Chapter 35: The Fox's Rampage
Another explosion shook Konoha.
The arena trembled violently as cracks spread across the walls and dust rained from above. Many civilians who had been caught in Menma's genjutsu were still unconscious, while the awake shinobi stared toward the direction of the explosions with pale faces.
Even the jonin were tense.
Because whatever was happening outside… was not normal.
Naruto's eye twitched slightly.
Inside his mindscape, Kurama was laughing like a maniac.
"HAHAHAHA! Another one gone!"
Naruto pressed a hand against his forehead.
{Kurama… what the hell are you doing?}
{Testing moves.}
{You're destroying half the village!}
{Details.}
Naruto's mouth twitched violently.
Beside him, Ino and Hinata noticed his expression immediately.
{Naruto-kun… is Kurama-san really okay?} Hinata asked nervously through the telepathy seal.
{Okay?} Naruto deadpanned mentally. {That overgrown fox is roleplaying as a Pokémon trainer right now.}
Ino nearly snorted out loud.
She quickly covered her mouth while trembling from suppressed laughter.
{Wait… is he seriously using those attack names?}
{YES!} Naruto shouted mentally. {That idiot screamed "Hyper Beam" while firing a Bijūdama laser!}
Hinata's shoulders trembled slightly.
She was trying very hard not to laugh in the middle of a national crisis.
Another distant boom echoed through Konoha.
The ground shook again.
Ino swallowed.
{…Should we be worried Konoha might actually get destroyed?}
Naruto went silent for a moment.
{Honestly? Fifty-fifty.}
Hinata and Ino froze.
Meanwhile, outside the arena, Kurama was having the time of his life.
Danzo barely reformed before Kurama appeared in front of him again.
"Too slow."
A claw slammed into Danzo's chest.
BOOM!
Danzo crashed through multiple stone walls as blood sprayed from his mouth. Before he could even stabilize himself, Kurama appeared above him with five chakra tails dancing wildly.
"Shadow Ball."
A compressed sphere of dark chakra slammed into Danzo's body.
The explosion swallowed the entire area.
Danzo screamed as another Sharingan closed forever.
Kurama tilted his head.
"Hm… maybe I used too much chakra."
He looked around at the burning underground ruins with satisfaction.
Root's hidden base was gone.
The tunnels had collapsed.
Fire spread through the underground chambers while dead Root agents lay buried beneath rubble and molten stone.
Kurama sniffed the air.
"Tsk. I barely started."
Danzo staggered out from another Izanagi revival point, breathing heavily.
Half his arm was already closed.
Fear finally appeared in his remaining eye.
"What… are you?"
Kurama grinned beneath the mask.
"The thing your generation should've never provoked."
Danzo formed hand seals instantly.
Wind blades exploded forward.
Kurama casually dodged them.
"Too weak."
He vanished.
Danzo's instincts screamed.
He barely turned before a tail smashed into his side.
CRACK!
Bones shattered.
Danzo flew across the crater like a broken ragdoll.
Kurama laughed loudly.
"This is fun!"
Back in the arena, another shockwave arrived.
Everyone's expressions became uglier.
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes.
"Something big is happening outside."
"Then go," Menma spread his arms mockingly. "Nobody is stopping you."
Nobody moved.
Because Menma himself was enough to keep everyone frozen.
The black Rasendan earlier had already proven that.
If they moved recklessly, he could erase the entire arena instantly.
Hiruzen's old face was drenched in sweat.
The situation had completely spiraled beyond his control.
Menma looked down at him coldly.
"What's wrong, Hokage-sama? Why so quiet now?"
Hiruzen clenched his pipe tightly but said nothing.
Menma scoffed.
"You spent decades preaching about the Will of Fire while letting darkness rot this village from the inside."
His voice echoed across the ruined arena.
"You let Root kidnap children."
"You let clans get weakened politically."
"You let Danzo do whatever he wanted as long as your position remained stable."
"That's your Will of Fire?"
The clan heads remained silent.
Because deep down…
They knew there was truth in those words.
Menma's gaze shifted toward Kakashi.
"And you."
Kakashi's visible eye narrowed slightly.
"The son of Sakumo Hatake."
Guy immediately stepped closer.
"Kakashi…"
Kakashi didn't respond.
Menma's voice remained calm.
"Tell me. Did you ever truly believe your father deserved what happened to him?"
Silence.
Heavy silence.
Kakashi's fists clenched tightly.
"No," he finally answered quietly.
The arena froze.
Menma laughed bitterly.
"Exactly."
"He saved his comrades and became a disgrace for it."
"He protected precious people and got abandoned by the very village he served."
"The White Fang was a hero."
"Your village killed him."
Kakashi lowered his head.
His shoulders trembled slightly.
Guy placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Don't do anything reckless."
Because Guy could already feel it.
Kakashi was angry.
Truly angry.
Not at Menma.
At the village.
At the truth he had always tried to ignore.
Shikaku sighed heavily.
"What a troublesome mess."
Inoichi folded his arms silently.
Hiashi's Byakugan remained active as veins bulged around his eyes.
The documents exposing the Hyuga incident still remained clenched in his hand.
The more he thought about Hizashi…
The angrier he became.
Hanabi looked confused while standing near him.
"Father…"
Hiashi slowly closed his eyes.
For the first time in years, doubt appeared in him.
Had his brother really died for peace?
Or had he simply died for politics?
Near Naruto, Hinata looked toward her father quietly.
She had never seen him this shaken before.
Naruto noticed her expression.
Without looking at her, he spoke mentally.
{You okay?}
Hinata nodded slightly.
{…I think so.}
Ino crossed her arms mentally.
{This village is seriously messed up.}
{That's why I'm cleaning it up,} Naruto replied.
Another explosion echoed outside.
Naruto immediately groaned.
{Kurama! Stop blowing up mountains!}
{No!}
{You promised controlled destruction!}
{I lied.}
Naruto nearly developed a migraine.
Ino finally lost it.
She burst into laughter through the telepathy seal.
{HAHAHAHA! Naruto, your fox is insane!}
{I KNOW!}
Even Hinata was covering her mouth now.
Her shoulders shook softly from suppressed laughter.
Naruto sighed tiredly.
{I swear… one day I'm sealing his mouth shut.}
Inside the crater, Danzo was panicking.
Another Sharingan had closed.
Three remaining.
Kurama slowly walked toward him while cracking his neck.
"You know… someone told me not to destroy too much."
Purple chakra flared around him.
"But honestly? Your face annoys me."
Danzo formed seals desperately.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets!"
Compressed wind bullets blasted toward Kurama.
Kurama opened his mouth.
"Dragon Pulse."
A red beam exploded forward.
The attacks collided.
BOOOOOOM!
Danzo's jutsu shattered instantly.
The beam swallowed him whole.
Another Sharingan closed.
Kurama whistled.
"Huh. That one was cool."
Back in the arena, Menma raised another scroll.
"Should I continue?"
Nobody answered.
Because everyone knew more horrors were coming.
"The Uchiha massacre," Menma spoke calmly.
The atmosphere instantly changed.
Sasuke's head snapped upward.
His Sharingan activated unconsciously.
Menma continued coldly.
"A clan isolated politically."
"A coup pushed forward through manipulation."
"And a child forced to slaughter his own family."
Sasuke's breathing became unstable.
"What…"
Kakashi's eye widened.
Even Hiruzen's face darkened further.
Menma looked directly at Sasuke.
"You want revenge, don't you?"
Sasuke clenched his fists.
"Yes."
"Then direct your hatred properly."
The arena became silent again.
Menma pointed toward the elders.
"Your brother wasn't the only one responsible."
Sasuke froze.
"No…"
"Itachi was a weapon."
The words shattered whatever calm Sasuke had left.
It was his brother who killed his clan… his family.
How could he mistake it? He witnessed everything with his own eyes.
He couldn't accept it.
He didn't want to accept it.
"You're lying!" he shouted angrily, yet a glimmer of hope ignited inside him. What if… just what if… his brother had been manipulated?
Menma laughed mockingly.
"Then ask your precious Hokage."
Sasuke turned instantly toward Hiruzen.
The old man remained silent.
That silence alone…
Was enough.
Sasuke's eyes trembled.
Had he hated the wrong person this whole time?
He hated his brother for so long… for what?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
His Sharingan began spinning as his chakra turned violent.
Kakashi immediately appeared beside him before he lost control emotionally.
"Calm down."
"How can I calm down?!" Sasuke shouted.
His Sharingan spun violently.
Guy glanced toward Kakashi worriedly.
This entire arena was becoming a powder keg.
And Menma was lighting every fuse one after another.
Naruto rubbed his forehead again.
{This day is exhausting.}
{You are doing great though,} Ino admitted.
{Too great. At this rate, I might just start a civil war.}
Hinata looked toward Menma.
{Naruto-kun… what's the plan after this?}
Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly.
{Simple.}
Another distant explosion echoed.
{First, Kurama finishes beating Danzo into paste.}
{Then?} Ino asked.
Naruto smiled slightly.
{Then Konoha changes.}
[Spacial chapter for Arc_D_Lucifer. Thx for wating so Long for this fic 💝😭]