But an outlier like Orochimaru was ultimately only one person. His perception alone was nowhere near enough to push the talent to a higher level.
Now, as those overly beautiful ideals of his spread across the Shinobi World, more and more people began to think he was hypocritical, to think he was merely acting, and the Actor talent had finally risen all the way to green level, with considerable room left for further upgrades.
"What is this supposed to be? A reverse sprint? Another kind of winning people's hearts?"
Shinichi shook his head and closed the panel.
Forget it, a free talent was still a talent; there was no reason not to take it.
Although this kind of talent could not directly increase his combat strength, it could make his Transformation Technique even more perfect.
On certain special occasions or in certain circumstances, a perfect disguise could often have unexpected effects.
Besides, who knew, if this talent upgraded all the way to the end, it might develop in a direction even he had not anticipated.
It might even break through the constraints of one's own physical form and allow him to transform at will into birds and beasts, fish and crawling insects, or even tailed beasts and demons, and perhaps even the Ten-Tails and the Otsutsuki.
By that point, this talent would no longer be a mere supportive disguise tool, but true shapeshifting in the fullest sense.
Shinichi withdrew his thoughts and turned his gaze back to the laboratory bench before him.
Rows upon rows of glass bottles were lined up neatly on the table.
The bottles were all the same size, but the designs on their labels were all different: some were bright red like fire, some a clear orange-yellow, and some a deep, thick brown.
Yet on every single label was printed a cartoon avatar that looked seventy to eighty percent similar to Shinichi himself.
It was the image of Shinichi, the protagonist of Cooking Master Boy and also the unified logo of the Kikkaro Restaurant brand, a super symbol carefully designed by Shinichi himself.
Shinichi picked up a glass bottle filled with red chili sauce from the table, gently turned it in his hand, looked at the avatar on the label that belonged to him, and smiled faintly.
When he twisted the cap open, an aroma of chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and several spices spread out at once. It was rich without being choking, and instead stirred up one's appetite.
Little Master Sauce.
That was the name Shinichi had given it, naturally borrowing the crossover effect of the Cooking Master Boy Manga.
He clearly remembered that when he watched that anime in his previous life, its translated title had been the Little Master Sauce, so when he created Cooking Master Boy in this world with himself as the prototype for the protagonist, he had deliberately given the main character the nickname Little Master, which could also be considered a tribute to the name that had carried countless childhood memories in his previous life.
As for the bottle of chili sauce before his eyes, it had been created by taking inspiration from the brand founded by that legendary woman who had once swept across the entire country in his previous life.
In his previous life, that brand had practically been a business miracle. It never sought financing, never went public, and never advertised, yet with nothing more than a single bottle of chili oil sauce, it conquered the taste buds of an entire nation.
From south to north, from supermarket shelves in first-tier cities to small village shops in remote countryside areas, almost every household kitchen had a bottle of it.
Abroad, it was even revered as a mysterious condiment from the east, and at one point, it became a luxury item, with online prices reaching dozens of yuans per bottle.
The portrait of that elderly founder also became one of the most widely recognized faces in the entire country as a result.
With the support of Gourmet and various other talents, Shinichi's level in the culinary field had already become unmatched in the Shinobi World of the present era.
More importantly, when designing this sauce, he had not simply copied the formula from his previous life, but had instead combined it with the flavor preferences of the local masses in this world.
Of course, the Little Master series did not consist solely of chili sauce. Beside the chili sauce were several other bottles arranged in neat order: ketchup, teriyaki sauce, garlic sauce, sesame salad dressing, jam, and so on.
This was the other trump card in the culinary field that Shinichi had mentioned before.
The Kikkaro Restaurant chain was one card, and these bottled condiments were another.
If the Kikkaro Restaurant stores were benchmarked against that white-bearded old man from his previous life, who had swept across the globe, the fast-food empire that let people find a familiar taste in any strange city and solved the problem of what to eat outside.
Then the Little Master sauce series was benchmarked against that legendary old lady, solving the problem of what to eat at home.
These two trump cards complemented each other, one external and one internal.
Both had to be grasped, and both had to be made strong.
In the future, these chain stores and condiments would even expand further into instant noodles, instant soups, compressed rations, and all kinds of beverages, eventually forming a food and consumer-goods empire that covered the Land of Fire and even the entire Shinobi World.
And by that time, the name Little Master would go from being the name of a manga protagonist to a brand symbol that covered the whole world. Going one step further, once he fully connected the production lines of these products with the industrial structure of the Shinichi Society, what he would gain would no longer be merely fame and recognition; it would be an enormous industrial chain running through agriculture, manufacturing, commerce, and finance.
Every link of that chain would be in his hands, and every node would be inseparable from him.
This was the starting point of Shinichi's road to becoming a Saint.
In the end, every person would, in the course of their ordinary day-to-day life, unknowingly come to depend on him, benefit from him, and be unable to leave him. They would all be eating the grain he grew, dipping into the sauces he developed, drinking the beverages he provided, and using the technologies he promoted. The first thing they saw every day when they opened their eyes would be that smiling face.
And for now, after the society was officially established, these sauces would be promoted in sync with the opening of the first Kikkaro Restaurant in Konoha, and they would immediately be placed on the shelves of Konoha's major stores and grocery shops.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Just as Shinichi was imagining the blueprint of the future, a crisp knock sounded at the door, pulling his thoughts back.
"Captain Shinichi, Hokage-sama is requesting your presence."