Chapter 172 So, what am I regretting? (Ch 172)

Glancing at the clock, Kakashi pushed the wheelchair to the side of the bed.

“Let’s go, didn’t we agree that we would go see our father together today?”

Naraku did not insist on walking there by himself like before, because Kakashi would definitely not agree, so he simply gave up.

Sitting in the wheelchair, he asked the father and son, “Senior Dai and Kai are coming too?”

Might Dai nodded: “Alright! I want to talk to Sakumo in detail about the Way of Youthful Ninja! It’s such a pity that I didn’t have time to talk too much last time…!”

The four of them came to Sakumo’s single room upstairs. When Naraku walked in and saw the person, his eyes couldn’t help but turn red. He blinked twice to hold back the tears.

He might have missed Sakumo a little too much.

Kakashi was busy changing his father’s clothes and bed sheets, and cleaning his hands and feet.

Might Dai continued what he had been interrupted from the last time he was talking about his ninja way, but this time he spoke in a lower voice so as not to attract the nurse to chase him away.

Naraku stood up from the wheelchair and used medical ninjutsu to carefully examine his master’s brain to see if there were any changes compared to before.

Sadly, it’s still the same as before, no improvement.

Naraku withdrew his disappointed look, silently pulled up Sakumo’s arm and massaged it, while using medical ninjutsu to warm the muscles to prevent them from atrophy due to lying down for too long.

At this time, Might Guy noticed that Naraku was not as familiar with physical training as himself, so he came over and held Sakumo’s arm, kneading certain parts of it while speaking.

“Naraku, look here, here, and here too.”

“My father once taught me that these positions are very important. Massage can relieve fatigue, and long-term persistence can also promote muscle growth and blood circulation.”

“In this way, with the help of medical ninjutsu, Uncle Sakumo can maintain a certain amount of muscle mass even if he doesn’t exercise for a long time.”

Naraku sighed that there must be a teacher among three people.

They are indeed a father and son who have mastered physical skills to perfection.

Over time, they have acquired a profound knowledge base in physical training that is unmatched by others, and their familiarity with the human body is higher than that of ordinary medical ninjas.

For example, the little tips just mentioned are not in the books at all.

He quickly imitated Might Guy’s previous movements and said, “Is that so?”

“Right, right!” Kai gave a thumbs up, his white teeth gleaming, “Naraku! You really are the genius that dad always talks about! I’m excited!”

“Ah?” Naraku’s eyes narrowed, wondering what was so exciting about this.

“Look, I’m going to teach you all my knowledge now!!”

“good!”

–No matter why, I must take out all the things that Kaihui has today!

Fighting spirit burst out from Naraku’s eyes.

Kakashi was speechless, looking at Naraku who was inexplicably infected by Gai, and the two of them were busy teaching and learning. There was also Might Dai who was so moved that he burst into tears and shouted “This is youth”. He felt that he was suddenly the only normal person left in the room.

–but……

–It’s been a long time since my father’s side has been so lively.

He smiled relaxedly, and for the first time felt that there was still hope that his father would wake up.

Soon, Matt Dai, who was talking too loudly, was politely asked to leave by the nurse. The three children were busy for more than an hour.

Only after he had emptied Gai’s meager stock did Naraku wipe the sweat from his face contentedly, then fell back into the wheelchair, panting.

Kakashi asked worriedly, “Are you okay?”

Naraku’s health was not good to begin with. Not only had he studied with Kai for such a long time, but he also used medical ninjutsu to help his father maintain his muscles throughout his body. What should he do if his condition became more serious?

On the way, he looked at the sweat on Naraku’s forehead and wanted to say several times that he would continue learning next time, but the other party’s serious expression always stopped him from saying it.

“I’m fine, Kakashi. I’ll be fine after some sleep.”

Naraku then held Kai’s bandaged hands and thanked him solemnly: “Thank you, Kai, for allowing me to learn so much.”

Kai put his hands on his hips and smiled so hard that his teeth were showing: “Companions should help each other! Don’t be polite to me!”

Looking at the other person’s very familiar smile, Naraku couldn’t help but feel a little dazed.

In the original timeline, it was only Gai who stayed with Kakashi until the end, so now, can the relationship between the two of them be better?

If “Uchiha Naraku” had to disappear later, Kakashi would feel much better with his friends by his side, right?

–Yes, even without me…

–Kakashi also needs to be happy all the time.

Naraku lowered his head, his eyes dark and unclear.

“What’s wrong, Naraku?” Kakashi bent down to look at his face, “Are you really tired?”

“It seems a little bit.”

Naraku and Kakashi looked at each other. There was no expression on their faces, but their minds were still full of thoughts.

–What’s wrong with me?

–Am I… regretting it?

–What do you regret?

After the Matsukata mission, Naraku realized that he was in too deep and could not let Sakumo and Kakashi go on their original paths, so he wanted to try to change his fate.

So, you regret not being able to save Sakumo?

Even though I tried my best and sacrificed many years of my own life to only barely save half of Sakumo’s life, at least he can wake up in the future, right?

He will not let Sakumo become weak because of this. When he wakes up one day, Sakumo will definitely be stronger than before.

So, you regret not being able to protect Kakashi?

When Black Zetsu wanted to force him to use his Mangekyō and chose to attack Kakashi, he was indeed furious and wanted to chop the black mud into pieces and feed it to the dogs immediately;

But in order to protect Kakashi from being assassinated again, he has let the other party get what they wanted. He also used himself as bait and his dual personality to gain the trust of Black Zetsu and Madara. Is Kakashi safe now?

Even if he has to leave Konoha and act as Jin in the future, he can still ensure to the greatest extent that Kakashi will not be harmed by the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan.

–So, what do I regret?

The wheels of the wheelchair rolled down the corridor, making a low, subtle friction sound.

Naraku looked up at Kakashi, who was pushing a wheelchair behind him with a calm expression, and suddenly remembered the call he heard late that night.

An extremely small shout that seemed to be far away in the sky, so faint that it seemed like tinnitus.

But he knew – as if by some telepathy – it was Kakashi calling him.

His body reacted faster than his mind and wanted to hold the other person’s outstretched hand.

Later, Kakashi appeared in front of him in a dishevel, kneeling on the ground and whimpering, looking extremely pitiful.

At that moment, even the pain of being burned by fire or chopped by an axe or knife in the body could not compare to the pain of having a place in the heart tightened by an invisible big hand, squeezing out the painful and sore suffering.

So he couldn’t control himself and stretched out his fingers to touch the back of the other person’s hand which was covered with dirt and black dust.

Despite the torment that comes with speaking out every time, I still have to say a few words to comfort the other person.

“Ka… Cassi…”

【Kakashi.】

“It’s okay… don’t be sad…”

[I’m back, don’t cry. ]

Since then, every time Naraku saw Kakashi’s tears, he became more and more unbearable, and even wanted to break his current setting and smile at the other party, saying that everything was fine.

He didn’t want to see Kakashi cry, didn’t want to see Kakashi so sad, didn’t want Kakashi to feel pain because of his leaving.

He wanted Kakashi to be happy, to be joyful, and to have the best things in the world – because Kakashi deserved the best things in the world.

–So, what am I regretting?

Naraku asked himself this question, and then found that drops of water were falling on his palms one after another.

–Oh, I see.

He pursed his trembling lips, knowing the answer to this question.

–I regret that I only figured it out after I decided to leave.

–It turns out I was so afraid of leaving Kakashi alone.