Martial Arts Contest

Inside the Hokage hall, Might Dai rapidly closed the distance to Nawaki, throwing a punch as he approached. Nawaki, however, stood rooted to the spot, allowing the rain of blows to land upon him.

The moment his first punch connected, Might Dai felt something was wrong; he felt as though the full force of his strike had met no resistance, as if he were hitting a sheet of paper.

He initially assumed Nawaki had used a Substitution Technique, but when he focused his gaze, he saw that the person before him had a vivid expression and eyes full of spirit, and there was no sign of another Nawaki anywhere nearby. Trusting his instincts, he gritted his teeth and unleashed a flurry of Steel Fist techniques upon Nawaki.

The more he fought, the more wrong it felt. By all logic, given his current strength and speed, even a clone or a substitute should have been sent flying by the inertia of his strikes, only to be intercepted by his faster movement and battered back and forth like a ball in the air until they were severely injured and immobilized—that was the essence of the Steel Fist.

Yet, no matter how hard he attacked, Nawaki's body never flew back! He seemed to possess neither hardness nor weight; though he occasionally drifted into the air, it wasn't due to the inertia of a strike, but rather as if he were floating on an air current!

The sensation was eerie; Might Dai felt as if he weren't fighting a person, but struggling against a piece of paper.

His intuition was correct, for Nawaki had used a technique specifically designed to defend against blunt force: the Kami-e of the Konoha Six Powers! This technique involved relaxing the entire body to shed all resistance, allowing oneself to drift within the air currents of an opponent's attack like paper. Aside from rapid sword strikes, it was difficult for conventional attacks to harm the user.

"Dai, everyone has seen your strength. Stop now; I still have things to say." Floating in the air on the wind of Might Dai's punches, Nawaki spoke in a relaxed tone.

Upon hearing this, Might Dai released the Eight Inner Gates. Drenched in sweat, he asked with great excitement, "Was that taijutsu just now also used by Nawaki-jonin?"

Everyone in the hall, including the Third Hokage, was shocked by the performance they had just witnessed! Both Might Dai's speed and power, and Nawaki's defensive taijutsu, had opened their eyes. They had never imagined that pure taijutsu could reach such a realm and possess such power.

"What... what incredible taijutsu!"

"Shouldn't that Might Dai's taijutsu be enough to fight a jonin by now?"

"Isn't Nawaki-jonin's taijutsu even stronger? To be completely unscathed by such a violent assault?"

"That must be the Konoha Six Powers! I heard he created that A-rank taijutsu when he was three years old!"

"Three years old? That's too exaggerated!"

Facing Might Dai's question, Nawaki nodded. "Correct. I just used the Kami-e from the Six Powers, which can defend against all blunt force damage. With your physical strength and talent, you can master the Six Powers quickly if you train seriously! Do you want to learn? If you do, I will teach you!"

Might Dai's eyes lit up. "Really? Nawaki-jonin? You are willing to teach me the Konoha Six Powers? How could I ever repay you?"

"It is true that the Konoha Six Powers have high requirements for physical strength and body control, so aside from me, only a few are qualified to train in them. As for repayment? You must become my disciple!" Nawaki did not ask Might Dai to teach him the Eight Inner Gates in exchange, because the principle of the Eight Inner Gates was quite simple: one only needed to know the location of the eight gates and break through the body's limits to open them. In the original story, Kakashi had opened the first gate just by climbing a cliff with one hand. With his current physical strength, he could open the second or third gate; he only needed specific training to achieve it.

"A disciple? Although our ages are quite different, with Nawaki-jonin's strength, there is no problem with you being my teacher!" Might Dai was indeed simple-minded and agreed quite easily.

"Very good!" Nawaki was very satisfied to take on a disciple with the strength of a jonin, who could even potentially erupt with Kage-level power. If Might Dai were given enough resources to train his body, combined with the absolute control of Life Return, perhaps he could learn to freely close the Gate of Death, and his strength might even surpass that of his son, Might Guy.

After accepting Might Dai as his disciple in front of everyone, Nawaki turned to the Third Hokage. "Lord Hokage, I was right, wasn't I? Dai's taijutsu can enhance our squad's offensive capabilities, can it not?"

The Third Hokage puffed on his pipe and nodded. "Dai's strength is indeed formidable, but if he joins your squad... the village has never had a five-man squad. This seems to go against custom, and it's a bit of a waste of manpower, don't you think? You know the village is currently very short-handed!"

Nawaki nodded. "That is true! How about this: I will become their guiding jonin in my capacity as a Special Jonin. That way, Torifu Akimichi can reform his squad to serve the village. I believe Shinnosuke and the others will agree?"

"Although it is embarrassing to have a five-year-old junior become our guiding jonin, if it's a guy like Nawaki... I agree!" Shinnosuke was the first to voice his opinion.

Hikari and Dai naturally nodded in agreement as well.

Torifu Akimichi had black lines running down his forehead. "Have you all considered my thoughts? Am I being shunned by my own subordinates?"

Nawaki said with an embarrassed expression, "I'm sorry, Torifu-san. I didn't want it to be this way, but Lord Hokage seems to be in urgent need of manpower, and having two jonin in one small squad seems like even more of a waste!"

"Cough, cough..." The Third Hokage seemed to have choked on his smoke. He hadn't expected things to develop this way; Nawaki always acted outside the norm, yet somehow always made it sound reasonable.

Looking at his young disciple's playful expression, the Third Hokage said unwillingly, "But this way, your squad's average level won't reach that of chunin, and you won't be able to accept B-rank missions!"

Nawaki feigned a look of having just remembered, tapping his cheek. "Oh? If Lord Hokage hadn't reminded me, I would have forgotten. Oh dear! What should we do?"

Watching Nawaki's exaggerated acting and his relaxed tone, the Third Hokage knew this kid must have been prepared all along.

Sure enough, in less than a second, Nawaki clapped his hands together. "I have it! Given their strength and mission history, they should be eligible to apply for chunin status, right? Then I will recommend them in my capacity as their guiding jonin! Does Lord Hokage need to send a chunin to test their strength?"

Upon hearing Nawaki's words, Shinnosuke, Hikari, and Dai all had their eyes light up; they had been wanting to become chunin for a long time!

The Third Hokage was left speechless by Nawaki, silently puffing on his pipe. How could he let these promising seedlings he favored all go off to do B-rank missions?

Not to mention Nawaki and the others, who were destined to be the backbone of the Hokage faction in the future, even Might Dai, whom he had previously overlooked, had now displayed special talent. He could be considered an unconventional genius, and it was very likely he would become a jonin in the future.