Unrivaled power.
A formidable aura radiating outward.
At this moment...
Merely by tapping into the initial stages of the Nine-Tails chakra, Menma had already reached the absolute limit of Jonin-level intensity.
These Root elites had fundamentally misjudged Menma's strength.
"Wind Style: Great Vacuum Sphere!"
He unleashed Wind Style jutsu in rapid succession.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
One after another, spheres of jade-green wind shot out, bombarding forward with incredible ferocity.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique."
A Root member, quick of eye and hand, formed seals at extreme speed. A roaring water dragon lunged down viciously.
Rumble.
Bang!
It intercepted the jade-green wind spheres Menma had released head-on. At the same time, from the right, the Root leader...
Closed the distance.
Zzzzzzz!
A streak of lightning was pulled directly from his hands.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Arc Technique."
Like a soft whip, it lashed out, pressing into close range.
Menma wore a look of disdain on his face.
"Haa!"
With a low shout...
The Nine-Tails chakra erupted further.
Two demon fox tails materialized behind him in sync.
Crack!
Menma didn't dodge or evade. He extended his right hand directly.
With the most barbaric posture, he forcibly grabbed that "lightning whip."
This unexpected development...
Caused the Root member's pupils to contract sharply.
'He grabbed it!?'
This was a scene completely beyond comprehension.
But Menma wouldn't give this guy any extra time to react.
Forcing down the numbing sensation transmitted to him, he pressed down with brute force.
Swish!
With a powerful swing...
"Not good!"
The Root leader instantly felt his body become weightless. His flailing form was flung forcefully toward the left.
He smashed right into a Root member wearing a cat mask who was leaping forward.
Zzzzzzzzz!
Unable to control it at all, the "lightning whip" coiled around them, blooming with the power of thunder.
"Arghhhhh!"
Both Root members let out blood-curdling screams reflexively.
Seizing this opportunity...
Menma pressed forward at breakneck speed.
Swish.
Flipping out a sharp kunai...
Amidst the ugly expressions of the other Root members who wanted to support but were too late...
Pfft!
Menma, wielding the kunai with ease, swiped swiftly across the throats of the two Root members.
The sharp edge dug deep.
"Stop, Menma!"
Amidst the sharp shout from a distance...
A figure appeared suddenly.
Seeing the familiar figure entering his view...
Menma raised an eyebrow.
Yet he didn't hesitate in the slightest, driving the kunai home with lethal intent.
"Ugh!?"
Two kills with one stroke.
Right in front of the newcomer, he forcibly killed these two Root members.
Accompanied by splashing blood...
And life force draining away rapidly...
After their consciousness plunged completely into darkness, the corpses of the two Root members smashed heavily into the lake below.
Splash.
They sank straight down.
Witnessing Menma's incredibly sharp and ruthless killing...
The newcomer's face turned extremely grim.
In less than ten minutes of combat, three out of seven Root members had died at Menma's hands, including the leader who possessed at least Tokubetsu Jonin strength.
Of the remaining four Root members, two had already sustained varying degrees of injury. Only two remained in decent condition.
This naked display of the gap in strength...
And most importantly, that incredibly ruthless attitude...
"Menma, why do you have to go to such extremes? You are Minato-sensei's son, after all. The Leaf is the home that gave birth to you and raised you. Must you walk down this dark path to the end!?"
The newcomer looked at Menma with a pained expression and asked.
Familiar silver-white hair, and that single exposed three-tomoe Sharingan.
"Heh, Kakashi. What do you mean by 'a dark path to the end'? No, in my view, this is the correct path. Since the Leaf can't tolerate me, I'll go find my own future. Is that not the correct thing to do? Just like your father back then—the higher-ups and the common people didn't understand him, so he chose his own way to find release. Although it seemed a bit foolish, isn't the essence the same? Kakashi."
Menma looked at Kakashi Hatake with a cold gaze. His seemingly casual words were actually digging at Kakashi's scars.
Causing the pupil of this "Mr. 50/50" to contract sharply.
"Besides, you know my father was your teacher, yet you still have the courage to stand in front of me and spout nonsense? I really have to admire you. Or do you think that taking care of Naruto is enough? Of course, I never expected a laughable and cowardly guy like you to take care of me. But just as you chose to ignore me for the past twelve years, the current you has absolutely no right to speak these high-sounding words in front of me, Kakashi Hatake. Furthermore, don't tell me you don't know how dark this village is. Leaving aside everything else, the foul deeds committed by Danzo Shimura alone are enough, aren't they? And what about the image of Hiruzen Sarutobi, who tolerated—or rather, tacitly permitted—Danzo to do so?"
Menma continued, his face full of mockery.
"Are you going to tell me that Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't know about those things? Then that Third Hokage would truly be utterly stupid. I'd have to feel sorry for the Second Hokage back then for choosing such a hopeless thing as his successor."
"Menma, you..."
Kakashi's face froze, rendered completely speechless.
As someone who had served in the Anbu for years and had personally witnessed Danzo sending people to assassinate Hiruzen Sarutobi...
He knew very well that everything Menma said was the absolute truth.
As for why Menma knew these things clearly...
Kakashi naturally attributed it all to Orochimaru.
That man used to be a bona fide quasi-high-level figure in the Leaf and had close ties with Danzo.
He would definitely know the inside scoop on the village better than anyone.
"So, let everything be spoken through power, Kakashi. Here, it's either you die, or I die!"
Looking at the irrefutable Kakashi...
The look of disgust in Menma's pupils became increasingly obvious.
This was the typical hypocrisy—acting high and mighty while doing the opposite. In Menma's view, a large group of people in the Leaf were exactly like this.
'So this is the so-called Will of Fire.'
Boom!
Chakra erupted to the extreme.
Whoosh!
With a leap...
Menma launched a fierce assault directly toward the location of the remaining few Root members.
Since Danzo dared to issue a "kill on sight" order, then he would start by carving up this group of his subordinates!