Chương 15: Shocking Spar
A few days had gone past since Naruto had his talk with the Hokage and since Team 7 had been given the week off to recuperate from their mission to the Country of Waves. The mission had been bumped up to A-Rank and each member of Team 7 had been given the corresponding commission for it.
Before Naruto had gone on his mission, he had gone to the weapons store to order a premium made sword for himself. He had received a notification this morning that his sword was ready for collection.
"Hello," called out Naruto as he entered the weapon store.
Naruto looked around and noticed a large shopfloor with a counter on the right hand corner behind the store window. There were rows and rows of shelves that had a myriad of weapons and scrolls stacked neatly for show.
On the right side of the store where the counter was situated, the shelves were filled with neatly placed scrolls with various labels underneath them.
On the left hand side of the the stores, the neat shelves kept shurikens, kunais, swords, daggers, and an assortment of other weapons with price-tags and a small description beneath it.
The wall directly opposite the entrance had multiple types of deffwnsive items such as armours and chainmails.
The shelves that was behind the counter had pills of varying size with their respective price-tags and descriptions of their effects.
All in all, everything a Ninja would need could be found in this store.
"Ah, Naruto-kun," said a female voice from behind Naruto. "You came for your sword."
"Tenten, you did send me a notice, after all," replied Naruto, turning around.
Naruto saw a black haired girl with grey eyes. She was wearing her hair in two Chinese-style buns on her head with short fringe-bangs framing her face above her forehead protector. She had pink sleeveless qipao-style blouse with red sleeve trimmings, yellow fastening buttons and dark green pants. A pouch was adjusted to her thigh.
"You're a very picky customer," said Tenten with a smile. "You obviously know what you want in your weapons."
"The quality of a Ninja's material could mean the life or death of a Ninja," said Naruto wisely. "Besides, I'm paying for a premium service so why should I accept anything less?"
"You're right," replied Tenten, walking inside the store. "Give me a moment, I'll bring your sword for you."
Tenten left for the storeroom and a few minutes later came back with a long box.
"Here we go," said Tenten, placing the box on the counter the desk. "This took a lot of effort to make. Your requirements truly was high. The guy who made this sword truly went out of his way."
"I would like to meet him," said Naruto, taking the box. "I want to thank him for making it for me."
"Sorry, Naruto-kun," apologised Tenten. "Only the owner of this shop knows him. But he's not allowed to reveal his identity. It's one of his requirements for accepting high grade requests."
"Well, whatever," said Naruto, shrugging his shoulders. "As long as the job gets done."
Naruto opened the package and took out a sheated black katana. He unsheathed the sleek black katana and held it in front of himself. It was a slightly curved, slender, single-edged blade with a squared guard. It had long grip that could accommodate two hands but it was comfortable enough to hold with one hand.
Naruto tilted the handle to reveal the Konoha symbol on one side and the Uzumaki symbol on the other side. He transferred his Chakra through the gleaming sword and found no resistance. Holding the tip of the katana, Naruto tried to transfer his Chakra, but found it with intense resistance.
Naruto nodded in approval as examined every inch of his new sword. He ran index and middle finger through the smooth blade. Holding it with two hands at the hilt, Naruto made a few swings to get a feeling for the sword. He smiled in satisfaction at how comfortable he felt holding his sword.
"This is an extremely beautiful sword," said Naruto, his face covered in a bright smile. "Worth every bit I paid for it."
"I wish I had enough money to order one for myself," said Tenten with a longing look. "That sword is really beautiful."
"I'll treasure the sword," said Naruto, sheathing his katana. "I've learnt sword maintenance for some time now. Well, I'll see you around."
"Bye bye," said Tenten.
*** Training Ground 7 ***
After being notified his katana was ready for collection, Naruto had sent a Shadow Clone to tell Zabuza to meet him on Training Ground 7. They had previously agreed to spar, however, since Naruto did not have a sword he was comfortable using, he had gone to the Ninja Tools Store to order one to be forged for him that met his requirements. Now that he had one, he had immediately requested to spar with Zabuza.
"You've arrived, kid," said Zabuza upon seeing Naruto approaching him.
"Of course, I would," replied Naruto with a smirk. "What are you doing here, Haku?"
"I'm interested in seeing your spar with Zabuza," replied Haku. "Is that the sword you had ordered?"
"It is," replied Naruto with a smirk as he unsheathed his katana. "Isn't it a beauty?"
"That's one fine sword there, kid," said Zabuza with a whistle.
"I'm not even a swordsman, but I can still tell it's a high quality sword," said Haku.
"Let's get on with our spar, Zabuza!" said Naruto excitedly.
"Let's see if your sword truly is as great as it looks," said Zabuzu with a smirk as he slashed his Kubikiribōchō at Naruto with his signature diagonal slash.
Naruto quickly jumped, infusing chakra into the soles of his feet as he attached both his legs at Zabuza's sword. Having quickly steadied himself, Naruto aimed a slash at Zabuza's neck.
Having noticed Naruto's attack, Zabuza quickly tilted his Kubikiribōchō sideways as he aimed the side Naruto was standing on at a nearby tree.
Naruto quickly detached his left leg and quickly used it to step on the incoming tree and attached his foot on it, cushioning the impact. Having succeeded, Naruto aimed once more at Zabuza's neck.
Seeing that his attempt to shake Naruto off his sword was unsuccessful, Zabuza frowned in displeasure and dodged Naruto's second attempt at his neck.
'Is this kid trying to kill me?' thought Zabuza. 'He's always aiming for my neck and it's really difficult to dodge.'
Zabuza pulled at his sword and found it to be stuck onto Naruto's foot. Naruto quickly pulled his leg that had the Kubikiribōchō attached to it and pushed it towards the ground. Seeing that Zabuza was still holding onto his sword, Naruto aimed another slash at Zabuza, but this time at his arm that held onto his Kubikiribōchō.
"You're really stubborn, you realize that?" asked Zabuza in frustration. "I always believed to be more than you in Kenjutsu combat experience at the very least."
"You tend to develop experience once you have 500 battles against yourself everyday," said Naruto, smirking.
"What are you talking about?" asked Zabuza, puzzled.
"I make a thousand clones a day and have them spar with each other," said Naruto nonchalantly.
"You have enough chakra for that?" asked a shocked Haku.
"Yeah, I'm an Uzumaki," replied Naruto upon seeing the shocked expressions on both Zabuza and Haku. "I can give you this muscle training programme that can boost your strength without making you bulky. You interested?"
"Of course," replied Zabuza, recovering from his shock. "What do you want in return?"
Zabuza had lived a long time as a rogue ninja and he knew nothing came for free. He also nodded in approval Naruto's timing in offering the training manual. He first demonstrated his strength. He then revealed how he managed to acquire enough swordsmanship experience that rivalled one of the Seven Swordsmen. Then he revealed the big bait.
"I'm in the process of putting together a group of elite ninjas under my direct control," explained Naruto. "I'm thinking around 12 people will do. I want you and Haku to be the first two. Of course, unless you have specific orders from me, you'll continue taking orders from the Hokage."
"What's the purpose of this group we'll be part of?" asked Zabuza seriously.
It wasn't everyday that a Genin was as strong as Naruto. What made it even rarer was that he had a head that he could use. However, what made Naruto truly unique was he was already thinking like he was a Jonin.
The fact that Zabuza didn't believe that Naruto's thinking level was at the Kage level was that Naruto lacked worldly exposure. He needed experience contacting the other Elemental Nations to help shaping his personality.
"I'm in," said Zabuza without any hesitation.
"Haku?" asked Naruto looking at the feminine looking boy.
"If Zabuza-san is joining the group, so am I," replied Haku with a smile.
"Haku, you really need to think for yourself," replied Naruto. "But I'm still happy you joined. Make sure you train well at the Hospital. My team's going to need a strong Medical Ninja."
"By the way, what's our team going to be called?" asked Zabuza.
"I'll reveal that what we're half way there," replied Naruto. "Do you both know the Shadow Clone Jutsu?"
"No," replied both Zabuza and Haku shaking their heads.
"Alright, here's the manuals for both the Shadow Clone Jutsu and the muscle training," said Naruto, whipping out the manuals from his storage seal. "Master the Shadow Clone first before you start the muscle training. In the Muscle Training Manual, I've also included a training programme on how to increase your chakra reserve the most efficient way."
"Why do we need the Shadow Clones?" asked Haku in confusion. "Zabuza-san and I both have the Water Clone Jutsu."
"Whatever experience the Shadow Clones gains gets transferred back to the original after they disappear," explain Naruto. "It speeds up your training. But be careful you don't overdo it because the Clone's fatigue also gets transferred back to the original. I don't want you to die of exhaustion. The Muscle Training Manual also contains a diet plan I'd highly recommend following. Be as strict as possible with the diet. It'll help you recover from the fatigue of training properly. Otherwise, you'll accumulate damage from training and your growth will stagnate."
"Thank you," said Haku gratefully.
"Here, take this as well," said Naruto, handing over two rings with seals on them.
"What is it?" asked Zabuza curiously.
"They're rings I've placed Storage Seals on," explained Naruto. "Their function is the same as Storage Scrolls."
"Wow," exclaimed Zabuza and Haku in unison. "You also know Sealing Jutsu."
"Well, duh," said Naruto blankly. "I'm an Uzumaki! What did you expect?"
"Hey, Naruto, can you teach me Sealing Jutsu as well?" asked Haku excitedly.
"I can, but don't you have your plate full already?" asked Naruto. "You're training in Medical Ninjutsu as learning the Muscle Training Manual."
"I'll be able to handle it," said Haku in determination.
"I'll teach you if you can meet my three requirements; become a High Chunin Level Medic, create 30 Shadow Clones and maintain them for 24 hours and master Level 3 of the Muscle Training Manual," said Naruto. "Unless you meet these requirements, forget about Sealing Jutsus."
"The Muscle Training has levels?" asked Zabuza curiously. "How many is there?"
"Of course," said Naruto. "There's a total of 10. It's not easy advancing through the levels. I've been practicing for years and I'm only at Level 6. The key to its success is the diet. You need sufficient nutrition to successfully get stronger."
"Again, thank you, Naruto," said Haku with a smile.
"Naruto, there you are," called out a familiar voice.
Naruto turned around to see Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura walking up to him.
"It's my week off, why are you looking for me?" asked Naruto with a frown.
"So unfriendly," said Kakashi in a hurt tone. "I've come to give you the Chunin Exam application form."
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