Midnight.
Sitting on my bed, I look to my side.
Her long blonde hair is unraveled across the bed. I'm talking about Ino, who's sleeping with barely a sound.
That raises the question of how I even became friends with her and the rest of the main cast.
When I was 10, Iruka, who liked my cooking, decided to recommend me to teach at the Academy as their Home Economics teacher—which means I taught them basic cooking.
If I was 10 back then, they would've been like 8 or something. I didn't push my luck by grooming them like Redues did, because I was also busy struggling to survive as a ten-year-old civilian.
Anyway, it's time to open up the random gift.
Three boxes appear, showing the names of who I got them from.
I say in my head, let's go with Hinata first.
Ding!
Congratulations!
You have received +5 Chakra Level.
Not bad! I click the Yes button to extract the gift right away. There's no weird sensation like I felt from the Inuzuka Enhanced Nose, but I can see my Chakra Level rise in the Status screen.
Next one—Sakura.
Ding!
Congratulations!
You have received +2 Chakra Level.
My odds are real, haha! My Chakra Level is increasing like it's nothing. As I expected from the main cast.
Lastly, let's go with Ino.
Ding!
Congratulations!
You have received Basic Chakra Manipulation Training Method.
Ding!
You've had a great sell today, host.
You sold all the ramen and made a new dish.
The restaurant has received 93 customers: 90 D-rank, 1 B-rank, and 2 A-rank.
Congratulations!
You've accumulated 3,400 AP.
It's a little bit late, but I'm glad the system tells me how much I earned today.
Doesn't matter if a customer had 7 portions of ramen in a row—it's not about the portion size, it's about the customers. The customer is the key. Just like the system's name: Customer System.
It's divided into three parts: Leaf Concentration, Tree Climbing, and Water Surface Walking.
I hum as I learn it instantly.
In short, I need to knead my chakra specifically to a certain place in my body to stick the leaf.
So I head to the kitchen and find a herb leaf. Learning from my past attempts too, I wash my head first—I don't want the leaf sticking just because of sweat. Then, I sit cross-legged on the floor.
The first thing I need to do is not just stick the damn leaf.
But knead my own chakra into the chakra pathways.
Before this, I also tried it, but my pitiful attempt made me realize that I didn't even have enough chakra to knead properly.
This time is definitely different.
"Huuuf..."
I take a deep breath.
I can feel a warm sensation in my body. It's chaotic and vicious. I try to take control—it fights back—but eventually, I manage to gain control.
Like rain pouring into a dry riverbed.
The chakra inside my body flows through the chakra pathways, filling them completely.
So this is how chakra feels...! But it's not time to get emotional. I place the herb on my forehead.
I need to focus. Chakra rushes to my forehead. The leaf starts to peel off, but then chakra pulls it back—it's like it's glued there. I sink into the training. I don't even notice how much time has passed. I let the leaf go as it wobbles gently in the air.
[Status]
Name: Ichiraku Ken
Age: 18
Race: Human
Chakra Level: 12 (Senior Academy Student)
Chakra Control: 6 (Academy Student)
Affinity: None
Bloodline Limit: [10% Inuzuka]
Talent: [Advanced Cooking], [Restaurant Management], [Advanced Business], [Flirting]
Jutsu: None
Achievement Points: 4,400
I forgot to mention that chakra evaluations are based on shinobi from non-clan backgrounds. So when the system says I have chakra equal to a senior academy student, it's not talking about Naruto or Sasuke.
As I already know, even back in the Academy, Naruto had chakra reserves big enough to match a Chuunin.
Still, I can progress even without the system giving me a steroid boost.
My chakra control has now leveled up a bit thanks to the training.
"Ken...?"
Grumbling softly, Ino's hand starts searching for me on the bed.
"I'm here." I climb back into the bed. Ino pulls me under the blanket and hugs me tightly.
I'm really tired after my first attempt with chakra. I'll get a little sleep before heading to the market then open up the shop.