At that very moment—
A deafening explosion tore through the air!
BOOM!
The Nine-Tails unleashed a Tailed Beast Bomb directly at the Hokage Rock! The piercing hum of its spiraling chakra echoed through the sky.
Hyuga Ranmo was standing atop the Third Hokage's stone head—right in the path of the incoming blast. He dropped into a crouch, pressing himself tightly against the stone behind him.
But he wasn't afraid.
He knew he wouldn't die.
Because, according to the original timeline, Minato Namikaze would use the Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder technique to teleport the Tailed Beast Bomb away at the last moment. He'd be fine.
Still, when the blinding orb of chakra came hurtling toward him at point-blank range, the sheer force of it was overwhelming. Ranmo's whole body trembled with awe.
And then—
[Host, would you like to activate Mirror Cloning? If you wish to raise your own Nine-Tails, cloning is now possible…]
The system's voice suddenly echoed in Ranmo's mind—and somehow, that was even more shocking than the bomb headed straight for him.
"Wait… we can clone a Tailed Beast?"
[Mirror Cloning can replicate any beast—only humans are excluded.]
"Yes! I want my own little Nine-Tails!"
When he'd first heard the system's name, Ranmo thought it was just some generic feature. But now?
This was next-level insanity.
"Alright—start Mirror Cloning!"
As soon as he spoke, a system interface appeared before his eyes. A cloned image of the Nine-Tails appeared in the cloning list. The cloning process began…
But the progress bar moved painfully slow, so slow it made him question his entire existence.
[Nine-Tails Cloning Progress: 0.00001%... 0.00002%...]
Meanwhile, down in the village, Minato had already teleported the Tailed Beast Bomb away. The battlefield was shifting.
At the same time, Kurenai Yuhi appeared beside Ranmo.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, scooping him up without waiting for a response. "Come on, I'll take you to the shelter!"
As Kurenai carried him away, Ranmo happened to glance back—just in time to see a dark figure emerging from a cave behind the Hokage monument.
It was Danzo Shimura.
One of his eyes was hidden behind white bandages, while the other stared down at Ranmo with a sinister glint—sharp, probing, suspicious. His brows furrowed as he stared silently at the boy being taken away.
Danzo had followed him all the way from Orochimaru's laboratory.
What was that child doing here?
It couldn't be a coincidence.
Could he be one of Orochimaru's test subjects from tonight?
If so… how did he escape?
Danzo turned and looked back toward the dark, winding passage inside the cliff. Something wasn't right. Why wasn't Orochimaru there tonight?
The earth still trembled with distant explosions.
The Nine-Tails roared like a force of nature.
Konoha burned under a sky of fire.
And the battle continued.
---
Ranmo was carried safely to a shelter. Inside the mountain cave, Yugao Uzuki rushed over as soon as she saw him, throwing her arms around him.
"You little brat! Where did you go?! You scared me half to death!"
Yugao was only ten years old—five years older than Ranmo. But in her eyes, this pale, delicate boy was just a little brother who needed constant protection.
And it wasn't just her.
Several other girls felt the same way. Even Hana Inuzuka, who was usually loud and rough, spoke to Hyuga Ranmo with a gentleness rarely seen from her.
"Ranmo, are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" one of the girls asked, eyes full of concern. "When the explosion hit, I went to your house, but you weren't there… I'm so glad you're safe!"
A small crowd of girls quickly formed around him, fussing and checking for injuries.
Well, it couldn't be helped.
After all—he was easily the most handsome boy among them.
Naturally, he attracted attention.
-----
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