"That sounds fun! And a dish made from fish!" Drool leaks from Choza's mouth.

"Let's go! Let's go!" He quickly urges the group to leave.

"Why are you so excited?" Kushina glares at Choza with a condescending gaze.

"Of course, I shall be at the forefront when it comes to food. I want to be a pioneer in the field of culinary arts. No dish, no matter what mind it is, shall never escape my palate!" Choza wipes the drool from his mouth.

Hehe…

Shikaku smiles wryly.

"Sorry for imposing on you."

"It's alright! There are plenty of fishes there." Minato shakes his head.

"And we can even train at that place. The more the merrier!" Nawaki takes the lead. The rest of the group follows him.

Soon,

The group arrives at their hidden spot behind the bushes in the secret cave at the foothill of the mountain.

"Wow! I never knew Konoha had such a beautiful place." Choza and Shikaku look around in amazement.

"Fufu… of course, it's a secret." Kushina brags in front of them.

"But it was Yuji-kun who…"

"Our secret, right!" Kushina glares at Minato and Nawaki.

"Yes, ma'am!" Both of them quickly nod at her remark as they recall the sparring session they had as a warmup.

They drew lots to choose their sparring partners. The first Taijutsu match was between Yuji and Kushina. For the entire duration of the sparring, Kushina wasn't even able to land a single hit on Yuji. Yuji easily won the match by tiring her out.

Kushina was so annoyed by it that in her next matches against Minato and Nawaki, she brutally beat them both.

'She is not a girl. She is a demon in disguise!' Minato and Nawaki mutter in their mind.

"You say something!" Kushina glares at them.

"No, ma'am" Both quickly shake their heads.

Haha…

Shikaku chuckles at their obedient behavior and turns to Yuji.

"You know something!"

"We had a sparring session…"

Whoosh… whoosh…

Three figures quickly grab Yuji's hands, mouth, and waist.

"No one will consider you a mute if you don't speak! So shut up!" Yuji raises his hands in surrender.

The group breaks out in laughter.

'Friends! Is this what it feels like to have friends?' Yuji silently listens to the echoes of the laughter of the group. He stares at their smiling expression and an emotion he had lost long ago slowly surfaces again.

'I pledged to myself to live a fulfilling life in my next life. I am not sure if I am on the right path, but somehow, I seem to like this feeling.' Yuji's lips curve slightly.

"We are here!"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The group walks for a bit to reach the bank of the river.

"Woah! This looks amazing!"

Choza looks around in amazement.

"Hey, what's over that side?"

Choza points towards the dark, gloomy forest present on the other side of the river.

"Yeah, every time I look at that place, it creeps me out." Nawaki remarks with a dreadful gaze.

"It's because there are several powerful wild animals and monsters hiding there." Yuji opens his mouth.

"What?!" The group is shocked to hear him.

"Mm… I am also feeling slightly uneasy in that place. It feels like several hungry monsters are staring at me like their food." Kushina adds.

'Oh!' Yuji raises an eyebrow.

'Even before my reincarnation, I was very sensitive to dangers in my past life. I always had some sort of foreboding whenever I was about to get in danger. So, when we first found this place, I immediately felt various predatory gazes locked on me.

Now it seems like my sense has heightened even further after unlocking my chakra. I can sense it… I can feel it… I can see it… those predators lurking in the shadows.' Yuji glances at the several beasts hiding on the other side of the forest with drool leaking from their mouth.

'Before awakening my chakra, I could only sense their presence, not their exact numbers and locations. But now…"

Yuji closes his eyes and senses different chakra signatures in his surroundings. The chakra signature in his surroundings is like beacons on a radar. The large the size of the beacon, the greater the amount of chakra.

Minato, Shikaku, and Choza have a normal size beacon. However…

'What's the deal with Nawaki and Kushina's chakra?' The size of Nawaki's beacon is almost thrice the size of Minato's beacon, while Kushina's beacon is a massive sphere that is almost ten times the size of the rest.

'When that old Grandma said, Nawaki and Kushina are special. I didn't think it would mean this. Her chakra is even greater than the chakra of various wild animals lurking in the forest. And from the look of it, their number is far greater than the previous day. Looks like all of them are attracted to Kushina's massive chakra reserve.'

"They won't crossover and come to eat us, right?" Choza enquires with a scared tone.

"I like to eat food, but I don't want to be other's food."

"There is no need to worry. None of them can cross this river. This river is shallow on our end, while it's deep on the other end. Also, from my observation so far, there doesn't seem to be any flying-type wild animal or monster there. So, we should be fine!" Yuji assures them.

"That's a relief to hear." Choza pats his chest.

"So, when are we going to eat that fish dish?" Choza gulps his saliva.

"Let's catch some fish first!"

Minato and Nawaki flip over a nearby rock to reveal a bunch of earthworms.

"That's our bait!" They tie the earthworm on the hook and swing the fishing rod towards the deeper end of the river.

"Fish! Fish! I would like to eat some fish. Crunchy, crispy, and spicy; that's how I like my fish." Nawaki sings while patiently waiting for a fish to get hooked.

Growl…

Choza's stomach makes a hungry growl.

"Now, even my stomach can't wait to eat the fish." Choza takes out a potato chips packet from his pocket and munches on them.

"Hey, won't you lose your hunger if you eat the chips?" Shikaku asks him.

"It's just the appetizer before the meal. My stomach always has some space for potato chips." Choza gnaws on the chips like a squirrel.

"We will help too!" Shikaku and Kushina offer to help.

"Gather some firewood and tinder. It can be anything from dry husk to fallen leaves, or the nest of any bird or something of that nature." Yuji mentions the details to them.

"Alright! We will get it done." Shikaku and Kushina depart in separate directions.

"That only leaves you. What would you help me with?" Yuji turns to Choza.

"I will help with eating!" He murmurs.

"As expected!" Yuji shakes his head.

"Why don't you start a fire as I wash the utensils by the riverside? You know how to start a fire, right?"

"Of course!" Choza pats his chest.

"My father has taken me camping several times. I saw him do it!"

"Then take these!" Yuji hands over the spark stones and some tinder to Choza.

Meanwhile, at the river bank; a competition has started between Nawaki and Minato.

"Let's see Minto, who will catch the most fish?" Nawaki grabs his fishing pole with fire in his eyes.

"I won't lose!" Minato also clutches his fishing rod in determination.

"Alright! Whoever catches the most fish will get to pass on the taste test for the next new dish!" Nawaki proposes.

"Then I can't lose at any cost." A fire burns in his eyes.

'Ah! They are starting something troublesome.' Yuji shakes his head and pays no heed to their little competition.

"Perhaps next time I should bring Hana and Nono here, too. They will love the taste of fish here, especially Hana."

Yuji preps other ingredients he bought at a stall. He chops the garlic cloves, green onions, lemon, and other vegetables.

"Huff… huff… I did it! I light the fire." Choza pants as he reports his success.

"Let me see!" Yuji turns around and notices a black-faced Choza. There is a small fire burning beside him.

"Until Shikaku and Kushina bring the firewood, maintain this fire with these small dried branches and leaves." Yuji points towards a small stack of fuel.

"As for you two, give me some fish to prep!"

"They are in the bucket. Come and get them yourself!" Nawaki and Minato are still engrossed in their little competition.

"Alright!" Yuji shakes his head and picks up two fresh fish from their buckets.