Chapter 71: Might Dai's Power Shocks Everyone!
The following days settled into a comfortable, if monotonous, rhythm for Ren. His Anbu "internship" largely consisted of shadowing Team 7 as they completed their litany of D-rank missions—finding lost cats, weeding gardens, babysitting children, painting fences. It was mundane work, perfectly safe, and mind-numbingly dull.
His primary charge, Naruto Uzumaki, approached each task with either baffling enthusiasm or theatrical despair. Ren watched from rooftops and trees, Uzuki Yugao a constant (and increasingly tolerant) presence at his side, Yamato a silent sentinel nearby.
The only real entertainment came from the live stream, where the dead watched the living with a mixture of nostalgia, critique, and utter bewilderment.
[System Notification: Live Stream Active]
[Viewers: 166 Pure Land Residents]
[Current Donation Pool: 460 viewer points]
[VIP Highlight: Might Dai - "Ah, the memories!"]
Might Dai (Regular Viewer): Ah! Those D-ranks! The nostalgia!
Uchiha Madara (VIP1): You call this shinobi work? It's an insult to the profession!
Might Dai: ...
Tobirama Senju (VIP5): No wonder the village's martial prowess declines. How does one hone combat skills chasing felines?
Might Guy (Regular Viewer): I think it's good foundational work! Familiarizes new teams with protocol! Gradual escalation is sound pedagogy!
Tobirama Senju: You seem well-versed in the modern mission structure.
Might Dai: Experience teaches! You pick things up!
Tobirama Senju: Based on your tone, you've completed a significant volume.
Might Dai: Not bad! Before I died, maybe ten, twenty thousand?
Tobirama Senju: Pauses. That many? Assassinations? Infiltrations? Hostage rescues?
Might Dai: Chuckles warmly. Oh, no! Same as Team 7 here! But I was faster! Sometimes three a day!
A longer pause.
Tobirama Senju: Your rank, shinobi?
Might Dai: Genin!
Tobirama Senju: ...Your age at death?
Might Dai: Thirty-five.
Tobirama Senju: A thirty-five-year-old... genin. You are a unique specimen.
Might Guy: I just loved being a shinobi!
Ren Arakawa (subvocalizing): Lord Second, don't underestimate that genin. When he gets serious, he could probably put you in the ground.
Tobirama Senju: A dry, humorless laugh. Preposterous. A peak kage-level shinobi, defeated by a genin? Amusing.
Ren Arakawa: Don't believe me? Arena. One round. I bet on Dai.
Hashirama Senju (Regular Viewer): A wager? I'm in!
Tobirama Senju: Very well. If I lose, you perform a service for me in the living world. If I win... you concede a point.
Ren Arakawa: And if Dai wins? I want an A-rank Water Release technique. Freely given.
Tobirama Senju: Snorts. Agreed. The possibility is nil.
Hashirama Senju: Then I'll bet on the genin! If he loses, I'll donate a Healing Jutsu!
Tobirama Senju: Brother. Do you genuinely believe I can lose to a genin?
Hashirama Senju: No, no! I always lose bets! By betting on him, I'm actually betting on you! It's reverse psychology!
Tobirama Senju: Sighs. Your logic is, as ever, uniquely flawed.
Ren Arakawa: You're both overcomplicating it. I was going to do your bidding anyway. The bet's on.
Tobirama Senju: Having second thoughts?
Ren Arakawa: The phrase "second thoughts" isn't in my lexicon.
Might Dai: Um... did anyone want my opinion on being your gambling token?
Ren Arakawa: Uncle Dai, give it your all. I'll check in on Might Guy for you soon.
Might Dai: Really? Well... alright. But don't blame me if I lose!
Ren Arakawa: Just don't hold back because he's the Second Hokage. Your son's future comfort may depend on your effort.
Might Dai: I... I won't hold back!
Tobirama Senju: Hold back? Against me? The delusion is staggering. Prepare yourself, "Genin." The arena awaits.
The scene shifted to the neutral, grassy plains of the Soul Arena. Tobirama Senju appeared in his full battle regalia, blue armor gleaming, white hair stark against the sky—the image of a warlord from a more brutal age.
Opposite him, Might Dai materialized in his iconic green spandex jumpsuit, bowl-cut hair, and bushy eyebrows. The contrast was jarring, almost comical.
Uchiha Madara: What... is that attire? Is he a civilian athlete?
Uchiha Izuna (Regular Viewer): A man in skintight cloth... is he unaware of the... prominent display?
Hashirama Senju: By the Sage... that's a... substantial... package.
Hyuga Hizashi (VIP1): The... vigor of a taijutsu specialist, I suppose.
Kushina Uzumaki (VIP1): It's embarrassing... but I can't look away...
Uchiha Mikoto (VIP2): M-me neither. I feel... flushed.
Minato Namikaze: ...
Uchiha Fugaku (VIP1): ...
Third Raikage (VIP2): Konoha produces... diverse talents.
Yagura Karatachi (VIP2): I... envy the proportions.
Tobirama Senju's eyes, against his will, were momentarily drawn downward. His expression remained stoic, but internally he was recalibrating. Damn. The man is... gifted.
"Lord Second Hokage! I'm coming!" Might Dai called out, bowing formally despite the casual setting. The politeness of a lifetime genin.
Tobirama waved a dismissive hand. "Since you're a Konoha junior, I'll grant you the first move. Don't disappoint."
"Thank you for your generosity!"
Might Dai's posture shifted. The genial, slightly foolish expression vanished, replaced by a focused intensity. His chakra, previously muted, ignited.
He shot forward. Not with the graceful shunshin of a sensor-nin, but with raw, explosive speed that tore a furrow in the grass. A green blur.
Only taijutsu? As expected of a career genin, Tobirama thought, already forming the first seal for a binding water technique.
Then the world turned red.
BOOM.
Crimson steam erupted from Might Dai's body, not like a fire, but like a volcano breaking the ocean's surface. The sheer, oppressive pressure of it staggered Tobirama's spectral form. The grass around Dai wilted and blackened in an instant.
"Hachimon Tonkō! Kai!"
"—Yagai!"
The roar wasn't just sound; it was a physical force. A monstrous, crimson skull of chakra solidified around Might Dai, its maw gaping, eyes burning with annihilating intent.
Tobirama Senju's eyes widened, his hands freezing mid-seal. The analytical part of his mind, even in shock, screamed the identification: The Eight Gates Released Formation. The final gate. The Gate of Death. This... this is a suicide technique that trades life for power beyond kage-level.
The crimson beast didn't charge. It appeared before Tobirama, having crossed the distance in a time frame that defied perception.
All Tobirama had time for was one last, incredulous thought.
Why didn't you LEAD WITH THAT?!
CRUNCH.
The arena visuals dissolved into static for a heartbeat, then resolved.
Tobirama Senju stood at the edge of the grassy plain, his form flickering, translucent. He looked down at his own chest, where a massive, spectral wound pulsed with fading red light. He hadn't even had time for a substitution.
Might Dai stood in the center of a crater twenty meters wide, the crimson steam around him dissipating. He looked at his own hands, then at Tobirama, his expression one of profound apology. "I... I'm sorry, Lord Second! Was that too much?!"
[Arena Notification: Combat Concluded]
[Victor: Might Dai]
[Time: 1.2 seconds]
[Spectator Points Generated: 200]
The stream was dead silent.
Then it exploded.
Uchiha Madara: ...I retract my earlier statement about attire.
Hashirama Senju: ...Tobirama?
Minato Namikaze: ...What just happened?
Uchiha Izuna: He one-shotted the Second Hokage. A genin.
Third Raikage: That power... it rivals, perhaps surpasses, my Lightning Release Armor at full charge. From a genin.
Ren Arakawa (subvocalizing): Coughs. Pay up, Lord Second. One A-rank Water Release technique, freely given. And Uncle Dai? Well done. Your son will be proud.
Tobirama Senju's flickering form stabilized. He wasn't injured—death prevented that—but his pride was in tatters. He stared at the bowing, apologetic Might Dai, then at the notification in the stream.
Tobirama Senju: ...The Eight Gates. A kinjutsu of the most extreme kind. You opened the final gate. You sacrificed your afterlife's stability for that strike.
Might Dai: Scratches his head sheepishly. Well, you said not to hold back! And Ren-kun said it was for my son!
Tobirama Senju: A long, long sigh. I have been... thoroughly educated. The bet stands. The technique will be transferred. And... you have my respect, Might Dai. A shinobi's worth is not in his rank, but in the fire he holds within.
He turned his gaze to Ren.
Tobirama Senju: You knew.
Ren Arakawa: I know many things. The power of youth should never be underestimated.
In the living world, leaning against a pleasantly warm Uzuki Yugao, Ren smiled. The shock value alone was worth it. But more importantly, he'd just demonstrated to every powerful ghost watching that the world still held hidden monsters, and that he, Ren Arakawa, knew where they were buried.
And now, he thought, watching a payment notification for [Water Release: Water Formation Wall - A-rank] appear in his system, I have another tool. And the dead have a new, healthy fear of the unexpected.
The game, as always, continued.