Hum—!
A vast wave of Chakra, carrying a sense of restraint and sealing power, suddenly erupted from the center of the thick mist!
Then, several dazzling golden lights, like lightning tearing through the night, pierced through the thick mist!
"What the hell?!" Suigetsu's startled cry came from within the thick mist, as if he had run into some invisible barrier.
Samui, who was preparing to break out, also felt a powerful resistance ahead, as if she had crashed into an invisible yet tough wall. She was forcefully bounced back, staggering backward.
"This is... a barrier?" Ao, who possessed the Byakugan, had less limited vision in the thick mist.
He watched in shock as several extremely thick golden chains, composed entirely of Chakra, extended from behind Karin, rapidly interweaving and circling in the air, end to end. In the blink of an eye, they constructed a giant hemispherical barrier cage above and around the area where they were!
The barrier emitted an indestructible aura, enveloping everyone inside!
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Temari's voice sounded. She swung her three-star fan, and several powerful whirlwinds howled out, quickly dispersing the permeating thick mist.
As the mist cleared, the people trapped inside the barrier finally saw the scene before them.
"Wh-What the hell?!" Suigetsu picked himself up from the ground, looked up in shock at the hemispherical barrier dome formed by five interwoven golden chains above his head, emitting a faint golden light, and then at the boundaries also sealed by the barrier walls on all sides. His jaw nearly dropped to the ground.
"What kind of Ninjutsu is this?!" Chojuro also looked up, pushed up his glasses, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty as he swallowed his saliva.
The scale of this barrier made him feel suffocated.
Honoka, who had been quietly standing behind Ao with little presence, now stepped forward, extending her slender fingers to gently touch the golden chains of the barrier wall.
A cool yet tough touch came from her fingertips, along with a familiar and warm Chakra Fluctuation.
A flicker of complex emotion passed through her eyes, and she murmured to herself: "This is... the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Technique, [Adamantine Sealing Chains]."
Although Honoka had mastered very few of the Uzumaki Clan's secret techniques, the memories deep in her blood allowed her to instinctively sense the name of this technique.
"The Uzumaki Clan's secret technique?" Ao's expression turned even uglier upon hearing this.
He looked towards the center of the barrier, at the red-haired girl from whose back five golden chains extended, standing proudly with a pair of glasses.
'A member of the Uzumaki Clan in the Land of Stars, and at such a young age, her mastery of Sealing Techniques was already this high...'
On the other side, with the Kumogakure's team, Karui raised her Ninja Sword and tried to viciously stab the golden chains of the barrier wall within reach.
Clang—!
A crisp sound of metal clashing rang out. The Ninja Sword was forcefully bounced back by an irresistible force, numbing Karui's arm.
She exclaimed in shock: "This barrier... is so hard! We can't break it at all!"
Even Samui, who was well-traveled and knowledgeable, had an unprecedented grave expression on her usually cool face.
She withdrew her Chakra from probing the barrier, looked at Karin with eyes full of dread, and explained to her companions in a deep voice: "That's right, this is the famous sealing secret technique of the Uzumaki Clan, Adamantine Sealing Chains..."
"It's said that when this technique is trained to its extreme, it can even forcibly restrain and imprison a rampaging Tailed Beast."
"I didn't expect someone her age to be able to..."
"Can even restrain a Tailed Beast?!" Omoi also looked incredulous.
In Kumogakure, successive Raikage had always used absolute power and speed to suppress the Eight-Tails, then cooperated with special Sealing Techniques.
In the entire history of Kumogakure, almost only successive Raikage had been able to suppress Tailed Beasts.
But this girl before them, who looked even younger than them, alone using a Sealing Technique, possessed the power to restrain a Tailed Beast?
Shikamaru and Ino, carrying the unconscious Choji, also looked up at the all-encompassing barrier and the five golden chains, and the Land of Stars' Genin standing proudly at the barrier's center. The last glimmer of hope in their hearts was extinguished.
He sighed, rubbed his throbbing temple with one hand, and smiled bitterly at the still-panicked Ino beside him in a low voice: "This... is really a huge problem now. We can't run."
Sasuke, meanwhile, was staring intently at the five slightly swaying golden chains behind Karin, then at Gaara, who was indifferently overlooking from mid-air. The three tomoes in his Sharingan trembled uncontrollably with shock.
'These two...'
'One is a Jinchuriki with the terrifying power of a Tailed Beast, the other masters a Sealing Technique capable of binding a Tailed Beast...'
'And they are merely Ninja the same age as me? The Land of Stars... what kind of place is it?'
Just as everyone was in despair, shock, or confusion, a voice completely at odds with the tense atmosphere on site suddenly came from outside the Adamantine Sealing barrier: "Oh? Everyone's here. Perfect, saves me the trouble of looking for you."
The voice wasn't loud, but it clearly penetrated the barrier and reached everyone's ears.
Everyone's heart jolted!
'At this chaotic time, who else would come to a place like this?'
'And judging by that familiar tone...'
Everyone instinctively looked towards the sound.
There, outside the barrier, three people stood quietly, having arrived at some unknown time.
It was Menma, Hinata, and Naruto, who had just withdrawn from the arena.
Menma, wearing simple black athletic wear, stood calmly outside the barrier, as if the tense, drawn-out scene before him was just an ordinary sight.
He looked at the people inside the barrier, standing or sitting, all made miserable by Gaara, then at Gaara and Karin at the barrier's center. He nodded, as if he had expected this situation all along.
Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, Menma did something that left everyone dumbfounded.
He raised his right hand, extended his index finger, and gently tapped it against the seemingly indestructible barrier wall.
The moment his fingertip touched, the powerful barrier formed by the Adamantine Sealing Chains, capable of binding the Nine-Tails, actually rippled like water, a gentle ripple spreading.
Then, Menma's finger, as if inserted into tofu, easily 'cut open' the barrier, and then he pulled his hands apart to both sides.
Rip—!
A sound as faint as tearing cloth.
He had easily 'torn open' a gap in the barrier, wide enough for two people to walk through side by side, as if lifting a curtain!
"Go on in." Menma turned sideways and said to Hinata, who was also somewhat stunned behind him, and Naruto, who was full of curiosity and looking around.
"Ah? Oh, okay!" Although Naruto didn't quite understand the situation, he had absolute trust in Menma. He scratched his head and was the first to squeeze through the gap.
Hinata also blushed and quietly said, "Um... excuse us," then followed Naruto in.
Then Menma himself stepped forward and calmly walked into the barrier.
The moment he entered, the 'torn' gap in the barrier quickly automatically healed, restoring to its original state, as if it had never been breached.
Inside and outside the barrier, there was complete dead silence.
Everyone from Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Konoha, including Elite Jonin like Ao and Samui, were all as if struck by a paralysis technique, their eyes wide, looking at the scene before them in disbelief.
'That Adamantine Sealing Chains barrier, which hadn't budged an inch when Karui's Ninja Sword struck with all her might, capable of binding a Tailed Beast...'
'Had been lightly 'cut open' by this black-haired boy with his fingers?!'
'How is that possible?!'
'How did he do it?!'
Naruto entered the barrier, saw the strange atmosphere and that many people were injured, especially upon seeing the unconscious Choji and the heavily injured Atsui. He was startled, his blue eyes full of confusion and worry, and couldn't help asking: "Huh? What happened? Why is everyone... Choji? How did he get hurt? Who did it?"
His question was particularly clear in the silent barrier.
Hinata also nervously scanned the surroundings. Her Byakugan saw the disordered Chakra and injuries inside everyone's bodies, making her even more uneasy. She instinctively moved closer to Menma.
Facing Naruto's naive, or perhaps slow, question, and the gazes of everyone, a mix of shock, doubt, and wariness, Menma had no intention of explaining.
His gaze calmly swept over the entire scene, finally landing on Gaara and Karin.
"Gaara, Karin." Menma's voice sounded, carrying more of an instructive tone than usual.
"Hinata and Naruto, I'll leave them in your care for now. Also, treat Choji's injuries."
As soon as he said this, the already silent atmosphere became even more grave!
Upon hearing this, Gaara slowly lowered the sand platform beneath his feet until his feet touched the ground.
He slightly bowed to Menma, with unprecedented respect, and said solemnly:
"Yes, Menma-sama. Please rest assured."
And Karin, who had been aggressive and ready to settle scores with Suigetsu, upon hearing Menma's words, the fierce 'I want to fight' expression on her face instantly disappeared. Although a bit disappointed, she also became somewhat more obedient.
She clapped her hands. The five golden chains behind her still maintained the barrier's stability, but her posture relaxed considerably. She gave Menma a bright smile:
"Hey~! Menma-kun, go take care of business with peace of mind!"
"These guys, with me and Gaara watching them, I guarantee they won't let anyone lay a finger on Naruto and... Hinata!" Karin noticeably paused when she said Hinata, a bit reluctantly.
'Menma-sama?'
'Menma-kun?'
Gaara's respectful address of 'sama', Karin's affectionate address of 'kun', and the two's unconcealed submissive postures made everyone in the barrier except the Land of Stars pause in their breathing!
Sasuke suddenly turned his head, his gaze moving back and forth between Gaara and Menma. Sai and Shigaraki beside him felt a chill sweep through their entire bodies, their hands holding their Ninja Swords sweating slightly.
The bitter smile on Shikamaru's face froze, his mind went blank.
Ao and Samui glanced at each other, both seeing extreme shock and dismay in the other's eyes!
Suigetsu, Chojuro, Karui, Omoi... everyone was stunned.
And the most shocked and confused were undoubtedly Naruto and Hinata, who had just been entrusted to Gaara and Karin.
"Huh? Menma-nii?" Naruto pointed at his own nose, then at Gaara and Karin, finally looking at Menma, his face bewildered.
"Leaving us... in their care? What do you mean? Aren't Gaara and Karin... from the Land of Stars? Menma-nii, you..."
Hinata also covered her mouth, her white eyes wide open, looking at Menma's profile, then at the respectful Gaara and the beaming Karin, her mind somewhat confused.
Menma ignored the shocked gazes of everyone and Naruto's stammering questions.
He slightly turned his head, his gaze penetrating the Adamantine Sealing barrier, looking towards a certain direction in the arena. A flicker of coldness flashed deep in his eyes.
His Mind's Eye of the Kagura, covering the entire Konoha Village, perceived the dynamics of the entire scene, including Kakashi and Guy fighting against Yukimi and Neji, Adult Sasuke seemingly stopping Boruto, who wanted to interfere, and Jiraiya, who had just arrived at the arena...
But what concerned Menma most was that, just now, above this chaotic arena, two familiar and dangerous 'voids' had abruptly appeared.
That emptiness, undetectable by ordinary Chakra sensing methods, was exceptionally familiar.
One was Otsutsuki Urashiki.
The other was... Jigen!
Menma was somewhat surprised. He had thought the intruder would be Urashiki. He hadn't expected Jigen, who had been hiding in the shadows, to come as well.
'Did Urashiki bring reinforcements?' Menma wondered curiously, 'How did Urashiki think to find Jigen?'
But even if the two Otsutsuki joined forces, Menma was not afraid in the slightest.
After absorbing the Juvenile Ten-Tails twice, his Dark Nine-Tails had evolved to be comparable to an adult Ten-Tails.
Even Isshiki from another Space-Time had both his arms cut off by him, and his main body had been blasted to nothing by the Great Spiralling Ring.
'In the eyes of these two Otsutsuki, the Konoha Crush Plan might be nothing more than a farce of ants.'
'The question was, were their targets the Nine-Tails and Naruto, or... myself, this disguised 'vessel'?'
'But regardless, they could not be allowed to approach here and harm Naruto and Hinata.'
Menma withdrew his gaze, looked at Naruto, who was full of question marks and wanted to ask more, and then at Hinata beside him, who was shocked but more concerned and looking at him. His heart was slightly moved.
He didn't explain. He just reached out, gently ruffled Hinata's silky hair, and patted Naruto's prickly, golden hedgehog head. His movements were gentle.
"Stay here obediently until this incident is over." Menma's voice was very low, also very gentle.
"I have some 'guests' I need to 'entertain'. I'll be back soon."
Upon hearing this, Hinata, who usually blushed easily, spoke softly, and was shy in front of Menma, her body trembled. Then she suddenly raised her head!
The look in her pure white eyes changed instantly!
It was no longer shy and gentle, but replaced by a sharp pride, even carrying a hint of wildness and dazzling light!
The blush on her face quickly faded. She casually swept her somewhat disheveled hair back, her movements crisp and clean, a completely different person from her usual careful, reserved self.
"Tch, finally my turn." Big Sis Hinata flexed her wrists, producing a faint cracking sound.
"Don't worry, Menma!" She put one hand on her hip, punched the air in front of her with the other fist, and gave Menma a smile with a hint of roguishness yet full of confidence, saying: "If anyone is stupid enough to dare bully Naruto, this idiot..."
"My fist will properly teach them how to behave!"
She turned her head, her gaze like lightning, sweeping over the on-alert Kumogakure and Kirigakure's Ninja not far away, finally pausing specifically on Karin's face for a moment, raising her chin, and letting out a 'hmph'.
The last few words, she enunciated slowly, coordinating with her fists cracking as she clenched them, full of menace.
Especially the glance towards Karin clearly carried a warning of 'you're no exception'.