Those heterochromatic eyes releasing terrifying pressures swept slowly across the scene.
Under the cold gaze interwoven with the Mangekyo Sharingan and the Akaigan, Oyashiro Jin sat slumped on the ground.
The young clansmen behind him were even worse off, having lost even the courage to look up and meet the gaze of the white mask.
The entire village was enveloped in a deathly silence of fear, the very air seeming to solidify.
"Go get them." Menma's voice came through the mask, low and utterly devoid of fluctuation, shattering the suffocating silence.
It was an order for Oyashiro En, and a declaration to the entire Chinoike Clan.
Oyashiro En took a deep breath, suppressing the shock and complexity in his heart, and quickly walked towards the simple stone house.
Under the terrifying pressure Shura exerted over the entire area, Oyashiro Jin could only watch, powerless.
His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly as Oyashiro En helped his pale, haggard-looking wife out, followed by the wife carrying a girl of about eight years old in her arms. The girl, Chino, looked dazed and groggy, seemingly slow to react to external stimuli.
Menma's gaze, through the white three-eyed fox mask, fell upon the little girl.
Dazed, innocent, with an unnatural stupor.
This quietly overlapped with the image of Chino, who appeared in the later stages of Shippuden, her body forever remaining at a young age.
It was hard to imagine what the Chinoike Clan had done to this mother and daughter, leading to the death of Oyashiro En's wife and his daughter's body being forever stuck at eight years old, leaving an indelible trauma.
This is the trauma that drove Oyashiro En to slaughter his entire clan.
Watching Oyashiro En bring his wife and daughter back to his side, the last faint flicker of interest Menma had in the Chinoike Clan completely dissipated.
A pack of cowards, their fangs and claws worn down by a century of imprisonment, only capable of tearing at each other internally and blaming their suffering on the weak, were no longer worth his breath.
Instead, it was Oyashiro En from the original work, who avenged his wife and daughter by slaughtering the Chinoike Clan, who was worth recruiting personally.
In terms of strength, Oyashiro En was capable of wiping out a mid-sized Ninja Clan. In terms of intellect, he had managed a commercial company rivaling Gato Company. He was also a partner even Orochimaru valued.
"Let's go." Menma turned, his black robe swaying slightly in the barren valley's breeze, ready to lead the group away from this decaying prison.
Kakuzu and Kisame glanced at the Chinoike Clan, then at Oyashiro En and his family, and silently followed.
However, just as they were about to leave, a sudden change occurred!
Boom-!!!
The violent sound of thunder, like thousands of war drums beating simultaneously, rolled in from the direction of the Hell Valley's entrance!
Immediately afterwards, there was a roar that caused the earth to shake violently!
Several figures wreathed in dazzling lightning, like blue bolts of lightning tearing through the sky, charged into the canyon boldly, carrying overwhelming rage and killing intent!
The leader was mountainously burly, his bare upper body rippling with muscle, old scars savagely visible on his bronze skin… the Fourth Raikage, A!
His eyes were blood red, rampant Lightning Attribute Chakra covering his body like solid armor. Every step he took caused the ground to crack!
Close behind on his left was the fully transformed Two-Tails, Matatabi!
The massive blue cat-like body burned with ghostly blue flames, its two tails swaying, emitting an ear-splitting roar. Yugito's cold will controlled this destructive power!
On his right was the equally fully transformed Eight-Tails, Gyuki!
The massive octopus-bull monster let out a low roar, its eight thick tentacles flailing wildly. B's rapping was completely drowned out by the Tailed Beast's roar, leaving only pure vengeful fury!
Behind them, the four Elite Jonin: Darui, Toroi, Nurui, and C, each leading two fierce-looking Anbu wearing masks, charged into the valley like tigers released from a cage, close behind the Raikage and the Jinchuriki!
"Shura-!!!" Raikage's roar exploded over the dead silence of Hell Valley like thunder from the heavens, shaking loose rocks from the canyon walls!
His hate-filled gaze instantly locked onto the black-robed, white-masked figure at the valley's center, and the people gathered around him: Oyashiro En, Kakuzu, Kisame, and the others.
And those cowering near the stone houses, the Chinoike Clan's members in their ragged clothes!
"Bastards from the Chinoike!" Raikage's roar turned towards the terrified clansmen, his voice filled with the fury of betrayal: "You dare collude with Kumogakure's, the Land of Lightning's, sworn enemy?!!"
He gave them no chance to explain. His arm swept down like a sword of judgment as he issued a ruthless order to the elite Ninjas behind him: "Kill them! Leave none alive! Crush these traitors and invaders! Root them out!!"
"As you command, Raikage-sama!" Darui, Toroi, Nurui, and C responded in unison, their voices cold and murderous.
Each leading two elite Anbu, a total of twelve Jonin, instantly fanned out. Like the most precise killing machines, they became blurs of motion, carrying sharp killing intent and the piercing sound of tearing air, directly pouncing on the unarmed or poorly equipped Chinoike Clan's members!
Blades flashed, kunai whistled through the air, and screams instantly shattered the valley's dead silence!
"No! Raikage-sama! A misunderstanding! We didn't collude! They were forcing us! It's-" Oyashiro Jin was utterly terrified by the sudden slaughter, scrambling and crawling, trying to explain, his voice desperate and hopeless.
However, his pleas seemed pathetically weak before the vengeful fury and cold orders of the Kumogakure's Ninjas.
An Anbu coldly swung his sword at a clansman trying to resist beside Oyashiro Jin, blood instantly splashing across his face!
At the same time, Raikage, the fully transformed Two-Tails, and the Eight-Tails, Kumogakure's three strongest combatants, charged forward with the momentum to destroy everything.
Like three falling meteors, wreathed in savage lightning, ghostly blue flames, and massive Tailed Beast Chakra shockwaves, they crashed towards Menma and his core group: Kakuzu, Kisame, Oyashiro En, and his wife and daughter!
The air screamed as it was compressed, the very earth groaning under the pressure of the Tailed Beasts!
"Hmph!" Kakuzu snorted coldly. Beneath his wide black robe, the black threads of the Earth Grudge Fear surged out violently, intertwining before him.
Simultaneously, his hands flew through hand seals, Wind Attribute and Fire Attribute Chakra gathering in his palms!
Kisame reacted with equal speed. His sword slid from its sheath with an excited hum, gripped firmly in his hand. Deep blue Chakra, like flowing water, enveloped his entire body as he prepared to meet the charge head-on!
Oyashiro En immediately shielded his terrified wife and dazed daughter, Chino, behind him. The eyes behind his rhombus sunglasses began to glow red, a subtle yet powerful chakra fluctuation starting to coalesce around him!
Facing this terrifying impact capable of destroying a small nation, the figure behind the white three-eyed fox mask remained utterly calm.
He didn't even look at the three roaring, charging behemoths.
At the instant the attacks were about to land, his figure swayed like a ghost. His footwork carried a peculiar rhythm as he lightly tapped the ground a few times, seemingly at random. His entire body drifted backward like a willow catkin, evading Raikage's furious Lariat, the Two-Tails' massive descending paw, and the Eight-Tails' sweeping tentacle by a hair's breadth!
A violent energy shockwave exploded in the spot where he had just been standing, blasting a huge crater and sending rock and soil flying, yet it failed to even touch the hem of his robe!
Using that momentary opening, Menma's figure appeared as if teleporting next to Oyashiro Jin, who was being driven into a wretched and desperate state by a Kumogakure's Ninjas, his situation perilous!
The Anbu was swinging his blade towards Oyashiro Jin's neck, the edge vicious!
Menma didn't even make an extra move. He simply raised his right hand casually, his index finger lightly flicking the descending blade as if it were nothing!
Ding-!!!
A clear, ear-piercing metallic clang exploded!
A terrifying force surged through the blade!
The Anbu felt an irresistible force coming, his mouth instantly cracked, blood flowed out, and his entire arm was paralyzed.
The sword flew from his grasp, spinning like it was launched from a catapult, and embedded itself deeply into the distant rock wall!
Oyashiro Jin, his nerves shattered, looked blankly at the black-robed, masked figure who had suddenly appeared before him, deflecting the lethal blow with demonic ease.
Menma ignored the shocked, retreating Anbu. He looked down at Oyashiro Jin, slumped on the ground, his face covered in blood and despair, and slowly extended his black-gloved right hand.
"You see now. Your clan is ultimately doomed to destruction." Menma's voice came through the mask, clear in Oyashiro Jin's ears, carrying a hint of temptation that seemed to pierce the soul: "Submit to me. I can take you and your clansmen away from this Hell Valley, free you from the Land of Lightning's century-old shackles."
"This is your last chance."
Oyashiro Jin's pupils contracted violently.
He looked up sharply, his gaze sweeping over the hellish scene around him.
Clansmen being mercilessly cut down, screams unceasing; simple stone houses collapsing and burning under the bombardment of ninjutsu; the ruthless masks of the Kumogakure's Ninjas flashing amidst the firelight and bloodshed, like demons come to claim lives.
Raikage gave their Chinoike Clan no chance to explain.
He looked again at the extended hand before him.
A century of imprisonment, generations of humiliation, the blood of his clansmen.
All the fear, resentment, and unwillingness transformed at this moment into a heavy despair, and also into a final resolution.
'What choice did I have?'
'Did the Chinoike Clan have any choice left?'
"Ah-" A hoarse sound escaped Oyashiro Jin's throat. He looked at Menma's cold mask, then at the tragic state of his clansmen around him. The last trace of struggle in his eyes extinguished completely, leaving only submission and a thirst for revenge.
Summoning all his strength, he struggled to rise from the bloody mire. Facing Menma, heavily, bearing all the humiliation and unwillingness, he dropped to one knee, his head bowed deeply.
"I… Oyashiro Jin, leader of the Chinoike Clan, on behalf of the entire clan... submit to you! Shura-sama!" His voice was hoarse yet clear, filled with the desperation of someone burning their bridges: "As long as... as long as you can take us away from here, free us from this century-old cage! The Chinoike Clan will serve you for generations!"
"Good." A faint hint of a smile seemed to come from behind Menma's mask.
He withdrew his extended hand, his gaze turning towards the three colossal beings that had missed him with their charge and were now turning around, roaring as they prepared to charge again, and towards the Kumogakure's Ninjas wreaking havoc among the Chinoike Clan's members.
Just as Raikage's roar and the earth-shaking bellows of the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails erupted once more.
"Trying to outnumber us, Raikage-sama?" Menma's hands formed a single hand seal in front of his chest his chest!
"Nine Mask Svaha!"
Boom-!!!
A massive, heart-stopping surge of dark red Chakra erupted from Menma's body like a volcano!
This chakra carried the Nine Tails' unique savagery and darkness, yet it was firmly restrained and controlled by an even stronger will!
Immediately after, in the void behind Menma, nine enormous, pale red summoning arrays composed of complex seals materialized out of thin air!
"Azure, White, Vermillion, Black, Sky, South, North, Three, Jewel." A soft chant came from behind the mask.
Powerful spatial fluctuations distorted the surroundings. The nine arrays slowly brightened, like nine giant eyes from the abyss, coldly gazing down upon the savage battlefield below!
"Nine Masked Beasts! Crush them!"