4 1D

–A day later–

"Expansion Jutsu!"

CRASH!

The wall that was blocking my new property off from the rest of the village was torn down by a heavyset ninja who was able to turn himself into a giant.

I was appreciative that the giant ninja was careful not to break anything but the giant wall surrounding the ex-Uchiha compound. When the huge guy was done smashing it – and damn did that look fun to me – he shrunk back down to a more normal size while patting his belly.

"Good work, Choji." One of his ninja teammates called out.

"Thanks, Shikamaru." Choji said while patting his round stomach. "Man, am I hungry! That Jutsu always burns through a bunch of my calories."

"You're hungry again? You already ate 5 portions for breakfast!" The third teammate, a gorgeous girl with long blonde hair, said.

"C'mon, Ino. You know that's basically a snack for me..." Choji whined.

I walked up to the group of three. I smiled at the friendly dynamic they all had with each other. They might have been bickering currently, but I could tell that they were all good friends.

"Thanks for knocking down that wall. If you want some food, I can make you all something. Free of charge. I'd like to get your opinions on my cooking." I suggested.

Last night, I used 800 of my points to upgrade my Journeyman cooking skills, past Master Class and all the way to Earth Class!

As for what Earth Class entailed, I was now one of the best chefs in this world. I was at the peak of Mortal cooking. Past this point would be Heaven Class, which cost a lot more points to obtain. I could also only obtain cooking abilities in order. The System had also set the prerequisite that I had to reach Journeyman with my own skills before I could just start upgrading my talents with it. That had taken me 5 years of traveling the world.

Choji looked ecstatic at my suggestion. "Free food!? Let's go!" Without giving his two friends any room to argue, he grabbed them both and dragged them inside the village's newest restaurant.

"The furniture and decor are very cozy." Ino commented as the three ninjas sat down at the counter.

I was glad she liked it. I spent most of my points last night on everything inside to make it look nice. My restaurant consisted of a main counter/bar, a dozen tables that sat 4 to 6 people scattered about the floor, and 6 booths for people who wanted a bit more comfort while they ate.

"Here's our current menu." I said. I had quite a few Asian-inspired dishes from this world, along with plenty of food from my past life as well on the menu. Those were all foods that this world had probably never seen before.

Shikamaru furrowed his brow as he looked over the menu. "Hmmmm… I haven't heard of most of the things on this menu. Where are they from?"

"I've traveled all over the elemental nations collecting a bunch of exotic foods." I lied smoothly. I made a note to myself to get new menus with pictures on them once I get some more System points. 

Shikamaru gave me a skeptical look but shrugged in the end. "I'll have whatever you recommend then." He said while handing the menu back to me.

"I'll have the same as Shikamaru but with three portions, please!" Choji added. 

He said that he also didn't recognize most of the things on the menu. That was apparently shocking to him as a member of the Akimichi clan. He looked very excited to try out new food though.

"Can I have something not too fatty?" Ino asked me. "I don't eat as much as these two."

"I'll be right back." I said to them. I went into the backroom to "get" all the ingredients I needed. What I was really doing was spawning them into existence by trading the few remaining System points I had for them.

I decided to make Shikamaru a wagyu cheeseburger with fries. Choji would get three of them. For Ino, I would make her a chicken caesar salad. Everything I needed for the meals manifested in front of me.

I came back out carrying all the ingredients. The culture in this world was heavily inspired by Asia. So I also had a whole kitchen set up right behind the bar so customers could watch me cook in front of them. There was another kitchen in the back room that was there for any extra chefs I hired in the future.

As soon as I placed the ground beef and chicken on the grill, my eyes widened at the information my brain received. Earth Grade cooking was amazing! It was like I instinctively knew exactly how to perfectly prepare every single ingredient just by glancing at it. I didn't even have to check the meat at all before I flipped it. I now KNEW when one side was perfectly cooked with just a quick glance.

When I brought out the lettuce for Ino's salad, I was also amazed at my own flawless knife work. I was able to cut into it rapidly and with perfect precision that I had never quite mastered before!

Ino whistled in appreciation on the other side of the counter. "Wow! You're a really talented chef, Uzumaki! You must have trained for years."

I glanced up while still chopping and smiled at her. "Please just call me Akira." 

"Ok… Akira." Ino replied with a small blush. 

I found it funny how domineering she was with her teammates earlier but now she was acting shy with me. Was it mostly because I looked like a handsome anime protagonist? Probably… I didn't mind though. 

Shikamaru noticed his female teammate's look and facepalmed. "What a drag. Our village has another pretty boy again…" Shikamaru sighed dramatically.

Choji wasn't paying attention to any of that. He was too busy salivating at all the meat on the grill in front of him!

"Order's up!" I said while placing everybody's food in front of them. "Please give me your honest opinions. Shikamaru and Choji both have cheeseburgers and fries while Ino has a chicken caesar salad."

"So this is a cheeseburger, huh?" Shikamaru tentatively picked it up and took a bite. His eyes widened, and a small hint of a smile appeared on his face as he swallowed. "It's not bad…"

"NOT BAD!? This is amazing!" Choji exclaimed in happiness. In less than 30 seconds, he had already finished one burger and was onto the second one! These weren't small burgers either… they were half-pounders… This guy could certainly pack it all away!

"Sho good!" Ino said with a mouthful of food. 

I was happy they were all enjoying their food. That was a great start for my restaurant!

XXX

Thanks for reading! I'm hungry after writing this section...