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Two days later.
Goku, Kakashi, and the three members of Team 7 stood at the entrance of Tazuna's house, bidding farewell to Tazuna's family, Zabuza, and Haku.
"Mr Goku, thank you so very much!" Tazuna said, tightly gripping Goku's hands, his gratitude overflowing.
After learning that Gato possessed a great fortune, Goku had thoughtfully bestowed upon the impoverished Tazuna family a windfall that would make anyone green with envy.
This windfall was Gato's entire fortune! When Tazuna found out, he nearly fell to his knees in front of Goku.
Fortunately, he was rational enough to know that this wealth was a hot potato.
If his family were to accept it all truly, their graves would probably be a meter tall by the next year.
Thus, he only accepted a very small portion of the assets, and yet, even that small amount was enough to ensure his family wouldn't have to worry about money for the next ten years.
"Mr Goku, I am also very grateful to you, and to the old master I have never met," Haku said, stepping forward and bowing to Goku.
Goku's retelling of Master Roshi's words had rekindled the will to live in his heart, which had been on the verge of extinguishing.
He suddenly felt that perhaps one didn't need a grand purpose to live; it was enough to enjoy everything life had to offer and be happy.
Of course, he still couldn't let go of Zabuza. That was why he had invited Zabuza to live the kind of life Master Roshi had described with him.
Luckily, after a long period of hesitation, Zabuza had agreed.
According to him, he had been feeling a bit tired lately and wanted a change of pace; it absolutely had nothing to do with wanting to live that kind of life with Haku.
"You're all being too kind, haha," Goku said with a simple-minded laugh, rubbing his head.
"It's about time we get going," Kakashi said to Goku, glancing at the sun.
At Naruto's invitation, Goku had decided to travel with them to the village of Konoha.
Although allowing such a powerful outsider into the town carried a certain risk, after spending the past few days with him, Kakashi believed that Goku would not bring any danger to Konoha.
He therefore tacitly approved of Naruto's invitation and even decided to vouch for Goku upon their arrival personally.
"Alright, let's go then!" Goku waved goodbye to Tazuna and the others and set off on the road to Konoha with Kakashi and his team.
--Meanwhile, in a field not far from Tazuna's house--
"Hurry up and work! Why are you dawdling!"
"If you don't finish reaping this wheat field by noon, you can forget about eating today!"
Several large, burly villagers surrounded Gato, yelling angrily at him.
Gato was drenched in sweat and looked utterly miserable. His once-pristine suit was covered in mud, and his sunglasses were nowhere to be found.
He looked at the seemingly endless wheat field and wailed internally, 'When is this ever going to end!!'
....
On the road, Sasuke glanced at Goku, then at Naruto.
He then spoke up suddenly. "Hey, Naruto. You've been sneaking off to train with Goku these past two days, haven't you?"
Although Naruto hadn't uttered a single word about training in front of him, his keen powers of observation had allowed him to pick up on a few clues.
For example, every time Naruto returned after going out with Goku, he would be filthy and reek of sweat, a common sign of training.
Not only that, but when Naruto picked up his bowl and chopsticks to eat, his hands would often tremble slightly, indicating that his arms were overexerted to the point where he couldn't hold things steady, another likely result of training.
Furthermore, the fact that Kakashi had only taught him and Sakura the tree-climbing exercise and hadn't included Naruto was also very telling.
Naruto had been walking ahead excitedly, happily thinking about what flavour of Ichiraku Ramen he would eat when he got back to the village.
When he heard Sasuke suddenly expose his secret, he stumbled.
"H-how did you know?!" He spun around and pointed at Sasuke in disbelief.
Then, as if he had realised something, he turned to Kakashi with a huff, an angry look on his face. "Kakashi-sensei, you promised you'd help me keep it a secret!"
He was sure he had kept his secret well. Goku was with him most of the time and had little opportunity to say anything.
That only left Kakashi, who spent most of his time with Sasuke and Sakura, and Kakashi had promised he wouldn't tell!
Hearing Naruto's accusation, Kakashi's mouth twitched. He felt completely innocent. "Naruto, I didn't say a thing," he said, holding up his hands in a gesture of innocence.
Hearing Kakashi's denial, Naruto was confused. If Kakashi-sensei hadn't spilt the beans, how did Sasuke know?
"Idiot." Seeing his expression, Sasuke couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Just as Naruto was about to fly into a rage at the insult, he asked, "What are you training with Goku?"
"Stupid Sasuke! I'm not telling you!" Naruto refused to answer without a second thought. But he never expected someone else to answer for him.
"Naruto is training in ki with me," Goku, who had been watching the show from the back, suddenly chimed in.
"Ki? What's that?" Although he had an answer, Sasuke was completely lost. He racked his brain, trying to remember everything he had ever learned, but he was sure he had never heard of it.
"Allow me to explain. Ki is..." Kakashi, sensing his moment to shine, cut in before Goku could speak.
He knew that if Goku explained it, Sasuke would end up just like he had, thinking ki was the same as chakra.
By demonstrating it himself, he could avoid that misunderstanding.
As Kakashi explained, Sasuke's eyes lit up.
Over the past few days, he had felt his own weakness more acutely and had been searching for a way to become stronger and faster.
This 'ki,' which he was hearing about for the first time, seemed like a clear path to improving his strength.
What's more, Goku was a powerful master who could defeat Zabuza with a single punch. Training under him would surely lead to great improvement.
At this thought, he didn't hesitate. "Goku, I want to become stronger. I want to learn ki. Will you teach me?"
Nearby, having accepted the fact that his secret was out, Naruto was squatting in a corner, sulking.
But upon hearing Sasuke's request, he found himself surprisingly hoping that Goku would agree.
Perhaps it was because he knew what kind of burden his teammate carried.
'Hmph, stupid Sasuke, even if you join, I'm still not going to lose to you!' he thought to himself.
Goku looked at Sasuke for a moment, then nodded. "Of course."
He could sense that Sasuke also possessed great potential. Furthermore, he could see a strong desire to become stronger in his eyes.
For others, these two points might be very important. But to him, they didn't really matter.
As long as someone sincerely asked him to teach them, he would do so generously.
Kakashi, hearing their exchange, suddenly felt a bit lost.
He was supposed to be their teacher, so why were his students all going to someone else for instruction? Didn't he have any face to save as their teacher?
It wasn't until he saw the ever-silent Sakura that he felt a small sense of comfort. Sakura was still a good student; she knew how to look out for his feelings.
But just then, Sakura also spoke up. "Goku-sensei, I would also like to train in ki with you."
(T/N: Please give me some power stone, I hope it can at least reach the top 100)
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