A ninja who is always hungry

Tony was greatly relieved when he regained consciousness, and the System explained what had happened. Mrs. Yamanaka made sure he didn't remember the events, but the System had a record of everything and couldn't be affected. Thanks to its quick response and last-minute plan, it managed to clear any doubts about his origin.

The part he didn't expect was that the Akimichi clan would be the ones to take the initiative to adopt him, without him even asking for it. And when they asked him the reason for the attack, he gave a perfect response:

"Maybe it's because of my family's secret cooking technique?"

In other clans, such words might have been laughed at, but not in the Akimichi clan. They politely asked him to cook something, and Tony prepared a simple salad with some of his own ingredients. Even the Akimichi family was surprised at the simplicity of the dish. They expected something extremely elaborate or precise. Or at least, something more mysterious.

Since when does a salad require technique? It's just washing and cutting some vegetables and putting them in a bowl; there's nothing secret about that.

But after the first bite, no one spoke. They were too busy stuffing their mouths and chewing!

Talking?

If I'm talking, I'm not eating salad!

And that wasn't even the most surprising part…

The child before them turned out to have a bigger appetite than everyone else combined!

Each member of the clan in the room ate twelve bowls of salad, but the child ate thirty by himself. It was no joke!

They were all ninjas and could feel the change in their bodies; it was as if their chakra was being stimulated, not to mention their stamina. They exchanged glances, sharing the same thought:

It seems that really was the reason for the attack!

But at the same time, as everyone believed that, a great sadness overwhelmed them. If they had known that they had a family with such abilities nearby, their alliance of three clans might have grown to four. Even if that hadn't been the case, the Akimichi clan would have gained a like-minded ally with great compatibility.

And so, by the end of the day, Tony Akimichi was born. Not only that, but he was given a status in the clan similar to that of a cousin from the main bloodline.

His adoption caused surprise and drew the attention of many clans.

A noble clan of the village adopted an outsider child?!

Everyone wanted to know the reason.

The first clans to be alerted were, naturally, the Nara clan, the Yamanaka clan, and even the Inuzuka clan.

When both of the Akimichi clan's allied clans asked the reason, the only response they got was an invitation to dinner with the Akimichi clan. After dining and exchanging glances, they all understood the reason and why the Akimichi clan placed so much importance on the child. Even the descendants of the clans did a double-take on the child.

Choji was thrilled with his new "cousin" and his delicious food; Shikamaru started seeing Tony's dishes in the clouds; and Ino was ecstatic to discover that Tony's food didn't make her gain weight, despite how tasty it was.

As for the Inuzuka clan, their response was that if they had known he could be adopted, their clan wouldn't have hesitated to do so. That, along with a request for sausages that left the Akimichi clan puzzled. Tony had to come out and explain the situation, and as a result, had to send more sausages to the Inuzuka clan as a gift, while also preparing some for the Akimichi clan under the pretext of supervising their quality.

He spent several days acclimating to his new clan, and then the topic he had been waiting for came up: the ninja academy. They asked if he was interested in attending, and he stated that he wanted to go so that he could gain the strength to protect himself. He didn't mention anything about revenge, as it could be counterproductive, and from the clan's expressions, it seemed like he made the right choice.

[Ding! The host has embarked on the path to becoming stronger.]

[New mission: The path to strength is paved with food!]

[Task: Complete the following exercise routine daily for two months.]

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

100 air squats

10 km run

[Reward: Recipe for Curry of Life + ???]

"My first mission!" Tony clapped his hands. "Let's see… Wait, where have I seen this before? System, isn't this Saitama's routine? Does this really work?"

[The System only provides beneficial objectives for the host.]

"I'll do it. In this world, I'll need to be in shape, or who knows what could happen to me. A little exercise won't hurt."

…One routine later…

"I'm dying!" Tony complained. "Okay, I didn't exercise much in my previous life, but I wasn't in such bad shape. This body feels like it's never exercised. I need to eat something." He entered the kitchen, to which he had been given full access, and started eating.

Sure, he could have taken a stone and turned it into a giant strawberry. But since his adoption became known, he discovered by accident that there was always an ANBU watching. At least, he hoped it was just one ANBU; he couldn't remember the difference between ANBU and ROOT masks.

It didn't seem normal to him, so he informed Choza about it, and he calmed him down, saying it was just routine monitoring due to the situation. Tony found nothing routine about sending at least a Chunin to watch a child under ten years old.

Maybe common sense varies from world to world.

Anyway, he had to endure the masked one's surveillance until he officially joined the ninja academy. They gave him a written test to assess his level, and Tony was surprised at the low standard required; he almost thought it was blatant favoritism. I mean, apart from a bunch of nonsense about the Will of Fire that took up most of it, the rest was basic logic and math questions that barely went beyond addition and subtraction.

Now he could understand why the graduates were of such a low level. Even subjects like chemistry were only taught in the last year. The education system sucked because it was more focused on brainwashing the new generation than making them useful and skilled. He could almost see the Third Hokage's name on the papers of whoever designed this teaching method.

After the results came out, he was placed in the same class as Choji, Shikamaru, Ino, and company. Everything was fine, but apparently, his answer on the Will of Fire wasn't up to par. In other words:

"You're smart and capable, but since I don't know if you're easily influenced, you'll need some brainwashing."

Something like that. Putting aside the obvious manipulation of my results, I completed the mission and obtained the recipe for the Curry of Life, which I can now prepare anytime thanks to my ability. Not only that, but it seems that the ??? reward was exactly what I was hoping for.