Recruiting Might Guy (Part 1)

Ever since Zhang Miao and Might Guy had established the new rules for their match, Zhang Miao did not see Might Guy again for the entire next day.

But even without leaving home, Zhang Miao knew that Might Guy had to be practicing running a lap around Konoha on his hands.

By evening, the system's familiar notification sounded again.

"Ding—Congratulations, Host, for winning the official match against Might Guy. You have obtained Five-Star Jonin Might Guy Ninja Fragments x10!"

The moment Zhang Miao heard the notification, he knew that Might Guy's attempt to complete a lap around Konoha on his hands had failed that day.

And given Might Guy's personality, Zhang Miao figured that, barring any surprises, he was probably lying exhausted on some small road at the edge of the village by now.

"Poor kid!"

With that thought, Zhang Miao sighed, shook his head, and went inside to sleep.

The next day, Zhang Miao still did not see Might Guy, but he received the system notification right on schedule that evening.

"Ding—Congratulations, Host, for winning the official match against Might Guy. You have obtained Five-Star Jonin Might Guy Ninja Fragments x10!"

For the next half month or so, Might Guy never once appeared before Zhang Miao, but the system notifications never failed to arrive.

The only difference was that the notifications gradually came later and later. Sometimes they rang in the evening, sometimes just after nightfall, sometimes in the dead of night, and on several occasions, even at dawn.

Whenever the system notification woke Zhang Miao in the middle of the night, he could not help but sigh.

"Might Guy really is risking his life over this!"

Might Guy truly was pushing himself to the limit, but his results were equally remarkable. On the thirty-fifth day after he and Zhang Miao had made their wager, Zhang Miao finally received a different notification.

"Ding—Host has lost the match against Might Guy. The match has ended!"

When Zhang Miao heard that notification, a smile immediately appeared at the corner of his lips.

"Did he finally do it?"

Although he had not received any Ninja Fragments this time, Zhang Miao did not feel disappointed. Instead, he was sincerely happy that Might Guy had broken through his limits once again.

"Looks like I unintentionally became a stepping stone for Emperor Kai's growth. Maybe that guy is rushing over here with an excited look on his face right now!"

No sooner had Zhang Miao thought that than he saw a cloud of dust billowing in the distance. At its forefront, a green figure was speeding toward him!

Who else could it be but Might Guy?

A few breaths later, Might Guy charged up to Zhang Miao. The dusty wind he brought along blew Zhang Miao's hair straight back.

Damn it, looks like I have to wash my hair again today!

Seemingly oblivious to Zhang Miao's disgusted expression, the sweat-drenched Might Guy immediately grabbed him in a hug.

"Ryunosuke, I did it! I completed a lap around Konoha on my hands! I neither stopped nor fell over along the way. You can acknowledge me now, right?"

"Mm-hmm, I acknowledge you!"

Zhang Miao nodded as he forcefully pushed Might Guy away.

"I acknowledge that you are Konoha's proud Azure Beast, Might Guy. I won't call you Acorn Guy anymore. Congratulations on breaking through your limits again. You're the best. All right, let go of me already!"

Might Guy had waited a long time to hear those words from Zhang Miao. Now that Zhang Miao had finally acknowledged him, he excitedly pulled Zhang Miao into a tight embrace and burst into tears of joy.

"Waaah... This is great, I did it, I really did it! Thank you, Ryunosuke, waaah..."

"Hey, hey, hey... your snot! Watch your snot! Help!"

As Might Guy held Zhang Miao and cried tears of joy, the system notification sounded in Zhang Miao's mind as well.

"Ding—Congratulations, Host, for obtaining Might Guy's absolute recognition and receiving Five-Star Jonin Might Guy Ninja Fragments x10. Host has collected four hundred identical five-star Ninja Fragments and may recruit at any time!"

Zhang Miao: "..."

He had collected enough already?

During this time, Zhang Miao had basically done nothing and still received Might Guy's Ninja Fragments every day, so he had never bothered counting them carefully. He had not expected to have gathered them all already.

And he had also obtained Might Guy's absolute recognition while he was at it. That meant he could keep receiving Might Guy's Ninja Fragments from now on, even without bullying him.

Looks like today really is a lucky day!

At that thought, Zhang Miao patted Might Guy on the back and smiled.

"All right, all right, stop crying. This time, you won the match of youth. Go home and take a bath first. Tomorrow, we'll go have a huge meal at Q's BBQ to celebrate you. How about it?"

"Huh? Celebrate?" Hearing that Zhang Miao wanted to celebrate for him, Might Guy's face immediately lit up, but it soon fell again. "But... I haven't done any missions this month..."

In the ninja world, a ninja's income basically came from missions, while a village's income likewise largely depended on having its ninjas carry out commissioned missions to earn fees.

In other words, if a ninja had no other source of income and did not carry out missions, then they would have no income at all.

Might Guy had spent the past month circling the village on his hands, so naturally he had not taken on any missions. It was inevitable that his pockets were empty.

"I finally earned Ryunosuke's acknowledgment, but I don't even have money to celebrate. I'm so useless!"

Since becoming a ninja, this was the first time someone had suggested celebrating for him. Yet he could not even afford the celebration, leaving Might Guy both guilty and upset.

But when Zhang Miao saw Might Guy's dejected expression, he burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha, don't worry about money. A month ago, I already made an agreement with Owl: when you won the match, Owl would treat us to a big meal at Q's BBQ. Owl is an Anbu elite, so don't worry about him not having money. Just relax!"

"Huh?" Hearing Zhang Miao's words, Might Guy immediately looked up in surprise, then turned to Owl, who was standing nearby, with an excited expression. "Is that true, Senior Owl?"

Owl: "..."

At that moment, Owl truly had no way to voice his grievances.

On one hand, although he really did not want to pay that money, the bet had already been made, and his opponent was just a child. If he went back on his word, Owl felt it would be rather hard to save face.

On the other hand, he had watched Might Guy's performance over the past month, and Might Guy had even accomplished something that Owl himself could not. That was no easy feat!

Thinking of this, Owl nodded at Might Guy, who was looking at him expectantly.

"Yes, it's true, but we'll have to wait until Lord Hokage returns!"

"Great!"

Hearing Owl agree, Might Guy immediately jumped up in delight.

Might Guy did not care if the celebration was delayed by a couple of days, nor did he care that someone else would be paying for the meal. What he cared about was that there was one more person celebrating for him.

"Thank you, Ryunosuke! Thank you, Senior Owl! I'm so happy! I'm going home to take a bath, then I'll do a thousand push-ups. If I can't finish them, I'll do another fifteen hundred squats! I'm so happy, haha!"

With that, Might Guy dashed home in a puff of dust, leaving behind only the dumbfounded Owl.

"Is that guy okay?"

Hearing Owl's question, Zhang Miao merely shrugged before heading back inside.

Night soon fell. When the moon had just risen above the treetops, Zhang Miao slipped down from his little bed and quietly crept to the door, pressing his ear against it to listen.

After about two or three minutes, Zhang Miao confirmed that there was no movement outside. Only then did he run to the middle of the room and take out all four hundred of Might Guy's Ninja Fragments from the System Space, spreading them across the floor.

After finishing this, Zhang Miao took a deep breath, then pulled out a small knife and cut the thumb of his right hand.

"Hiss..."

The instant his finger was cut, Zhang Miao grimaced in pain. But instead of hurriedly bandaging it, he endured the pain and quickly formed hand seals—Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Ram!

After completing the five hand seals, Zhang Miao pressed his bloodied palm onto the Ninja Fragments spread across the floor and shouted in a low voice.

"Summoning Jutsu!"