Chapter 30: Are You Also Lost on the Road of Life?
The next morning, Naruto woke up early.
He completely ignored Kakashi's warning and started cooking breakfast.
Not only would he eat, he would eat well.
First, he took out the pre-cut beef from the fridge.
This was black beef he had hunted himself in the Death Forest — a breed whose entire body was pure muscle.
He didn't know what species it was, but the texture was excellent and the nutritional value was very high.
The fact that he had grown to 170 cm by age twelve was largely thanks to the selfless contributions of this black beef species over the past few years.
Unfortunately, in the last six months, these black bulls seemed to have become much rarer in the Death Forest. He had to search for a long time to find even one or two scattered individuals.
And every time they saw Naruto, they would flee in panic as if they had seen a demon.
He put the beef cubes into the frying pan, heated the oil, and activated Transparent World to begin cooking.
Before long, an extra-large beef and tomato pancake was ready and plated.
Just as he was about to start eating, there was a knock at the door.
Looking outside, he saw Sasuke and Sakura.
He opened the door. Sasuke walked in naturally.
Sakura, on the other hand, looked a little awkward. After all, she had previously declared loudly that she didn't want to stay in this place.
But when she saw the steaming, fragrant beef pancake on Naruto's table, her eyes widened instantly.
"Naruto! What are you doing? Didn't Kakashi-sensei say we shouldn't eat breakfast?!"
As she spoke, Sakura couldn't help swallowing.
In order to show Sasuke her best side, she hadn't eaten breakfast — or even dinner the night before.
She was already starving, though she didn't have much to begin with.
As usual, Naruto ignored Sakura and began eating the pancake in large bites.
This instantly triggered both Sasuke's and Sakura's appetites.
Naruto glanced at Sasuke. "If you want some, go make it yourself. There's still beef and pancake mix in the fridge."
Sasuke hesitated for a moment, then headed to the kitchen.
Sakura stood in place, unsure what to do.
In the end, she steeled herself and followed Sasuke.
But Naruto stopped her. "I didn't say you could eat."
These merciless words instantly made Sakura's face turn bright red.
Sakura felt a surge of anger and silently cursed Naruto countless times as a petty guy, but she didn't dare say it out loud.
[This guy may have a terrible personality, but his strength is undeniable…]
Thinking that they would be teammates for a long time and that she might need Naruto's help in the future, she decided to let go of past grudges.
She flicked her pink hair, turned to Naruto, and forced what she thought was a ladylike smile.
"Naruto, we're going to be teammates for a long time. I might have said some wrong things before. I apologize. Let's get along well from now on, okay?"
That smile, that fake sweet voice… Naruto instantly got goosebumps.
He waved his hand repeatedly. "Don't give me that. You want to eat, right? First, help me clean the room."
Sakura clenched her pink fists, veins popping on her forehead.
She glared at Naruto, but when she saw his handsome face, her anger diminished a little.
A wave of helplessness washed over her again. Sakura realized she had no way to deal with this guy at all.
He was completely immune to both soft and hard approaches, and even her "beauty" was completely ignored.
She suppressed her dissatisfaction. "It's not that I don't want to help you clean, but we're almost at the meeting time."
Naruto put down his pancake and took a sip of milk. "Do you really think that guy who was late yesterday will arrive on time today?"
Reminded by Naruto, both Sasuke and Sakura felt he had a point.
After thinking for a moment, Sakura still picked up the broom by the wall and began cleaning the room.
She did it for breakfast, and also so her future relationship with Naruto wouldn't be too strained.
At first, while cleaning, Sakura secretly hoped she might find some of Naruto's secrets.
But she was disappointed.
After cleaning for over half an hour, Sakura stretched. "Done. I didn't expect a boy's room to be this clean."
By then, Sasuke was already eating his pancake.
Sakura washed her hands and started making one for herself.
The frying pan still had water in it when she added the oil.
Immediately came the sizzling sound and Sakura's scream.
Hot oil splashed on Sakura's hand, burning her painfully.
From behind came Naruto's voice: "After you're done frying, clean the kitchen too."
Hearing this, Sakura pouted with grievance.
When her pancake was ready, it was pitch black and formed a stark contrast with Naruto's.
By the time Sakura finished eating, it was almost 9:30.
Sakura checked the time, feeling uneasy. "We're already an hour and a half late. Is this really okay?"
"There's a problem. If you're scared, you can go first," Naruto said indifferently.
Sakura looked at the bright sun outside and decided to stay. Even if they got punished, at least she wouldn't be alone.
What she didn't know was that Naruto didn't care about Kakashi's opinion at all. Whether or not he became a Konoha shinobi meant nothing to him.
Sasuke felt roughly the same. His only goal was to become stronger and then kill "the one who beats seven."
And he had already found a shortcut to becoming stronger — learning from Naruto.
It wasn't until after 10 o'clock that Naruto finally got up to leave.
Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. She had been anxious for a long time.
The meeting point Kakashi mentioned yesterday was a grassy area in one of the training grounds.
On the way to the training ground, the three of them ran into Kakashi…
He was walking leisurely, reading Make-Out Paradise as he went.
"Kakashi-sensei, right?! You're late again! And by two and a half hours! Isn't that a bit too much?! Luckily Naruto guessed you would be late and told us to come later."
Sakura, who felt she was in the right, vented her frustration on this unreliable teacher.
Kakashi awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Haha… what a coincidence. Looks like we're all lost on the road of life, huh?"
What the hell do you mean "lost on the road of life"? All three thought inwardly.
As he spoke, Kakashi's dead-fish eye turned toward Naruto, surprised that Naruto had not only predicted he would be late, but had even guessed the approximate time.
The four of them arrived at the meeting point together. Not far away stood three old, weathered wooden posts.
It was obvious they were veteran props.
Naruto remembered that this test seemed to have been passed down since the time of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Kakashi took out two bells and narrowed his eyes at the three of them.
"Next, you have to take the bells from my hand within three minutes. Those who succeed pass the test. Those who fail will have to go back to the academy and repeat the year!"
[The condition is harsher than in the original — they added a three-minute time limit. Is it because he saw my strength?] Naruto guessed.
That was indeed the case. When Kakashi learned he would be Naruto's jonin sensei, he felt pressure.
After seeing Naruto's exaggerated techniques, even he wasn't completely confident he could defeat Naruto.
Seeing there were only two bells and the punishment for failure was so severe, Sakura became anxious.
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