Ao stood frozen, his mouth opening and closing without sound. Finally, he managed: "Terumi Mei-sama, I... that is..."
She's really not ashamed at all, he thought desperately. She's in her thirties and he's barely a teenager and she's just... just...
He couldn't even finish the thought. Some things were too uncomfortable to articulate, even mentally.
At least you have experience on your side, Ao told himself, trying to find some silver lining to this increasingly awkward situation. You know how to... adjust positions... and...
No. No, he was not going down that mental path. Absolutely not.
"Terumi Mei-sama," he said firmly, forcing his mind back to safer territory. "Our most important priority right now is saving Kirigakure. We cannot allow another tragedy like the Blood Mist era to continue. Everything else must be secondary to that goal."
Terumi Mei's expression shifted, the playfulness fading into something more serious and determined. "You're right, Ao. I understand completely."
The relief that flooded through Ao was almost physical. Terumi Mei-sama was sophisticated enough, experienced enough, to maintain proper priorities. She wouldn't lose sight of the mission for personal distractions.
"Thank you, Terumi Mei-sama," he said, bowing slightly. "If you'll excuse me, I have preparations to complete. There are still several intelligence reports to review before the operation begins."
"Of course. One week from now, we move." Her voice carried absolute certainty.
"Understood, Terumi Mei-sama." Knowing the exact timeline made Ao's heart race with anticipation. One week. In just one week, Kirigakure will finally be free of Yagura's tyranny.
He departed quickly, his mind already shifting to the tactical considerations ahead.
After Ao left, Terumi Mei returned inside and knelt on the tatami mat. The moment she was alone, her composure cracked. Her face flushed deep red as she remembered the past two hours, and her throat throbbed with renewed discomfort.
"That was..." She touched her neck gently, wincing. "That was a lot."
The technique had been intense. Extremely intense. And while she'd been willing to endure the training, the duration had been... excessive.
Two full hours, she thought, equal parts impressed and exhausted. I don't think my throat has ever worked that hard.
Still, she'd learned so much about vibration techniques. The way the energy moved through the body, the frequency variations, the intensity control. It would take time to master, but she could feel the potential.
"Worth it," she murmured to herself. "Definitely worth it."
If Naruto could have heard her assessment, he would have immediately disagreed. Sister, you received excellent training, but I lost hundreds of millions in opportunity cost! Two cows can't make up for that kind of time expenditure!
Back in Konoha, Naruto headed straight for the bath. The hot water felt good, washing away the awkwardness of the afternoon. He soaked for twenty minutes, letting his mind clear, then dressed and emerged ready to train.
The sun still hung several hours above the horizon. Plenty of time before the planned hot spring outing with his friends.
He found Sasuke already on the lawn outside their house, practicing his Fire Style forms. The Uchiha moved through kata with precision, chakra gathering and dispersing in controlled bursts.
Sasuke noticed Naruto immediately and stopped mid-form. "You're back? I thought you'd be at the waterfall training. That's where you usually go."
It was true. Naruto's regular practice sessions at the waterfall were predictable, mostly because training anywhere near the farm tended to disturb the animals and workers with the sheer force involved.
"I'm working on something different today," Naruto said, settling cross-legged on the grass. "The Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu (Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu)."
Sasuke's eyes widened. "You're practicing ninjutsu? Since when do you care about ninjutsu? You've always said it was inefficient compared to your physical training."
"Yeah, well..." Naruto pulled out a scroll, deliberately not meeting Sasuke's eyes. "Sometimes circumstances require adaptation."
"What circumstances? What changed?"
"Don't you have your own training to do?" Naruto shot back, irritation creeping into his voice. "Why are you so full of questions today? Did you eat too much for lunch or something?"
Sasuke scowled at the deflection but recognized when Naruto was being deliberately evasive. Whatever the reason for this sudden interest in ninjutsu, Naruto didn't want to share it.
Probably something to do with making friends with the entire village, Sasuke thought. He's going to need a lot of bodies for that.
He returned to his own practice, but kept one ear on what Naruto was doing.
Naruto unrolled the scroll containing the Multiple Shadow Clone technique's formula and theory. The standard version was designed for conventional ninja who relied primarily on chakra. But Naruto's strength came from ki and blood, from his Iron Body conditioning, from physical power that had nothing to do with spiritual or mental energy.
The technique needs modification, he thought, studying the seal work. I can't just use it as-is. The chakra distribution assumes the user has large reserves but normal physical density. My body is too condensed, too powerful. The standard formula either produces perfect copies of my full strength, which defeats the purpose, or fails to manifest at all.
He needed clones that were weaker than his true form but still functional. Maybe one-third of his actual physical capabilities. That would still put each clone far above chunin level, more than strong enough to handle anything in the village, but wouldn't drain him completely to maintain thousands simultaneously.
Let's see...
Naruto closed his eyes and began refining chakra, feeling the spiritual and physical energies merge within his core. It was slow, inefficient work compared to his normal ki circulation. Like trying to use chopsticks with his feet instead of his hands.
But he persisted, gathering just enough chakra to test the technique while simultaneously working through the seal modifications in his mind.
The battle with Orochimaru had taught him something important. When he'd fully unleashed his Iron Body transformation, fought at his absolute peak, something had shifted in his perception. The world had become clearer, more vivid. He could sense the ki in the environment more precisely now, feel the flows of energy around him with enhanced clarity.
His five senses had sharpened. His mind worked faster. His spirit felt more unified with his body.
I'm close, he realized. Maybe within a week, I'll achieve the unity of spirit, energy, and body. When that happens, everything changes.
Once he reached that milestone, he could finally confront Hiruzen properly. Demand real answers about the Uchiha massacre, about his parents' legacy, about all the lies and manipulations.
But first, he needed to be able to make friends with every single villager in Konoha simultaneously.
After ten minutes of focused work, Naruto's eyes snapped open.
"Finally," he muttered. "Modified it to fit my physical condition. I have to say, improving ninjutsu is really annoying. That took a whole ten minutes."
The small amount of chakra he'd refined sat ready in his core, waiting to be shaped.
Time to test it.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu," Naruto said quietly.
No hand seals. In Naruto's opinion, only weak ninja needed to rely on hand seals for technique activation. True masters could manifest jutsu through will and energy control alone.
The technique activated.
One Naruto appeared beside him. Then another. Then ten more. Then a hundred.
Sasuke, who'd been practicing his shuriken throwing, suddenly found himself surrounded. Naruto clones materialized in every direction, filling the yard, spreading across the lawn, multiplying at exponential rates.
"What the..." Sasuke spun in place, watching in growing horror as the clones kept coming. "Naruto, what are you doing?!"
The clones spread beyond the yard. They filled the pastures where the sheep grazed, appearing between startled animals. They manifested in the pigsty, crowding around Haku who'd been singing lullabies. They popped into existence in the cattle pens, where Shikamaru had been evaluating breeding stock.
Within seconds, the entire back mountain was packed with Naruto clones. Each one had a slightly different expression, slight variations in posture. Some looked curious, others annoyed at being summoned, a few seemed confused about their purpose.
The sheep stood frozen, afraid to move with so many massive humans suddenly occupying their space. Haku found himself pressed on all sides by grinning Narutos. Shikamaru, who'd been carrying a bucket of feed, was surrounded so completely he couldn't turn around.
Zabuza, doing his assigned manure processing work, suddenly found himself drowning in a sea of blonde-haired boys. "What is happening?!" he shouted, but his voice was lost in the crowd.
Even Sasuke, in the middle of the original yard, was compressed by bodies on all sides. He could barely breathe, let alone move.
The clones kept coming. One kilometer radius, every square meter packed with Naruto clones, each one possessing strength well above chunin level.
Finally, the last clone appeared.
Naruto surveyed his work and frowned. "I only refined a tiny amount of chakra, just the bare minimum, and I still got over twenty thousand shadow clones before running out. The chakra exhausted completely."
He shook his head in disappointment. "I guess I'm really not suited for the ninjutsu path. My body just doesn't work that way."
Somewhere in the crowd of clones, Sasuke heard those words and felt his eye twitch violently.
A TINY AMOUNT? TWENTY THOUSAND CLONES FROM A TINY AMOUNT?
If you're not suited for ninjutsu, what does that make the rest of us? Should we just give up and become farmers?!
The despair was real and crushing.
"Still," Naruto continued, apparently talking to himself, "twenty thousand should be more than enough for what I need. Any more would just waste time managing them all."
He released the technique.
POOF!
Twenty thousand Narutos vanished simultaneously in massive clouds of white smoke that rolled across the entire mountain.
When the air cleared, Haku, Zabuza, Shikamaru, and Sasuke all stood gasping for air, finally able to breathe properly again.
The sheep immediately bolted in different directions, traumatized by the experience. The pigs huddled together nervously in their pen. Even the cattle looked disturbed.
"Right," Naruto said cheerfully, completely oblivious to the chaos he'd just caused. "Sasuke, keep practicing! I'm going to the waterfall now. Don't slack off!"
He vanished in a flicker of movement before Sasuke could form a response.
Sasuke stood alone in the yard, staring at the space where Naruto had been.
Is there even a point to practicing anymore? he thought bleakly. This is the sorrow of living in the same era as a monster.
He looked down at his hands, at the Sharingan he'd worked so hard to master, at all the techniques he'd learned from Itachi and Naruto's father.
Then he remembered that Naruto had called twenty thousand clones "not suited for ninjutsu."
I need to lie down, Sasuke decided. Maybe take a nap. Pretend this didn't happen.
Time passed quickly during training. Before Naruto realized it, the sun was setting, painting the sky in oranges and purples.
The hot spring gathering, he remembered. Right, we're all meeting at the hotel tonight.
He returned to the house to find Sasuke and Kurama already packing supplies for the trip. The fox was wearing his black vest over the white lace dress, looking ridiculously dignified despite the outfit.
"Kurama, did you pack my things?" Naruto asked.
"All done," Kurama replied, his tails swishing with obvious excitement. A trip to a hot spring hotel meant new cuisine to observe, new cooking techniques to analyze, possibly new recipes to add to his collection.
Zabuza, Haku, and Shikamaru arrived at the house shortly after, all three looking ready to depart. They'd been invited to join the group outing as part of Naruto's extended friend circle.
"I'm going to pick up Hinata first," Naruto announced. "You guys head to the hotel. We'll meet you there."
"Understood," Shikamaru said, already calculating the most efficient route to minimize walking. "See you soon."
Naruto grabbed his pack and vanished in a burst of speed, heading toward the Hyūga compound.
The hot spring gathering was about to begin.