"It's true."
Looking at Terumi Mei's disbelieving expression, Naruto nodded seriously. He never lied. Besides, Terumi Mei was his partner in the upcoming Kirigakure coup. He definitely wouldn't deceive her.
"Really?" Terumi Mei remained clouded by her desires, still looking suspicious.
"Sister Mei, let me demonstrate for you. See if you can sense any chakra fluctuations from it." Naruto felt the only way to dispel her doubts was to actually perform the vibration technique so she could observe directly.
After speaking, under Terumi Mei's expectant gaze, Naruto extended his hand. Three fingers bent, his ring finger and middle finger standing upright. "Sister Mei, watch carefully."
Terumi Mei immediately stared at Naruto's fingers without moving her eyes.
She saw Naruto's two fingers suddenly vibrate rapidly at high frequency, but she felt no chakra fluctuations whatsoever.
It seemed Naruto hadn't deceived her after all.
In that case, there was only one option.
She had to learn directly from Naruto.
To let Terumi Mei see his fingers' vibration frequency more clearly, Naruto employed the lowest setting. He also used this lowest gear when fighting others.
He'd divided this frequency range into three levels:
First gear: Penetration.
Second gear: Disruption.
Third gear: Obliteration.
Glancing over and seeing no more doubt on Terumi Mei's face, Naruto extended his finger forward, inserting it into a nearby tree trunk. A buzzing sound filled the air, sawdust flying everywhere.
Naruto withdrew his finger. A hole two fingers wide now pierced the tree trunk.
Looking at the hole in the tree trunk, Terumi Mei couldn't help swallowing. She thought about how incredible it would be if she were that hole.
However, the frequency seemed a bit high. She wasn't made of iron. It would be much better if it were more gentle.
Terumi Mei lost herself in fantasy.
Naturally, Naruto had no idea about Terumi Mei's thoughts. He was still a child who understood nothing. He simply felt curious why Terumi Mei wanted to learn the vibration technique at all. What was there to learn about it?
"Sister Mei, why do you want to learn the vibration technique?" Naruto asked curiously.
Regarding Naruto's question, Terumi Mei was naturally too embarrassed to explain her actual intended use. She simply said, "I think it looks useful, so I want to learn it. After all, your sister is someone who loves learning new skills."
After saying this, she felt rather ashamed of herself.
"I see." Naruto's face showed sudden understanding. Eagerness to learn was everyone's nature. He was eager to learn too.
Thinking this through, Naruto explained, "This is a method of using Ki and blood energy. Sister Terumi Mei, without systematic physical conditioning practice, it would be very difficult for you to learn."
"Really?" Terumi Mei's eyes narrowed. She looked at Naruto intently. "Naruto, let's spar."
"Spar?" Naruto's face showed excitement hearing this. He immediately agreed, "Okay! I love sparring the most!"
Naruto had agreed, and Terumi Mei felt relieved. She'd been most afraid of Naruto refusing. Thinking of this, Terumi Mei's eyes gleamed. "However, Naruto, when you spar with me, can you use your technique continuously? I want to observe it closely. Maybe I can figure out how to replicate it using chakra manipulation methods."
"Okay, no problem."
Half an hour later, Naruto stood in place, savoring the exchange they'd just completed.
Terumi Mei, meanwhile, departed after the sparring session, her face flushed and looking thoroughly satisfied.
Back at the farm, Zabuza was walking past Naruto carrying a load of pig manure. He stopped and asked, "Naruto, what did Terumi Mei-sama want with you? Are we starting the operation?"
Zabuza felt somewhat regretful that Terumi Mei hadn't allowed him to accompany her.
Naruto replied, "No, Sister Mei just sparred with me, then left."
"Sparred?" Hearing this answer, Zabuza's mouth twitched. Sparring with Naruto—isn't that purely asking for a beating? When had Terumi Mei-sama become a masochist? He'd never noticed that tendency before.
"Yeah, we just had a friendly discussion." Naruto nodded, then suddenly remembered something. "By the way, contact Sister Mei later and tell her we can begin operations after all the Chūnin Exam candidates finish their tests. I'm very busy during this period."
When their sparring had ended just now, Naruto had wanted to tell Terumi Mei, but she'd walked extremely fast, vanishing almost instantly.
During this time, he needed to wait for ninja from the various hidden villages to complete their exams. Then he would make friends with them. Naruto would feel terrible missing out on so many potential friends because of the coup operation.
So now that he'd encountered Zabuza, he asked him to contact Terumi Mei with this message.
"Understood, Naruto." Learning it wasn't time for action yet, Zabuza adjusted the pig manure load on his shoulder. "Then I'll continue working hard. Goodbye, Naruto."
"Work hard, and I'll give you a raise." Naruto appropriately encouraged his employee's enthusiasm.
As soon as Naruto returned to the yard, he saw Nine-Tails running over, suddenly leaping up. Naruto immediately opened his arms and caught Nine-Tails securely.
He remembered one time when Naruto had failed to catch Nine-Tails. The fox had been angry for an extremely long time, sulking all day.
Therefore, whenever Nine-Tails jumped toward him, Naruto would carefully catch the fox to prevent him from falling to the ground. Otherwise, Nine-Tails would remain irritated all day long.
Hugging Kurama in his arms, Naruto gently stroked the fox's head. The soft fur felt wonderfully comfortable to touch. Kurama narrowed his eyes, clearly enjoying Naruto's caress.
Sasuke was practicing in the yard.
After all, calling Sasuke a cultivation fanatic was no joke.
After stroking Nine-Tails for a while, Naruto stopped. Nine-Tails jumped from Naruto's arms onto his shoulder, sitting with legs crossed. He asked near Naruto's ear, "Naruto, how was it? Was the Forest of Death fun?"
"Not fun. I already came out." For Naruto, the purpose of visiting the Forest of Death was making friends. Now he'd emerged without making any new friends at all, so naturally he thought it wasn't fun whatsoever.
"Really? That's unfortunate. It would have been great if you'd let me go with you." Kurama spoke with regret. He'd always felt sorry about Naruto refusing to let him accompany them.
"Is the meal ready, Kurama?" Naruto asked.
Kurama stood up, shrugging and spreading his small paws. "You went to the Chūnin Exam, so I didn't cook. I didn't know you'd return so soon."
Both Sasuke and Naruto had gone to the exam. They'd originally planned not to return for meals, so Nine-Tails hadn't prepared anything. After all, in this household, only Naruto and Sasuke needed food to absorb energy. As a chakra-based entity, Nine-Tails didn't require eating.
He could eat whatever he wanted, or nothing at all.
Usually he ate with Naruto and Sasuke simply to create a pleasant atmosphere.
"Cook now. I'm starving to death." Naruto touched his stomach.
"Alright, Naruto, wait just a moment. I'll start immediately." Hearing Naruto was hungry, Nine-Tails jumped down without hesitation. He ran back to the kitchen, tied on his apron, grabbed a kitchen knife, and hopped over to the sheep flock, ready to select ingredients.
Kurama went to cook.
Naruto came to the yard, sitting on a stool to watch Sasuke practice.
After a while, Sasuke also finished training. He wiped sweat from his face, coming to sit on the stool beside Naruto. "Naruto, Hiruzen called you in, probably to probe you, right?"
Naruto nodded. "That's right. He asked many things indirectly, but I skillfully avoided them all. He was testing me, but I was also testing him."
"I said something that made his face change completely."
"After those words, I expect he'll respond somehow. However, no matter what response he makes, soldiers will block his attack, water will cover his flood. I'm ready." Naruto's face showed absolute confidence.
"Oh? What did you say to him?" Sasuke's face revealed curiosity.
"I said, 'My mother told me to smash your head off.'" Naruto replied.
"Brilliant. This will plunge him into speculation. He'll wonder—you've never known your own background since childhood, let alone who your parents are, so why would you say such a thing?"
"That's enough to occupy his thoughts considerably."
Sasuke analyzed the situation expertly.
"It's unfortunate I didn't capture Orochimaru alive. He seems to know a lot of inside information." Naruto felt slightly regretful about completely obliterating Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru isn't dead." Sasuke stated flatly.
"What? Orochimaru isn't dead? Explain." Naruto looked at Sasuke with surprise.
"When you fought Orochimaru, I planted a Flying Thunder God mark on him. I discovered that when you shattered his body, the Flying Thunder God mark didn't disappear. Instead, it appeared somewhere else." Sasuke explained.
"Excellent work, Sasuke!" Naruto praised enthusiastically, giving a thumbs up.
Hearing Naruto's praise, Sasuke immediately revealed a proud expression.
"Can you lock onto Orochimaru's position?" Naruto asked again.
"Of course. I could appear directly in front of Orochimaru right now if needed." Sasuke nodded, then asked, "Are you planning to find Orochimaru immediately?"
"Don't rush. Wait until after all the Chūnin Exam stages are completely finished." Naruto shook his head. Making friends was important. Since Orochimaru carried Sasuke's Flying Thunder God mark, they could visit him anytime.
Sasuke naturally understood Naruto's thinking. His mouth twitched involuntarily as he silently prayed for those examinees in his heart. He could already imagine what awaited them after the exam concluded—not the joy of passing, but Naruto's iron fists of friendship.
After continuing their conversation a while longer, Sasuke resumed practicing while Naruto went to train under the waterfall.
After battling Orochimaru, Naruto felt he'd moved one step closer to achieving spirit, energy, and body unity. It seemed he still needed to engage in all-out battles to gain more combat experience.
If another open battle occurred, he estimated he could break through to complete unity.
Naruto had accumulated enough foundation. The only thing he needed now was an opportunity to break through.
Time always passed quickly during practice. Before he knew it, Naruto heard Nine-Tails calling him to eat. He immediately released his training posture and looked toward the tree on the riverbank.
He saw Kurama standing on a stone beneath the tree, his front paws cupped around his mouth like a megaphone, shouting toward him: "Naruto, time to eat!"
"Coming!" Naruto immediately returned to normal form.
He sensed his surroundings and discovered the two ninja who usually monitored him had disappeared.
It seemed Hiruzen had withdrawn them. Was this his first reaction?
This should represent a gesture of goodwill.
Naruto detected a trace of sincerity in the action.
"System, remove the concealment barrier," Naruto said.
[Understood. Concealment barrier removed.]
Previously, the secret of his cultivation had been hidden from everyone because the System had shielded it. Now that his strength had been fully revealed, continuing to hide seemed meaningless.
Putting on his shirt, Naruto followed Nine-Tails back home and began eating.
After finishing his meal, Naruto was about to resume practice when he saw Kakashi arriving at the farm.
"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto called out warmly.
Now that the knots between them had been untied, Naruto and Kakashi got along like genuine family.
Kakashi looked at Naruto. This guy hid his strength so perfectly that he even deceived me. I thought he was on the second floor, but his strength actually exists on the fifth floor.
However, having the entire Team Seven promoted to chūnin was genuinely happy news. Therefore, Kakashi spoke with profound relief: "Naruto, excellent work. You've been promoted to chūnin."
In front of Kakashi, Naruto couldn't help wanting to show off despite his normally stable temperament: "Of course! Just look at who taught me!"
His words complimented both himself and Kakashi simultaneously.
Kakashi laughed immediately, crow's feet appearing around his visible eye. "Hahaha, Naruto is absolutely right."
In Orochimaru's laboratory.
A woman in a cherry blossom kimono picked up a thin mask. The mask's shape was exactly Orochimaru's face.
She faced the mirror, studying the reflection. Exquisite facial features, eyes that blinked expressively, bright red lips that made one want to kiss them.
This was Orochimaru.
Or rather, Orochimaru's new vessel.
The previous vessel had been destroyed by Naruto, so Orochimaru had reincarnated into another prepared container.
Looking in the mirror, Orochimaru placed the mask on. It fit seamlessly. The face belonging to Orochimaru in the mirror appeared perfect. No one could detect it was actually wearing a mask.
After donning the mask, Orochimaru fell into deep thought.
He recalled the scene of fighting Naruto. His heart beat faster even now. Looking at the experimental subjects in his laboratory, they all seemed like garbage. He had no desire whatsoever to study them anymore.
I desperately want to obtain Naruto's body!
Orochimaru thought of Naruto's five-meter-tall transformed state and couldn't help extending his tongue to lick his lips.
That towering body, that physique the Kusanagi sword couldn't harm. Most importantly, Naruto's final words claiming his cultivation method could lead to immortality.
This was what consumed Orochimaru's thoughts completely.
Originally, he'd planned to execute his Konoha Crush operation during this Chūnin Exam. Now he'd completely abandoned that plan. Because currently, the highest priority was obtaining Naruto's body—even if only cells.
However, this represented an extremely difficult challenge.
In that battle, even the legendary Kusanagi sword hadn't been able to harm Naruto at all. So how could they obtain Naruto's cells?
Unless Naruto voluntarily provided them.
But Naruto wasn't stupid at all. How could he willingly hand them over? A method was still needed.
Orochimaru became lost in thought.
"Yes!" Suddenly, Orochimaru's eyes lit up. He looked in the mirror, pulled off the mask, and stared at the perfect face inside.
A beautiful woman. This was fatal to a young, vigorous person like Naruto who showed no peculiar preferences.
Yes. Orochimaru's plan was to use this body's natural advantages to realize his means of obtaining what he needed from Naruto.
As long as Naruto took the bait and engaged intimately with this body, once Naruto's genetic material entered this vessel, then Orochimaru would succeed.
Thinking this through, Orochimaru felt the plan was entirely feasible.
The operation begins: Project Naruto Seduction.
Orochimaru excitedly named this scheme.