After a year in Konoha, Kagura gradually adapted to life in the ninja world. It felt like living in a military garrison town, where most people were part of the armed forces, and non-ninjas like her lived ordinary lives, much like the families of these ninjas.
Day in and day out, it was the same routine: eat, sleep, work, repeat.
Living the same life every day eventually became boring. In the real world, she would take vacations to escape the monotony of work and travel a bit. But in the ninja world, that wasn't really an option.
There were no tour groups to join, no cars for road trips, and wandering around aimlessly could easily get her arrested as a spy by another country.
If that were the case, she'd rather stay in Konoha and be a law-abiding citizen.
Sigh.
Earth really was better, wasn't it?
"I really want to travel, eat all kinds of delicious food, go to concerts, attend music festivals, and…"
Speaking of food, Kagura suddenly felt hungry. She glanced at the clock on the wall—12:30 PM. No wonder her stomach was growling.
"What should I eat?"
The thought of food made her grimace.
Her stomach, raised on the eight major Chinese cuisines, couldn't muster much appetite for traditional Japanese food.
At first, she'd enjoyed it out of novelty, but over time, it became bland and unappetizing.
Japanese cuisine, known for its simplicity, emphasized the natural flavors of ingredients.
Sashimi, raw cabbage shreds, even pickled vegetables were served raw. Pickled cucumbers and radishes were tolerable, but raw pickled eggplant? That was just baffling.
"Maybe… I should try cooking for myself?"
Finally, after enduring enough of the Japanese "light and fresh" cuisine, Kagura decided to equip herself with cooking utensils.
Pots, pans, bowls, plates, knives, forks, chopsticks, and spoons—two whole boxes of them—were now sitting on the floor of her inner room.
Anyone who didn't know better might think she'd just moved in.
The shop she ran had two rooms: the outer room was for business, and the inner one was her living space, complete with a kitchen and bathroom.
When she first crossed over, she'd deliberately avoided setting up a kitchen, as if doing so would mean she was truly settling down here and wouldn't leave.
Deep down, she still felt she didn't belong to this world and that one day she'd return to her own.
But as a foodie, she eventually had to bow to her cravings.
"Isn't it said that food is the most important thing for the people? Cooking for myself is perfectly reasonable, isn't it?"
Muttering to herself, Kagura pulled out the ingredients she'd bought from the shopping street while getting her cooking utensils.
Green peppers, lean pork, fresh noodles—she'd make a simple stir-fried green pepper and pork noodles.
She sliced the pork into thin strips, marinated them with cooking wine and soy sauce, then mixed in a bit of water starch to keep the meat tender. A drizzle of cooking oil locked in the moisture, ensuring the pork wouldn't dry out when stir-fried.
While the pork marinated, she prepared the green peppers. After washing them, she removed the stems. Some people would also remove the inner core and seeds, but Kagura wasn't that meticulous and left them in.
Pressing the green peppers flat with one hand made them easier to slice into thin strips.
She also chopped some scallions and ginger to add depth to the flavor.
By the time the vegetables were prepped, the pork was almost ready to cook.
...
"Itadakimasu!"
Just as she was about to enjoy her meal, she heard someone calling for her from outside.
"Kagura-san, is Kagura-san there?"
The voice sounded somewhat familiar.
She peeked out with the plate in hand and saw Akimichi Torifu standing at the door, wrinkling his nose and sniffing intently at something.
"What's that smell? It's so fragrant."
Before he finished speaking, his gaze locked onto the plate in her hands. His eyes lit up, and her heart sank a little.
"What is that…?"
It was food, no doubt, but he had never seen anything like it before.
He had eaten food from all over the ninja world, yet this was entirely new to him.
The aroma was delightful, a mix of green pepper and meat, but it was different from anything he had tasted before.
"Ah, this is the green pepper and meat noodles I just made. Have you eaten yet? Would you like to have some?"
She offered it to Akimichi Torifu, adhering to the customary politeness of a Chinese person. If he were Chinese, he would understand how insincere her words were, but the unfortunate part was that he wasn't Chinese and couldn't grasp that politeness.
To her surprise, her gesture genuinely reached an honest person.
"Since Kagura-san kindly invites me to lunch, I shall graciously accept!"
Nani?!
She watched in disbelief as Akimichi Torifu took the plate of green pepper and meat noodles from her hands and finished it in a flash.
She had never seen anyone eat so quickly, leaving her no time to savor the aroma. In the blink of an eye, the plate was completely clean.
"Thank you for the meal!" Akimichi Torifu smiled adorably, his eyes crescent-shaped like the moon in the sky, his plump figure and rosy cheeks giving him a charmingly naive look.
Although it was a bit of an exaggeration, Kagura felt that the description surprisingly fit Akimichi Torifu at this moment.
"By the way, Kagura-san, your cooking skills are truly amazing. This is probably the most delicious food I've ever had in my life. Certified by Akimichi Torifu—absolutely the best!" Torifu said with a serious expression, giving Kagura a thumbs-up.
"Hahaha, thank you so much for the compliment!"
Kagura forced a smile as she looked at the plate handed back to her, which was as clean as if it had been licked by a dog.
Well, it must have been really delicious, right?
"Ah, I almost forgot the main task. Lord Tobirama sent me to pick up the explosive tags. He said it's time."
Hearing this, Kagura suddenly remembered that today was indeed the day they had agreed to collect the explosive tags.
Now, Tobirama had converted all of Kagura debt into explosive tags, meaning she no longer needed to repay in ninja coins—just use the explosive tags instead.
"Sigh, I wonder what he's planning to do with so many explosive tags. Is he going to set them off like fireworks during the summer festival?" Kagura muttered to herself.
"Let me tell you a secret" Torifu lowered his voice.
As the saying goes, "the mouth is softened by the food," and having just enjoyed Kagura cooking, he naturally felt obliged to share something.
"Lord Tobirama is using the explosive tags to develop a new jutsu."
In the ninja world, when a ninja develops a new technique, it's usually kept secret until it's completed or revealed. This is considered classified information. If such information falls into enemy hands, it could be a significant disadvantage in actual combat—like showing your cards too early.
This brings to mind poor Izuna, who suffered precisely because he didn't know about Tobirama new technique. In this era before anyone had cheats, such things needed to be kept under wraps.
However, in Torifu eyes, Kagura was no ordinary person. She was someone very close to Tobirama, so sharing this with her should be fine.
"Using explosive tags to develop a new jutsu?"
"Yes" Torifu nodded. "He said it's a very powerful technique."
Kagura pursed her lips.
Powerful? It was more like a game-breaking jutsu.
This must be the technique Tobirama had developed but struggled to test—the "Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags," right?
After helping Torifu collect the explosive tags from the factory, Kagura was starving, feeling like her stomach was sticking to her back.
She had spent an hour cooking, only to have the food devoured in a few bites by someone else. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
"I guess I'm just not cut out for cooking. Waiting to be served suits my lazy personality better."
Kagura thought that once she became rich, she'd hire a chef to prepare delicious meals for her every day.
She didn't want to cook, she wanted to be the one sitting at the table, waiting to be served.
But in this world, even if she had the money, could she really find a chef who could make Chinese cuisine?
The odds of that were probably comparable to winning the lottery jackpot.
For the first time, Kagura really hoped to meet someone like her—a fellow transmigrator in this world.
But even if there were other transmigrators, wouldn't they all be focused on mastering ninjutsu and changing the world?
Who would Transmigrate just to become a chef?
With that thought, she grew even more disheartened.