2 -2- [ Minato-sensei's secret recipe ]

Uchiha Giyu stepped into the main gate of the Uchiha compound and encountered a medium-sized dog wearing sunglasses and a vest.

Originally lounging at the entrance, basking lazily in the sun to replenish vitamin D, the dog immediately sprang to its feet the moment it sensed Giyu's presence. Its cute little nose wrinkled like a ferocious wolf, and it began barking furiously at Giyu, as if it had detected some unseen filth on him that ordinary people couldn't perceive.

Giyu stared at the dog dumbfoundedly, with no intention of confronting it, so he decided to go around.

However, this dog seems to have some personal problem against him. It blocked Giyu's path after just a couple of steps, barking incessantly.

Giyu moved left, and it moved left. Giyu moved right, and it moved right. Giyu advanced, and it retreated. In short, it was determined to block his way.

The noise from the dog attracted many Uchiha clan members to look in their direction, and their faces suddenly became quite interesting.

"Isn't that the son of the clan head? Is he being blocked by a dog?"

"A ninja dog, huh? It's normal for the child to be scared; he hasn't even participated in training once."

"He's five years old and hasn't started training yet? Does Fugaku think that Itachi is already excellent enough, so he's relaxed about the education of his two younger sons?"

"It seems only this child named Giyu is like this. I saw Sasuke the other day; his clone jutsu is already quite proficient, and he's quite talented..."

"Yes, Mikoto said only this child Giyu has little interest in becoming a ninja from a young age but loves doing household chores. If only he were a girl."

"At a time like this? Conflict between the village and our Uchiha clan could erupt at any time. Those without strength will only become burdens then. Hmph, I wonder what Fugaku is thinking. It seems I need to talk to him."

"But speaking of Mikoto's three children, they're all very good-looking."

"That's true. But this child... seems to have a stiff face."

...

The voices of the clan members talking were not small, but Giyu ignored them.

He stared at the ninja dog in front of him, wondering if it could see through his "true identity" behind the sunglasses.

Yes, Uchiha Giyu was not just a simple five-year-old child.

In his own words, he was just a thief who stole another's opportunity to survive in this world by taking it's body.

As for the soul in his body, it came from another world, belonging to a man named Tomioka Giyu.

In Tomioka Giyu's original world, he was a Demon Slayer, with the goal of killing demons for survival.

Because his sister was killed by a demon, Tomioka Giyu joined a civilian armed organization called the Demon Slayer Corps at the age of thirteen. By the age of seventeen, he became one of the nine strongest swordsmen in the organization, known as the Water Pillar, due to his proficiency in Water Breathing and its associated swordsmanship.

At the age of twenty-one, Giyu had to fight against the Demon progenitor, Kibutsuji Muzan, and had to use his life to activate the Demon Slayer Mark to increase his combat power. In the end, he and other members of the team worked together to successfully eliminate Kibutsuji Muzan.

But the Demon Slayer Corps also paid a heavy price. Almost all members were killed or injured, and the remaining powerful swordsmen were also on the verge of death due to activating the Demon Slayer Mark, at most living until the age of twenty-five.

As for Tomioka Giyu, on the day after his twenty-third birthday, he quietly died in the the Demon Slayer Corps.

Before his death, he finally reached the "highest realm" of a warrior and mastered the observation technique called the Transparent World, which was something to be proud of.

Originally, Giyu thought that after he died, he would meet his already deceased parents, sister, and teammates in the afterlife.

But when he opened his eyes again, he became a newborn baby in this world of Shinobi named Uchiha Giyu, still retaining memories from his previous life.

Now, five years have passed, and Giyu has never been able to accept his new identity.

He believed that he accidentally stole the chance for a child to start from scratch in the world. He could never regard himself as the "true" son of the Uchiha couple.

In order to make up for the sense of guilt in his heart and to repay the Uchiha couple for raising him, Giyu has been responsible for all the household chores of the Uchiha Fugaku family since he was three years old. At the same time, Giyu does not participate in training because he feels that he is just an outsider and does not have the qualifications to learn the clan's secret techniques.

On the other hand, Giyu didn't intend to become a shinobi who would take lives on orders, so far he has only practiced the Water Breathing technique engraved in his soul, reaching a level of Total Concentration: Constant.

Perhaps because the human physique in this world is generally good, and he's an Uchiha, Giyu has mastered the Water Breathing technique since childhood, which he knows inside out and never makes mistakes, without causing much burden on his body.

That said.

Just as Uchiha Giyu was pondering whether to lure the dog away with a radish, he heard a familiar voice from a distance.

"Kakashi-senpai, make sure to keep an eye on your ninja dog. If it scares Giyu, I won't be able to explain to the clan head."

Giyu calmly cast his gaze in that direction.

The speaker was a cute-looking, tall ninja with a baby face, with the handle of a kunai knife exposed behind his neck. He looked about the same age as Tanjiro, with shallow tear troughs that gave him a trustworthy aura.

Giyu knew this person. He was Uchiha Shisui, a close friend of his brother Uchiha Itachi, 17 years old but looked 14. He often visited their home, liked to talk to Giyu, and even brought picture books for Sasuke, so Giyu had a good impression of him.

Because of Shisui's close relationship with Itachi, Giyu had used the Transparent World to observe him and found that Shisui, like his father Uchiha Fugaku, had a dark energy concentrated in his brain area, even more intense than that of ordinary clan members.

Although the power didn't feel as extremely pure evil as Kibutsuji Muzan, it was still very ominous, and Giyu wondered if it could become a hidden danger.

The Uchiha clan members nearby had different expressions when they saw Shisui.

The older ones glared at him with resentment, seemingly angry at his actions, while the younger ones looked at him with admiration.

Of course, to Giyu, who was not good at distinguishing emotions, the difference was not significant.

"Ah, sorry sorry."

Walking beside Shisui was a masked man covering his left eye with a forehead protector, holding a cardboard box in his hand.

His expression was similar to that of the blond member next to Tanjiro during missions, looking dazed, as if he would fall asleep at any moment. And his apology sounded insincere, extremely perfunctory.

Honestly,

Giyu's first impression of him...

Was quite ordinary.

"Akino, don't bully the kid."

With a call from Kakashi, the dog with sunglasses immediately ran to Kakashi's side, emitting a series of incomprehensible low growls, as if speaking ill of Giyu.

After listening, Kakashi thoughtfully looked at Giyu, then freed his right hand and patted the dog's head, "You really like to meddle in other people's business, huh? If you do that again next time, you won't come out to play anymore."

Akiro immediately wrinkled his nose, opened his mouth wide, and lunged at Kakashi's wrist.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and quickly formed a seal. The ninja dog immediately turned into a white smoke and disappeared.

[(Summoning)Kuchiyose no Jutsu?]

Giyu had seen Itachi and Shisui use this technique before, summoning a cat and a crow, respectively.

[So, this isn't an Uchiha's inherited ninjutsu. Maybe I can learn it later, it could save time by having animals go shopping...]

Giyu stared at Kakashi for a while, ignoring the people, and went in the direction of his home as if the two adults were not worth his attention.

Shisui, already familiar with his style, took a step forward to intercept him, looking down at the two bulging plastic bags.

"Two big salmon."

Shisui's face showed a hint of surprise.

"Are we having a salmon feast today? It's lavish and extravagant, Giyu, you're really capable."

He noticed the mark of the Akimichi clan on the plastic bags, indicating that the fish should be cultivated using the Akimichi clan's secret method, more nutritious than wild salmon and of course ridiculously expensive.

Just grilling one fish would probably cost thousands of ryo (1 ryo corresponds to 10 yen), not to mention the cost of deboning, removing thorns, and cutting.

The remuneration for a C-rank mission would probably not be enough.

"Today is Sasuke's birthday."

Giyu replied succinctly, "We should eat something nice."

Shisui's smile froze on his face.

[Last time it was the clan head's birthday, didn't you just make a bowl of soba?]

[You and Itachi spoil that brat too much. Oh, I envy Itachi, he has something delicious to eat every day...]

"Oh, about the birthday, you didn't even mention it, don't forget." Shisui tapped his head, "But Giyu, you're twins, so today is also your birthday."

"I'm not like Sasuke."

Giyu shook his head, emphasizing solemnly.

"Okay okay, you do chores, you're already an adult, so you don't care about kids' birthdays."

Shisui said casually, rummaging through his body for a while, "Oops, besides explosive tags, I don't have anything valuable to give you as a gift. I have a mission tonight, and it'll be too late to come back and give you a gift."

After speaking, he looked at Kakashi, who was holding a cardboard box beside him, and seemed to have an idea in his mind.

"Senpai, let me introduce you. This cute little guy is Giyu, the son of Clan Head Fugaku."

After introducing him, he turned back to Giyu and said, "This is Kakashi Hatake, my senior at work. Yesterday, an elder in the clan passed away at the Konoha Hospital due to illness. That old lady used to take care of a teammate of Kakashi-senpai, so I brought him to the clan to clean up the things she left behind."

Upon hearing this, Giyu's expression paused slightly.

Death, he was already very familiar with it.

But, where do the people who die in this world go?

Would they, like him, carry their memories to the next world? Where did everyone who fought side by side with him go?

Whenever he thought about this, he felt complicated.

Shisui noticed Giyu's subtle change in expression, slightly surprised.

He knew that this kid hadn't smiled or cried since birth, and seeing him with such a melancholy expression was a first.

[Itachi, I'll gladly accept your little brother's first time.]

"Now that you've met, Kakashi-senpai..."

Shisui smirked, revealing his true intention, "Today happens to be Giyu's birthday, do you have any gifts for him?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes for the second time.

[You forgot to give a gift, so you want me to cover for you?]

Reluctantly, he reached for his waist pouch.

"Forget about the book written by Jiraiya-sama, Giyu may not understand something so....'prrofound'."

Shisui quickly waved his hand.

[If you want to give something like that, Aunt Mikoto will kill me.]

"Hmph, that's a collector's edition, I'm not going to give it away."

The corners of Kakashi's mouth under the mask twitched, once again focusing his gaze on Giyu, mainly on the ingredients in his hands.

"Since you like cooking...,"

He took out a bundle of yellowed cards bound by a steel ring from the cardboard box, which seemed to have been around for some time.

"How about a recipe?"

"Hey hey hey—"

Shisui blinked rapidly.

[Kakashi-senpai, how can you give away someone else's belongings as a gift?]

Giyu put down the bag and reached out to take the cards, not caring that it belonged to a deceased person.

"Secret Recipes of Minato-sensei."

The top of the stack of cards was written in crooked handwriting, with "recipe" crossed out and rewritten twice, but it was still wrong in the end, indicating that the owner of this thing wasn't very smart.

Giyu quickly flipped through them. There were a total of thirty cards, each with the specific methods for one or two dishes.

Of course, the handwriting was still crooked and uneven, but it could be seen that the person who copied this was very serious, with the writing going through the back of the paper.

Giyu flipped to the last page, where there was a signature and a drawing of something like goggles next to it.

"Uchiha Obito....."

Giyu read it out and shook his head, "Who is that?"

He had never seen anyone with a name similar to this looking for his father.

Upon hearing that name, Kakashi's body trembled imperceptibly.

"Oh, so it's a memento from Obito-senpai. Then this recipe is indeed precious."

Scratching his head, Shisui explained to Giyu, "Uchiha Obito, is Kakashi-senpai's former teammate. But he sacrificed himself in the previous Ninja World War, he's a hero of the village. Giyu, you should treasure this recipe."

"A hero of the village."

Uchiha Giyu was quite familiar with these words, as he often heard his father and clan members talk about these things.

"Of the village?"

[A hero not of the Uchiha clan?]

"You're quite clever. However, at that time, the relationship between our Uchiha clan and the village wasn't as tense as it is now."

Shisui seemed unwilling to dwell on this issue, "Anyway, since you enjoy cooking so much, this gift should suit you well."

"From the name on the cards, this should be the personal recipe of the Fourth Hokage, and Obito-senpai was his student. I remember Aunt Mikoto had a good relationship with the Fourth Hokage's family. If you follow the instructions on these cards, she should be pleasantly surprised."

"Okay."

[Then I'll try making it another day.]

Giyu neatly arranged the cards and put them in his pocket, then looked at Kakashi, "I will reciprocate."

"Thanks is enough, kid."

Kakashi squinted his eyes, "But you seem unsatisfied."

"I'm not unsatisfied."

Giyu replied coldly, and walked away without looking back.

"These kids nowadays have quite the personality, that expression definitely showed dissatisfaction."

Kakashi regretted giving that thing to this child he barely knew.

But even if it were kept at home, it would only bring back memories. Since he promised lord third to pull himself together, giving it away was the better choice, and it would also honor Minato-sensei's recipes.

"Giyu is actually a very gentle child, just not good at expressing himself."

Shisui was long used to Giyu's strange temper, "He's not interested in becoming a shinobi, so this gift should be very pleasing to him. Let's go, Kakashi-senpai, as a thank you, I'll treat you to some ramen, how about that?"

"Isn't there another kid celebrating his birthday? What about his gift?"

"That kid Sasuke, as long as he receives a gift from a certain someone, he'll be overjoyed. We can make up for it tomorrow."

"I see."

Kakashi quietly followed Shisui out of the Uchiha compound, but in his mind, he was pondering the words Akino had told him.

"That kid is super dangerous."

[Not interested in becoming a shinobi, but can lift two half-meter-long salmon with one hand? (about 15 kilograms)]

[Considering he's an Uchiha, maybe it's not that surprising. But that look in his eyes is really something to be concerned about...]