"It hurts so much! Is it not over yet?! Hurry up, you at the front!"
Piercing urges mixed with painful groans echoed through the corridors of Grass Hidden Village Hospital. The air was thick with the smell of blood and disinfectant.
"Hurry up! There are many more injured behind you!"
A Grass Ninja impatiently shoved the person in front of him, his eyes devoid of pity, only urgency. They scrambled to push their way towards the "medical tool" that could instantly heal them.
"Damn it! Doesn't this woman have a daughter? Why didn't they bring her too?!"
Someone cursed under their breath, their tone full of greed. After all, one more "tool" meant faster treatment efficiency and less waiting time.
Ever since Grass Hidden Village acquired this mother and daughter, the ninjas had become more reckless in their missions. If they got injured, they could heal immediately, so why be cautious?
"W-woo…!"
Inside the room, Vortex Misaki bit her lip hard, but still couldn't suppress her painful whimpers. Her arms were covered in fresh bite marks; some wounds hadn't even fully healed before being torn open again.
Was this the price?
She had once thought that as long as she could provide her daughter with a safe environment to grow up in, whatever she sacrificed didn't matter. But she hadn't expected Grass Hidden Village's "protection" to be such cruel exploitation.
She didn't dare let her daughter see her in this state. After each treatment, she would force herself to wipe away the blood, tidy her clothes, and then put on a gentle smile before returning home.
But could she really hide it? In this Ninja World, where everyone matured early, Karin was a smart child.
Vortex Misaki didn't know, but even so, what could she do? Resist? Escape?
Under Grass Hidden Village's surveillance, they had nowhere to run. Even if they escaped, where would they go? Continue living as fugitives?
Someone… save me…
Through countless painful bites, Vortex Misaki had long grown accustomed to silently pleading for help in her heart, but who was she praying to?
Gods? They had long abandoned them.
Companions? The people of the Land of Whirlpools were mostly dead.
She didn't know. She just instinctively, desperately, in the darkness of her constantly draining life force, clung to the last shred of illusory hope.
However—
"Boom—!!!"
A sudden explosion shattered the hospital's silence. The entire building shook violently, and the Grass Ninjas who had been lowering their heads, preparing to bite, suddenly looked up, their eyes flashing with terror.
Enemy attack?!
But this place was full of injured people, completely unable to provide support. The Grass Hidden Chunin in charge of management quickly reacted, shouting sternly.
"Everyone! Immediately evacuate to the shelter! We'll continue treatment after it's safe!"
He turned and glared at the trembling Vortex Misaki, impatiently scolding, "Hey! Don't just stand there! Keep up! Your work isn't finished yet!"
Misaki tremblingly propped herself up, while the injured had already begun to frantically cover their wounds, just as they were preparing to evacuate.
"Bang!"
The door was violently thrown open, and a Grass Ninja roughly dragged a little girl in.
"…Karin?!"
Misaki's heart almost stopped when she saw the little girl. Why… why did they bring Karin?! The original agreement was that only she would become a "medical pack"; Grass Hidden Village had promised not to touch her daughter!
"Mommy!!!"
Karin's cries rang out as she finally saw the truth about her mother's body—those dense, overlapping old and new bite marks, like the remains of an animal gnawed upon.
However, the Grass Ninja who brought her had no time to pay attention to the mother and daughter's emotions, only shouting with a pale face.
"Quick! Bring that woman over!"
His voice was filled with unprecedented fear.
"That guy is here! If we delay any longer, the entire Grass Hidden Village will be finished!"
— — — — — —
Time rewound a few minutes earlier.
In front of Grass Hidden Village's gate—the one standing there at this moment was not Naruto.
The fluctuations of Chakra distorted the light, and the boy's figure gradually grew taller after the Transformation Technique. When the last fox mask covered his face, the existence that struck fear into the entire Ninja World descended.
Menma.
Without extra words, he slowly raised his arm. Dark Chakra condensed and collapsed in his palm, finally transforming into an ominous sphere—
Spiral Wheel Ring.
The light of destruction suddenly bloomed.
Boom—!!!
Amidst the deafening roar, Grass Hidden Village's gate, along with the surrounding walls, instantly turned to dust. The violent shockwave lifted rubble and dust high into the air, only to be torn apart by the distorted gravitational field in the next second.
Because there was no Nine-Tails Chakra, this attack was far less devastating than the one that had shocked the Raikage, but it was enough to make the entire Grass Hidden Village tremble.
Aside from not having Nine-Headed Snakes, even without an experience card, Naruto's basic strength was that of a super low-spec Menma.
The smoke and dust slowly dispersed, and the figure wearing the fox mask stepped over the ruins. At this moment, the Grass Ninjas who had rushed to the scene had already assembled, but no one dared to step forward.
Their hands, gripping kunai, trembled, and cold sweat seeped from their temples, as they stood frozen like prey facing a natural predator.
fox mask.
Seeing this characteristic, the leading Jonin's pupils constricted. He could hardly believe his eyes.
This feature struck his nerves like a heavy hammer. The terrifying rumors circulating among various countries instantly flooded his mind.
The calamity that tears apart the world, the nightmare that transcends all ninjas—the master of the [Ash] organization, the darkest ruler of the Ninja World.
In the name of false peace, he turns suffering into a plague, sweeping every inch of land. All who witness his true form become lost souls; all who hear his name fall into despair.
Under his command reside the [Nine-Faced Beast]—monsters that no human can contend with. They are the embodiment of natural disasters, the manifestation of destruction.
Fear is their food, slaughter is their feast.
Wherever the Nine-Faced Beast goes, life is devastated, civilization crumbles. Wherever [Ash] passes, all things perish, leaving only ashes.
The blazing karmic flames incinerate the broken walls and ruins, and even wails do not have time to dissipate before being swallowed by the raging inferno.
His minions lurk in the shadows, whispering his will—when you realize, death has already seized your throat.
He hunts "Kage" as prey, and nations as sacrifices.
Beneath the fox mask is an abyss that cannot be glimpsed. Just by invoking his name, an entire nation will plunge into eternal night, becoming a silent graveyard.
Now, he lurks in the cracks of the world, like a venomous snake, awaiting the final bell.
When the last shackles break, all things will return to nothingness in his hands.
His name is—[Menma].
(The above content is entirely fabricated and spread by Kumogakure.)