Please Stab Me Once (1,000 Recommendation Vote Bonus Chapter)

Early morning,

Naruto's body clock went off, and he got out of bed.

After washing up and eating breakfast, Naruto was about to pack his schoolbag when he suddenly sensed something. He set the bag down and went into the bedroom to wake Nine-Tails.

"What is it? I haven't slept enough yet." Nine-Tails rubbed his sleepy eyes, clearly grumpy from being woken up.

On top of that, this guy had actually skipped dinner at home a few days ago. Nine-Tails was already angry, and that only made him even angrier.

"We're going to the Back Mountain," Naruto said.

"Huh? Don't you have school?" Nine-Tails asked curiously.

"Not today," Naruto said. While packing his schoolbag just now, he had suddenly felt something strange. Today might be the day his Indestructible Body entered the beginner stage.

He had also reached the final move before the entry stage of the Indestructible Body.

Perhaps today would bring a chance for enlightenment.

Once Nine-Tails had washed up, Naruto carried him to the Back Mountain.

After arriving at the Back Mountain, Naruto found a large boulder and stepped onto it. He did not immediately assume the stance of the Indestructible Body. Instead, he stood quietly with his eyes closed, listening to the wind, the rustling leaves...

All the sounds of nature.

He was searching for the feeling.

The feeling of surging forward without restraint.

Half an hour later,

Naruto opened his eyes and moved.

Opening Stance...

Naruto slowly went through the form, his expression serene, yet the sound of blood and vital energy rushing through his body could be heard. He moved slowly, neither hurried nor impatient, as though everything around him was merging with his aura.

Heaven's heart was his heart.

Time passed slowly, yet also seemed to pass quickly...

By then, Sasuke had already gotten out of school. Naruto had not shown up for class, so after school, Sasuke came to the Back Mountain. He saw Naruto standing on a rock, his posture changing slowly, though Sasuke had no idea what he was doing.

Yet strangely, every movement Naruto made seemed to contain a profound, mysterious meaning.

Unable to understand it, Sasuke walked to one side and began practicing Fire Release against a broken tree.

An hour later, Naruto began to change. He first grew taller, and his skin turned red. By the time Naruto completed the final movement, his height had stabilized at two meters.

"Whew." Naruto let out a long breath. His reddened skin gradually returned to its wheat-colored tone. Just as Naruto was about to carefully sense the changes in his body, the system's voice sounded in his mind.

"Congratulations, Naruto. Your Indestructible Body has entered the beginner stage. Bronze Skin Iron Bones, Swords and Blades Cannot Harm—you have officially embarked on the path of Hardening."

"This only counts as officially embarking on the path of Hardening?" Naruto clicked his tongue. Still, now that the Indestructible Body had entered the beginner stage, it was time to test whether it truly meant Swords and Blades Cannot Harm.

Thinking this, Naruto said to Sasuke, who was practicing Fire Release, "Sasuke, come stab me once."

Sasuke was deeply engrossed in his training and did not hear clearly. He thought Naruto was joking and looked puzzled. "What did you say?"

After saying that, Sasuke suddenly realized something. Naruto had grown taller again, reaching two meters outright. Then he thought about himself, barely over 1.3 meters tall.

"Sasuke, come on. Take out your kunai and stab me a few times to test it," Naruto said again.

Sasuke's face darkened. Stab you with a kunai? Have you lost your mind and decided you don't want to live anymore?

Seeing Sasuke still hesitate, Naruto put it another way. "Sasuke, let's have a real battle between ninjas."

A battle between ninjas meant going all out, fighting with the intent to defeat the other person. Therefore, every trump card a ninja possessed would be revealed one by one.

"All right, then."

Naruto challenged him with fighting spirit blazing in his eyes, and Sasuke naturally would not refuse. He nodded, adjusted his Chakra, then nodded at Naruto in readiness.

"Then..."

"Let's begin..."

The moment the words fell, Naruto stepped forward, kicking up a howling gust.

On the other side, Sasuke's fingers flipped, and darts appeared in his hands. With a hard throw, the darts flashed with cold light as they shot toward Naruto's chest.

Facing the darts, Naruto wore a confident expression. He stretched out a huge palm and swept toward the incoming projectiles.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A series of metallic clashes rang out. Naruto's large hand swept the darts aside, and not a single one struck him. After receiving the attack, Naruto looked at his hand. Sure enough, aside from a faint, nearly invisible white mark, he was completely unharmed.

"What?"

Sasuke's pupils contracted as he prepared the second volley of darts, shock filling his heart. Naruto had caught the darts barehanded and remained uninjured. Normally, ninjas relied on technique to catch an opponent's darts.

But Naruto had simply met them head-on.

Surprised as he was, Sasuke's second volley was not slow. Ten darts shot out in an instant.

Now that he had a clear understanding of his body, Naruto knew that the beginner-stage Indestructible Body truly allowed him to withstand cold weapons without injury. So, unlike the first round, he did not sweep the darts aside with his hands. Instead, he spread his arms and let them strike his body.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Ten crisp sounds rang out in succession. Sasuke's throwing technique was undeniably skilled; he had clearly trained hard. All ten darts covered Naruto's entire body: one at his face, one at his chest, and two on each limb.

"Ha ha ha..."

His Indestructible Body had entered the beginner stage, and swords and blades could not harm him. Naruto was overjoyed and burst into laughter.

Once Naruto stopped laughing, Sasuke also stopped attacking. He walked up to Naruto, extremely curious about what kind of Taijutsu Naruto had practiced.

Naruto saw Sasuke's curiosity and said, "Sasuke, do you have a lot of questions? Didn't I tell you before? This is Hardening."

Naruto said again.

"Hardening? Did you train your skin until it became like iron?" Sasuke asked, looking up at Naruto.

"No. Touch my skin and you'll know." With that, Naruto extended one arm, signaling Sasuke to feel the texture of it.

Sasuke reached out and squeezed Naruto's arm. The texture of his skin was no different from Sasuke's own. It had not hardened, but how could it withstand darts without suffering the slightest injury?

That was the strength of Naruto's Tempering Method.

Naruto withdrew his Indestructible Body and returned to his height of just over 1.6 meters. Maintaining the Indestructible Body made talking to Sasuke a little tiring, since he always had to lower his head to speak to him. Keeping his head lowered for too long could easily cause neck problems.

Seeing Naruto return to normal, Sasuke secretly breathed a sigh of relief as well. Naruto's previous state had been far too oppressive, and it was exhausting to communicate while constantly looking up at him.

Three hundred meters away, the hidden Anbu Ninjas in the trees showed no unusual reactions.

It was as though they were not surprised that Naruto's body could directly withstand swords and blades.

But that was not the case. The system had continuously used a concealment technique on those two. Even if they followed Naruto, they would not notice anything unusual about him.

The gap in their dimensions was simply too great.

If they had noticed Naruto's current physical condition, they would have reported it to the Third Hokage long ago.

(I originally planned to post this bonus chapter last night, but I was too tired. I fell asleep halfway through writing it. Last time I asked for recommendation votes, they only increased that day and stopped soon afterward. So, here's the deal: during these seven days of featured recommendation, until the 16th, I'll add one extra chapter for every additional thousand recommendation votes. So humble!)

(There are also the two guaranteed chapters. I'm visiting someone this morning, so I'll post them this afternoon and evening.)

Please vote with recommendation tickets.