Shikamaru's pupils suddenly contracted.
Sasuke's hand on his Ninja Sword trembled slightly.
The faces of the Kirigakure and Kumogakure's Ninjas simultaneously showed astonishment.
Even among the Land of Stars' members, except for Gaara who remained expressionless, Temari, Kankuro, Kurotsuchi, and Ranmaru all showed surprise.
"He... is Menma-sama's little brother?" Temari subconsciously repeated, her three-star fan pausing in its movement.
"Little brother?" Kankuro's face paint couldn't even conceal his shock.
The anticipatory expression on Karin's face also froze.
She blinked, looked at Naruto struggling on the verge of a rampage, then at Hinata's face, a mix of anxiety and anger. Scenes flashed rapidly through her mind.
The indulgence in Menma's eyes every time he mentioned 'that idiot'.
"Of course I know..." Karin murmured to herself, the anticipatory expression on her face gradually fading.
After all, she didn't want to see Menma heartbroken.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!" Karin raised her right hand.
Swish—!!!
Two of the five golden chains that originally formed the barrier split off, tracing golden trajectories through the air, precisely shooting towards Naruto!
The first chain wrapped around Naruto's waist, the second around his arms. Then the two golden chains, like a spider's web, bound Naruto layer upon layer.
"Gwaaaah—!!!"
Naruto let out an inhuman roar. The crimson red Chakra madly assaulted the golden chains.
But the golden chains didn't budge.
Inside Naruto's body, the Nine-Tails' Chakra, which had been fiercely assaulting the seal, suddenly halted, as if hitting an invisible wall.
The fourth, nearly formed, Chakra tail slowly dissipated.
The crimson pupils gradually faded, returning to azure blue.
The beast markings on his face faded, the sharp canine teeth retracted.
The crimson red Chakra Cloak retreated like a tide, revealing Naruto's original form.
With a 'thud', Naruto's knees went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, gasping heavily, sweat pouring down his forehead like a waterfall.
Inside the barrier, everyone stared dumbfounded at Naruto kneeling on the ground, then at Karin, who looked as if nothing had happened, manipulating the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
'One move.'
'Just one move, and she had subdued the rampaging Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki.'
'This is... the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Technique?'
Ao of Kirigakure had a complex expression on his face.
"As expected of... the Uzumaki Clan, who once resounded throughout the Ninja World with their Sealing Techniques." He murmured softly, his voice carrying a trace of awe, a trace of emotion, and a trace of... sadness.
Once upon a time, when Uzushiogakure still existed, the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Techniques were unparalleled in the Ninja World. They were Konoha's most stalwart allies and Kirigakure's greatest threat.
Samui slowly dispersed the condensed Lightning Release Chakra, her gaze complexly glancing at Karin, then at Gaara.
"The Land of Stars... truly full of hidden talents." She said softly.
Omoi plopped down on the ground, letting out a long sigh of relief, pulling another lollipop from his ninja tool pouch and stuffing it into his mouth, mumbling indistinctly: "Saved, saved... I almost died..."
Karui kicked him in the butt: "Shut up."
On the Konoha side, Sai and Shigaraki exchanged a glance, slowly putting away their weapons, but the vigilance in their eyes did not fade.
Shikamaru walked over to Naruto, crouched down, and found that Naruto had already fainted.
In the mental world.
Naruto blinked blankly, finding himself sitting on an engawa.
The wooden engawa was swept spotless... bare feet felt the texture of the wood.
Sunlight fell from above the courtyard, casting light and shadow on the engawa.
In the courtyard, a rockery, pond, and shishi-odoshi were all present. A few koi swam leisurely in the pond, stirring up ripples.
Bird calls came from afar. A gentle breeze brought the fragrance of grass and earth.
"Where is... this?"
Naruto stood up dazedly and pushed open the sliding door behind him.
What came into view was a living room full of signs of life.
A soft sofa, a low coffee table. On the coffee table sat a plate of oranges, and beside the oranges was an unfolded newspaper.
On the TV cabinet was a liquid crystal screen TV, much more advanced than the old TV at Naruto's home. Beside it were a few picture frames, but the photos in the frames were all blurry, faces unclear.
Looking at the living room before him, Naruto froze in place.
A strong sense of familiarity washed over him.
The layout of this home...
He had been here.
No, not been here.
Had... dreamed of it.
Every New Year's, whether he went to Menma's house for the holiday or stayed alone in his apartment, he would have the same dream.
In the dream, he would come to a home like this.
On the living room sofa sat a blonde man, sometimes reading the newspaper, sometimes watching TV, sometimes just sitting there, smiling gently at him.
In the kitchen, a red-haired woman was busy, humming an unknown song, her chopping movements fluid.
There was also a girl, wearing an apron, assisting the woman. Sometimes washing vegetables, sometimes arranging plates, sometimes being gently scolded by the woman with a smile for adding too much salt.
Then, a young man would walk over, give him a punch on the head, and scold him with a laugh, telling him not to just stand there like an idiot, to go get the tables and chairs ready for New Year's Eve dinner.
That young man...
Naruto slowly raised his hand, covering his face.
Tears, unbeknownst to him, had already fallen.
He remembered.
That dream every year, every time he woke up, he couldn't remember the faces of his parents or that girl in the dream.
Only the face of that young man was as clear as if carved into his memory.
That face, and another face in his memory, gradually overlapped.
It was Menma.
His... big brother in his dreams.
"Why..." Naruto fell to his knees, tears falling in large drops on the wooden boards of the engawa, making a soft 'pat' sound.
"Why do I dream of these things... why can't I remember anything... why..."
He didn't know why he was crying.
It was just that his heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, each beat bringing tearing pain.
Just then—
The surrounding environment changed again.
The warm sunlight disappeared, the comfortable engawa disappeared, the living room full of signs of life disappeared.
Replacing them was a damp, cold, musty-smelling sewer.
Beneath his feet was a shallow layer of water, reflecting the dim light above.
Ahead was a huge red iron door, covered in rust.
At the center of the door, a giant [Seal] character array emitted a faint golden light.
Eight-Trigrams Seal.
Naruto stood dazedly in the sewage, looking up at this door.
He had never been here before, nor did he know what kind of monster was sealed inside him.
"Kid..."
A hoarse, violent voice came from behind the iron door.
Naruto slowly raised his head, looking for the voice.
Through the bars of the iron door, he could see a pair of giant crimson vertical pupils, fixedly staring at him.
Reflected in those pupils were hatred, killing intent, confusion, anger!
And... a trace of barely perceptible fear.
"That guy..."
The Nine-Tails' voice, like thunder, echoed through the narrow sewer, causing the water's surface to ripple layer upon layer.
"Who the hell is he?!!!"
…
Above the arena.
Dark red Chakra burned and rose around Menma.
Ten Chakra Tails slowly swayed behind him, each sway bringing furious air currents, sweeping surrounding debris and rubble into the sky.
A dark red Chakra Cloak enveloped his body. On the cloak's surface appeared the afterimage of a fox's head. The eyes of that afterimage burned with golden flames, looking down at the beings below.
"Th-This is... the Nine-Tails?" Boruto looked up at Menma in the air, his voice full of disbelief.
"But the Nine-Tails isn't... and... why are there ten tails?"
Adult Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan and the Rinnegan beneath his side-swept bangs reflected the ten swaying tails behind Menma, his pupils trembling slightly.
"No... it's not the Nine-Tails."
He had seen the Nine-Tails in its complete form.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, in the final battle at the Valley of the End, he had witnessed Naruto mobilizing the full power of the Nine-Tails.
It was a fury filled with hatred, a crimson red as if to burn the entire world to ashes.
Whereas the Chakra on this boy before him...
Was dark red!
Like coagulated blood, like a blood-colored abyss.
Moreover, the hatred and malice in that Chakra were even stronger than the Nine-Tails he had seen!
"Ten-Tails..." Adult Sasuke murmured to himself. This Chakra reminded him of the Ten-Tails during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
But he immediately rejected this idea.
'No, not the Ten-Tails either.'
He had seen the Ten-Tails, the complete form of the Gedo Statue after absorbing the Chakra of the Nine Tailed Beasts.
The Ten-Tails' Chakra was chaotic, disordered, a madness that seemed to want to pull everything back to primordial chaos.
Whereas the Chakra on this boy before him, though vast enough to suffocate and also carried the aura of the Ten-Tails, had a clear will.
It was a will belonging to 'him'.
"I remember."
Jiraiya, beside him, suddenly spoke, his voice terribly grave.
Adult Sasuke and Boruto simultaneously turned to look at him.
"Five years ago... the war between Sunagakure in the Land of Wind and the Land of Stars..." Jiraiya's face was heavy with recollection.
"There were rumors that the cause of that war was Sunagakure trying to capture a monster with ten tails that had appeared on the border. To compete with Shura for this monster, Sunagakure not only deployed a large number of elites, but it seems they even brought their Jinchuriki."
At this point, Jiraiya's voice paused.
He looked up at the boy in the air, enveloped in dark red Chakra, at that face that was seven-tenths similar to his disciple in his memory. His heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand.
"I... I always thought that was just a rumor among exiled Ninja."
"After all, a monster with ten tails... sounds too absurd."
"But if Menma is Shura..."
Jiraiya's lips trembled.
He couldn't continue.
Because he dared not think.
Dared not think that the boy who always showed a gentle smile, would shyly scratch his head, would comfort his comrades, would secretly prepare New Year's gifts for Naruto, was the one who single-handedly built the Land of Stars, annexed the Land of Wind, stirred up the great upheaval in the Ninja World, and now covets Konoha...
Shura.
Even more, he dared not think about what role Minato played...
"Hahahaha!!!"
Urashiki's laughter suddenly rang out, breaking the dead silence.
He carried his red light fishing rod on his shoulder, his white eyes glimmering with undisguised greed, fixedly staring at the ten dark red tails behind Menma, almost drooling.
"Ten tails! Ten! I knew it! I knew this 'vessel' was not simple!"
He turned his head to look at Jigen beside him, his voice trembling with excitement.
"Do you see? This guy is the 'vessel' I was talking about! Once we get him, we can—"
He couldn't finish.
Because Jigen's reaction completely exceeded his expectations.
The excited smile on Urashiki's face froze.
He blinked blankly, looking at Jigen beside him, at this always cold, proud, seemingly indifferent to everything Otsutsuki, the expression now appearing on his face...
Rage.
What kind of anger was that…
On that always placid face, muscles twitched, veins jumped on his forehead. In his hollow eyes burned a fury almost ready to erupt.
Black patterns, like living things, spread from the diamond-shaped Kama mark on his chin, instantly covering half of his face, his neck, and finally spreading throughout his body.
The first stage of Kama, activated.
"It really is you..."
Jigen's voice sounded, as if squeezed out from between his teeth, each word carrying deep-seated hatred.
"Kaguya... that bitch's contingency!"
He slowly raised his right hand. A pitch-black Chakra black rod condensed in his palm, extending, eventually transforming into a black rod about two meters long…
Pointing straight at Menma in the air.
"Shura..."
Jigen's lips moved, spitting out that name.
Then, he smiled.
That smile was twisted, ferocious, full of overflowing killing intent.
"I finally... found you."
Urashiki looked bewildered: "...Huh?"