In his usual office, a tired Hiruzen reviews a peculiar report that a bear-masked captain has just handed him. The report recounts the latest activities of the village jinchuriki, giving special details to an accident that occurred the previous day.
"He almost crashed into a wall at high speed?" the Hokage asks incredulously.
"It was actually a pretty silly accident. The kid apparently forgot to use the brakes and almost hit a brick wall" the ninja replies.
"I see, he can hardly hurt himself with the vitality that his body has, but he is at risk if he hits his head too hard. By the way, what is this thing called a bicycle? And what do we know about this girl called Karin?"
"The bicycle is a new mode of transportation that is becoming quite popular in the capital, based only on two wheels and a mechanical propulsion system. It has been around for almost two years, but only in the last year has it gained fame as the most practical means of getting around the city. As for the girl, she is the (officially) adopted daughter of one of the inventors of the bicycle, who plans to open a shop in April"
"Haaa, now that I remember, Asuma told me about something similar when he was in the capital, although I think he referred to it as something too fragile for the roads outside the cities"
"Indeed, some ninjas who passed through the capital reported the innovation, but they also dismissed its usefulness due to the mechanism's complexity and its inability to navigate rough roads. There's also the price factor, which until recently was only affordable for nobles and merchants"
"Interesting, but what about this girl, who according to this, says that she pushed him down a hill, why didn't anyone intervene?"
"Naruto has been meeting with the girl for a while and they seem to have a friendship, the girl was teaching him how to ride the bike, and since Naruto couldn't keep his balance, the girl decided to use a more forced method for him to learn. The agents never saw anything dangerous until he almost crashed into the wall, but fortunately nothing serious happened. Both children were reprimanded by the store owner and were punished with manual labor"
The Hokage ends up laughing at Naruto's anecdote and files the report away. "Nothing unusual with the shop owner?"
"Nothing to report, he has lived his entire life in the land of fire and there is a history of him living on the outskirts of the village for much of his childhood"
"Well, I think it's great that Naruto makes some friends, keep vigilant and keep up the good work" The Hokage finishes, and then lets the ninja leave.
Almost at the same time, in a secret underground office, in one of the most important bases of the organization called "Root", Danzo Shimura, advisor to the Hokage and one of the strongest members of the village, reviews a report very similar to the one Hiruzen received.
"What's this about the jinchuriki almost having an accident?" Danzo asked the ninja who gave him the report.
"A minor accident, due to practicing with a new means of transportation" the masked ninja responds coldly.
"Was there real danger?"
"Not at any point"
"Is this new means of transportation useful to us?"
"It was determined that it is only practical within cities, mechanically complex, and impossible to use in covert operations"
"I see. And this Ichizen Touki, has his background been checked? And what contact has he had with the jinchuriki?"
"He's clean, no affiliations or contacts with outside forces. He has almost no interaction with the jinchuriki, as it's his adopted daughter who befriended the boy"
"So everything seems in order"
"Shall we start surveillance on them?" Asks the ninja.
"It's not necessary, if I know Hiruzen, he should have already investigated it thoroughly. Furthermore, it doesn't hurt that the child has at least some friendship; his emotional stability is key if we want to use him to defend the village in the future, even more so if he acquires emotional attachments. They are supposed to consider me the bad guy, but Hiruzen has done a terrible job taking care of the child, I have seen less serious cases turn into villains and bandits" Danzo comments, with a deep voice.
"Do we not increase the surveillance personnel then?"
"Correct, we cannot divert personnel to anything that is not the Uchiha case. Right now, it's the greatest threat the village faces" Danzo concludes.
Soon the ninja leaves and Danzo returns to his paperwork, noting additional information from the incident report, about the man named Touki, which explains the attempt he made to enter the academy as a child, but was rejected for not having the physical condition or minimum amount of chakra.
"Why worry about someone who can't even use chakra?" Danzó mutters to himself.
…
South of the Land of Fire, in a small city, very little influenced by the current trends of the capital, lies the Taira mansion, home to one of the many samurai families who swear loyalty to the Daimyo. This particular family is not very prominent, nor does it have much power in the upper echelons of the city; they are simply a clan of warriors and in charge of the security of some districts. Currently led by Zenji Taira, a swordsman seasoned in countless battles, even against ninjas.
Today is a strange day for Zenji, as he received a strange gift at his mansion. Without a specific origin, a fine wooden box appeared at the main door, and inside was a beautiful painting with the image of a samurai dueling with a ninja.
At first, Zenji didn't quite understand what the gift was for, as apart from the painting, there was only a note with the phrase "Thank you for everything." But the man liked the painting, so he decided to simply hang it in his office as a decoration, but not before checking that there was nothing wrong or suspicious.
The rest of the day was normal for Zenji, but just as he was getting ready to sleep, he felt something strange about the mansion, as if a strange aura had suddenly invaded it. At first, the sensation was mild, but as the minutes passed, a terrible premonition took hold of him.
Zenji is a man of action, so he immediately gets out of bed and grabs his trusty katana, quietly leaving his room and heading to the main hall, but on the way, he is surprised to find that his office door is open and a strange individual is in the living room carefully observing the decorations. The apparent man is wearing full-body black samurai armor, with huge horns on his helmet, a demon mask and it seems that his entire body is wet, having left a puddle of water all along his way from the office.
"Who are you?" Zenji asks seriously, keeping his calm and raising his sword, ready to attack.
"Did you like my gift?" says the man in the demon mask, in a synthetic voice.
Zenji immediately understands what the man is referring to. "So it was you. Why? What's going on here?"
"This is a test, my dear Zenji. The painting is just a little quiz to see what you think of ninjas. If you had thrown it away, I wouldn't be here"
"I don't understand anything you're saying. All I want is for you to explain to me: how did you get in? And what do you want with me?" Zenji's tone becomes harsher, and his sword begins to glow from the buildup of chakra.
"Attack me, go on, try it" The strange man answers, bringing his right hand to the sword at his waist.
Zenji doesn't hesitate for a second and launches his strongest attack towards the man, a powerful arc of chakra in a horizontal direction and destined to cut his enemy at the waist.
But what happens is difficult to explain, as the attack simply disappears before touching the man and his armor, as if it had been absorbed by a force field.
The response of the man in the demon mask is instantaneous, taking advantage of Zenji's vulnerable position by extending his katana and executing a quick movement of his black sword, a thunderous sound reverberates through the room, very similar to the breaking of glass.
Without even taking a step, and like magic, the man's sword cleanly cut through Zenji's katana, leaving him with only the handle in his hand.
"Excellent technique" the man comments, as he sheathes his sword. "But your katana leaves a lot to be desired"
Zenji doesn't know how to react. His beloved katana lies severed on the ground, and he's holding only the handle. Part of him wants to scream in anger and lunge at the man, but his instinct tells him that would be suicidal.
Zenji's gaze shifts to the man, but the man simply points at Zenji's back. Then horror grips the samurai, who notices that behind him, a mark runs completely through the wood and stone wall, neatly slicing through several pieces of furniture along the way.
"That my dear Zenji is a powerful sword. A divine sword" Says the man with the demon mask.
"Are you a shinobi?" Zenji asks, with a trembling tone.
"No... I am an envoy of the God of the Samurai, to bring balance to the world, to put those damn ninjas in their place"
"Why?"
"Because they're threatening global stability, because there are forces currently conspiring to destroy everything, and because I'm tired of them involving ordinary people in their power games. That's why I'm going to ask you a question: Which side are you on?"
Overwhelmed by the situation, Zenji tries to make sense of what the man has said. Deep down, he has always harbored resentment toward ninjas, especially for the constant wars they have waged. While samurai are not exempt from conflict among themselves, the level of destruction and collateral damage caused by ninjas is on another level, so much so that they often end up altering the natural landscape.
"I'm with the people" Zenji decides to say.
"Well, now comes a question that I will only ask you once and now" says the man, revealing in his hands a new Katana, which has just appeared out of nowhere in a cloud of white smoke. "Are you willing to receive my blessing?"