Chapter 11: Interfering with the Hyūga Clan
The night in Konoha village remained lively, but today, little Naruto didn't go fishing by the stream. Instead, he lay down in bed early and went to sleep.
Meanwhile, on a tree outside his window, a figure wearing an ANBU mask hid among the branches.
Rustle!
A black shadow silently leaped from the rooftop onto the tree.
"Inu, shift change."
"Mm."
After a simple two-word exchange, the figure previously hidden in the tree quietly departed.
From the beginning to the end of the handover, the entire process took only about two minutes.
At this moment, inside the seal space, Menma slowly opened his eyes at the same time, a dark glint flashing within them.
Hatake Kakashi had finally left.
"Naruto."
Little Naruto, who was practicing hand seals nearby, turned his head at the sound, a confused expression on his face.
"It's too late, you should go back to sleep."
Little Naruto looked reluctant but still obediently said "Oh".
His figure slowly faded from the seal space.
Half an hour later, little Naruto was already fast asleep, and the ANBU responsible for surveillance outside began a new round of shift changes.
"Bear with it a little, Kurama."
After Menma spoke, the golden chains behind him directly bound the Nine-Tails' body.
Tailed Beast chakra, filled with a violent aura, gradually extended along the chains towards Menma.
However, by the time the chakra was absorbed, it had transformed into pure, high-quality golden chakra, free of impurities.
The Nine-Tails' mouth twitched at the sight, complaining inwardly: "It's clearly my Tailed Beast chakra, how the hell does this guy use it more smoothly than I do?"
And that darn 'Rasenringu' from before – it clearly had traces of the Tailed Beast Ball, but it had pondered for ages without figuring out the principle.
Even the Rasengan, which the Fourth developed based on the Tailed Beast Ball, hadn't stumped it back then.
It just disdained its low power, preferring to crush opponents directly with a Tailed Beast Bomb.
But that 'Rasenringu'...
Compressing so much chakra into a sphere the size of a finger – why was it so stable, even throwable?!
It knew that the much weaker Rasengan couldn't be thrown; once released, the chakra would rampage and disperse.
However, the Fourth seemed to have researched it before he died – perhaps adding chakra nature transformation to the non-elemental Rasengan could allow it to be thrown.
But in the Nine-Tails' perception, the Rasenringu, just like the Rasengan, was a non-elemental ninjutsu that didn't require hand seals.
"Can't figure it out... Maybe I should ask him when I get a chance?"
I gave him chakra, surely he wouldn't refuse my tiny request?
While the Nine-Tails was still hesitating, Menma was already controlling little Naruto's body to form hand seals.
Ox, Dog, Dragon, Rat, Dog, Boar, Serpent, Tiger!
Kurama's golden chakra flowed slowly along the pathways within Naruto's body.
A Shadow Clone instantly appeared beside the bed.
And this happened precisely during the ANBU shift change.
The Nine-Tails opened its mouth, then closed it, finally hesitating for a moment before saying: "...Be careful."
"Relax."
Menma patted its tail, smiling: "Your chakra is enough for me to exert ten percent of my strength. It's not much, but it's enough."
With that, he walked forward (representing the clone departing), and the Nine-Tails watched his figure slowly disappear.
It suddenly asked: "How do you view the Tailed Beasts?"
Menma stopped, his breathing becoming hurried.
After a moment of silence, his voice came out low: "You said before that I hate Konoha, but that statement isn't accurate."
"What I detest... is actually the lifeless, uninteresting world that is doomed to perish."
"Such a world has no value in existing!"
Although his tone was devoid of emotion, the Nine-Tails knew this guy Menma was angry.
In three years, this was the first time the Nine-Tails had seen Menma angry. The energy fluctuations from his soul body sent shivers down its spine.
It was like a volcano about to erupt in silence.
"Hooo~"
Menma let out a long breath, suppressing the surging violence within him, a smile reappearing on his face: "Sorry, Kurama. I lost my composure."
Although his soul came from another world, as Naruto's counterpart in the 'Limited Tsukuyomi' genjutsu world, the violence within him was innate, making him more susceptible to being blinded by hatred and power.
However, true strength lies not only in power but also in the heart.
"Parasites that halt their steps, indulge in illusions, and idly consume resources are destined for destruction and death."
"Kurama, don't stop your own steps forward."
After saying this, Menma's figure completely vanished.
The Nine-Tails stared at the spot where he disappeared, falling silent for a moment.
Uzumaki Menma, just what is chasing you?
...
Almost all Hyūga clan members were celebrating Hinata's third birthday. Many ninja clans on good terms with the Hyūga sent congratulatory gifts. Besides high officials from the Land of Fire, even officials from other countries attended the banquet.
This was the prestige and network of the ancient and powerful Hyūga clan.
At the same time, a figure appeared outside the Hyūga clan's compound.
Black medium-short hair, wearing a white three-eyed fox mask, black fingerless sleeve-covers, dark red bandages wrapped around his forearms and lower legs.
It was Menma's true appearance (via the Shadow Clone).
The mixture of physical energy produced by one hundred thirty trillion cells and spiritual energy is called 'stamina'. 'Stamina' is the basis for activating taijutsu.
And chakra is the product created by evenly mixing the two elements: spiritual energy and physical energy.
Menma used the Nine-Tails' chakra as raw material, used little Naruto's body as a relay, and then infused his own soul, which is spiritual energy.
Only then was this body forged.
Although its physical resilience was practically nil, its advantages were its completeness and convenience.
Until the chakra ran out, Menma could freely use his abilities.
For the tradition-bound Hyūga clan members, they would absolutely not keep their Byakugan active constantly during such an occasion; that would be extremely impolite.
And Menma had already thoroughly studied the Hyūga clan's defensive layout using Kagura Shingan.
He simply avoided a few sentry posts, silently scaled the wall, and walked in almost openly.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
This was a huge courtyard, and sounds of hitting echoed from within.
A corner of Menma's mouth lifted: "Interesting. Ran into one of the Konoha 12 right after getting in."
A boy stood in the courtyard, continuously striking a wooden post with a fluid set of fist techniques.
Each punch seemed light, but the wooden post appeared to reach some kind of critical point.
With a bang, it exploded directly from the inside.
That was the Gentle Fist (Jūken), a taijutsu style that injects one's own chakra into the enemy's body to damage their chakra pathway system and internal organs.
Ninjutsu that can train internal organs are extremely rare, so for most low-to-mid level ninja, every blow of the Gentle Fist is potentially lethal.
"Good luck, but unfortunately, now is not the time to meet you."
Just as Menma was about to leave, he suddenly stopped.
"Neji."
A man with long black hair, wearing a Konoha forehead protector, clad in a black combat suit and a green kimono-style jacket, walked into the courtyard.