Chapter 104: Naraku Hands Over Infinite Armor, Hiruzen's Awe, Sealing Art Study, Talent Replication Reward, and Nawaki's Kidnapping
Snapping back to reality, Naraku realized nearly a week had passed since forging began. Although the two weren't always in this basement, they were both exhausted.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stared blankly at the black stick in Naraku's hand. As a bystander during these days of forging, he knew roughly how this stick was born and understood the terrifying power contained within.
Naraku handed the stick to Sarutobi Hiruzen while saying: "Lord Hokage, you probably don't need to worry about Danzō possibly betraying anymore!"
Then Naraku quickly explained the weapon's details to Sarutobi Hiruzen—naturally downplaying some of the side-effect information. This was his absolute trust in the Hokage!
Asked why—for the Third Hokage, who was as vital to Konoha as the sun, how could he fear such a small sacrifice? The core of the Will of Fire was burning oneself, wasn't it?
Every time Naraku described a skill, Sarutobi Hiruzen was shocked anew—from staff form to armor form, to the various transformation levels, and finally the ultimate transformation.
He was completely turned into a "shocked monster," experiencing wave after wave of mind-blowing highs until he was thoroughly exhilarated.
After Naraku finished speaking, Sarutobi Hiruzen stood stunned for a long time.
Only then did he look at Naraku—who was yawning—and forcibly suppress his inner excitement. He painted a big picture for Naraku: "The village will never forget your contributions. As for the village's sealing techniques, come directly tomorrow to learn them. Little Naraku, these past few days must have exhausted you. Hurry back and rest! Leave the rest to me."
Naraku suddenly thought of something and said to Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Lord Third, I'd like to ask you to use the Infinite Armor's power to directly seal the monster I summon with my kekkei genkai."
Fearing that Sarutobi Hiruzen might stop progressing once he had such a powerful armor, Naraku emphasized again: "Lord Third, although this armor has immense power, it is ultimately the result of fusing multiple forces. Every use carries the risk of losing control, and one mistake could bring danger to the village. The giant armor I plan to forge possesses normalized powerful strength. It's power that even the village's jōnin can use. On the other side, the giant armor can also recognize a master, passing the key to this power between successive Hokage. Only then can Konoha rest easy!"
After receiving Sarutobi Hiruzen's affirmative reply, Naraku quickly left.
Naraku also knew that while he was present, Sarutobi Hiruzen probably wouldn't fully relax—he likely wanted to test whether what Naraku said was true and verify some other matters.
Walking along the road, Naraku felt he had really gone big this time—never expecting to directly create a weapon that shattered balance. Fortunately Sarutobi Hiruzen probably wasn't that warlike, plus the weapon wasn't stable enough.
Otherwise Konoha would become too strong and wipe out all the other ninja villages—what would he play with then? Even if Naraku directly usurped power and took control of Konoha—this stable yet rotten cake—he wasn't optimistic about the future.
A great man once taught that revolution must be thorough. Naraku thought his own future was likely the sea of stars—after all, he was still only an intermediate member.
So having a stable, well-functioning organization was very important.
After all, he lacked the talent to directly control subordinates. If they paid lip service while disobeying, he'd find it very troublesome—he hated trouble most.
Moreover, Naraku suspected that if he really had the talent to control subordinates, the more thorough the control, the more their growth would lose that certain possibility.
When a person's heart is strictly bound—like the Hyūga under the Caged Bird Seal—there will always be flaws.
Later, Naraku went every day to the place Sarutobi Hiruzen arranged to study sealing techniques. Naraku felt sealing techniques were among the most broken ninjutsu in Naruto—even someone as strong as Kaguya Ōtsutsuki could be sealed.
So with the mindset that more is better, Naraku studied sealing techniques earnestly every day.
While studying sealing techniques, Naraku discovered the reward from Sarutobi Hiruzen had arrived. He chose to claim it directly.
Ding...
[Sarutobi Hiruzen has initially mastered S (Pseudo) grade weapon Infinite. Talent Replication activated: Sarutobi Hiruzen's top-tier chakra control ability]
Naraku suddenly felt his chakra control ability had received a massive boost. This reward could be said to have saved him a huge amount of time training chakra control.
Naraku looked forward to Sarutobi Hiruzen's future rewards—although Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't seem to have anything particularly good.
But anyway, letting the weapon gather dust in Naraku's hands was a waste—better to leave it with Sarutobi Hiruzen for now. If he could obtain all of Sarutobi Hiruzen's Five Release techniques, that would be a nice improvement for him. And if Sarutobi Hiruzen pushed harder and used the ultimate transformation, then advanced Wood Release would come too.
Later Naraku checked today's progress, then returned home satisfied.
Not long after returning, Naraku discovered that the so-called device suppressing Nawaki's injuries left on Nawaki's body had been taken far away.
As for why the enemy didn't just kill Nawaki outright—that was naturally because Naraku had set up other measures to protect Nawaki's main body.
And why the enemy didn't destroy the suppressor outright—probably because they thought it was valuable and wanted to study it.
Looking at the GPS location, it seemed they were almost out of the Land of Fire.
Judging by the direction, it was probably toward Kirigakure.
Naraku felt a bit bored. He originally thought someone from the village would act so he could see which genius would do it.
He didn't expect it to be Kirigakure people. Naraku immediately thought of Uchiha Madara. Could it be that Uchiha Madara felt Nawaki + "Incursio" would affect his plan, so he acted?
Naraku hurriedly rushed to the Senju clan grounds. Seeing only Nawaki's internal power going a bit berserk and Maiya—who was completely unaware—Naraku breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, this was his little brother-in-law. Better alive than dead if possible.
Looking at the unharmed Nawaki, Naraku pondered what to do next.
Thinking that as long as Nawaki remained alive, the black hand might come again—or even people from other villages might continue coming.
So Naraku went to find Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Naraku looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen sitting in the office and felt that ever since he got Infinite Armor, Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed even more confident.
Sure enough—the saying holds true: in a transcendent world, power is the best thing to make a man confident.
Naraku explained some details about Nawaki's situation. Sarutobi Hiruzen praised Naraku: "Naraku, you did very well this time. Using information asymmetry to mislead the enemy. From now on, as you said—let's arrange a 'funeral' for Nawaki!"
That same day, Tsunade received an urgent message and rushed back to Konoha from the front lines.
--------------------------
Support us on Patreon and gain access to 100 chapters in advance!
patreon.com/inkshield