Late at night in the orphanage, when Uzumaki Menma opened his eyes again, he had already returned from his mental world to reality.
Feeling the steady flow of chakra coursing through his meridians, Menma felt as though his entire body was brimming with power.
Even with the exceptional physique of the Uzumaki clan, it had taken him three full years to accumulate enough chakra to give birth to the tiny Nine-Tails. But now that she had awakened, his chakra was no longer being endlessly devoured by that bottomless abyss.
On the contrary—he could now even request chakra from her.
"Little Nine, lend me some chakra," Menma communicated inwardly.
"I'll give you the amount of one Tailed Beast Bomb for now. I don't have much left either," the tiny Nine-Tails replied reluctantly, handing over a portion of her remaining chakra.
For a normal Tailed Beast, the chakra required for a single Tailed Beast Bomb was practically nothing. But for the current tiny Nine-Tails, it was nearly half of her total reserves.
Even so, that amount alone already exceeded the total chakra possessed by most elite jōnin.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Menma formed a series of hand seals.
Poof!
After a puff of smoke, a shadow clone of Menma appeared beside the bed.
The two exchanged a silent nod. Menma carefully climbed out of bed, while the shadow clone took his place under the covers.
Then Menma moved to the window. After opening it, he didn't jump out immediately.
Instead, using the chakra of the tiny Nine-Tails, he activated Evil Intent Sensing.
The tiny Nine-Tails—who had come from the Limited Tsukuyomi World—had been regarded in that world as a manifestation of hatred, malice, and betrayal. Her ability to sense good and evil was extraordinarily sharp.
With her chakra, Menma had become highly proficient in this ability.
Given that during the Fourth Shinobi World War the Nine-Tails could sense malicious chakra across the entire battlefield—what exactly was the range of Evil Intent Sensing?
"Found it!"
Without wasting another second, Menma detected a source of malicious chakra hidden within a large tree less than ten meters from the orphanage.
A White Zetsu was monitoring the orphanage.
To avoid disturbing the children and his foster mother Yakushi Nonō, Menma slipped out through the window, quietly closed it behind him, and used Body Flicker to rush forward.
Purple lightning-attribute chakra gathered around his right hand, forming something akin to a chakra scalpel.
This was one of the many techniques Menma had developed during his time in the Limited Tsukuyomi World.
In order to escape that false world, Menma had not only captured Jinchūriki from various nations, but also gathered countless secret techniques and jutsu. His knowledge of ninjutsu was vast.
Crackle, crackle—
The purple lightning around his hand hissed softly as Menma drove his palm straight through the massive tree.
"Ahhh!!!"
A scream echoed from inside the trunk of the enormous tree, which was thick enough to require three people to wrap their arms around it.
"You…!"
Menma dragged out a pure-white humanoid figure from within the tree, its pale face filled with terror.
The White Zetsu couldn't comprehend why the child it had been monitoring for over two years had suddenly discovered it—and possessed such terrifying techniques.
White Zetsu were inherently weak in combat. After being pierced through in a single strike, it died on the spot, leaving only a white corpse behind.
"Too bad I don't have a storage scroll."
Menma hoisted the body over his shoulder and quickly headed toward Konoha Village.
Leaping through the trees, Menma carried the corpse in one hand while forming seals with the other, casting a Transformation Jutsu to take on the appearance he had used in the Limited Tsukuyomi World.
Beneath short black hair, a white three-eyed fox mask concealed his face. He wore a long black robe with a white fur collar, red bandages wrapped around his arms and legs, and fingerless gloves.
The dark, muted color scheme formed a stark contrast to Uzumaki Naruto's bright orange outfit.
"Menma, what is that thing?" the tiny Nine-Tails asked, peeking out from his fur collar and staring at the white creature he carried, instinctively repulsed.
She had never seen anything like this in the Limited Tsukuyomi World.
"White Zetsu—tragic humans from the era of the God Tree, drained of their chakra and life force."
As he spoke, Menma had already reached the outskirts of the village. Through Evil Intent Sensing, he discovered another White Zetsu hiding inside a tree, seemingly watching the main gate of Konoha.
'Looks like Black Zetsu has placed quite a few White Zetsu around Konoha.'
Menma recalled that after Uchiha Madara's death, the corrupted Obito had begun keeping a close eye on the village.
Aside from the Hyuga clan compound—protected by the Byakugan—there were likely many White Zetsu lurking throughout the village, especially near the Uchiha district.
Without hesitation, Menma rushed forward, sliced through the tree with another chakra blade, and severed the White Zetsu hidden inside clean in half.
He picked up the corpse and continued onward.
He needed to clear out all the White Zetsu lurking around the orphanage. Otherwise, being under constant surveillance would severely limit his movements.
But he also couldn't alert Obito or Black Zetsu—so he had to find someone to take the blame.
Konoha at night was peaceful and quiet.
Menma emerged from a ninja tool shop, leapt onto a rooftop, and gazed toward the Hokage Rock, taking in the entire nightscape of the village.
The White Zetsu corpses were gone, replaced by several storage scrolls.
He had also helped himself to quite a few ninja tools from the shop—probably worth about as much as Asuma's bounty.
"Wait… this shop wouldn't happen to be Tenten's, would it?" Menma muttered, feeling the location seemed oddly familiar.
'Ah, whatever. I'll pay them back someday if I get the chance.'
No need to dwell on small matters.
Turning his gaze back to the Hokage Rock, Menma thought:
'If I remember correctly, the Root base should be directly beneath it.'
He began leaping across the rooftops of Konoha.
'I really need to develop the Nine Masks Suparaka as soon as possible.'
Menma couldn't help but miss the flight ability granted by the "Celestial Maiden" mask from the Nine Masks Suparaka.
The core of those nine masks were all fox spirits, and the Nine Masks Suparaka itself was a summoning technique developed using Nine-Tails chakra.
Which meant he could only recreate those summons with the help of the tiny Nine-Tails.
Moving swiftly through the village, Menma used his mobility and Evil Intent Sensing to avoid the more perceptive ninja and eliminated two White Zetsu lurking beneath the Hokage Rock.
However, he didn't wipe out every Zetsu he found.
He only cleared the route between the orphanage and the Hokage Rock.
After all, Lord Pot Shadow probably wouldn't mind carrying a few extra pots.
By the time Obito and Black Zetsu realized something was wrong, Menma would likely already be living independently.
After finishing his work, Menma finally noticed how hungry he was and decided to grab something to eat.
Dropping into a small alley, he used Transformation Jutsu to disguise himself as an ordinary black-haired boy before stepping out and entering Ichiraku Ramen.
"Hey, I heard the war's about to end. Peace is finally coming, right?"
"The envoys from Kumogakure arrived yesterday. The Third Hokage personally hosted a banquet for them. Looks like this war is really over," two ninja chatted as they slurped their ramen.
'Envoys from Kumogakure?'
Menma sat down nearby.
That's right—this was the year 54 of Konoha.
The war between Kumogakure and Konohagakure would come to an end this very year.
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