Hagoromo Otsutsuki couldn't just magically grant power out of thin air.
Forget about regular people; even if you brought him a Super Kage-level shinobi, could Hagoromo just bestow his Yin and Yang power and instantly elevate them to the Six Paths tier?
That was a complete joke.
Naruto could manifest Truth-Seeking Orbs, and Sasuke could awaken the Rinnegan, primarily because their baseline strength had already reached the absolute pinnacle of the Super Kage tier. Furthermore, they were the reincarnations of Asura and Indra's chakra.
Only by building upon those two absolutely critical foundations, and then adding Hagoromo's Yin and Yang power, could they successfully attain power rivaling the Six Paths level.
All three elements were fundamental!
All three were strictly required.
Missing even a single one meant neither Naruto nor Sasuke could achieve that qualitative evolution.
Therefore, while Hagoromo's intervention was significant, it wasn't omnipotent. If he could truly just hand out Yin and Yang power to any random ninja and instantly grant them the Rinnegan or Truth-Seeking Orbs, then Hagoromo would genuinely be a god.
If he had that kind of power, why would he spend an eternity lingering in the Pure Land, constantly terrified of his mother breaking her seal? Because the old man simply didn't have that ability!
So, Menma didn't spare Naruto out of some underlying fear of Hagoromo. He did it purely as a contingency plan. If he actually failed, Naruto and Sasuke could still step up and play the "Saviors" just like in the original timeline.
No matter how much Menma despised Naruto's naive dream of a world built on "mutual understanding," he had to admit that achieving it would at least guarantee a temporary period of peace.
As long as Naruto was alive.
It was certainly a far better outcome than everyone being trapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi and slowly turning into White Zetsu one by one. At the very least, the world Naruto envisioned was still a normal, functioning world.
Originally, Menma had adopted a "let the world burn after I'm dead" mentality regarding his potential failure. But ultimately, he couldn't help but consider this safety net.
Even Menma himself felt he was being a bit hypocritical and overly sentimental about it. But that was simply the inherent contradiction of human nature.
I guess even someone like me still has a tiny shred of what they call a conscience, Menma thought silently, a self-deprecating smirk curling his lips.
The complexity of human nature couldn't be summed up in a single sentence or a single impression. This was especially true the deeper one dove into this chaotic, blended world.
Ultimately, Menma still carried the habits and minor personality quirks from his previous life. He couldn't truly become a flawless, cold-blooded "shinobi." It was unavoidable. Twenty years of lived experience couldn't just be erased.
One should never assume they are absolutely right, or inherently superior to everyone else. It's always incredibly easy for a bystander to criticize. But actually forcing them into the situation? That was an entirely different story.
It was the classic definition of "armchair quarterbacking."
Menma had his own reservations and his own doubts. But since his ultimate goal was already crystal clear, these reservations and doubts were minor issues. They wouldn't fundamentally alter his chosen path; they would, at most, prompt slight course corrections along the way. These were the kinds of challenges everyone inevitably faced while growing up.
The only difference was how each individual chose to handle them.
Menma would always stride firmly toward his designated goal. Perhaps it led to a radiant future; perhaps it ended in a bottomless abyss.
But Menma would absolutely never succumb to hesitation or regret.
This was the path he had chosen.
---
Correspondingly, after experiencing a cascade of events, the Hidden Leaf, led by Jiraiya and Tsunade, had also finalized their resolve.
For the safety of the Hidden Leaf.
For the "justice" of the Hidden Leaf.
In this war, as long as a sliver of possibility existed, they would sacrifice absolutely everything to secure a victory that rightfully belonged to them.
Throughout the final night of preparations, an uneasy silence settled over the camps.
As time slowly bled away, dawn broke.
"Move out!"
"Oooohhhhhh!!!"
To the exact east, within the camps of the two Great Ninja Villages, the joint operational command was issued.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Countless Leaf and Mist shinobi blurred out of their respective camps, following their specific orders as they surged toward the enemy lines.
According to their predetermined strategy, Mei Terumi and Ao would lead the Mist's main force in a wide flanking maneuver. Although their scouts had confirmed the Waterfall had deployed troops to secure both flanks, they firmly believed Menma's core army would be concentrated on the frontal battlefield.
The Leaf's army boasted a massive five thousand shinobi. In both sheer numbers and overall quality, they thoroughly eclipsed the Hidden Waterfall. They were led by Jiraiya himself, and their ranks were bolstered by elite Jonin from every major clan in the Leaf. A military force of this caliber was something even the Mist Village at its absolute peak would have to treat with extreme caution. No matter how strong the current Waterfall Village was, there was no way they had enough spare manpower to effectively block the Mist's flanking maneuver, right?
Furthermore, Mei Terumi had immense confidence in her own strength. Facing Menma Uzumaki—the man who defeated the Fourth Raikage—might be beyond her, but she didn't feel any significant pressure regarding anyone else. As a prime candidate for the next Mizukage and the wielder of two distinct Kekkei Genkai, she certainly didn't lack self-assurance.
The mobilization of the two Great Villages was instantly detected by the Waterfall's forward scouts.
As the intel relayed back to the frontline base, Menma, standing at the very edge of the stronghold, pushed his massive sensory net outward. He immediately locked onto the Leaf's vanguard. He specifically zeroed in on Jiraiya, who was leading the charge. The sheer density of the chakra radiating from the Toad Sage was far more terrifying than Menma had ever felt before.
It was saturated with a massive, incredibly familiar surge of Nature Energy.
Even from this distance, Menma could precisely detect the chakra signatures of the two elderly toads perched on Jiraiya's shoulders, exactly as they had been with Naruto yesterday.
Going all out from the very start? Heh. Fine. Let's have a proper war right here, Menma thought, a chilling light blooming in his eyes.
Menma raised his right hand high.
"Get ready!"
Beside him, Doran instantly understood the signal and roared the command.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Across the frontline trenches and parapets, the Waterfall shinobi, who had long since taken their positions, tensed.
A short while later, the moment the massive, overwhelming wave of Leaf shinobi crested the hills and entered their line of sight...
"Fire!!!" Doran roared, dropping his hand.
All across the stronghold, the Waterfall shinobi manning the control mechanisms slammed their hands down on the pre-prepared triggers.
Rumble! With the heavy clanking of dropping trapdoors, massive sections of the base's forward walls opened up.
Swish-swish-swish-swish-swish-swish-swish!
An endless barrage of kunai, shuriken, and other projectiles erupted from the openings, shooting outward at terrifying speeds. Like a localized hurricane of steel, the dense cloud of weaponry blotted out the sky, raining down over the advancing Leaf army and covering more than half of the vanguard's formation.
"Defensive formations!" Jiraiya shouted, sprinting at the very front. Seeing the incoming barrage, he didn't show a hint of surprise.
His hands blurred through a sequence of seals. "Sage Art: Earth Release: Earth Dome!"
Empowered by Sage Mode, he unleashed a wildly amplified Earth Release jutsu.
Rumble! In less than a second, a massive, incredibly thick dome of earth erupted from the ground directly in front of the vanguard, acting as an impregnable shield.
Simultaneously, from the flanks, over a hundred Leaf shinobi specializing in Earth Release leaped forward, mirroring Jiraiya's actions.
Rumble! "Earth Release!"
"Earth Release!"
"Earth Release!"
"Earth Release!"
A series of Earth-style defensive jutsu of varying ranks erupted, interlocking seamlessly to create a near-impenetrable wall protecting the vanguard's perimeter.
Other Leaf shinobi immediately began casting Wind and Water Release jutsu to deflect any strays.
Tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink!
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!
As the torrential rain of steel crashed against the defenses, a violent shower of sparks erupted. Deafening, ear-piercing screeches of grinding metal echoed across the entire battlefield.
The vast majority of the projectile barrage was successfully deflected or blocked. But a fraction of the shuriken and kunai managed to slip through the cracks, injuring—and in a few unlucky cases, outright killing—several Leaf shinobi.
But right as the projectile barrage hit...
What is that!? Suddenly, a few Leaf shinobi noticed a strange, subtle gleam beneath their feet. A second later, the veteran shinobi among them realized exactly what it was.
"Scatter! Move!" they screamed, their faces twisting in pure horror.
At that exact moment, from within the Waterfall base...
Menma smiled coldly. "Detonate."
With a soft command, he triggered a specific sequence of seals.
The next second, the earth beneath the Leaf vanguard violently erupted.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
A chain reaction of massive, devastating explosions ripped through the front lines. The ground had been heavily mined with explosive tags buried deep within the soil.
Menma had invested heavily in this trap, practically draining the Hidden Waterfall's entire treasury. While it was nowhere near the absurd scale of Konan's "Paper Person of God Technique," this chain of explosions was more than enough to inflict devastating casualties on the Leaf shinobi charging the base.
"Aaaagh!"
"Gah!"
"Ugh!"
Bodies were violently hurled into the air, accompanied by severed limbs and geysers of blood. Unlike the initial projectile barrage, this trap was catastrophic. Over a thousand Leaf shinobi were caught in the blast radius, leaving them either dead or critically wounded. The fatality rate among those hit hovered around fifty percent.
Before the close-quarters combat had even officially begun, the Leaf had already paid an agonizingly bloody price.
In that moment, both Jiraiya—who had narrowly dodged the blasts at the front—and Shikaku—commanding from the rear—wore incredibly grim expressions.
It wasn't because they hadn't encountered explosive tag traps before. It was because their initial sweeps and sensory jutsu hadn't detected a single trace of them!
Explosive tags required chakra to detonate. Missing a few was understandable. But missing thousands of them? Not detecting a single one?
Were the Leaf's sensory ninja completely useless? Were they slacking off? Obviously not. There was only one logical explanation: the enemy had used some unknown, novel method to conceal them, or the tags themselves had been specially modified!
Shikaku's expression was grave as his mind raced.
He was right.
Normally, burying explosive tags deep underground could hide them visually, but the distance and depth made them harder to detonate, and any competent sensory ninja could still detect the dormant chakra within them. That was exactly why relying on pre-planted explosive tags in large-scale warfare rarely worked. No village commander was stupid enough to blindly march their army into a minefield without sweeping it first. Mistakes happened, but a blunder of this magnitude was impossible.
Menma had anticipated this. Over a month ago, he had personally modified this entire batch of explosive tags. Not only did he amplify their explosive yield, but he also altered their composition so that, unless they were actively triggered, they emitted absolutely zero chakra signature.
Unless the Leaf shinobi literally crawled on their hands and knees, meticulously sweeping every inch of the ground like a bomb squad, they would never have detected Menma's custom "Thunder-Fire Array."
The massive, devastating impact of the bombardment was undeniable.
From inside the base, Menma could clearly sense the rapid disappearance of countless chakra signatures. A look of deep satisfaction filled his eyes.
The results had perfectly met his expectations.
"Keep firing!"
This was the absolute textbook definition of a geographical advantage. Menma fully intended to exploit it to the absolute limit before the final clash began.
"Fire!"
"Detonate!"
Swish-swish-swish-swish-swish!
BOOM!
Another massive wave of freezing steel rained down, accompanied by the deafening roar of artillery. Cannons of various calibers, hastily rolled out from hidden bunkers across the base, began launching shell after shell. While most were standard explosive rounds, a small fraction were specialized cannons firing concentrated chakra blasts. The alternating barrage inflicted massive, sustained damage on the advancing Leaf forces.
Every piece of this defense was born from Menma's painstaking effort. He knew perfectly well that in terms of sheer foundation and resources, the Waterfall was entirely outmatched by the Five Great Nations. To bridge that gap, he had to innovate in equipment, technology, and tactics.
It was the most direct and reliable method to rapidly boost the village's military strength in a short amount of time.