Chapter 17: White Dragon Blade Handover, Instant Mastery, and Orochimaru's First Kills
When Naraku rang the Hatake doorbell again, a flash of lightning streaked past. Hatake Sakumo appeared before him in an instant...
Sakumo's face was deathly pale, his steps unsteady, as though every ounce of vitality had been drained from him. His once-straight posture was now slightly hunched—like a deflated balloon, completely listless. His eyes, which should have been sharp as an eagle's, were dull and lifeless.
With barely contained urgency, Sakumo asked: "Is my blade ready?"
Naraku could only sigh inwardly. He truly didn't understand sword fanatics. Just because their beloved weapon wasn't by their side, they ended up like this?
When Naraku presented the Water Dragon Blade, Sakumo's gaze locked onto it instantly.
With trembling hands, Sakumo took the tanto—familiar yet completely transformed.
"Try it," Naraku said with a smile, gesturing for him to go ahead.
Sakumo's expression turned deadly serious. He slowly channeled his chakra into the Water Dragon Blade. As Lightning Release chakra flowed in, the entire blade gradually shifted to a brilliant gold!
Sakumo was mildly surprised by the color change, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he focused on sensing his chakra flow—and immediately noticed the conductivity was even stronger, especially for Lightning Release.
This alone was a massive boost. White Fang's primary fighting style relied on Lightning chakra to stimulate his body for extreme speed, then channel it into the blade for lethal cutting power, combined with superhuman reflexes and peerless swordsmanship for one-hit kills.
Ding...
At the same time, Naraku calmly recited the blade's three abilities.
As he spoke, shock never left Sakumo's face. Both active skills—increased combat power and enhanced movement/agility—were perfect for him. Three-minute durations with post-use fatigue were manageable for someone of his level; three minutes was more than enough to end most fights. The passive single-attribute chakra reinforcement was even better—permanent, direct combat enhancement that raised his ceiling.
Sakumo's hunter instinct flared. Without hesitation, he demonstrated a set of Hatake sword techniques right there in front of Naraku.
When he activated both active abilities simultaneously, Naraku couldn't even see Sakumo's figure anymore—only fleeting afterimages and sudden changes to the surrounding buildings and objects.
Three minutes later, Sakumo's form slowly reappeared. Centered around him stood eight dog-head statues carved from nearby materials.
Naraku's mouth twitched. He had always wondered where Kakashi got his obsession with dog-head earth sculptures despite his limited chakra. Turns out—the apple didn't fall far from the tree!
Sakumo stood in the center like an untouchable legendary swordsman, forcing an air of cool detachment. In reality, his body was already exhausted from dual-activating the skills—but a master's pride wouldn't let him show even a hint of weakness!
Ding... [Hatake Sakumo has become the owner of Water Dragon Blade and achieved initial mastery. Talent Replication activated: Hatake Swordsmanship (generational Hatake clan sword art) – Beginner mastery]
Ding... [Hatake Sakumo has reached mid-level mastery of Water Dragon Blade. Talent Replication activated: Hatake Swordsmanship – Intermediate mastery]
Ding... [Hatake Sakumo has reached high-level mastery of Water Dragon Blade. Talent Replication activated: Hatake Swordsmanship – Advanced mastery]
With the three consecutive notifications, a flood of Hatake swordsmanship memories surged into Naraku's mind—as though he had practiced it for years.
This tiered reward gave Naraku a new hypothesis: the higher the weapon mastery level, the better the replicated talent.
From novice → beginner → intermediate → advanced → master.
When Naraku opened his eyes again, a sharp, sword-like aura emanated from him.
Sakumo was stunned. Had this boy learned—and even internalized—his entire Hatake sword style just by watching one demonstration? Even grasped its essence?
What a terrifying child... He silently wondered if his own son would ever possess the talent to become a peerless swordsman.
Naraku (internally screaming): Don't ask! I just used my unawakened Sharingan and saw absolutely nothing! Not even where you were! Learned jack shit about swordsmanship!
After some polite back-and-forth pleasantries, the two parted ways.
Hatake Miko watched her husband collapse onto the sofa like a ragdoll. If she didn't trust his fidelity, she'd almost suspect he'd been out battling some seductive vixen!
She mentally guessed: That Naraku kid again? Last time he came, my husband was listless for days. I was starting to get used to it... but now after seeing him again, he's "exhausted" but spiritually exhilarated! So Naraku is the seductive vixen?
On his walk home, Naraku analyzed why Sakumo's rewards came so quickly.
His guess: the blade had extremely high compatibility with Sakumo. Since it was a reforged version of his lifelong weapon, it carried over mastery "inheritance."
A worrying thought struck: Talent Replication (or B-grade+ weapon replication) might not copy certain talents or bloodlines. What he really wanted was Sakumo's swordsmanship talent or Nawaki's Senju bloodline—but both gave fixed rewards instead.
He could only experiment more later by forging additional weapons.
Ding... [Orochimaru has become the owner of Kirikabe Ichimonji and achieved initial mastery. Talent Replication activated: Summoning Technique: Triple Rashōmon (inherited from the First Hokage's Five Gate Rashōmon. The wide-open maw that devours all attacks—the defensive wall known as Rashōmon. First gate absorbs frontal attacks. Second gate reduces power. Third gate disperses pressure... With three differently functioning gates, all incoming attacks are drastically weakened by the time they reach the user.) – Intermediate mastery]
Ding... [Orochimaru has killed Iwa Chūnin Iwate Shita using Kirikabe Ichimonji. Undead Legion effect activated: Iwa Chūnin Iwate Shita's soul collected into the Forger's exclusive Shinigami Hall]
Ding... [Orochimaru has killed Iwa Chūnin Iwate Kami using Kirikabe Ichimonji. Undead Legion effect activated: Iwa Chūnin Iwate Kami's soul collected into the Forger's exclusive Shinigami Hall]
Looking at the notifications, Naraku knew Orochimaru had scored a clean opening kill—two at once, unlucky brothers by the names.
As for the replicated Triple Rashōmon, Naraku thought: Not bad. This defensive ninjutsu has incredible staying power—even strong enough to potentially block a Tailed Beast Bomb when mastered fully!
--------------------------
Support us on patreon (+Gain access to 100 chapters in advance)
patreon.com/inkshield