned to announce his success on the twenty-seventh day.

He then described the issues he encountered on the first day, appearing as a diligent novice eager to learn.

Kushina and Minato enthusiastically helped Mokutsuki with his questions.

Mokutsuki should have used this opportunity. Besides some feigned progress questions, he also asked about sealing techniques he genuinely didn’t understand.

With the guidance of sealing technique experts like Minato and Kushina, Mokutsuki gained a lot, feeling that his cooking skills had come just in time.

These chef skills were necessary for his plan to make friends, have progressed much slower.

…

Two days after the final exams, Kotetsu Hagane, Izumo Kamizuki, and Anko Mitarashi agreed to meet up to check their results.

After meeting at the agreed location, the three headed to the academy together.

“I got second place in the practical exam again. If I do well on the theoretical exam, I can ask Mokutsuki-sensei for more rewards,” Anko chirped.

“Anko, didn’t you say the questions were easy after the exam? You probably scored high,” Kotetsu laughed.

“Yeah, but we were worried about a lot of the questions,” Izumo said with a troubled expression.

“No worries. After checking our results, I’ll treat you both to breakfast,” Anko said generously.

“Really, Anko?” Kotetsu said expectantly.

“When have I ever lied to you?” Anko asked, hands on her hips.

Kotetsu and Izumo exchanged glances and shook their heads, thinking it would take someone really gullible to be tricked by Anko.

As they neared the academy, Anko remembered something and suspiciously asked the two, “You both did well last time. Are you trying to trick me into thinking you didn’t do well this time?”

“No way. We just got lucky last time,” Kotetsu denied.

“Yeah, we probably won’t be as lucky this time,” Izumo sighed.

They could check their results on the bulletin board or in their classroom, where the tests would be handed back. They headed straight to the school, where Mokutsuki had already placed the tests on each student’s desk.

After greeting Mokutsuki, they went to their seats to check their papers.

“Huh? Only seventy-eight points? That’s two points less than last time,” Anko said, scratching her head. She had expected eighty-seven.

“Kotetsu, Izumo, how about you?” Anko asked with a worried face, wondering how she could ask Mokutsuki-sensei for rewards with such a score.

“We got a bit lucky again, just slightly better than you,” Kotetsu said, placing his test face down on the desk with a smile.

“Same here, just slightly better,” Izumo said with a smile, looking at his score.

“Slightly better?” Anko quickly grabbed their tests.

“You call one hundred points ‘slightly better’ than seventy-eight?” Anko said, gritting her teeth as she looked at their scores.

“Kotetsu, you got a hundred too?”

“Izumo, you got a hundred as well?”

Kotetsu and Izumo looked surprised. They had promised not to study, so how did they both get perfect scores?

“Izumo, did you secretly study the last two weeks instead of playing games?” Kotetsu couldn’t help asking.

“Kotetsu, didn’t you read novels? Were you secretly studying all along?” Izumo retorted.

“You two!” Anko exclaimed, realizing these two had been secretly studying while claiming they weren’t.

Unable to contain her frustration, Anko chased after them.

“You two jerks! You ruined me! Forget breakfast, take my punch first!”

Watching the lively trio, Mokutsuki smiled, looking at the system rewards, feeling quite satisfied with this term’s harvest.

This chapter was rushed and will be revised later.

(End of chapter)

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