Ao and Chojuro looked at Naruto with genuine warmth. The offer of friendship, coming from someone willing to help overthrow Yagura's regime, was no small thing.
"I would be honored to be Naruto's friend," Ao said with a slight bow.
Chojuro nodded enthusiastically, his nervous energy translating into rapid agreement. "Me too! I want to be friends with Naruto!"
What mattered most to Chojuro was Terumi Mei's wellbeing and the village's future. If Terumi Mei-sama wanted him to befriend Naruto, then befriending Naruto was what he'd do.
"Great!" Naruto's face lit up. "So which one of you wants to go first?"
Both men blinked, confusion replacing their previous confidence.
"Go first?" Ao asked carefully. "Naruto, don't friendships just... happen? Can't we all become friends together, right now?"
Naruto shook his head, his expression taking on that particular seriousness that people who knew him had learned to recognize as a warning sign. "Before I can truly be someone's friend, we need to have a friendly spar first. A proper exchange. That way I can see your sincerity."
"Ah, I understand." Ao nodded thoughtfully, his mind immediately connecting this to ninja customs he was familiar with. "Some warriors do require a test of strength before acknowledging bonds. It makes sense." He glanced at Chojuro. "We won't take advantage by coming at you together, Naruto-kun. One at a time is only fair."
"I'll go first!" Chojuro stepped forward immediately, already reaching for the massive weapon strapped to his back.
And so, in Terumi Mei's yard, Naruto's friendship process began.
Chojuro was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, or would be formally once Yagura was overthrown. His weapon marked him as special even among that legendary group.
The Hiramekarei.
The blade was enormous, formed from two symmetrical halves that could separate or join together. It was the largest of the seven legendary swords, and correspondingly heavy. But its true power came from its ability to absorb and channel chakra, transforming that energy into devastating ranged attacks.
Chojuro took his stance, the massive sword held with surprising ease despite his slight frame. He bowed formally to Naruto. I'm about to attack.
Naruto nodded his acknowledgment.
Chojuro's chakra flooded into the Hiramekarei, and the blade began to glow with blue-white light. The weapon expanded, growing even larger as it absorbed more and more energy.
"Hiramekarei: Liberation! (Hiramekarei Kaihō!)"
Chakra coalesced at the blade's edge, forming a sphere of compressed energy that grew rapidly in size. The light was almost blinding, crackling with barely contained power. When it reached critical mass, Chojuro swung the sword with all his strength.
The chakra sphere launched forward like a small sun, tearing through the air toward Naruto with terrifying speed. The attack had enough power to level a building, maybe several buildings.
Naruto took one heavy step forward.
The impact of his foot hitting earth sent wind billowing outward in a circular wave. Grass flattened, dust kicked up, and Terumi Mei had to shield her eyes against the sudden gust.
The chakra sphere closed the distance in an instant.
Naruto punched it.
One fist. No technique. No chakra enhancement. Just a straight punch meeting the attack head-on.
The sphere of destructive energy simply... ceased to exist. No explosion, no dispersal, no residual effect. It was there one moment and gone the next, annihilated by pure physical force.
"That's impossible," Ao breathed, his visible eye wide with shock.
The last time Naruto had fought Terumi Mei, Ao hadn't been able to see the specifics because of the Hidden Mist Technique (Kirigakure no Jutsu). But now, watching Naruto erase a high-level chakra attack with a casual punch, the sheer power on display was staggering.
This is the man Terumi Mei-sama has taken an interest in, Ao thought, a new understanding settling over him. His strength is beyond anything I expected.
Naruto didn't pause to admire his work. The moment the sphere was gone, he closed the distance to Chojuro in a blur of movement, his fist already cocked back for a follow-up strike.
Chojuro's eyes went wide. So fast!
Survival instincts kicked in. He brought the Hiramekarei up in a desperate block, the flat of the blade positioned to intercept Naruto's fist.
Naruto saw the legendary sword moving to defend and adjusted instantly. He couldn't destroy one of the Seven Swords; that would be an international incident, and more importantly, it would devastate Chojuro emotionally.
His fist opened, fingers extending. Instead of punching the blade, he flicked it.
One finger. The index finger of his right hand, striking the Hiramekarei with a casual snap.
CLANG!
The sound was like a bell being struck by a hammer. Force transmitted through the blade and into Chojuro's hands, rattling through his bones. His grip failed, fingers going numb, and the massive sword tumbled from his grasp to embed itself in the ground.
Both of Chojuro's shoulders dislocated simultaneously from the transmitted impact. He flew backward, his arms hanging at unnatural angles, and hit the ground hard.
Before he could even process what had happened, Naruto was there.
Two fists, each the size of a small cooking pot, began their methodical work.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Ao had started to move forward, thinking the exchange was over. His mouth was already opening to announce that it was his turn now.
Then he heard the impacts.
He froze mid-step, cold sweat breaking out across his forehead.
Oh. Oh no.
The beating continued for exactly ten minutes.
When it finally stopped, Naruto helped Chojuro to his feet with genuine care and enthusiasm. "Good match, Chojuro-san! Your sword technique is really impressive!"
Chojuro stood there swaying, his face transformed into something his own mother wouldn't recognize. Both eyes were swollen shut. His nose had been flattened. His lips were split in three places. His jaw sat at a slightly wrong angle.
Even Terumi Mei, who'd witnessed Naruto's "process" before, couldn't help but wince.
Naruto turned to Ao with a bright smile. "Ao-san, now it's your turn!"
Ao's eyelid twitched.
Every instinct screamed at him to refuse, to make an excuse, to run if necessary. But the rational part of his mind, the part that had survived decades as a jonin through careful political calculation, overrode the panic.
If I refuse, if I offend him, he might withdraw his support. Terumi Mei-sama needs his strength for the coup. The entire rebellion depends on this alliance.
Everything for Kirigakure, he told himself firmly. I've sacrificed more for the village before. I can endure this.
"Alright, Naruto-kun," Ao said, his voice admirably steady. "Let's begin."
He reached up and removed the eyepatch covering his right eye socket.
Beneath it sat a Byakugan, the distinctive white pupil with no iris standing out starkly against his weathered face. A war trophy from the Third Shinobi World War, taken from a Hyūga clan member during a particularly brutal engagement.
The Byakugan provided a nearly 360-degree field of vision, could see chakra flowing through the environment, offered telescopic sight that could observe targets kilometers away, and possessed X-ray vision that penetrated solid objects. Most importantly, it could see an opponent's tenketsu points and chakra pathway system.
With this eye, Ao had turned the tide of countless battles.
He drew his sword, chakra already flowing through the blade to activate its cutting edge. His Byakugan focused intently on Naruto, ready to track any chakra fluctuation, any technique activation, any weakness in the boy's defense.
I'll see his chakra network. Identify vulnerable points. Maybe even disrupt his flow with a well-placed strike.
Naruto moved.
"What?" Ao's Byakugan activated fully, veins bulging around the transplanted eye as he poured chakra into maximizing its abilities. "Where did he go? My Byakugan can't see anything!"
Naruto had simply vanished from his enhanced vision. No chakra signature, no physical form, nothing.
"How is there no chakra fluctuation at all?"
If Naruto had used a technique, even the Body Flicker, there would be residual chakra for the Byakugan to track. But there was nothing, as if Naruto had ceased to exist entirely.
"Ao-san, I'm right here."
Ao's blood ran cold. The voice came from directly in front of him, close enough that he could feel body heat radiating from the source.
He forced his Byakugan to focus on that point, channeling even more chakra into the dojutsu.
What he saw made his heart sink.
Naruto's body was there, yes, but it was... wrong. The entire form glowed with an intensity that had nothing to do with chakra. Ao's Byakugan, designed to perceive and analyze chakra systems, simply couldn't process what it was seeing. The overwhelming presence of ki and blood energy created a white-out effect, like staring directly into the sun.
My Byakugan is useless, Ao realized with growing horror. I can't see his chakra system because he doesn't primarily use chakra. I can't predict his movements. I can't identify weaknesses.
Against this boy, I'm just an ordinary jonin without his greatest advantage.
The fight was over before it began.
Ten minutes later, Ao also sported a face that would require significant medical ninjutsu to fix properly.
Naruto, having successfully made two new friends in Kirigakure, was beaming. "That was great! I'm really glad we could establish such solid friendships!"
"Ao-san, Chojuro-san, Mei-san," Naruto said, bowing politely to all three. "I should head back to Konoha now. I've got other things I need to take care of."
"Of course," Terumi Mei said, her voice still noticeably hoarse. "But Naruto-kun, don't forget. Next time you visit, please bring that throat medicine you mentioned. Your sister would really appreciate it."
Naruto's face flushed slightly. "Right. Yes. I'll... I'll remember that."
He vanished in a flicker, leaving the three Kirigakure ninja alone in the yard.
Ao touched his swollen face gingerly, then looked at Chojuro. "Don't you have some unfinished duties to attend to?"
Chojuro felt his own face, wincing at every point of contact. "Oh, right. Yes. I should get back to work." He bowed carefully to Terumi Mei, the movement making his dislocated shoulders scream in protest. "Thank you for this opportunity, Terumi Mei-sama."
After Chojuro limped away, Ao remained, studying his commander with his one visible eye. The Byakugan was safely covered again, but he didn't need enhanced vision to read the situation.
He sighed deeply. "Terumi Mei-sama, I think Naruto-kun is too young."
The words hung in the air, carefully neutral but carrying clear implications.
Terumi Mei's eyes narrowed dangerously. She knew exactly what Ao was suggesting, and there was no way she was confirming anything.
"Is he?" she asked, her voice deceptively light. A challenge and a warning wrapped in two syllables.
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