Chapter 106: Nawaki's Funeral Reactions, Uchiha Madara's Confusion, Might Guy's Recruitment, Black Rhino Armor Reward, and Talent Replication
Nawaki's funeral was never intended to be hidden from outsiders. The other ninja villages had always kept close watch on Senju Nawaki—this terrifying combat power.
It could be said that Nawaki was the greatest crisis to the brief peace in the coming years.
When the various villages saw Nawaki dead, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. But the deed wasn't done by them, so they inwardly gave credit to whichever other village pulled it off.
In the underground room, Uchiha Madara stared blankly at Naraku's GPS. He racked his brain but still couldn't figure out how this thing could suppress Wood Release.
It could be said Uchiha Madara truly didn't understand technology. He had only arranged this on a whim, telling his subordinates to do it.
He also wanted to see if there was anything special about Naraku's forging along the way.
In the end Uchiha Madara still couldn't figure out anything special about the device, so he simply threw it to White Zetsu and told White Zetsu to dispose of it.
Unfortunately, Lord Madara sometimes didn't understand White Zetsu. The bored White Zetsu directly treated this strange thing as a cosplay prop to imitate poop.
In the end, the Nawaki incident concluded with Konoha publicly issuing a bounty.
Naraku had placed a highly similar fake Nawaki corpse inside Nawaki's coffin—definitely not enough to fool true experts.
But it was enough. He only needed to buy some time.
Later Naraku hid Nawaki in the Land of Iron and personally forged an advanced coffin for him that combined early warning, defense, attack, summoning, cleaning, and ventilation functions.
Naraku even lay inside it himself for a while. Can't say the experience was strong—only that it was extremely comfortable.
It wasn't that Naraku didn't want to put Nawaki in the Dimensional Array's World's End—that world ultimately carried unknown dangers.
If something went wrong in the ninja world, he could still fix it.
But if he really played Nawaki to death, it would absolutely affect his relationship with Tsunade.
...
Naraku approached a somewhat shabby-looking courtyard.
Seeing Might Dai taking care of Gai alone, Naraku understood why he hadn't seen Might Dai training in the village lately.
Most likely Gai's mother had died, leaving Dai to care for the young, dependent Gai by himself.
The Naruto world was sometimes like this—many side characters had rather unfortunate backstories.
This suddenly reminded Naraku of Hatake Sakumo's wife, Hatake Miko—she seemed to have poor health too.
He had previously said he would repay Hatake Sakumo—after all, he had privately passed on the Hatake blade style.
Naraku planned to have Tsunade check on her when he had time.
Might Dai noticed Naraku outside the courtyard. Although he was only a genin, he still recognized the "big shot" Uchiha Naraku.
Might Dai awkwardly rubbed his hands. Gai was quietly sleeping at the moment.
Naraku struck first: "I haven't seen you training in the village lately. You previously said you wanted me to forge a training tool for you."
Might Dai, hearing this, replied excitedly yet ashamed: "Thank you, Lord Naraku, for still remembering my earlier request. But my wife recently passed away, and I have to take care of Gai. Lately I haven't had time for missions, so I really don't have money to ask you to forge it. I also haven't had much time to train. I'm sorry, Lord Naraku!"
With that, Might Dai deeply bowed to Naraku.
Naraku inwardly admired this kind of man. Most importantly, he felt this was a golden opportunity to recruit a subordinate!
Looking at Might Dai's messy house, Naraku said: "From now on you don't need to do these things. I can sponsor you and arrange people to help take care of Gai. Your talent shouldn't be wasted here. I've already forged a special training device for you—just focus on training."
Might Dai was silent for a moment, then finally said: "Please forgive my refusal."
Might Dai knew there's no free lunch in the world—he'd never been to America to beg.
Naraku's mouth twisted. Of course he knew Might Dai would refuse—but he loved watching the untamed become tamed.
Naraku also understood that Might Dai's year-after-year, day-after-day training wasn't just for martial arts.
He was a man who thoroughly lived the Will of Fire—he trained to protect.
So Naraku organized his words: "Might Dai, you underestimate my magnanimity. Do you think I'm the type to demand repayment for favors? I simply don't want to see Konoha's strongest taijutsu ninja wasting away here. And your son Gai needs more nutrition, doesn't he? You don't want your child to suffer stunted growth from lack of nutrition, or affect his future ninja path, right?"
Seeing Might Dai slightly waver, Naraku added: "Might Dai, you can think of this as a transaction. Spend all your time training. Spend it perfecting the Eight Gates Released Formation. Finally teach me the perfected Eight Gates as payment. I also believe that pure taijutsu can stand at the pinnacle of the ninja world! I will never be the enemy of your protection of comrades. I am also your comrade, aren't I?"
In the end, Might Dai's heart was completely pierced. He dropped to his knees with a thud. In all his years alive, no one had ever acknowledged his path like this—given him such massive investment while so deeply respecting his will to protect comrades.
Might Dai said tearfully and gratefully: "Lord Naraku, I will definitely follow your instructions and work hard."
Naraku inwardly knew that subduing this fierce general Might Dai wasn't so simple. Reaching today's progress was already quite good—fortunately he had plenty of time.
Mainly, Naraku was quite looking forward to the future of Dai and Gai father and son. He was curious what heights the two could reach after gaining Haki—and how much feedback that would bring him.
Naraku took out the Black Rhino Armor and explained its characteristics. As a training-type armor, Black Rhino Armor's traits were simple: injecting chakra could increase the armor's weight and defense.
Might Dai discovered that Black Rhino Armor truly lived up to being an armor that could fit the host's body—extremely comfortable to wear.
As he injected chakra, powerful gravity pressed down on him. Facing this method that consumed both chakra and stamina simultaneously, Dai felt he could be completely drained in less than half an hour.
You have to know—before this, he often couldn't reach his limit even after training half a day.
While Might Dai earnestly tested it, Naraku left behind a sum of money and quietly departed.
The martial idiot Might Dai only later noticed Naraku had left. In his heart he secretly vowed: from now on he would diligently perfect the Eight Gates Released Formation and—without crossing the bottom line—serve Lord Naraku!
As for why Lord Naraku slipped away quietly—that was because Might Dai's reward had already arrived in the backend.
Ding...
[Might Dai has reached Beginner utilization of Black Rhino Armor. Talent Replication activated: Obtained mastery of Konoha Steel Fist Style]
Ding...
[Might Dai has reached Intermediate utilization of Black Rhino Armor. Talent Replication activated: Obtained Might Dai's mastery level of Eight Gates Released Formation]
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