After a brief conversation with Kingpin, Shiranui Hayate hung up the phone.
On the other side, Wilson Fisk stood before his floor-to-ceiling windows, leaning on his cane and looking out at the Hell's Kitchen skyline. He realized the gap between himself and Hayate was widening. While he was still guarding his corner of the city, Hayate was systematically dismantling organizations with centuries of history.
Fisk decided then to move beyond Hell's Kitchen and seize the Japanese market. Simultaneously, he began calculating what kind of "gift" would be appropriate for Hayate—something that wouldn't seem petty or disrespectful.
After Hayate hung up, his phone continued to buzz incessantly. His various Adjudicators and several underground leaders called to check on his safety. Even Elder Al-Fadi (Maktoum), all the way in the desert, contacted him on behalf of the High Table to ask if he required reinforcements.
Once he had brushed everyone off, The Director finally approached with ten burly Belarusian men. She bowed slightly to Hayate. "Elder, these are ten of the best young men from our organization. What would you have them do?"
Hayate sized up the ten enforcers. "Take them to the stage. They are to attempt to defeat a student of ours. They may use cold weapons."
The Director signaled her men to move. They stepped onto the stage, each equipped with a combat knife. Dressed in matching black suits and wielding cold steel, they looked quite imposing.
Hayate turned to Naruto. "Naruto, defeat them all without killing them. Do that, and you win."
"Don't worry, Old Man!" Naruto shouted with absolute confidence. "I'll take 'em down in no time!"
With a single leap, Naruto cleared six meters, landing squarely in the center of the stage.
The Director had been worried about her men accidentally killing a child, but seeing Naruto clear that distance in one jump, she fell silent. She realized that under the Elder's command, even a six-year-old possessed extraordinary power.
"Let the match begin!" Hayate announced.
The ten men instantly charged, knives gleaming. Below the stage, Iruka watched with a mix of pride and anxiety. He knew Naruto's potential, but he also remembered that before graduation, Naruto was clumsy, struggled with the basic Three Jutsu, and was terrible at chakra control. One wrong move and the boy could still get hurt.
Beside him, Rock Lee cheered at the top of his lungs. "Naruto-kun, go for it! Show them your youth!"
Sasuke simply leaned back, his expression bored. To him, watching a ninja fight a group of ordinary humans—even skilled ones—was a waste of time.
Shizune, sitting on Hayate's other side, held Tonton in her arms, watching with curiosity.
On Stage
Naruto showed no fear. He charged back, his speed far exceeding that of the Russians. While his movement was slow by ninja standards, to the enforcers, he was a blur.
In an instant, Naruto closed the gap and sent one man flying off the stage with a single punch.
The others reacted quickly, swinging their knives at the small target.
THWACK!
The blades didn't hit flesh. Instead, they struck a wooden log with a sound like metal hitting stone. Naruto had used the Substitution Jutsu to appear behind the group.
"Clone... Double Strike!"
A second Naruto appeared on the stage, but instead of attacking, the clone was weak-limbed and flopped onto its stomach, wiggling pathetically.
In the Audience
"Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Hayate, Shizune, and Lee burst out laughing.
"Truly the Number One Hyperactive, Knucklehead Ninja," Hayate laughed. "He never fails to be interesting!"
Iruka rubbed his temples in embarrassment. "His mastery of the Three Jutsu is... still a work in progress. But being able to produce a physical clone at all is an improvement."
Sasuke didn't laugh. He kept his "cool" face but muttered under his breath, "That guy is such an idiot."
The Director was simply stunned—both by the teleporting log and the mysterious double that had appeared from nowhere.
On stage, Naruto scratched the back of his head, blushing. He dispelled the failed clone in a puff of smoke. The remaining nine enforcers didn't wait; one of them hurled his knife directly at Naruto's chest.
"Whoa!" Naruto yelped, twisting his body in a goofy contortion to let the blade whistle past. It thudded into the stage floor behind him.
"Paint Prank Jutsu!"
Naruto reached into his ninja tool pouch and pulled out a bucket of specialized paint, splashing it toward the group. The paint flew out with incredible force, acting more like a wall of water than a liquid.
The men in the back were merely tripped up by the slick floor, but the three in the direct line of fire were slammed backward by the sheer force of the toss, knocked unconscious instantly.
The remaining men tried to stand, but the "slow" effect of the specialized paint made their movements sluggish and their footing treacherous. They looked at each other and decided to throw their remaining knives in a desperate volley.
Whiz! Whiz! Whiz!
Six knives flew toward Naruto. He dodged them with exaggerated, theatrical movements. He realized these men were much slower than the classmates he sparred with back at the Academy.
Finding their ranged attacks had failed, three men charged in bare-handed while the other three picked up knives from their fallen comrades. They converged on the boy in orange from all sides.