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It was clearly a situation where peace was being maintained by sheer force of will.
Amidst this eerie atmosphere, the ninja world remained in a state of "forced calm." This allowed the smaller, well-informed villages to finally breathe a sigh of relief. For them, a Great Ninja War offered only downsides; there was never any profit in it for the little guys.
One wrong move, and they'd be sucked into the meat grinder of a war between the giants. It was the worst kind of luck. Even choosing a side was a logistical nightmare where one wrong move meant death—a true "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario.
Now that they could see the situation stabilizing, these smaller factions were the happiest of all.
However, precisely because the Great War didn't break out, the spotlight on Menma intensified.
Since the other nations couldn't take a bite out of the Hidden Leaf's territory, how could they possibly ignore a living, breathing Nine-Tails Jinchūriki running loose?
More personnel were deployed.
In the span of a few days, the area stretching from the Land of Fire to the Land of Rice Fields and the surrounding regions was crawling with scouts from every major village. Many of them were elite Jonin.
Over in the Hidden Cloud, the Fourth Raikage, A, had dispatched his most trusted right-hand man—Darui—to lead the search personally. In the Raikage's eyes, Menma was just a twelve-year-old kid. Even if he could access the Nine-Tails' chakra, how much damage could he really do?
Darui was currently one of the top fighters in the Cloud. Paired with an elite squad, the Raikage was certain they could drag Menma back—as long as they could lock down his location.
And if push came to shove? The Raikage was ready to storm the field himself!
The Nine-Tails.
The Fourth Raikage was dead set on getting it.
---
Meanwhile, the outside noise didn't bother Menma in the slightest.
After dealing with his first priority—securing a Summoning Contract—and completing his initial probe of the Hidden Waterfall Village, Menma took Karin and headed straight back to the Hidden Sound Village.
The trip had only taken two or three days. By the time Menma returned, Orochimaru had likely just arrived near Tanzaku Quarters in the Land of Fire to make contact with Tsunade.
Menma didn't ask any questions. Instead, he dove right back into his experimental rhythm.
If he could make a breakthrough in his biological experiments—or more accurately, if he could fully absorb and master the research data Orochimaru had given him—he could move on to the next phase: using himself as the test subject to develop his physical power.
Menma didn't know yet how far he could push the potential of his Uzumaki bloodline.
But if there was even a sliver of possibility, he would bet everything on it.
The Mastery of All Creation.
That was Menma's ultimate goal.
But the first problem to solve—the most practical one—was his physical strength. Spiritual matters would have to wait. You have to walk before you can run; you can't swallow the whole pie in one bite.
He needed a sense of urgency, but he absolutely couldn't afford to be reckless.
Just as Menma settled into his research groove, the Hidden Sound Village began its final preparations to evacuate.
This was an order Orochimaru had given before he left.
Now that the Sound Village's location was exposed, it couldn't continue to exist out in the open. The Land of Rice Fields was simply too close to the Land of Fire.
Once the Hidden Leaf got its act together, they would inevitably strike the Sound Village, even if just to save face. Orochimaru had spent over a decade building this force; if he could save it, he wasn't going to just throw it away.
Even though he had lost hundreds of Sound ninjas during the invasion of the Leaf, there were still hundreds remaining in the village. There were almost no Jonin among them, but the number of Chunin was still respectable.
These people were fanatically loyal to Orochimaru. In their eyes, Orochimaru had given them everything. Most were willing to die for him. Because of that, their combat potential shouldn't be underestimated.
Orochimaru certainly intended to make full use of them.
Just as the final relocation work was completed, Orochimaru returned with Kabuto, looking decidedly worse for wear.
It had been several days since they last met.
"Heh. It looks like your trip didn't go very smoothly, Orochimaru-san," Menma said with a light chuckle, crossing his arms and leaning back as he looked at the battered Sannin.
"I suppose I'm a bit of a laughingstock right now, Menma-kun. But I was mentally prepared for it. Tsunade is, after all, Sarutobi-sensei's student and the First Hokage's granddaughter. Oh, you might not have heard yet—Tsunade has decided to return to the Leaf to take over as the Fifth Hokage. Also... I ran into Naruto-kun."
Orochimaru wore an indifferent expression, his tone flat.
" The Fifth, huh? That was expected. The only people qualified were either Jiraiya or Tsunade. It certainly wasn't going to be Danzo Shimura," Menma sneered, a look of faint mockery on his face.
"As for Naruto? You don't need to test me, Orochimaru-san. Naruto is Naruto, and I am me. I no longer hold any expectations for that brother of mine. He, just like that man Jiraiya, is hopelessly stupid."
It wasn't a lie. There wasn't even a flicker of extra emotion.
To Menma, the current Naruto was just a stranger. As long as he didn't get in the way, everything was fine. But if Naruto stood on his path? Menma wouldn't hesitate. He wouldn't look at the people in this life through the nostalgic filter of his past life.
Everyone is defined by their choices.
That was the most rational, correct way to live.
Orochimaru, with his vast life experience, could naturally tell that Menma wasn't faking it. While he felt a sense of relief, he also felt a tinge of regret.
If Menma had emotional attachments, it would have created trouble, sure—but those attachments could have been leveraged.
"Heh, you misunderstand me, Menma-kun. I just wanted to let you know that Naruto-kun seems to be incredibly fixated on you. You might want to be a little careful on that front," Orochimaru said softly.
"Right. Thanks for the heads-up, Orochimaru-san," Menma replied nonchalantly.
"However... you came to see me the moment you got back. Surely it wasn't just to tell me that? If you have something to say, just say it. We don't need to dance around each other, do we?" Menma paused for a second before adding.
"Yes. I actually have a favor to ask of you, Menma-kun. I have a lot on my plate recently, and I'm a bit short on manpower. I was wondering if you would be willing to help? Of course... I wouldn't expect you to work for free."
Orochimaru narrowed his snake-like eyes, staring directly at Menma as he spoke in that familiar, raspy voice.